Smoke on the Water

Breathtaking aerial manoeuvres, exciting battles right up to the final day, a fantastic atmosphere and worthy winners: the first official World Hang Gliding and Paragliding Aerobatic Championship has given the world of aerobatics an almighty boost.

For the ninth time, the world's best hang gliding and paragliding pilots came together in Villeneuve on Lake Geneva, Switzerland, from August 18 to 27 for Red Bull Vertigo - crowning their world champions for the first time: Norwegian hang glider Jon Gjerde and Spaniard Raul Rodriguez, who went home with two titles, having won gold in both the solo as well as the synchronised discipline, together with his brother Felix Rodriguez.

The ballet dancers of the skies

The 41 paragliding pilots, 14 paragliding teams and 10 hang gliders danced above Lake Geneva like aerial ballet dancers. Smoke flares indicated the pilots' aerial movements, marking out spectacular manoeuvres in the sky such as loops, helicopters and McTwists before they landed on the tiny float on the lake (paragliders in each competition, and hang gliders in the last one only) - which even the best pilots didn't always manage successfully.

Rodriguez first ...

Around 50,000 visitors followed the nine-day event, witnessing a victory by the favourites in the synchronised discipline which wasn't quite as clear-cut as many had expected: the Spanish brothers Raul and Felix Rodriguez, who have dominated Red Bull Vertigo for seven years, were fantastic as usual, but the gap to the rest of the field was nevertheless smaller than expected at the World Championships. Local Swiss heroes Christian Maurer and Peter Neuenschwander were closest to the Spaniards, followed by Austrian pairing Bernd Hornboeck and Alexander Meschuh.

... and second

In the solo paragliding competition, Raul Rodriguez was unbeatable. Despite finishing only seventh after the compulsory programme on day one, the Spaniard finished on top in the first freestyle flight, defending his position supremely well in the following three rounds. Second place went to Antoine Montant (FRA), the youngest participant in the World Championships, who had a thrilling battle for silver with Raul's brother Felix.

The high-flyer among the hang gliding pilots

The hang gliding competition went right down to the wire. Jon Gjerde, lying in sixth position after the compulsory flight, worked his way to the top with each freestyle flight, leapfrogging the favourite Guido Gehrmann after the fifth flight and fending off an attack from the German in the last round. American John Heiney finished in third place, ousting Italy's Ignazio Bernadi from the podium on the very last day.