Gruyère Fly is a weekend-long hike-and-fly event that takes place in the Fribourg area of Switzerland over the last weekend in May.
It’s open to “suitably experienced” pilots with IPPI 4 or 5 qualifications who are at ease with flying unknown terrain. You can choose your level and enter in Compétiteur or Mobilité douce categories. The latter allows the use of public transport including ski lifts. Assistance is allowed for either category, but not compulsory.
The Eigertour is a high-level hike-and-fly competition that takes place in the Bernese Alps, starting at Grindelwald.
It’s a four-day event with Challenge (100-200km via 14-18 turnpoints) and Pro (180-300km via 12-22 turnpoints) categories. The latter is reserved for very experienced pilots – think X-Alps competitors and factory test pilots. Participants are vetted before being accepted for either category.
It’s unsupported – mountain refuges are used for turnpoints and overnight stops, which makes for sociable evenings and a convivial atmosphere.
Vercofly is a four-day hike-and-fly event that takes place in the Swiss Alps, using mountain refuges as turnpoints and night-stops meaning there is no need for assistants.
It’s run by Twistair school and the competition arena is the Anniviers and Hérens valleys, with the finish at Twistair’s base in Vercorin.
