More Women Competing

„Why do you think there are so few woman competitors?“ Des Pansi, an excellent cross country and competion pilot from South Africa asks in an interview. I got some good news for you: times are changing!

Next long weekend, from Saturday till Wednesday, the „Ladies and Junior Challenge“ will take place around Interlaken. The event is traditional in the Swiss League. Almost all Swiss top pilots started their competition careers in this camp with Martin Scheel. Pilots like Chrigel Maurer, Stefan Schmoker, Michael Sigel, Andy Aebi, Karin Appenzeller-Maurer, … to mention only a few. Every year ten to twelve talents come together. They fly training tasks during the day, with a briefing in the morning and a debriefing at the end of the day. Evenings or bad weather days are busy with theory. A lot of things to learn! Since the event is sponsored by the SHV and the Swiss League, it’s actually free for the pilots.

I’ll be there for the second time. After 2003 in Fiesch, where I attended as a student, this year will see me as a scorer, a new role for me. I’m very much looking forward to spending my weekend with these ambitious yet less experienced pilots. The surprising part – at least to me: more than half of the participants are female. I wonder where this rush comes from. Well, for sure I’ll ask.