A gripping head-to-head race, bold route choices in the high-alpine mountains, and decisions made in split seconds: The fourth edition of the Engelberg Cup delivered Hike-&-Fly sport at the highest level.
Punctually at 08:55, the starting gun fired at the home base at Äigèbraij in Wolfenschiessen for 74 athletes. Ahead of them lay a demanding course around the Titlis massif. The first ascent to Gummen alone demanded everything from the participants with around 1,100 metres of elevation gain.
In the Women Pro category, Linda Hoch delivered an impressive performance. After a strong flight phase over the Titlis massif, she chose the demanding south route on the Titlis. The bold route choice paid off: With a clear altitude advantage and a perfect flight line over Arvigrat, Chaiserstuhl and Buochserhorn, she flew towards victory. With a time of 07:09:30, she won ahead of Lia Sutter and Mirjam Barrueto.
In the Men Pro category, a top-class race unfolded. After several lead changes, a five-athlete leading group formed with Elias Gerber, Michael Maurer, Silvan Wüthrich, Nicola Eschbach and Nicola Heiniger. After passing the most distant turnpoint at Glogghüs, there was hardly any more thermal flying – instead, it was a high-speed dash towards the finish. In the end, the 21-year-old Elias Gerber prevailed. Just 36 seconds separated first and third place.
The Sport category also provided suspense until the very end. Pascal Arnet led the race for a long time before Stefan Ruider and Sascha Pezzo closed the gap with an altitude advantage from Rigidalstock. In a spectacular finale, Stefan Ruider secured victory ahead of Pascal Arnet and Sascha Pezzo. Just 17 seconds separated the three podium finishers.
The Engelberg Cup 2026 demonstrated impressively how versatile Hike-&-Fly sport is: tactics, endurance, flying skills and mental strength were all equally in demand. Particularly pleasing: The race was accident-free and offered everyone involved an unforgettable competition day in the mountains around Engelberg.
Bring the angel from Engelberg back to Wolfenschiessen.
The Engelberg Cup is a one-day competition for hiking paragliding 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 need to 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) 12:00.
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.
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The Engelberg Cup is part of the Swiss Cup Hike & Fly, the annual ranking of the Swiss Hike n Fly athletes. Participants in the Pro category are automatically also rated for the Swiss Cup Hike & Fly. The results of our race are also valid for the Hike & Fly FAI world ranking list.
