The first round of the 2019 Paragliding World Cup tour takes place at Chamousset, Coeur de Savoie, from 25 May – 1 June 2019.
The other dates on the tour are:
Manteigas, Portugal 29 June – 6 July
Pico do Gaviao, Brazil 7-14 Sep 2019
The 20th El Yelmo International Air Festival will be held from 31 May – 2 June 2019.
There will be a trade fair, air shows and the Festival of Air Cinema, plus the fifth El Yelmo XC Open will be held a few days before the main event.
This three-day hike-and-fly competition starts and ends at the Gruyère Château.
Competitors have to complete a course around turnpoints, laid out in a figure-eight. If they complete the circuit before the time is up, they can go round again.
There are two categories: ‘Compétiteur’ is standard hike-and-fly competition rules – only your feet or your wing can be used for transport and the mandatory kit must be carried; the Mobilité douce” category offers a gentler approach, where public transport including ski-lifts can be used to help get pilots to take-offs. Between 9pm and 6am is rest time.
Pilots don’t need an FAI sporting licence, but IPPI level 4 or above is required.
The second round of the 2019 Paragliding World Cup tour takes place at Linzhou, China, from 8-15 June 2019.
The other dates on the tour are:
Coeur de Savoie, France 25 May – 1 June
Manteigas, Portugal 29 June – 6 July
Pico do Gaviao, Brazil 7-14 Sep
2019 is a Red Bull X-Alps Year! The ninth edition kicks off with the Prologue on 13 June, when all athletes race around a course, aiming to win one of three available extra night passes.
The race itself starts on 16 June. 32 athletes will be taking part, including five-times winner Chrigel Maurer (SUI1) and Romanian running man Toma Coconea who hasn’t missed a single race. Fourteen of the athletes to line up at the start are rookies, including the two female participants, Kinga Mastalerz (NZL2) and Dominika Kasieczko (POL).
The exact route for the 2019 event will be announced in March, and thousands will be following the athletes’ progress day and night via the live tracking and media updates.
The third round of the 2019 Paragliding World Cup tour takes place at Manteigas, Portugal from 29 June – 6 July 2019.
The other dates on the tour are:
Coeur de Savoie, France 25 May – 1 June
Pico do Gaviao, Brazil 7-14 Sep
Loma Bola, Argentina, 9-16 Nov
Photo: Xabier González
The fourth round of the 2019 Paragliding World Cup tour takes place at Pico do Gaviao, Brazil from 17-14 Sep 2019.
The other dates on the tour are:
Coeur de Savoie, France 25 May – 1 Jun
Manteigas, Portugal 29 Jun – 6 Jul 2019
The magical mayhem of the Coupe Icare takes place on the third weekend of September at Saint Hilaire du Touvet and the Lumbin landing field near Grenoble in the south of France.
This year’s festival pays homage to the great Leonardo Da Vinci, who died 500 years ago! There will be an exhibition at the church of Saint Hilaire and shows on the theme of the great Italian inventor.
A huge trade show takes over two large marquees as well as outdoor stands; demonstration flights from all sorts of craft fill the sky, and the fancy-dress fly down is one of the event’s biggest draws, with some truly crazy costumes. Don’t forget the all-important film festival that runs throughout the long weekend. As well as all of this, the south take-off becomes a children’s wonderland, with activities from kite-making to science lessons to meeting birds of prey.
Paragliding from the sites during the daytimes is restricted to fancy-dress competitors and authorised pilots, but plenty make the early-morning hike to the Dent de Crolles if conditions allow, for a morning fly down among hot air balloons.
A festival celebrating free flying in all its forms, the 2019 edition of the Ölüdeniz Air Games will be the 20th, and will take place from 15-20 October 2019.
The fifth and final round of the 2019 Paragliding World Cup tour will now be held in Loma Bola, Argentina (the event planned in Mexico was cancelled).
The other dates on the tour are:
Coeur de Savoie, France 25 May – 1 Jun
Manteigas, Portugal 29 Jun – 6 Jul 2019
