The contest flying area covers territories and regions that, although quite close, offer weather conditions which may be very different one from the other.
The natural border with Austria divides the area into two parts, which generally have different barometric situations. Sometimes this natural boundary moves to South, so Carnia is included in a more alpine weather; sometimes it moves almost to the foothills. This means that in case of particularly stable conditions, the tendency to thunderstorms on the mountains stops on the alpine area and allows to fly in the Pre-alps; on the other side, if in the flatland there are stable conditions, most of all in summer, in Carnia we have fresh air and a higher cloud base, as well as in the close Austrian valleys, where altitudes increase of more than 500 – 1000 meters.
The contest flying area also offers the interesting possibility of flying in the flatlands. Usually the best flying conditions are when mountain flight is not allowed by the low cloud base or by the typical overdevelopment in the afternoon. For example, in post-frontal conditions it is possibile to fly large distances with only 1000 meters of maximum altitude, which usually increase from early afternoon to the evening. In the Friuli region winds are usually moderate. Breezes increase their intensity proportionally to the reduction of the valleys section, but rarely reach speeds which can be dangerous for Hang Gliding pilots. In the whole contest flying area, the tendency of breezes follows the sun course.
In the morning winds are from E/ SE, in the afternoon from S/SW. However, all the foothills area is set along the axis SW / NE from the boundary with the Veneto region up to Gemona del Friuli, while follows the direction NW / SE going from there up to Gorizia. This creates a kind of “funnel” which conveys the breezes to the middle of the contest flying area. With northern winds, rare in summer, and thanks to the protection offered by the Alps, it is possible to fly on the Pre-Alps, taking advantage of the strength of breezes and thermal winds of the South-facing slopes. Thanks to the variety of weather conditions, it is quite always possible to fly long distances, also changing the flying areas during the day.
Flying back from Austria is possible in the last afternoon, thanks to the weaker breezes from South and to the presence of thermals on the North slopes of the boundary ridges, while flights to and from Slovenia are always possible thanks to absence of a natural border.