European Cliff Diving Championship in Ponte Brolla

"Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down."
Ray Bradbury, American author

Since 1992 International cliff diving competition, such as Swiss Open Championships, European Championships and World Championships have taken place in the magic Maggia Valley. With its countless breathtakingly beautiful, natural swimming pools, often surrounded by steep granite cliffs, the Maggia Valley belongs to one of the most spectacular natural settings for cliff diving in the world.

Fifteen times already, athletes have shown their technical skills in the Canyon of Ponte Brolla in this spectacular competition for men and women, divided in different categories in an exciting programme.

Thanks to the force of gravity, the human body needs just 3 seconds to fall 20 m, reaching a speed of almost 100 km/h. Formula 1 acceleration, without belts or helmet, and equipped only with a swimsuit and teeth protection.

A little history of Cliff Diving:

Cliff Diving’s birth place is on the tiny Hawaiian Island Lana’i. At the island’s South Western point lies Kaunolu which was an inhabited village, but is now a sacred ruin place. Verified by documents are the first Cliff Dives from Kahekili, chief of four Islands, who “flew” from the 63 feet Cliffs at Kaunolu in 1770. To prove loyalty and courage, Kahekili forced his warriors to follow his example. Legends say that Kahekili, nicknamed “birdman”, was flying from cliffs up to 400 feet (122 meters). Later, under King Kamehameha I, there were Cliff-Diving competitions held at Kaunolu. The Hawaiian expressions „lele kawa“ (diving without splash) and „lele pahu“ (diving with a lot of splash), testify to this past.

So head out to Ponte Brolla next weekend, reserve a table at the trendy Restaurant "Da Enzo" and after a delicious lunch, you'll be able to witness three breath-taking dives and perfect flying stunts from 13,15 and 20 m into the river Maggia.

Training will start on Friday, July 22nd, 2011. The competition will take place on Saturday, July 23rd at 14:00. For more info click on World High Diving Federation here: www.whdf.com