Race Rules

Race Rules

The SHPF X-Scotia Hike & Fly events are organised by a team of volunteers, led by Neil Rollings.

The events are individual Hike & Fly races, there will be no team places. Competitors are allowed, and strongly encouraged, to have at least one supporter for the race.

Event Format

The X-Scotia Hike & Fly will be a ‘points for peaks’ format as per previous years. This race format will see participants start from the central base camp and race to bag peaks in the surrounding area. Peaks will carry different point values according to their difficulty and distance from base camp.

For the first time in 2025, two races will be held: the classic two-day ‘Hardcore’ event, running Saturday-Sunday, and a new one-day event on the Saturday only.

Both races will follow the same ‘points for peaks’ format as in previous years – competitors aim to tag as many peaks as possible, on foot or in the air. Different peaks carry different point values, according to their difficulty and distance from the event base (see Location & Map).

Both races will begin on the Saturday morning – exact timings will be confirmed at the race briefing on the Friday evening. For the one-day event, competitors must return to the central event base camp before the designated cutoff on the Saturday evening.

The 2-day race is an overnight ‘vol-biv’ style race where participants are encouraged to spend Saturday night in the mountains during a mandatory rest period. The following morning, competitors continue to tag peaks but must make it back to Base Camp before the race ends.

All participants are invited to stay at base camp for the full weekend, to enjoy the prize giving and a BBQ social (and perhaps some free-flying on the Sunday for the 1-day event competitors!) Share your adventures with like minded pilots over food and beer.

During the 2-day race, on Saturday night there will be a mandatory rest period (details below), during which competitors cannot make scoring movements. Pilots are encouraged to camp or bivy in the hills and will receive bonus points for doing so (see scoring) although it is not mandatory.

Scoring will be done by Flymaster GPS tracking and failure to make it back to base on time will result in points being deducted.

Pilots’ Responsibility

All X-Scotia Hike & Fly participants are tracked and scored using Flymaster GPS tracking devices. Local mountain rescue services will be made aware that the event is underway. Despite these measures, the final decision to participate, run, walk or fly at any time remains the sole responsibility of those who choose to enter the event.

Event Location

The X-Scotia Hike & Fly will be held in Kintail (Morvich) in the West Highlands.

All potential participants are reminded that as stated above this is a HARDCORE MOUNTAIN HIKE & FLY RACE. Once the event is given the official green light the race will go ahead rain or shine. Those who are not committed to taking on the challenge in less than perfect conditions should not apply to take part.

Communications & Briefings

Prior to the event start time any announcements regarding changes in rules, briefing timings etc. will be made via the X-Scotia Competitors Telegram Group. During the event announcements will be made via Telegram and via satellite tracker devices.

E​vent registration​ will start on Friday evening during which competitors may be subjected to a kit inspection. Please arrive with your kit packed and ready to the extent it can be inspected.

A mandatory event safety briefing​ will take place on Friday evening, during which the organisers will discuss local weather and possible route options and demonstrate the tracking systems and the safety support systems in place. Pilots must share this information with their supporters.

A final safety and conditions briefing​ will take place on Saturday morning just before the race starts.

Compulsory Briefing & Start Time

The organisers may elect to start the briefing at an earlier time  in which case all participants will be informed over Telegram.

The race will begin at a time to be decided and announced at the Friday event safety briefing. Any change to this plan will be announced over Telegram.

Mandatory Rest Period Overnight – 2-day event only

A compulsory overnight rest period begins on Saturday evening at a time specified during the race brief.

In cases where the pilot is out of mobile coverage, they must send in the Satellite message “OK” to mark their position for the start of the rest period.

It will be up to each competitor to decide if they intend to bivy / wild camp, go to a campsite, sleep in a car / camper etc. While we feel its best to offer competitors a range of options, the organisers recommend spending the night in the hills to enjoy the full adventure experience and bonus points will be awarded to encourage this (see scoring).

If they have left for the night, the pilot must then report back to within 400 metres of the place they ended on the previous day, where they can then continue the race. The start point is marked by sending a further satellite message to the event organisers.

Methods of Movement

During race hours, the pilot can only elect to walk, run or fly. No other form of transport is allowed.

During the mandatory rest period the pilot can move using any form of transport.

