Stubai Cup: All the new gear for 2024

The annual Stubai Cup in Austria saw some bad weather and fewer visitors than normal, but pilots who did attend still managed to get in a few test flights of new gliders and had plenty of time to check out the gear stands of around 30 manufacturers.

Despite rain and strong föhn forecast, Friday morning in fact turned out to be surprisingly good for testing wings, with nil-wind on take-off and easy launch and landing conditions – plus hardly any queues as many pilots had stayed away. Some pilots got four flights in before the weather stopped play. A couple of damp gliders going visibly parachutal late in the day had everyone talking in the landing field.

On Saturday a blue sky gave good conditions again in the morning, with even some light thermals allowing pilots to stay up. By 1pm however the föhn had kicked in and it became too windy to fly. Ground handling became the order of the day.

Sunday was unflyable from the start, with a 20km/h backwind on launch and 100km/h winds reported from out in the Inn Valley. Many manufacturers packed early, while pilots who had stayed around entertained themselves on the Woody Valley stand, which was strung with new harnesses.

Highlights of the three-day festival outside of the flying included talks from Red Bull X-Alps pilots Eli Egger, Aaron Durogati and Paul Guschlbauer.

Despite the weather we did get to fly several new gliders, and we talked to lots of the manufacturers about their new products. Here’s a brief rundown of the highlights from the Stubai Cup 2024.

ADVANCE

The new and much-anticipated Theta ULS (mid EN B) was promised and it did arrive, making an appearance on the Saturday. The Theta ULS is billed as an “ultralight mid-B” designed for adventures. From 3.1kg it is aimed at pilots who enjoy hike-and-fly all the way to challenging vol-biv trips. It’s positioned between the Epsilon DLS and the Iota DLS in the Advance range. “It completes [our] range in the ultralight sector,” Advance said. First deliveries are expected “from the end of April”.

AIRDESIGN

AirDesign had all three of their new gliders to fly. The Rise 5 (EN B) has winglets; the Volt 5 (EN C) is now the first of the “second generation” of two-line EN C gliders, with technology brought in from the new Hero 2 (EN D). A fourth glider is also on its way: the lightweight Soar 2 (EN B) will be the lightweight Rise 5 and will be on the market later in spring.

APCO

The new paramotor wing the F5 attracted lots of attention when it was ground handled in the landing field. Its single-fin “mohawk” in the centre of the glider is unique, even in a year when winglets seem to have sprouted up everywhere. In free-flight, Apco were promoting their Nestra Light (high-B), which was launched last year.

BGD

Bruce Goldsmith was on hand to launch the new Magic 2 (EN A). A first glider, Bruce said the wing is designed for pilots to learn on and also progress into thermalling and even XC. A test flight on the large size revealed it was very easy to launch and revealed a certain floatiness in feel. Launched at the Stubai Cup on 1 March, orders are being taken now.

DUDEK

While Dudek were not officially part of the expo, 18-year-old team pilot Seweryn Sobczak was flying a prototype parakite from Dudek – the Touch. It will be released later this spring.

GIN GLIDERS

Gin were being sensibly shy about handing out or displaying their new Genie Race 5 harness on account of all the damp and mud, but new gliders on the horizon for 2024 include the popular hike-and-fly Yeti 6 (EN A) and the Camino 2 (lightweight EN C).

KORTEL

Kortel’s Mathieu Laperche was on hand to showcase the new Kliff III. An update to the ultralight mountain harness, the Kliff II, it’s designed for alpinists, mountaineers. They also had the Kuik III reversible harness on display that can be flown with or without an optional cocoon. A new Kompact bag system was also on show – at just 400g it doubles as a packing bag and rucksack which all folds away into very little.

MACPARA

Plenty of pilots were looking to fly the new Verve, MacPara’s new two-line EN C glider with winglets. Based on the the Elan 3 (EN C) and Magus (EN D), the glider has an aspect ratio of 6.6, 67 cells and is available in all five sizes now.

NAVITER

The new Omni full-spec flight instrument was front and centre. Smaller, lighter and cheaper than the larger Oudie N, the Omni offers all the functionality of the top-spec instrument, but in a smaller package. The difference is the screen size, and a little bit less battery power. It’s been out for two weeks and is available to order.

NEO

The Neo team launched the new StringPack 2.0. The original StringPack arrived about seven years ago, so it’s more than time for an update. A “convertible” harness rather than a “reversible”, its clever design means you wear the same shoulder straps hiking up and flying down, saving significantly on weight and bulk. Designed for weekend pilots who want one single lightweight solution, back protection and a reserve are all easily integrated.

