Competition News

It has been an exciting task again with lots of tactical decisions! The conditions were very good, very pleasant, above 2500 it was reliably climbing and there was almost no wind. The task could have been a little longer, but crossing the Val d'Hérence on the return flight is not an easy thing to do. Better to be safe and a little short, with lots of tactical variations. Unfortunately, some of the pilots went down before the take-off site (it was stable below 2000 at the beginning), and unfortunately three pilots flew the provisional task. But all in all it was a good day where the young French pilots once again showed what they are made of :-) 1 Montuori François M FRA OzoneEnzo3 Haglofs/Thermic 01:34:18 983.3 2 Morgenthaler Stephan M SUI OzoneEnzo3 Nilmo.ch 01:36:14 971.0 3 Aeschbacher Roger M SUI OzoneEnzo3 Jack&Jones Aspectcoaching.ch 01:36:17 968.0 4 Melo Hippolyte M FRA OzoneEnzo3 Friends&parents,XC Tracer,CAP360 01:36:20 963.1 5 Kägi Jérôme M SUI OzoneEnzo3 JAKWEB/zipp.chat/La VidaesDura 01:36:20 962.9 1 Zimmermann Sarah F SUI Ozone Photon SolarHaldimann 01:43:35 877.1 2 ChivetMathilde F FRA OzoneZeno 2 AirDesign-CNFSyride 01:48:01 846.6 3 HeldstabCorina F SUI NiviukArtik R 02:00:36 727.0

Program 11:00 Briefing at the lunch room La Ruinettes I hope we can start at 12 h. The way I see it now, we can fly until 16h, TCU with showers will be in the high relief south and only early evening at Verbier. METEO Switzerland continues to be caught in a weak south-westerly high-altitude current, which brings warm, humid subtropical air to us. The tendency for thunderstorms will remain high in the mountains and temporarily decrease in the lowlands. (MétéoSuisse) Flat pressure distribution, Pressure : 1013 A slightly less unstable layer up to 2000 m could delay the development of thermals a little. Afterwards development of moderate thermals, 1-3/8 with base at 3400, above high relief 4000 and higher (our lim it is 3950 - take care!). From mid-afternoon, spreading Cu with shadows followed by rain showers and possible thunderstorms. Normal valley winds 2000 m weak winds, in the valleys from north, 10 kmh 2500 m weak winds, in the valleys from north, 10 kmh 3000 m 10 kmh SW, but in our area even weaker 3500 m weak as well, but from Gr San Bernard the SW is pushing with about 15 kmh (affects exactly Verbier) 4000 m 15 kmh WSW, from Gr San Bernard the SW is pushing with about 20 kmh (affects exactly Verbier)

Wir hofften, dass - es vor dem Startplatz schon um 11:30 oder wenigstens 12 Uhr vernünftig steigt - die Abschattungen und Schauer erst nach 15 Uhr kommen. Die Task Deadline ist auf 16 Uhr gesetzt. Die Rechnung ging einigermassen auf, bis die letzten Pilot:innen im Ziel ankamen wars abgeschattet, und die Schauerzellen um 16 Uhr rund um Verbier. Der Task war kurz, aber ausgesprochen taktisch und sehr schwierig, um ihn schnell abzufliegen. So mussten einige Spitzenpiloten einen"Hänger" am Dent de Nendaz hinnehmen, andere wiederum verfehlten die optimale Linie. Die Schnellsten schafften es unter einer Stunde :-) 1 MeloHippolyte M FRA OzoneEnzo3 Friends&parents, XC Tracern 00:57:57 696.2 2 KägiJérôme M SUI OzoneEnzo3 JAKWEB/zipp.chat/La VidaesDura 00:58:50 695.6 3 Montuori François M FRA OzoneEnzo3 Haglofs/Thermic 00:59:00 686.7 4 VyparinaPeter M SVK OzoneEnzo3 Salewa,LAASR,Perfectfly klub 00:59:04 686.6 5 WickiMarkusS. M SUI GinBoomerang 12 Teufenthal-GarageAG/ ttgarage.ch 00:59:53 6 676.2 1 Zimmermann Sarah F SUI Ozone Photon SolarHaldimann 01:11:08 580.5 2 ChivetMathilde F FRA OzoneZeno 2 AirDesign-CNFSyride-Ruedel'AirFlyeo01:09:55 579.7 3 PfrunderManuela F SUI Ozone Photon 01:19:45 512.2

