Bassano's record-breaking Easter
When a North Föhn forecast flipped into a record-breaking day, Bassano saw its site record fall for the third time this season. We break down the route and conditions that allowed over 140 pilots to cross the 100 km mark this Easter.
The Easter of 2026 proved to be one to remember in the Southern Alps.
As the season ramped up, pilots flocked to Bassano del Grappa, not just for the popular Trofeo Montegrappa, but for the great looking weather window that aligned with the public holidays.
📍 Bassano del Grappa, the most popular flying site in the Alps with most XC flights logged, is never a quiet place to fly – even more so during the Easter holiday. During the weekend, almost 1,200 flights were logged in the region, with 144 exceeding 100 kilometers.
Bassano on the map
From Föhn to flat out
The holiday weekend started with a banger of a day on Good Friday, April 3rd. The early morning looked daunting, with pilots reporting North Föhn with lenticular clouds and winds pushing 50 km/h at the peak of Monte Grappa, creating strong back-winds on takeoffs.
But around 10:00 AM, the wind completely flipped. The southerly wind took over, and a window opened for the eager pilots waiting on launch.
Rare conditions
The day delivered particularly high cloudbases, with pilots reaching well over 2,500 meters, some even edging the 3,000 m mark, which made for easy valley crossings.
Usually the crossings even on the long 100k+ routes require no more than 1,700 m of altitude, so there was plenty to spare if you took it to the base.
The Southern hills of the Alps provided consistent lift along the ridgeline, with pilots flying straight for tens of kilometers without stopping for thermals on their way back from the eastern turnpoint torwards the launch.
Expanding the “classic Bassano triangle”
To achieve record triangles, pilots pushed the boundaries of the classic Bassano triangle.
Eastern turnpoint
Pilots took off at around 10:15 AM and headed east across the Piave Valley toward Revine.
The top pilots didn’t stop at the usual turnpoint, but instead they pushed even further, crossing the Revine Valley to the next ridge, extending the triangle by 8–10 km further East than usual.
Western turnpoint
Pilots made it back to the takeoff area around 2:30 PM, marking the halfway point of the flight.
From here, the pilots raced past Schio toward the high mountains near the Trento Valley, crossing the rugged spines of the high peaks to squeeze out every kilometer.
Southern turnpoint
To maximise XC points and to extend their FAI triangle, pilots did a southward extension at the end of the flight before landing.
The record breaker Georg Bube
Of the 22 flights over 200 km ever recorded from Bassano, eight have happened this spring alone.
Leading the charge was Georg Bube, who set a new site record with a 222.29 km FAI triangle. This marks the third time Georg has beaten the Bassano record with a 200k+ flight this season, following his flights of 212.59 km and 206.37 km in late March.
The tracklog of the record FAI triangle
Winners and losers
The winners of the Easter were definitely the XC pilots who had all day to chase distance. During the holiday weekend, 144 flights crossing the 100km mark were logged in the Bassano area.
And the losers? From a distance perspective, the 128 pilots competing in the Trofeo Montegrappa. While others were breaking records, the competition task was cancelled around the 60 km mark due to an unexpected west wind affecting the race course, forcing the comp pilots to land.
With plenty of spring left, the question remains: will Georg Bube’s 222 km flight hold up as the definitive Bassano record for 2026? He’s already broken the site record three times within weeks, so at this rate, if conditions remain right, we might see the 230 km mark shattered before the snow even melts from the rest of the Alps.
