Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2026 i Cross Country

The new year arrives with a promise of new ambitions, horizons and expectations. We can put last year’s flying year to bed and look towards the next. For many it will be a time to regroup, re-think and re-commit. For others it will be a time to dive into a new world as they head off to Mexico, Colombia, South Africa… For those in the southern hemisphere the season is in full bore, the long days, long distance and big commitment of flying in Manilla or Wilderness putting all the skills to the test. Talk of dust devils and 200km flights, pushing for 300 on the best days for the best pilots, learning about flatlands, gaggle flying, dealing with overdevelopment, gliding into the sunset. In the mountains of New Zealand…

The Stubai Cup traditionally marks the start of the paragliding season in the Alps, with a big testival over a long weekend in early March. Founded more than 30 years ago the festival usually takes place in Neustift im Stubaital, near Innsbruck, Austria. However, this year it’s not happening – local organisers ParaFly are renovating their school and buildings. “Unfortunately our usual event facilities and the base for Stubaicup 2026 will not be available, which means we will not be able to hold the event this year,” they said. They plan to be back in 2027. In the meantime, if you are looking for somewhere to test-fly wings early in the season there are several weekend testivals in Europe that might fit the bill. They include: Norma Expo Just under…

A team of four pilots successfully flew from the summit of South America’s highest mountain in December. Colby Barrett, Marshall Mosher and Landon Paschall from the USA joined guide Pierre Carter (ZA) in what was a rare successful climb-and-fly of the 6,962m mountain in Argentina in nil-wind conditions on 15 December. Marshall, who flew a brand new Flare Bandit 16m 2 parakite, said the whole flight and trip was amazing. “The climb was more difficult than I had expected, but I didn’t have experience with high altitude mountains before so it was definitely a good learning experience,” he said. “The launch site is perfect for a south wind but we were shocked to find an almost wind-free day. Really glad we were able to make it work though!” He said…

25 YEARS AGO XC72 (Dec 2000/Jan 2001). The late, great Jimmy Hall wrote a site guide – love letter – to Oahu, Hawaii. “If you are lucky you might catch the glass-off and find yourself at 3,000ft over downtown Honolulu, as happened to Peter Michelmore of Gravity Sports. If you are unlucky, 250 people will call the police and your glider will be taken on landing, as happened to Peter Michelmore of Gravity Sports.” Fortunately his gear was returned after he paid a $25 fine. Other dangers await. “Overflying top secret military installations in the range’s deep valleys will likely bring a Blackhawk helicopter escort out of the area.” Elsewhere, “You just might find yourself coring a 10m/s thermal until you are looking down on the very top of Oahu.…

Fifty Ways to Fly Better was published back in 2013 and went on to become a best-selling textbook and a fixture on pilot reading lists worldwide. Following that first edition it was reprinted many times, translated into eight languages and sold thousands of copies around the world. The original book was aimed at pilots who were already qualified and who wanted a guidebook to help them progress in the sport: from Choosing the Right Glider (chapter 1, by Robbie Whittall) to Competition Flying (chapter 49, by Bruce Goldsmith). Drawing on numerous articles in Cross Country magazine and leading with Bruce Goldsmith’s popular Icaristics column of the day it was packed with advice from some of the most experienced pilots in the sport. Insight from designers, instructors, coaches and experts meant…

The final week of November 2025 was devastating for several South Asian countries. Communities in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand were inundated as Cyclones Ditwah and Senyar unleashed days of relentless rain. Millions were affected, more than 1,500 people lost their lives, hundreds are still missing, and damages ran into multiple millions of US dollars. Sri Lanka’s president even described it as the most challenging natural disaster the island has ever seen. When disasters like this happen, the blame often falls on a failure in early warnings or poor preparedness. This was the case with major floods in Kerala, south India, in 2018, which devastated my hometown. But this time, the forecasts were largely accurate; the authorities knew the storms were coming, yet the devastation was still immense. So, if…