8-9 a.m Registration 10:30 Briefing at the lunch room La Ruinettes If possible, we should start 11:30. METEO The weather-determining area of high pressure will gradually weaken somewhat and slightly more humid and unstable air will reach Switzerland with a south to south-westerly high-altitude current. It will become increasingly hot and humid and the tendency to thunderstorms will increase as the day progresses. (MétéoSuisse) Flat pressure distribution, Pressure : 1018, sinking Development of moderate thermals, 1-3/8 with base at 3200, above high relief 3600. From mid-afternoon, spreading Cu with shadows followed by rain showers and possible thunderstorms. Normal valley winds 2000 m 5-15 N (depends on the relief) 2500 m 10 SW (Val d’Entremont 15 kmh S) 3000 m 10 kmh S 4000 m 10-15 kmh S (Martigny 20?)

Air pressure 1020 Very small pressure differences Generally beautiful weather, some cirrus in the morning, heat thunderstorms in the western Alps towards evening. The TCU and CB will probably lead to shading in the afternoon, followed by thunderstorm in the late afternoon. Build-up of moderate thermals and 1-3/8 Cu, base rising from 3200 to 3800, above the high relief 4300. With the inflow of the more humid air of the valley winds probably partly decreasing base again. Good thermals in the Valais Alps in the afternoon with a base around 4000 and higher. Generally weak winds in the area, with a tendency to the SW. Normal valley winds 2000 m variable, thermally induced winds, large air masses are also moved by the TCU. In the Valais valleys: North, 10-15 kmh (the valley winds reach this level) 3000 m 10 kmh S 4000 m 15 kmh W or S

Thanks to the Club Surselva Flaigers, to all Assistants, to Catrina and especially Judith at the Lodge And thank you, you, the pilots. It has been an amazing week with such a good atmosphere. And big thanks to our Sponsors: Jack&Jones (Davide Licini, T-Shirts, Gifts) Niviuk (Prizes, Vouchers for CHF 1000) La Sportiva (Main Prizes: the Gore Jackets) Valser (Bottles, Cash) Kaffeepause (Mark Raddatz: good Koffee) Digital Republic (free Sim Cards) SSSD, Giusi Flepp (office) And the big support of Catrina Resort, Graubünden Sport and the Swiss Hangliding Federation. The winners are: Overall 1 Vyparina Peter SVK Ozone Enzo 3 3337.2 2 Cox Steve SUI Ozone Enzo 3 3316.6 3 Gajczewski Mateusz M POL Niviuk X-One 3296.6 4 Breitinger Dominik M SUI Gin Boomerang 12 3231.3 5 Kägi Jérôme M SUI Ozone Enzo 3 3203.6 Women 1 (47) Pfrunder Manuela F SUI Ozone Photon 2266.4 2 Gunzenhauser Gina F SUI Ozone Alpina 4 1854.0 3 Hoch Linda F SUI Advance Iota DLS 1739.3 Juniors 1 (8) Descombes Henri M SUI Ozone Zeno 2 3104.2 2 Court Noé M SUI BGD Diva 3050.6 3 Bigalke Philip M GER Flow XCRacer 3041.5 Sport class 1 (12) Berreiter Stefan M GER Ozone Photon 3571.4 2 Gebhart Adrian M GER Ozone Photon 3442.8 3 Sommerfeld Marco M SUI Skywalk Mint 3345.5

Auf dem Bild sieht ist die Situation schnell erkennbar: Würde im Süden gestartet, ist die zu fliegende Strecke viel weniger lang. Nur: Das Gebiet ist nicht sehr gut bekannt.... Rund 15 Pilot:innen aber riskierten und gewannen. Auch wenn die "normale" Strecke beinahe gleich schnell war, gewonnen haben sie unter anderem auch weil der Flug weit hinten am Lukmanier sensationell schön war, mit Basis bis zu 3600 :-). Ranking nach Livetracking (ohne Leading-Bonus): 1 Court Noé 01:22:13 2 Gajczewski Mateusz 01:28:05 3 Cox Steve 01:29:32 4 Montavon Morane 0 01:29:43 5 Breitinger Dominik 01:30:04 Wir sind gespannt auf die Gesamtrangliste!

