Fabi Buhl and Serena Ronchi win XContest 2025

The German climber turned pilot Fabi Buhl won the World XContest 2025 with six FAI triangle flights, each one over 300km and all from the Col de l’Izoard this summer. It’s been an extraordinary year for Fabi, who also flew 300km in Pakistan and made nine other 100km+ flights in the Alps. He wins the paragliding open class with 3,029.76 points. 

“I never intended to win XContest prior to the season,” he tells us. “I just wanted to fly a lot this summer as I had time. A friend of mine told me at the beginning of August that I could actually win it. I kind of ignored it at first, as I always thought it will be won with some Brazil or South African flights. But I got motivated to at least fly the remaining days and give it my best.”

Not far behind, with 3,017.20 points, is his friend and occasional wingman Edouard Potel, who earlier this summer broke the FAI triangle world record with a flight of 358.64km. He made three 300km flights from the Col de l’Izoard, a 300km flight from St André and several other 100km flights this year from Puy Aillaud, Gourdon and Chabre.

In third place is the Slovakian pilot and alpinist Juraj Koreñ, who earlier this summer competed in the Red Bull X-Alps, making goal in 10 days and 13th place. Such is the status of the Col de l’Izoard that Juraj based himself in the Hautes-Alpes in August, and made six flights between 285km and 327km from the Col. He finished the year just 18 points behind Edouard. “It’s an awesome feeling because I’m the first Slovakian on the podium ever of XContest,” he says. 

One country absent from the overall podium is Brazil. This is the first time since 2015 that the country has not featured as a venue in the winner’s longest flights. It’s not uncommon for pilots to head to the country in September to get in some big distances to improve their ranking. (Indeed, Sebastian Benz flew 592km on 30 September, helping him to a sixth place overall.)

It’s also the first time since Honorin Hamard won in 2016 that the overall winner’s top-scoring flight was an FAI triangle. (Under the scoring system of XContest FAI triangles carry a value of 1.4 points per kilometre versus one point per kilometre given to free-distance flights.) 

Serena Ronchi

The women’s category was won by Serena Ronchi (10th overall) for the third year in a row with 2,539.93 points. She wins despite four of her best flights all being made in October of last year from the site of Assu in Brazil. The longest of these was a 469km flight to Ibicuitinga lasting almost 12 hours. 

“I’m glad to show that flying with a C-class wing is enough to set records and reach the top of the XC ranking,” she tells us. “I still carry some mental scars from my serious accident four years ago, which hold me back in stronger conditions. 

“But in a way, it’s also a blessing, because those fears help keep me alive.”

Only one flight was from her native Switzerland, a 325.3km flat triangle from Riederalp to Mégève and back on 30 April. “The evening ended with a good beer to celebrate this exceptional journey,” she wrote afterwards. 

In second place with 2,299.35 points is Stephanie Westerhuis (19th overall) who also flew 300km that day from Riederalp, reaching as far as Les Houches before she turned back. Her longest flight however was a 410km flight from Caico, Brazil on 23 September that lasted 10h 14m. 

In third place, just 22 points behind, is her fellow Swiss pilot Romy Sweda (24th overall), who’s already making a name for herself in the hike-and-fly scene. She supported Chrigel in this year’s Red Bull X-Alps before going on to win the Eigertour this summer. She only took up paragliding in 2022. Her best flight was a 399km flight in Brazil last year, but she made four flights over 240km from Riederalp and Fiesch. Her third place means it’s an all-Swiss sweep of the women’s XContest podium. 

PG Serial Class

The serial class is for pilots flying gliders up to and including EN-D. This year’s podium is an all-star cast from the eastern Alps with Slovakian Juraj Koreñ (Ozone Zeolite 2 GT) winning and the Czech pilots Stanislav Klikar (Sky Merlin) and Ondrej Prochazka (Phi Scala 2 light) second and third. 

PG Sport Class

Stanislav Klikar (CZ, Sky Merlin) won the sport class, which is for gliders up to and including EN-C. Second was Ondrej Prochazka (CZ Phi Scala 2 light) and third was Serena Ronchi (SUI Ozone Photon / Sky Merlin) who came second in the class last year. 

PG Standard Class

First place went to Manuele Dondi (ITA, Advance Iota DLS) in the category for EN-B gliders. His best flight was a 303.57km flight from Riederalp to Mt Blanc and back, the same day as both Serena and Stephanie’s flights. In second place was Augustin Bedek (FRA, BGD Base 3) and in third was Sandro Salathe (SUI, Ozone Swift 6). 

Tandem PG

Philippe Sicardi (FRA, Ozone Swiftmax 2) won with 1,564 points, ahead of Titi Macquet (FRA, Ozone Swiftmax) and Tomáš Kuník (SK, Gradient Bi-Golden 4). Philippe flew six triangles near his home in the northern French Alps, ranging from 144km to 223km.

Hang Gliding

In a final day upset, Glauco Pinto (BRA Laminar 14.8) put in a 480km flight on  30 September to knock Suan Selenati (Wills Wing T3) into second place. In third place was Britain’s Jeremy Soper (Moyes RX 3.5), whose longest flight was 307.42km from Austria’s Stoderzinken peak on 1 May this year. The Class 2 category was won by Roger Ruppert (SUI Archaeopteryx) and the Class 5 class by Tony Marty (SUI Atos VR). 

XContest

More than 32,000 pilots used XContest to log their flights in 2025. While pilots can log all their flights, only their top six count towards an overall ranking. The season runs 1 Oct to 30 Sept. There is no prize, it is just for fun – and the glory!

xcontest.org