Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2022 / January 2023 i Cross Country

The Red Bull X-Alps has announced its line-up – with 17 rookies joining 18 veterans for the 2023 edition of the race. The line-up also includes five women, the most ever entered in one edition. Seven-time winner Chrigel Maurer (SUI1) will be under pressure. Hard on his heels will be Maxime Pinot (FRA1), racing for the third time, and Swiss teammate Patrick von Känel, as well as Simon Oberrauner (AUT1) and Aaron Durogati (ITA2). Plus, look out for “two new distinct generations,” says veteran race watcher and former X-Alps pilot Tom Payne. “There are those who cut their teeth in the last two races. Damien Lacaze (FRA2) was top rookie in 2021, and Yael Margelisch (SUI3) who not only took the highest ever female position but was also third rookie…

Think of Brazil in October and you might think of long-distance XC in the northeast, or flying Christ in Rio de Janeiro. But in October pilots held the first ever Curitiba Hike-and-Fly race in the south of the country. Held at the popular flying site of Morro da Palha, about an hour from the city of Curitiba, organisers welcomed pilots from six states across Brazil. Based on a typical hike-and-fly race, but in Brazilian heat and scenery, the weekend event saw two task days and two classes: Hard and Easy. “The routes were created to offer a good level of safety without losing the challenging aspects,” said the race committee’s Ericsson Souza. “We were looking for the right balance between hiking and flying.” On day one a 50km race through…

As pilots we are more in tune with the seasons than most people. Nonetheless, it is important to have a solid understanding of why we have seasons and what that means for flying weather at different latitudes. First and foremost, it is necessary to consider the Earth’s axial tilt of approximately 23.5º from a line that is perpendicular to the Earth’s orbital plane around the Sun. The origin of this tilt is explained by the giant impact hypothesis. It states that 4.5 billion years ago an object the size of Mars collided with the Earth creating our Moon and at the same time significantly tilting the Earth’s axis of rotation with respect to Earth’s orbital plane around the Sun. The tilt of the Earth This axial tilt is also known…

Jack Peake is a mechanical engineer turned helicopter pilot who started flying paragliders four years ago. “What do I love about paragliding? I get to meet people who inspire me – and there’s always more to learn.” This issue he spoke to Luc Armant to get the lowdown on the new Submarine harness, p50 Andy Busslinger gets all the good jobs. A professional travel and sports photographer from Switzerland he’s always on hand to help document mountain adventures in the Bernese Oberland. This issue he and Kari Eisenhut went heli-skiing without the heli – thermal power all the way. See p64 Ben Horton was awarded the National Geographic Society’s first ever Young Explorer Grant for his work tracing the illegal shark fishing industry 15 years ago. Since then he’s become a full-time adventure…

I learned to fly on the coast in California in 2004, then I went to Bir, India, with about 10 hours airtime. I did my first XC flights there, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I worked as a tandem and parahawking pilot in Nepal for several seasons. I also flew tandems in Spain and Austria. Then during the pandemic, I shifted my focus to academia. I dropped out of university when I was younger. I couldn’t sit still and focus. I moved to London, where I trained as a hairstylist at Vidal Sassoon. I went back to work as a hairstylist in California but shortly after, I learned to fly, and like all of us, I was obsessed! I wanted to travel and fly all the time. I quit my…

25 YEARS AGO XC54 (Dec 1997): “Many years ago I heard of a meteorological theory that is little known in the free flying world, yet I have found it very useful when trying to understand he way clouds and thermals form in flatlands,” wrote Bruce Goldsmith. He was talking about the Hexagon Theory, which, he explained, “came from a study done in the Sahara desert, with no distinguishing [ground] features except thousands of evenly distributed dunes.” After months of work, researchers realised that clouds “will form in a pattern, a series of hexagons linked together like a bee’s honeycomb.” In nil-wind, “each side will be consistently 6km long”. In the centre of the hexagons is an area of sinking air – what we all know as a blue hole. The…

Even though I’d made it very public that I was not going to apply for the 2023 Red Bull X-Alps and had my head solidly around the idea of not participating this time around (never say never!) seeing the athletes announced in October was unkind to my ego. The X-Alps has defined a good portion of the last decade of my life, and losing my moniker “USA 1” was a rather bitter pill to swallow. I remember the first time I applied back in 2014 for the 2015 race – the two long months of waiting and wondering and hoping and the absolute astonishment and joy of finding out I’d made the cut, and then the flood of being totally overwhelmed. The race was nine months away. Thousands of hours…

LAKES IN KAZAKHSTAN A chain of small lakes in western Kazakhstan that sit just below sea level were seen to turn incredible colours over the summer. Taken in June from the International Space Station, these lakes, linked by the Ashiozek River, were photographed as evaporation was increasing the salinity of the water, allowing different species of salt-loving microorganisms to thrive. The different salinity and temperature in each lake influence the microbe species that flourishes, and thus display varying colours. FLOODING DOWN UNDER Waves of heavy rainfall left vast areas of eastern Australia under water in October. By the end of the month, swollen rivers flooded landscapes from southern Queensland and New South Wales to northern Victoria. This image was captured on 27 October, and spans the NSW/Queensland border. The flooding…

EPSILON DLS The Epsilon DLS is the 10th generation of Advance’s Epsilon. Advance call it their “lightweight, fun all-rounder”. DLS stands for Durable Lightweight Structure, and Advance say it means significantly reduced weight for no loss of durability. The smallest Epsilon DLS is 3.45kg – the same size Epsilon 9 was 4.15kg. It is certified EN B and aimed at intermediate pilots who are progressing their skills and gaining cross-country experience. Its weight makes it ideal for hike-and-fly and travel too. First deliveries are expected in February, and it can be ordered with optional lightweight risers with soft links. advance.swiss ILLUSION 2 The Illusion 2 is Mac Para’s new mid-B. They say it has the same safe and easy handling as the original Illusion, with more performance. It’s a progression…