9:00 Shuttle from Camping Fontanivas 9:10 Shuttle in Disentis Raiffeisen From 9:40: Coffee and Croissant at Caischavedra 10:30 Briefing Caischavedra middle station METEO A high pressure system stretching from France across the Alps to Eastern Europe will determine the weather in Switzerland. Initially cloudless on Saturday morning, with a few Cumulus clouds forming in the Alps towards midday. Only on the southern side of the Alps will there be a slight increase in Cumulus clouds. (MeteoSwiss) Surselva: Build-up of 1/8 Cu with base 3200, over the high relief 3600 or higher. In the morning, a relatively stable atmosphere from 1500-2500 delays the development of thermals. In the afternoon moderate, partly good thermals. The air pressure will be 1022 hp. North overpressure sinking to 2 hp. We'll have to look (again ...) how much the high air pressure and the stability around 2000 affect the thermal quality. Wind forecast for 15 h: Normal valley winds (yesterday they were sometimes a little stronger than normal) 1500-2000 m weak winds 2500 m 10 kmh W 3000 m 10-15 kmh W oder NW 3500 m 10-20 kmh W 4000 m 15-25 kmh (North of Rhein 25-30) W / NW

Der Task ging zum Medelsergletscher und zurück ins Haupttal, dann nach Vals, dann Sagogn mit Landing in Ilanz. Wegen dem relativ starken Westwind und der Stabilität unterhalb 2000 (bis 2000 reichte der "Talwind") wurde er vor allem in Richtung Ost gesetzt. Wiederum wurde der Task auf ganz unterschiedlichen Routen abgeflogen. Heute dominierten die Pilot:innen aus dem Ausland :-) 1 Phillips Joshua M USA Gin Boomerang 12 983.6 2 Skvortsov Alexander M KAZ Ozone Enzo 3 975.3 3 Kubicek Martin M CZE Ozone Enzo 3 973.7 4 Court Noé M SUI BGD Diva Phi-air.com | PDCZ | nordsport 962.3 5 Vyparina Peter M SVK Ozone Enzo 3 Perfectfly, Salewa 961.9 Und wieder Manuela: 43 Pfrunder Manuela F SUI Ozone Photon 712.3

9:00 Shuttle from Camping Fontanivas 9:10 Shuttle in Disentis Raiffeisen From 9:40: Coffee and Croissant at Caischavedra 10:30 Briefing Caischavedra middle station METEO The weather forecast has changed little, only the wind has deteriorated slightly (it has increased at 2500 and higher): An extension of the Azores high extended into Central Europe on Friday night, leading to a stabilisation and drying of the air mass over the Alpine region. (MeteoSwiss) Surselva: Build-up of 1-2/8 Cu with base 3000, over the high relief 3600. In the morning, a relatively stable atmosphere up to 2100m delays the development of thermals. In the afternoon moderate, partly good thermals, possibly sometimes somewhat disturbed by high clouds/cirrus. The westerly wind is noticeable. The air pressure has risen to 2018 yesterday, tomorrow it will be 1020 hp. North overpressure sinking to 3 hp. We'll have to look again to see how much the relatively high air pressure (at least it's not rising any more) and the stability affect the thermal quality. Wind forecast for 14 h: Normal valley winds (yesterday they were sometimes a little stronger than normal) 1500-2000 m weak winds, partly moderate from different directions 2500 m 10-15 kmh NW 3000 m 20 kmh W oder NW 3500 m 20-30 kmh W (south of the Rhine 20, in the north-west 30) 4000 m 30-35 kmh W

The Swiss Open Verbier takes place. Program: https://www.swissleague.ch/swiss-open-verbier-2024/program METEO The whole week is light wind :-) But: Sunday: the lability increases, daytime weather prevails, beautiful in the morning, increase in clouds and in the late afternoon ev evening thunderstorms. Monday: similar, but more heat thunderstorms - but probably none in Verbier yet. Tuesday: Increasingly thundery Wednesday: A cold front reaches us (timing uncertain) Thursday Backside - could be good again Friday: Nice weather again

