At least once, in the summer, I absolutely must stay at Camping Maloja in Engadin, Switzerland, one of the most beautiful campsites in the world. If I can also match it with two days of windsurfing on Lake Silvaplana, the trip becomes simply perfect.

 

Windsurfing, report: Silvaplana, Engadin, 20-21/09/2025

 

This year, I almost missed my summer event. I arrived on the last weekend of the summer, finally finding the time and weather conditions to camp at Plaun Curtinac, in Maloja, in Engadine. With my recently converted van, I braved the cool Engadine nights.

Coming here is a 360-degree experience. I never get tired of admiring the majestic views of this valley, with some timeless corners, where an unreal quiet still reigns, in contrast to this increasingly chaotic world.

Given the interesting wind forecast (precisely announced in the Waterwind forum), I headed up to Silvaplana on Saturday morning (read the spot review). Along the way, I met up with Matteo. At the spot, we also met Nico.

 

 

 

Click here for the weekend slide gallery

In short, Lake Silvaplana gave us two good days for water sports. Saturday was a magnificent sunny day with still mild temperatures, unthinkable for September 20th, in these parts, just little time ago. The thermal southerly wind started with decent intensity, albeit with gusts.

I went out with the Ezzy Wave 5.8 and the Tabou 3S 96, obviously set up as a single fin with an MFC k-One 27. It was a fun session, although a bit tiring due to the unstable wind. But it didn't matter. The view on the water was spectacular, with thrilling colors and light.

There were many enthusiasts at the spot, many wingfoilers, with the resulting need to be careful when riding (unfortunately, many wingfoilers don't look behind them, nor can they see ahead, due to the sail).

For the evening, after considering the camping sit right at the spot, I decided not to betray Camping Maloja, so we set up camp at Plaun Curtinac, a clearing in the middle of the woods, on the shore of Lake Sils, which truly gives you the feeling of free camping, surrounded by nature. After a nice hot shower, I cooked a hearty pasta dish with tomato sauce and fed Matteo, who had come here, thinking he was still in Greece, and was almost freezing both in the water (his 4/3 wetsuit had holes in it) and on land (with only a couple of sweatshirts). These young men really need to be explained everything...

The next morning, I woke up with 5°C, but in paradise. Once the sun rose, after 7:00, I took a magnificent walk along the lakeside, admiring a panorama that reconciled me somewhat with the world and calmed my ever-so-restless soul. Then, I noticed that Lake Sils was starting to ripple around Isola...

We then returned to Silvaplana, after inspecting a few other potential spots, since Emiliano (a Sardinian from Carbonia in Silvaplana!) confirmed that the wind had already arrived at the spot by 10:30.

I entered the water around 11:30, not having much time available due to family commitments in the afternoon, with the same equipment as the previous day. The wind was stronger and more fun than the previous day, although still a bit unstable, as is typical here.

 

 

 

I had a lot of fun, especially towards the end of the session, when the wind increased to 5.3 and even more constant. The water surface in Silvaplana is fantastic, allowing for fluid maneuvers and helping you think about the right movements. I learned the fast backwinded tack on starboard tack here.

In the water, I noticed an Italian guy, using JP and Neil Pryde freestyle gear (I was later told it was from Yentel Caers), who was gliding continuously with a 5.2, landing clean spocks and flakas. Hats off.

Matteo (who's a light weight) demonstrated that it was possible to get planing even with a 4.8 - see the video - but next time, he'd better bring a larger size.

I left the spot around 2:00 PM, a little disappointed, but also grateful for the great weekend I'd had.

Ciao. Fabio 

Click here for the weekend slide gallery