In an exciting hike n fly race in challenging weather conditions, last year's winner Chrigel Maurer (7-time winner of the X-Alps) came out on top ahead of Nicola Heiniger and Nicola Eschbach. The world's best Hike n Fly pilot from Adelboden was around 90 minutes faster than Heiniger and collected one more turning point than Eschbach. Romy Sweda from Bern won the women's race and came third overall.
The changeable weather conditions with a few rain showers, low clouds and little sunshine made the competition in the Engelberg Valley a challenge. Success required good tactics, strong legs and a bit of luck with the timing.
After the starting signal, around half of the 65 athletes from five countries run from Wolfenschiessen to Engelberg and on to a starting point at the back of the valley. The other half begin their adventure with ascents to Gummen and Arvigrat. The aim is to collect as many turning points as possible on foot and with the paraglider.
Chrigel Maurer makes the difference on the very first flight of the day. He took off before midday with two of his fellow favourites above Fürenalp and was the first to find thermal updrafts at Brunni above Engelberg. He then flew away from his pursuers, taking the other turning points up to the Stanserhorn and Buochserhorn in the air. After a short intermediate ascent to the Haldigrat, he crossed the finish line in the village of Wolfenschiessen. Just in time before the next rain shower. "A few rays of sunshine in the Horbis were enough for me to gain altitude at the same time as the cloud base was rising. I was in the right place at the right time and then enjoyed a beautiful and efficient flight in the Engelberg Valley," says Chrigel Maurer. Despite difficult weather conditions, he was in the air for 1.5 hours.
The chasing pack is spread across the entire valley. One pilot even ventured onto the Laubersgrat. Some have to endure rain and sleet in the meantime, while others are able to land at short notice. This was the case for the winner of the Women's Pro category, Romy Sweda, on the Buochserhorn. Undaunted, the young athlete from Bern followed the top pilots and made the most of the time available. In her first competition, she scored as many points as the two best men: "The weather was all over the place, it was quite adventurous. I never thought there would be any thermals at all in the conditions today and I'm super happy. I managed a lot in the end."
Happy, hungry and tired faces at the finish line at the Aigèbraij brewery testify to the intense experiences and many metres of altitude in the legs. A successful race that will hopefully be spoilt with more sun next year.
Bring the angel from Engelberg back to Wolfenschiessen.
The Engelberg Cup is a one-day competition for hiking pilots in the stunning flying arena of the Engelberg valley. The start and finish is in Wolfenschiessen.
The competition is suitable for casual hike-n-flyers, through ambitious athletes to professionals. The arena is the breathtakingly beautiful mountain world around Engelberg, which has a lot to offer in terms of flying.
The competition is divided into four categories: Women sport, Men sport, Women pro und Men pro. The pro categories are reserved for pilots with extensive experience in Hike n Fly in alpine terrain.
Your basic task is to hike n fly from Wolfenschiessen to Engelberg, where you will be given an angel. You have to bring it back to the finish in Wolfenschiessen. Before or after the checkpoint in Engelberg, you can fly to or hike to other turnpoints to collect additional points (category Pro more and more distant turnpoints). All pilots must be at the finish line before the end of the race (probably 17:00). The sport athletes can use the railway / cable cars from (presumably) 11:00.
You can find the detailed competition rules here.
The map below shows the basic task and possible additional turn and/or checkpoints. Please note that this information is preliminary and subject to change.
More information about the contest will be published on this page as soon as possible. Sign up for our newsletter to make sure you don't miss anything.
The Engelberg Cup is part of the Swiss Cup Hike & Fly, the annual ranking of the Swiss Hike&Fly athletes. Participants in the Pro category are automatically also rated for the Swiss Cup Hike & Fly. Please click here for more info.