Wegen befürchtetem Abwind am Startplatz wurde der Start relativ früh angesetzt, wurde dann aber wegen starker mittelhoher Bewölkung (im Glarnerland regnete es) verzögert. Aber um 13 Uhr waren wohl alle gestartet und hatten eine Stunde Zeit, an die Basis auf über 3000 zu kommen. Der Task liess viele Optionen zu :-). Viele flogen wie erwartet zuerst auf der Nordseite (Südhänge) um auf dem zweiten Schenkel auf die Südseite zu wechseln, andere blieben auf der Nordseite, und einer, ganz alleine, startete auf 3600 über den Medelser-Gletschern und flog den ersten Teil des Task alleine ab: Markus Wicki erreichte das Goal als 3ter - Gratulation! Da die Verhältnisse im Verlauf des Nachmittags schlechter, stabiler wurden (erster Schönwettertag...) wurde das Rennen doch noch recht anspruchsvoll. Gewonnen hat es Steve Cox, vor Peter Vyparina (SVK) und eben Markus Wicki. Bei den Frauen Manuela Pfrunder vor Gina Gunzenhauser.

9:50 Shuttle from Camping Fontanivas 10:00 Shuttle in Disentis Raiffeisen From 10:15: Coffee and Croissant at Caischavedra 10:45 Briefing Caischavedra middle station METEO A weak westerly current will bring moderately humid but slightly less unstable air to the Alpine region today, Thursday. In the morning, a weak cold front cold front will brush the northern parts of the country in the morning before a branch of the Azores High becomes increasingly weather-determining. Surselva: Lots of medium and high clouds, better radiation from noon and thermals starting with a top rising around 3000. North overpressure rising to 4 hp. Wind forecast for 14 h: Normal valley winds 1500-2000 m weak winds, partly moderate from west and north, which comes out of the valleys 2500 m 10-15 kmh W 3000 m 15 kmh W 3500 m 25 kmh W 4000 m 30-35 kmh W

As we wrote yesterday, it's almost impossible to make a precise weather forecast in the flat pressure distribution. And so it was: beautiful weather in the morning, everyone thought, why don't we just go up? Then, right on time at 10 a.m., within 15 minutes there was cloud cover, storm, thunder and rain. After 20 minutes the spook was over and the fine-meshed model showed quite calm weather for midday, early afternoon. So: let's go up. But 5 minutes before most of us boarded the 11 o'clock gondola, the cancellation came: suddenly the forecast was for strong winds until around 2 o'clock. It came with good gusts on Caischavedra. From 3 pm it was cloudy but calm with zero wind at the take-off site. Many took advantage of the calm for a hike & fly. Now it's time for Thai curry :-) Photo: Karin Koch

Decision about going up at 10:00 METEO A partial low pressure system will now pass over to the north of Switzerland, bringing more humid and unstable air to the Alps. Quickly increasing cloud fields from the west, and passage of the mentioned partial low from 9-12 o'clock. Lots of high cloud and precipitation and possibly thunderstorms can be expected until midday. After that, there should be a longer dry phase, but with a lot of high cloud. Due to the extremely unstable air mass, it is likely that the stronger the radiation, the faster it will "boil up" again. Full radiation would not be ideal because of that :-( Wind forecast for 14 h: Week valley winds 1500-2000 m weak winds, as higher, as more, from the West or Northwest. 2500 m 10-15 kmh W or NW (depends heavily on the relief) 3000 m 10 kmh W 3500 m 30 W 4000 m 30-40 kmh W