Race Equipment

All entrants must be fully qualified to fly paragliders in the UK. They must be registered BHPA Members with a minimum of a Pilot Rating. Club Pilot or equivalent ratings are not sufficient to take part in the event and entrants without a full Pilot rating will not be allowed to participate in the race for insurance reasons.

The SHPF X-Scotia Hike & Fly is intended to be a cross-country flying & hiking race, therefore the use of paragliders with 15m2 or less (speedwings) are prohibited. It is also prohibited to fly with paragliders which have a wing loading greater than 6Kg/m2.

All flying equipment must be homologated and must comply with the latest edition of the following EN certification standards:

  • Paraglider: EN 926-2 and 926-1 or LTF 91/09 (inc. CCC FAI class), less than 7,2 aspect ratio
  • Harness: EN 1651 with certified protection, or LTF 91/09
  • Emergency parachute: EN 12491 or LTF 91/09
  • Helmet: EN966 or snowboarding EN 1077 class is accepted

All competitors are required to carry the below minimum equipment to fly:

  • Paraglider
  • Harness including certified back protection
  • Emergency parachute
  • Helmet: EN966 or snowboarding EN 1077 class
  • Mobile telephone (and backup charging facilities)
  • 2m band Radio (Race frequency = 143.675)
  • Backup GPS tracker device in addition to the live tracker supplied by the event organisers. (e.g. Spot / inReach, a PLB will not suffice). NOTE: your SatComm device must have Live Tracking and SOS capabilities.
  • A bivy or tent (2-day event only)
  • A headtorch

Competitors must be appropriately kitted out for fell running/walking during the race at all times.

Once the race starts, a pilot cannot change their selected equipment.

Special attention must be given to mapping or battery back-up for electronic navigation aids.

Flying Rules

All entrants hold final responsibility for their own safety, both flying and on the ground.

No scoring movements are allowed in the mandatory rest period.

Cloud flying is not allowed and will be penalised. The type of penalty applied will be agreed by the organisers but might include disqualification.

All pilots need to follow Air Law, UK flying code and rules of the BHPA at all times during the race.

Supporters

Competitors are very strongly encouraged to have at least one supporter during the race. Even if it is simply a person nominated to follow the participant’s progress and be available to liaise with the organisers. They should be roughly aware of the pilot’s likely route choice.

Pilots must inform the event organisers of the names and contact details of their supporter(s) before the compulsory safety briefing on the day of the race. Supporter(s) must try to remain accessible via mobile phone or satellite systems throughout the duration of the race.

Tracking

Competitors need to be in charge of the tracking device provided by event organisers. The FlyMaster Tracking Devices should have sufficient battery capacity for the duration of the race, however every competitor must carry their own GPS device to make a back-up recording of their track. Mobile coverage in the Highlands is quite limited.

End of Race

The races will end at set times (to be confirmed at the race briefing). No further scoring movements can be made after the race end time.

In any case where a competitor has not been able to make it back by the designated finish time, they must call in and return to base camp as soon as possible. Retrieve will be offered if necessary. Competitors will face a deduction to their points for late finishing (see scoring).
Any competitor may quit the race any time. However, they must inform the event organisers of their decision to do so. Failure to report quitting early will disbar the participant from future events!

Scoring

The race will be scored according to the ‘points for peaks’ format.

As a general rule 10 points will be awarded for the peaks most easily accessible from base camp, 15 points for further away peaks and 20 points for the most distant or challenging peaks.

All turn-points have a standard radius of 400 metres whether taken in the air or taken on foot.

The Scoring Radius is based on files provided by the race organisers only!

Tracklogs / Satellite tracking will be used to verify routes, flight and then for scoring. It is recommended that participants make back-up GPS tracklogs (IGC format) using their own instruments so that they can be submitted to supplement live tracking data acquired during the race if technical problems occur and to help verify any disputes.

Late finishers will have the following points deducted:

  • 10 points will be deducted from the pilot score for each ten minutes of lateness.
  • From the 1st second past the finish time, 10 points will be deducted, 20 at 10 minutes and 1 second, up to 60 points at finish time plus 50mins and 1 second.
  • Returning to base camp more than an hour late scores zero points.

Bivvi Bonus – 2-day event only

A 20 point bonus will be awarded to pilots who choose to camp or bivvi independently in the mountains on Saturday night.

