{"id":60259,"date":"2026-05-05T11:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/60259\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T11:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:10:13","slug":"hammertag-comes-to-austria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/60259\/","title":{"rendered":"Hammertag comes to Austria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you call it? Perfect conditions came to the eastern Alps on Saturday allowing thousands of pilots to enjoy epic cross country flights. It was especially welcome for pilots in the region who have not had any good flying days this year until now.<\/p>\n

Over 100 XC pilots were reported on the Stoderzinken, a popular launch pad for big XC days near the Dachstein, east of Salzburg. \u201cLate but great conditions,\u201d reported Alexander Rob\u00e9<\/a>. \u201cWe got rewarded with outstanding conditions and many new personal bests. For me 282km on this first Hammertag of the Eastern Alps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HonzaHonza \u010capek flew an 283.5km FAI triangle up to Bavaria and back<\/p>\n

Ten pilots would eventually fly over 250km from the site, which faces south over the east-west running Enns valley, among them the Czech pilot Honza \u010capek, who flew a 283.50 FAI triangle<\/a> up to Bavaria and back to the Hohe Tauern (and whose photos we\u2019ve shared). \u201cThere was a nice group flying so we helped each other out at times and kept a great pace,\u201d he wrote on XContest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three pilots flew 300km FAI triangles. Michael Sommerauer (336.10km)<\/a> and Franz-Josef Egger (309.73km)<\/a> flew triangles around Zillertal \u2013 Chiemgau \u2013 Pinzgau valley while former Red Bull X-Alps athlete Stephan Gruber flew a 304.06km triangle <\/a>that started nearby south of Innsbruck but then crossed the main chain of the Alps to the Dolomites and then back.<\/p>\n

\"xcontestThe XContest track of Stephan Gruber<\/p>\n

German pilot Marcel Duerr achieved a personal dream that he\u2019d had his eye on for 12 years, a so-called glacier triangle from Lenggries<\/a>, south west to Imst, then east over the mountains south of the Inn valley before turning north again along the Zillertal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter nine hours of flight time and 240 kilometers of flight, I land again at the starting point in Lenggries. A very special moment that I still can\u2019t quite believe,\u201d he posted. \u201cMany airspace restrictions, inaccessible areas with glaciers and high-alpine terrain with no road access made the project difficult. Last Saturday, then everything fit. Lines, timing, decisions \u2013 and the little bit of luck, you can\u2019t live without it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"xcontestThe XContest track of Marcel Duerr <\/p>\n

The Eastern Alps have suffered a poor start to the season. Simon Oberrauner told us last week that he\u2019d only flown about 40 hours this year, compared to over 100 the year before. On Sunday, Burnair<\/a> revealed that their tracking app had recorded 7,000 female pilots in the air and processed over 20 million track points. \u201cWe are so happy that so many of you had such a great day!\u201d Bernie wrote.<\/p>\n

Burnair was one of several forecasts to predict the good conditions. Mastering Paragliding author Kelly Farina<\/a> was another, correctly anticipating 250-300km FAIs on the north side on his Bassano forecasting service. So what did he see? A high pressure over the Alps, a skew-t that showed a high cloudbase of 4,000m and a negligible south f\u00f6hn.<\/p>\n

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