Coupe Icare Expo 2025

The Coupe Icare Expo is a chance to see all the free-flight brands together in one space. It’s also a moment when companies celebrate their successes, tease plans for the year ahead and announce next season’s new gliders and harnesses. One notable trend from the trade show floor this year is the development of ‘sub-lite’ style paragliding harnesses, inspired no doubt by the success of these types of harnesses during the Red Bull X-Alps. Lightweight and streamlined, for the mass market manufacturers are working on making them simpler to use and giving them better back protection. Another trend is parakites: lots of companies are doing them, and Ozone is even getting ready to release three. We spent the long weekend of the Coupe Icare touring the trade tents to find out what’s new.

Advance

The latest release from the Swiss company is the fourth generation of the Pi mountain wing now called Pi ULS. Advance’s Valéry Chapuis told us they didn’t set out to make the Pi the lightest wing in its class, instead they kept a construction that is more complex than most hike-and-fly wings. The aim is...