I was very happy when I discovered that they had changed the EN testing system to allow collapse lines. I knew it would open the door for two-liner technology to bleed down to the lower classes. I have long said that nowadays flying a two-liner is indistinguishable to its three-liner counterpart. I truly believe that when flying at speed it is safer to have the extra connection with your wing that a two-liner brings. When I flew the Volt 4 the first thing I realised was that it is a true EN-C and not a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It truly belongs in the EN-C category – it’s not an EN-D glider shoehorned into a different category. If you are used to flying EN-D or CCC two-liners the first thing…

WHAT’S ON PWCA Superfinal 2022 The Paragliding World Cup Superfinal heads to Valle de Bravo, Mexico in December for a two-week end-of-season showdown with 11 days of competition. This is the highest calibre event in the paragliding calendar. 6-17 December. pwca.org Forbes Flatlands Organisers will be hoping that Forbes, NSW, Australia will have dried out in time for the annual Forbes Flatlands HG competition, from 18-26 January. The region experienced its worst floods in 50 years in November – something meteorologists put down to La Niña. forbesflatlands.com Pre-PWC South Africa Porterville, South Africa is hosting a Pre-PWC just ahead of Christmas. Head here for a blast of sunshine and flatland flying 120km NE of Cape Town. Dates 11-17 December. airtribune.com Las Candelas 2023 Las Candelas, the traditional start to the…

The PWCA Asian Tour was re-launched in October with a closely fought competition in Mungyeong, in the centre of South Korea. The competition, which was the first PWCA Asian Tour event since February 2020, attracted pilots from 19 countries and was won by Martin Jovanoski (MK, Gin Boomerang 12). Chigwon Won (KR, Niviuk Icepeak X-One) was second overall and first Asian. Jinhee Baek (KR, Ozone Zeno 2) was first woman. The competition was sadly hit by tragedy, when a local pilot died following an in-flight incident. The accident was under investigation at the time of writing and organisers requested privacy for the pilot and their family. Launched in 2019 just before the pandemic, the PWCA Asian Tour was designed to promote high-level competition across Asia. The PWCA’s Ruth Jessop explained:…

When you learn to fly, you are told it is dangerous to launch with the wind beyond 45 degrees off “straight up the slope”. Crosswinds cause turbulence. So why would you launch in a crosswind? In hike-and-fly, you often cannot reach a perfect launch slope. It might have taken hours to get to your chosen peak, and the weather might have changed. The forecast might be wrong. Or you just need to get off the mountain before the rain comes in. If you can do it safely, there’s no reason to restrict yourself to “perfect direction”. But it can be risky to ignore the dangers of the crosswind. So what to do? In this article I’ll show you how to keep yourself safe on a steep slope. Here are 10…

Stretching out my left leg, straining every sinew, I thrust my foot towards the target. This is not my average weekend flight. Accuracy. The strange cousin of paragliding. An oddity, a throwback to a simpler era when descent was the only possibility. But I’m here, and because I think my son’s watching, I’m desperate to hit the target. Strictly speaking, I’m not actually entered in the SkyOut Hike-and-Fly Bullseye competition. As per the title, the rules dictate that you hike up the course with all your gear, fly down and try to land in the middle of the bullseye target situated lakeside. I failed at the first. I didn’t hike-and-fly. I was “Hike-and-Finn”. This was a father-and-son adventure and he carried the gear. He doesn’t fly. He lugged 17 kilos…

William Shatner foot-launched a paramotor for his 13th and final time in 2002. It was part of his last official act as Captain Kirk. He did this flight primarily for fun, but it was also his entrance into a charity paintball match between the Federation and Klingons (from the Star Trek franchise). And it required a dead-calm forward inflation which he pulled off nicely, albeit with help. There’s a remarkably low-budget production called Spplat Attack available on Amazon, complete with some of my aerial footage of him in flight. He was 72 years old and not exactly a paragon of fitness. He explained that if we could help him launch, he’d be fine on the landing, probably landing on his butt, which he did. Your fitness I’m of average fitness…

Buying a paraglider in the EN-B class is not an easy task. Almost all manufacturers have more than one EN-B in their product range, and most have more than two. Swing has four – or six, if you include the Apus RS and Apus Hike RS mini-wings. Before we have a closer look at the new Nyos 2 RS, we asked Lars Pongs, sales manager at Swing, to guide us through their product range. A wing to suit the pilot The Miura RS is positioned at the border between the EN-A and EN-B class. It’s designed to be your first wing after getting your licence and it is the obvious choice for many recreational pilots. The Serac RS is a lightweight wing for hike-and-fly. Although it is a mid-level EN-B…

If you’re looking for something to carry your lightweight paragliding kit, you are absolutely spoiled for choice. Long gone are the days where you had to “make do” with a sack-of-potatoes glider bag or a rucksack designed for something other than loading a paraglider into. Today, there is a specialist piece of kit for everything – and that includes what you pack your flying gear into. Kortel are based in the foothills of Mont Blanc, so they have the perfect testing ground for their mountain flying harnesses, rucksacks and accessories. They also have a dream team of pilots and athletes on board, including top ski-mountaineering athlete and trail runner turned pilot Laetitia Roux who helped design the K17; and skier and mountain guide Mathéo Jacquemoud who worked on the K27.…