Only 50 km because there were supposed to be big clouds soon (probably better...). The distance was too short (the weather better than feared), but the task was very tactical: the group that flew on the south side (including Breitinger) was faster at the turnaround at Brigels, but had a shadow on the way back and lost 10 minutes, the group that crossed to the north side after the start made up these 10 minutes, so that both crossed the finish line at the same time. The rankings of Task 2: 1 Breitinger Dominik M SUI Gin Boomerang 12 GIN Gliders, zorro.ch 01:00:33 789.0 2 Kägi Jérôme M SUI Ozone Enzo 3 JAKWEB / zipp.chat / La Vida es Dura 00:59:11 775.7 3 Montavon Morane M SUI Ozone Enzo 3 OZONE Paragliders 00:59:02 773.5 4 Gajczewski Mateusz M POL Niviuk X-One 01:01:27 763.9 5 Nedele Matthis M GER Ozone Zeno 2 www.weflymountains.com, DGV-Piloten 01:03:36 714.2 45 Pfrunder Manuela F SUI Ozone Photon 01:21:52 571.5 The ranking after Task 1+2: 1 KägiJérôme M SUI OzoneEnzo3 JAKWEB/zipp.chat/ 1325.0 2 BreitingerDominik M SUI GinBoomerang12 GINGliders,zorro.ch 1299.9 3 MontavonMorane M SUI OzoneEnzo3 OZONEParagliders/SWISS-PARA.shop 1294.5 4 GajczewskiMateusz M POL NiviukX-One 1262.6 5 DietrichOlivier M SUI OzoneZeno2 1254.7 49 PfrunderManuela F SUI OzonePhoton 864.8

8:50 Shuttle from Camping Fontanivas 9:00 Shuttle in Disentis Raiffeisen From 9:40: Coffee and Croissant at Caischavedra 10:00 Briefing Caischavedra middle station (I hope we are ready…) METEO The pressure distribution over Europe is flat (at 1013 hp). A pronounced high pressure system at high altitude will gradually dissipate today, Tuesday, but will still determine the weather in the Alpine region. North of the Alps, the air mass will only be slightly humidified for the time being, while south of the Alps the tendency for showers and thunderstorms will increase in the hot and humid air. (MeteoSwiss) Accordingly, there will be a slight tendency to showers in the afternoon in the southern areas of the Surselva, but probably only late in the afternoon. However, there should be a lot of clouds quickly from midday today (2-3/8 with a base at 3000, over the high relief 3500. The thermals should also develop well again, probably even more favourable than today. There's still a relatively stable layer of 2000-3000m in the morning, but it's less pronounced and heats up faster. There is also no warm air advection and the intermediate high is slowly decreasing (1014 -> 1012 hp). Cumulus clouds on the relief south of the Rhine from 16 h and later local showers. Generally weak winds from west or southwest. Forecast for 14 h: Normal valley winds 1500-2000 m slope winds from southeast (west of Disentis NW) 2500 m 0-15 kmh W (depends heavily on the relief) 3000 m 10 kmh W / WSW 3500 m 15 W 4000 m 15 kmh WSW

The task was challenging. The inversion and the warm air advection probably contributed to this. The climb was often interrupted, the air didn't want to go up and the glide was sometimes poor. Because of that, there was probably a little bit more turbulence than we had hoped for. The westerly wind was also stronger than forecast. 33 pilots completed the task, many others were doomed in the last few kilometres. Those who didn't take the time to stay high glided into poorer layers, were unable to fly over the Muraun and found themselves next to the Garvera, which was only just enough for the final glider. But there were many happy faces, the scenery impressed most people. 1 KägiJérôme M SUI OzoneEnzo3 JAKWEB/zipp.chat/LaVidaes Dura 02:24:31 985.4 2 DietrichOlivier M SUI OzoneZeno2 02:28:01 952.1 3 Montavon Morane M SUI OzoneEnzo3 OZONEParagliders/SWISSPARA.shop 02:31:49 947.5 4 VyparinaPeter M SVK OzoneEnzo3 Perfectfly,Salewa,LAASR 16:34:24 938.4 5 Breitinger Dominik M SUI GinBoomerang 12 GINGliders,zorro.ch 16:36:14 929.2 6 WickiMarkusS. M SUI GinBoomerang 12 Teufenthal-GarageAG 16:36:29 924.7 7 CoxSteve M SUI OzoneEnzo3 ChilloutParagliding 02:33:59 916.2 8 BigalkePhilip M GER FlowXCRacer 2 NürnbergerFlugschuleFly1 16:34:02 914.9 9 LiciniDavide M SUI NiviukX-One Jack&Jones,FIRSTMen, BESTSELLER.com 02:36:02 911.5 10 DescombesHenri M SUI OzoneZeno2 02:36:45 910.6 39 PfrunderManuela F SUI OzonePhoton 533.5 62 Gunzenhauser Gina F SUI OzoneAlpina4 421.2