About Prealpi Tour H&F Race

 

The idea of organizing the PREALPITOUR was born after having talked with
various people in the hike & fly world and having personally encountered the great gap
between the classic race of our clubs and the now famous Dolomitisuperfly.
At the end of each race, regardless of the result obtained, I always returned home with
a greater knowledge of myself as an athlete and as a pilot, as well as having shared
unique efforts and experiences with other people that I hardly found in my past as a
paraglider.
I think that in the Italian panorama for some years the hike & fly movement has had
a great surge and consequently there is no possibility for pilots who want to try their
hand at more structured competitions, to grow, improve and understand what it means
to face a competition like Red Bull. Xalpes or Dolomitisuperfly.
I believe there is a real need to do this giving oxygen to the entire free flight, in my opinion, a bit static in recent years; remembering that in recent years h & f has opened its
doors to all those people who love the mountains who have seen the possibility, with
the equipment currently offered by the market, to return home from their peaks in a
short time without tiring and with very little weight behind the back.

A resource, h & f, to be seriously considered. Switzerland France are an example of this: in addition to having a different training path, they have created, starting
from schools, during the flying season, multiple competitions dedicated to hike and fly,
proving the value of their athletes worldwide.
In addition to the technical aspect of the race and the multiple mental and physical
logistical factors, if we want the Italian landscape to grow and consequently the riders
to grow, we need to create a training course under them. It must be a sort of bridge
between the club competitions and the now known international competitions, thus
giving the opportunity to many drivers to get involved and grow in many ways.
Hike and fly “Presolana” was an example of this.

The PREALPITOUR is born, an h & f race on a 200 km route between
our Venetian Prealps and the Trentino Dolomites with a tourn point between mountain
huts designed and studied in order to be able to land and take off easily and safely. In
this way, less experienced pilots can learn how to land at high altitude and start again
and understand how to design the ideal route not only in flight but also on foot in case
of unfavorable weather.

Three days of competition from 7.00 am i8.30 pm where the athlete, together
with his supporter, will have to choose the best flight strategies and the most congenial
paths necessary to then fly again and complete the route within the stipulated time.
Almost all of the turn points will be positioned at high altitude where the athlete will
have to sign a selfie on the board and take a photo to send to the organization in order
to validate the point and then start again at the next one until the goal.

The idea is to create a competition where the pilot is able to understand and
learn the multiple dynamics that such a race entails, learning to manage the logistical,
weather and physical aspects, without excessive stress. All this diluted in a race weekend.

Hike&Fly, a different style of experiencing free flight, constantly immersed in
nature in close contact with your body.

The duration of the event is 3 days, from 18 to 20 June 2021; in case of unfavorable weather forecast it is expected a possible postponement to the following week
(25, 26, 27 June):
• Thursday 17 June 2021 5.00 pm control of materials and punching
7.00 pm, BRIEFING (mandatory for all pilots),
welcome party
• Friday 18 10.00 am START
8.30 pm STOP day 1
• Saturday 19 7.00 am START day 2
8.30 pm STOP day 2
• Sunday 20 7.00 am START day 3
4.00 pm STOP day 3 and END OF THE RACE
6.00 pm AWARDS GIVING
The race is stopped during the night, from 8.30 pm to 7.00 am.
The pilots must be followed by a SUPPORTER.

Organizing committee:Para&Delta Club Feltre.
– race director: appointed by the organizing committee.
– race committee: consisting of the race director, one member of the organizing committee and two pilots elected by the competitors among those proposed by the organization.
– Task of the tender committee: to decide on any appeals, to settle disputes between
competitors, sanction with penalties in distance (km) or time (h), validate the classification.
In case of particularly unfavorable weather conditions can reschedule the departure,
change in start the race course or stop the competition at any time during its course;
for this eventuality the pilots and their assistants will be notified via SMS.

The pilot must have the following requirements:
• be at least 18 years of age.
• be in possession of the Ae.CI paragliding flight certificate
• have an insurance for paragliding
• be a member of the FIVL or of a similar foreign national paragliding federation
• be in possession of the “ippi card – level 5”.
• be in possession of a medical certificate for competitive sports (valid for athletics
light or a sport that requires the same physical requirements: eg. cycling, swimming,
ultra-trail, etc.).
• pilots have full responsibility for their own decisions regarding walking and flying; in
particular with regard to flight conditions.

The supporter mandatory for each paraglider:
• each pilot must necessarily have a ground supporter with whom to be constantly in
contact; the supporter will thus always be aware of the position, the general conditions
and all information relating to the safety of the pilot; the pilot can eventually replace his
assistant during the race, only after consulting the race direction.
• the supporter will help with his driver’s logistics and race strategy, but he will not be
able to help him in transport of his mandatory equipment; he will be the link between
the organization and the rider and will have to be constantly available with his mobile
phone; in the event of an injury to the driver, if he needs treatment call for help by contacting 118 (or 112 in Trentino) and immediately notify the organization.
• the supporter or the pilot must send the organization a daily report via SMS or
e-mail, which it can be just a few lines and contain information about the pilot. Sending photos and videos daily will allow the organization to constantly update the social
networks with news and images. The pilot e the assistant authorizes the organization
“PREALPI-TOUR H&F race” to use their images for photos, videos, articles, etc.
• Drivers and supporters undertake to leave no trace of their passage and to respect
the environment.

The equipment mandatory and compliant to standard:
• Paragliding: EN 926-2 and 926-1 or LTF 91/09
• Harness: EN 1651 (with certified protection and rescue system) or LTF 91/09
• Emergency: EN 12491 or LTF 91/09
• Helmet: EN 966
• GPS whose track must have at least 1 point for every minute in the air and 1 point for
every 200 m on the ground; every pilot must provide adequate equipment to download GPS tracks. Furthermore, the pilot must always carry with him during the entire
competition period, both in flight and during the walk
• Survival kit: elastic bandage, plaster, thermal blanket, whistle for signals, smoke signal
(visible in case of emergency in remote areas)
• Mobile phone with the number communicated to the organization
• Live Tracker (paid by the organization), but by the pilot as regards the recharge of batteries.
• GPS, the track format of which must be IGC UTM WGS84

The pre-registration will open on Wednesday 06th January 2021
and will end on Sunday 28th February 2021; the pre-registration must be submitted by
filling out the form, available on the facebook and instagram event pages, fill in every
voice.
A maximum of 55 pilots will be admitted to the race; the list of those admitted will
be made official on 28th March 2021; each admitted pilots will receive confirmation of
registration via e-mail.

…for me hike & fly is to live free flight in a different way: during the race there is
the opportunity to interact with the other pilots but then the final decisions, sensations
and strategies are always yours alone. Participating in this type of race helps the pilot to grow, the adrenaline of facing new places, new flight conditions, push the pilot
to adapt to each new flight site, breaking down those mental limits that we create by
often flying to the same places.
In my view, the mind, after a competition, gives you new aspects, new ways of interpreting free flight, new eyes on how to tackle this beautiful sport that we fortunately do.
De Cet Marco