Please Note that the bonus will only be awarded if the pilot carries their own camping kit (tent/bivvi bag, food, etc) AND camps at least 5km from the race HQ in Morvich. The bonus will NOT be awarded for pilots who spend the night in a campervan/motorhome.

Bad Weather

After the official green light has been given to indicate the event will go ahead, should we face bad weather/rain or poor flying conditions, the races will still take place. In this case competitors may elect to get into hill running (or walking) mode for the day (see below).

Hill Running Mode

On each competition day, competitors can elect to leave their flying kit behind at base camp or with their supporter for the whole day and enter ‘hill running mode’. Organisers will not facilitate transport of gear to or from competitors utilising ‘hill running mode’. 

To do this they must inform organisers using the X-Scotia Competitors telegram group or satellite message BEFORE racing begins on that day. This must be before the official race start on Saturday or before Sunday when the mandatory rest period ends. You cannot change this decision during the day even if the weather improves and becomes flyable.

In ‘Hill running mode’ it remains mandatory to carry the following:

  • Mobile telephone with backup charging facilities
  • 2m band Radio (Race frequency 143.700)
  • GPS 2-way messaging device (e.g. Spot X / InReach)
  • A bivy or tent (2-day event only)
  • A headtorch
  • Suitable outdoor clothing

By utilising hill running mode, all points scored on that day will have a factorial value applied that reduces the value of the peaks bagged during that day (For instance: if the organisers deem that the factorial should be 0.8 for the day in question then a score of 100 points bagged in the day would be reduced to 80 points – a 20% penalty). This factorial will be announced at the pre-start briefing on Saturday morning and via the X-Scotia Competitors telegram group on Sunday morning.

Note: the event organisers reserve the right to remove this penalty if they agree that no competitor should fly and that ALL participants should leave their flying kit behind.

Event Conclusion & Prizes

We aim to conclude the scoring of the race by finish time plus 60 minutes on Sunday. Prize-giving for both races will follow. Trophies will be awarded for first place, plus additional prizes for second and third places as well as some ‘spot’ prizes provided by our various sponsors.

After the prize-giving, all pilots and their supporters are invited to join us for a BBQ. Everyone is invited to stay Sunday night to enjoy a beer with fellow pilots to share their adventures before departing the following morning.

Back Up Weekend

In the scenario that the event has to be postponed from the primary race dates due very poor weather, the event will take place the following weekend assuming the weather is more suitable and all competitors will be notified via Telegram and Email. If the weather remains extremely poor on the second weekend the event will be cancelled and entry fees will be refunded to competitors.

Entry Fees

The cost of entry to compete in the SHPF X-Scotia Hike & Fly will be shown on the Airtribune registration form. Payment should be made to the SHPF via bank transfer. Bank details will be passed directly to successful applicants.

Application

The number of participants in the SHPF X-Scotia Hike & Fly will not be strictly limited to a specific number, however we will aim for at least a third of the competitors to be Scottish pilots as this is a Scottish event supported by the Scottish Hang-gliding and Paragliding Federation.

Application for places will be made using the Airtribune system and places will not be granted on a first come / first serve system. Applicants deemed suitable will be offered a place in the race and must pay the race entry fee to the SHPF by bank transfer to secure their place in the event.

Cancellation & Refunds

Once entrants have applied and paid their entry fee to secure a place in the race there will be no refunds given should the entrant decide not to take part. If the organisers are forced to cancel the event at any stage then all fees will be offered for refund to entrants. 

In both instances entrants may opt to allow their unused entry fee to go forward for donation to the Scottish Hang Gliding and Paragliding Federation.

‘No shows’ for any event will NOT be eligible for refund and no entry fee will be carried forward for future events.

Commitment

Organising an event of this nature takes a significant amount of time and effort. All the race organisers volunteer their time, energy and resources to make this unique event possible. We do this to encourage the continued growth of Hike & Fly Racing in the stunning Scottish Highlands and give adventurous pilots a chance to compete in this fantastic mountain environment. 

Please only enter this event if you are committed to racing – come rain or shine (this is Scotland, after all)!

Rule Changes

At the discretion of the organisers, rules published in these pages may be adjusted/changed and will be notified as early as possible to all registered participants.