Everything came together in Switzerland in mid-September: A few of the best freestylers in the world, who had already prepared for the FPT foil and tow-in contest who had travelled to Geneva, happened to encounter a powerful iron storm in summer temperatures. They were joined by talented photographer Boris Ackermann, who captured the spectacle in marvellous light.
I was pretty impressed - it was really banging. The wave was really good and the guys and girls really put on an impressive show on the water. A great start to the autumn. (Boris Ackermann)
The bise brings top conditions to Switzerland
In winter, it is damp, icy cold and particularly nasty, while in summer the Bise brings dry air and temperatures appropriate to the season. It is a north-easterly blowing wind that squeezes over the Swiss Plateau between the Jura and the Alps and gains significant speed due to this channelling effect, particularly in the Lake Geneva region. The elongated shape of the lake to the north-east creates fat jump ramps (or "lake knockers", as Balz Müller affectionately calls them) in strong winds, which repeatedly provides Swiss windsurfers with powerful bump-and-jump conditions.
What could be better than having the freestyle elite in your home country on a surf day like this? That was always my childhood dream. 4.0 sails and fat sea-knockers - these are the days I live for. (Balz Müller)
Inland surfers can rejoice when an area of high pressure settles over the northern part of Central Europe and a parallel area of low pressure circles over the Mediterranean. Switzerland lies exactly between the two pressure influences and is ventilated by a constant north-easterly current. The stronger the low pressure activity in the Mediterranean region, the stronger the Bise becomes. In the west of Switzerland, in the "wind tunnel" between the Jura and the Alps, it can reach gale force, while at the same time in German-speaking Switzerland the wind speed is a moderate 20 knots.
However, normal water sports enthusiasts can only look forward to such weather conditions during the summer months, as the breeze brings ice-cold air from the north-east with high humidity in winter and at the same time prevents the low-pressure systems coming from the Atlantic from circulating over Central Europe. These ensure comparatively mild, surfable temperatures, while the breeze often causes Balz Müller's boom to freeze on the water. When the photos in the photo gallery were taken in September, the continental air flowing in from the north-east was still pleasantly warm and Balz was able to really let rip with his friends for several hours with a short-legged neo and sufficient grip on the boom.
Balz Müller about the Bise
Before the Foilstyle and Tow-in event of the Freestyle Pro Tour in Geneva, we had five days in a row of full-throttle breeze, around 30-40 knots of easterly wind. These great pictures were taken on Lake Geneva on the last day of the wind phase. Is there anything better than having the freestyle elite in your home country on a surf day like this? I don't think so, because that was always my childhood dream. 4.0 sails and fat sea-knockers - these are the days I live for. I was finally able to show my friends the potential of our Swiss lakes. I mean, we get really fat conditions here from time to time - so we don't have to hide.
Some of the waves were shoulder-high on this day and you can head towards them at full speed in the centre of the lake and fling yourself into the air for every trick imaginable. Having the world's freestyle elite around you was simply amazing and an extra boost of motivation to leave your comfort zone. Lennart Neubauer shouted at me on the very first jump: "Shifty Darkside, Shifty Darkside!", which means trying the trick on your worse, "dark" side, i.e. everyone has a favourite and an unloved side when it comes to jumps like this. The "dark side" describes the latter. And lo and behold, thanks to Lennart's motivation, I immediately landed the Shifty on my "darkside" with my right foot in front. I keep realising that it doesn't take much to leave your comfort zone. There comes a point when you feel indestructible and you just go for it. You just have to feel good about it, then you really push yourself.
And that was definitely the case for us that day. We threw ourselves into double loops, double air culos and so on ... I briefly had the feeling that the triple culo in the air would also work - that will surely come soon. It was one of those days when you push the limit and have the opportunity to push the sport further. And when someone like Boris Ackermann captures it on camera, it really brings it all together. Boris ran up and down the beach, from left to right, he was one hundred per cent on the job, and that in the full blast of the breeze.
Wind, scenery and riders - everything was perfect on this day
The "nasty bise" or "crisis with the bise", as we say. Lake Geneva is something very special in bise, it's huge. Due to the elongated, north-easterly shape of the lake, the wind has almost 60-70 kilometres to pile up a decent wave all the way to Geneva. You almost feel like you're at sea out there with so much wind. Many people don't realise that you can get really juicy bump-and-jump conditions in Switzerland, even if the breeze in particular is rather rare. I would say that you can count the number of strong wind days from the north-east this year on one hand. But there are also the "normal" westerly wind storms and the foehn. The Bise usually pays us a visit in the depths of winter, in combination with incredibly cold temperatures. So it was all the nicer that it was still pleasantly warm on this particular day in September. In addition, in the south of the lake there is this impressive backdrop in front of the town, where every now and then an old steamboat with a large Swiss flag ploughs through. What a scenery and what a great playground! Really. I was blown away.
When I went to bed at night, everything was spinning and my head was buzzing from the many failed double loop attempts. I thought that if there was wind again tomorrow, I wouldn't stand a chance in the contest - I might not even make it onto the board. But the breeze died down overnight as forecast. The next day, the water was as smooth as glass. And I was already looking forward to the next storm. I can hardly wait for the nasty breeze to show its face again.
