The 5,000-strong crowd were enjoying the contest, but what they desperately wanted to witness was home success.
It had been 3675 days since a Swiss athlete last won a ski jumping World Cup event – Simon Ammann in 2014, but Gregor Deschwanden (SUI) had given them optimism ahead of the contest in Engelberg after placing second and fourth last weekend.
133.5m, scoring 149.4 points, would give him – and them – hope.
Austrian duo Jan Hoerl and Daniel Tschofenig were though a class apart in the opening round, delivering respective 142m and 142.5m jumps.
Tschofenig (AUT) would take a 4.8 point lead into the second round, ahead of team-mate Hoerl (AUT), with Geiger (GER) third, Deschwanden (SUI) fourth and Zografski (BUL) fifth.
World Cup leader Pius Paschke (GER), who had won the previous three World Cups, managed 134m, which was only enough for eighth place after the opening contest.