Aetheria Competition 2025 , July 28th-August 3rd

According to Ancient Greeks, "Aetheras" was the 5th element which together with fire, air, water and land were the basic materials for the construction of the world! It has special properties due to which it constructs the residence of the Gods!

Maybe this is the reason why today, thousands of years later, still in the same area of Greece, there is a secret material which explains why this place is so special and so successful to accommodate Paragliding competitions of world class, with incredible soaring conditions, which make us feel a little like if we were Gods, too!

For 2025, “Aetheras” Paragliding Club, will organize an International type-2 FAI Event, Greek and Hungarian National Paragliding Championships at “Askion” mountain. 

“Askion” means “Shadowless”, a mountain which has no trees - it is tough, implying a place where the flying conditions are strong and thermals are powerful! Maybe this is true, but if you come in the area, you will see that it combines this visual toughness of the high terrain with a smooth flat and green valley, full of trigger points, with a beautiful lake and forests around the romantic city of Kastoria, and the historic area of Siatista, with a strong cultural heritage.

Maybe this combination is the secret of success for the local soaring conditions, maybe there is another hidden ingredient which correlates with the kind people that love this sport in the area and want to share this charismatic place with all of you!

Meteo-wise, in my opinion Siatista competition area is in the middle of the most breeze protected and continental valleys in Greece. Enclosed between 3 long mountain ridges, including the almost 400km long Greek alps named Pindos mountain ridge, with the highest top Smolikas (2.637m) in the west, Askio mountain (2.100m) next to the take-off, Voras mountain (2.500m) and Vermio mountain (2.100μ) in the east, and the highest mountain of Greece Olympus (2.917μ) close by in the south east region, and a local plateau of 600+m altitude, it has a well-established and active weather microsystem with great soaring conditions, very high cloud-bases and full of convergence lines in the valley through a normal day during the summer period.

The flying conditions are at its best in August, when a seasonal continental wind called «meltemi» settles above Greece from the North, dropping humidity from the close by sea, and transforming this magnificent country from an exotic beach paradise to a continental field of flying action that exceeds the expectations of a demanding racing or XC paragliding pilots. 

Cloud bases closing to 3.500-4.000 m are not rare in the area and conditions offer the opportunity to fly safely most of the days, with average XC speeds to reach 50kph - a level for World Speed Records as we saw during the 2024 competitions!!!

Another secret ingredient of the place is the many different terrain combinations that offer possibilities for different choices, such as out and return tasks, through the valley or from the mountains to all directions with a potential of more than 150km FAI triangles in a safe environment, optimizing the day tasks to the conditions and to terrain alternatives.

Combining the beautiful place, the reliable conditions and the nice people from Aetheria aeroclub, we have all the ingredients (ancient or contemporary) to offer you a unique paragliding experience of a next level in this flying Eldorado.

Looking forward!

Evangelos Tsoukas

Competition Meteo Forecasts