NIVIUK

The Niviuk team had lots of gliders available to test and also presented the Target, a new EN A glider designed exclusively for Accuracy. However, it was their new back protection material that caught the most interest. Designed for high-end harnesses, Orikami is a specialist low-profile (ie thin) honeycomb-style back protection material designed by Niviuk specially for paragliding. It’s in use in Niviuk’s Drifter 2 harness, and will be patented.

NOVA

The big news from Nova was that after eight years flying Advance, Italy’s Aaron Durogati has switched brands and joined Nova. A Red Bull X-Alps veteran and twice Paragliding World Cup Super Final Champion this is a big coup for Nova. Aaron joins acro star Théo de Blic and Italy’s Nicola Donini in the team, adding further star power to the brand. He called it a “return to his roots” as his father used to be a Nova dealer back in the day.

OZONE

Ozone had two official reveals and one unofficial. The new Alta (EN A, with winglets) and Ultralite 5 (lightweight double-skin mountain wing, seven sizes) were both announced and available for test flying. The Alta is a brand new glider, aimed at new pilots and designed to take them on their first XC missions. The unofficial news was that yes, there will be a lightweight Photon (EN C) available later this year. “So many pilots have asked, so we are working on it,” Ozone boss JC Skiera said. An Ozone para-kite is also in the design stages. In the video JC also talks about the new Magnum 4 which is coming “very shortly” and also an update to the Submarine competition harness – it will soon be available in different colours, including yellow.

SKYMAN

Markus Gründhammer, the original SkyMan, was in the air presenting his new Sir Edmund 3. The latest version of the popular Sir Edmund, it’s a lightweight single skin and is certified EN B.

SKYWALK

Skywalk launched the Masala 4 (EN A) two days before the Stubai Cup, and it was available to fly during the festival. A “lightweight all-rounder” Skywalk’s Arne Wehrlin said they are “really happy” with the glider. “It’s the perfect beginner’s wing,” Arne said, designed to take pilots all the way through from learning to XC. The Arak 2 (EN B) was also available for demo flights, and is expected to be available to order by April. It’s a mid-B glider, a light (but not lightweight) wing made of robust materials. “It’s a really fun glider with good performance – it gives you a sixth sense for the air.” It will be available in six sizes, covering 55kg to 135kg. Finally, the prototype of the latest generation Poison (two-line EN D) is in the final stages of development. Arne said the plan is to have it available for the competition season starting in “maybe May”.

SWING

Top of the agenda for Swing was the new Stellar RS. Just launched, this 2.5-line high EN B was available to fly and is also available to order. Designer Alessio Casolla wanted to create an “exceptional” high B, and the resulting glider targets XC pilots who want the maximum performance while retaining the security of the EN B class. Lightweight, it is aimed at “ambitious cross country hunters and hike-and-fly adventurers who want to be on the move in X-Alps style.” Also new were the Miura 2 RS (EN A/B) and the tandem Twin 3.

SUPAIR

Supair were teasing a new project for the year ahead: a lightweight Submarine-style performance/competition hike-and-fly harness. They didn’t want loads of details released yet as they are still working on it – and they were very keen to keep that white tail-fin well away from any mud. Watch this space, as they say.

UP

The Kibo-X is UP’s new 2.5-line mid-B. It’s billed as the first 2.5-liner for the “mid-B” class, rather than high-B, and has a flat aspect ratio of 5.6. The promise is “high passive safety with the fun factor of finely tuned handling.” “It seemed very efficient” was one of our pilot’s remarks after grabbing test flight. Also new is the Kangri X, a lightweight 2.5-line high-B.

U-TURN

When the wind kicked in, U-Turn’s new speed wing, the Proxi, made its debut in the ground handling field. Available in five sizes (8-14m) it’s the result of two years of work. Also updated is their classic mountaineer’s glider, the Everest. The Everest++ is a double-skin hike-and-fly wing that weighs 2kg. Updates include using the latest materials to finesse this “legendary” glider, for example nitinol in place of plastic.

WOODY VALLEY

Aaron Durogati and Anselm Rauh were on hand to talk us through the new Woody Valley Race harness. This is the serial version of the Race Pro, which is used by top-level adventure-race pilots like Aaron. Available in four sizes it starts at 1.7kg. Aaron demonstrated its innovative stabilising system, which allows you to change the stability of the harness for either thermalling mode (more flexible) or when you go on glide (more stable).

While last year’s Stubai Cup was very clearly the year of the two-line EN C, this year if there was a mini theme among manufacturers it would be “winglets”. We talked to lots of designers about how and why winglets are suddenly so prolific, and we’ll be sharing those findings in a future issue of the magazine soon. Plus: We’re currently working on an in-depth series of articles looking at harness design, including the different types of back protection available.