Panchgani is an Indian hill station in the Western Ghats of southern India. The Western Ghats, also known as the Sayahadri mountain range, stretch 1,600km north to south along the western coast of India, from Gujarat in the north to Tamil Nadu in the south. Panchgani is in Maharashtra state, about five hours’ drive from Mumbai, or three from Pune. It sits at about 1,300m above sea level and is known for its picturesque landscape of flat volcanic tablelands. The name Panchgani means ‘five hills’ and it was developed as a summer retreat by the British colonialists in 1860. It retains something of that atmosphere, with colonial-style architecture and tree-lined avenues in the small town. Home to several elite boarding schools it is where Freddie Mercury went to school, got…

BGD TYPHOON BGD’s new Typhoon is a lightweight reflex paramotor wing “made for adventuring”. Sportier and faster than BGD’s progression wing, the Blizzard, the Typhoon is aimed at intermediate to advanced pilots. “Light and durable materials mean it’s easy to launch, handles beautifully and packs small for travelling,” say BGD. They add it’s playful but also easy to handle. The wing is available in three sizes (20, 23 and 26). BGD recommend flying a bit lower in the weight range for more “chilled reactions” if you’re lighter on experience. BGD also recently released the Icon aimed at freestyle paramotor pilots. paramotor.flybgd.com NIVIUK LINK 3 The Niviuk Link 3 is the new beginners’ wing from the Spanish company and is aimed at pilots who are starting to fly independently and progress…

Hanna Klinbeil Canale is a sophomore at Yale studying ethics, politics, and economics and is the multimedia managing editor of Yale’s The Politic magazine. Born in Mexico City she now lives in Connecticut and enjoys travelling, hiking, running – and hopefully soon paragliding too. See p64 Horacio Llorens and Tom de Dorlodot have been paragliding together for 15 years. Since first travelling through Africa together they have both carved out careers as pro pilots, making a living in the sport they love. This issue they share the story of their unique night flight over Egypt’s pyramids – p48 Adi Geisegger is a professional photographer who lives and flies in southern Germany but travels the world in search of the story and the shot. This issue we feature his photo stories…

It started out as a hike-and-fly academy, a small grassroots project kicked off by the X-Alps winner Chrigel Maurer to share his knowledge to a new generation of pilots. Fast forward several years and today the Swiss hike-and-fly league is setting the bar for running academies and comps – and at a level that’s very high. At the end of last season an awards ceremony took place for the league – and the results reveal a sport that’s booming. Over 250 pilots competed in a total of 12 national events from May to October. (The French Hike and Fly Championship by contrast, organised by the FFVL, brings together three events). Many of the events are well established, such as Vercofly, established in 2009 and Eigertour, now in its ninth year.…

I’m originally from Mexico but I’m Spanish now. For the past 17 years I’ve been based on Gran Canaria. I don’t think there are many people out there with more tandem flights than me. Normally in winter, I’m doing 15 to 20 on one day, an average of 2,500 flights per year. I believe I’ve completed over 30,000 flights. When I was 14 I saw this Canadian guy being towed by 15 or 20 people with a rope on a beach. Then my friend calls me and says, “Hey man, I just bought a four-wheel-drive. I’m ready for crazy things to do.” And I’m like, okay, let me talk to this guy on the beach. The guy on the beach explained it’s called paragliding. I said, “Can you sell this…

When I started paragliding I finally realised my dream of becoming a bird, but I quickly discovered that my body and mind were holding me back. For the first four years’ flying, during every mountain flight, I would get sick and throw up. None of my friends had this problem, and they happily advanced in their flying progression. Meanwhile, I would hit a wall just before two hours’ flying and either throw up in the air or nearly make it to the ground and feel terrible, sometimes dry heaving on final approach. I was flying like a bird, but sick as a dog. The Nasa experience Motion sickness was not a new experience for me, as I got sick on car trips as a kid, and I raced sailboats in…

Paragliding: 101 Ways to Fly Better is designed to help pilots progress through the sport. With hundreds of photos and illustrations throughout it includes everything pilots need to know to help them learn the art of thermalling and flying XC. It includes dedicated sections on equipment, thermals, flatland flying, mountain flying, hike-and-fly, SIV, safety, sports psychology and more, and brings our techniques and knowledge base right up to date. Choosing Equipment From choosing the right glider and getting the right size to knowing when it’s the right time to step up. Plus, how to maintain your kit. Fundamentals Managing tricky launches, active flying, pitch control, rear-riser control, using your speedbar, top-landing and learning to fly your own way. Thermals and Thermalling From understanding the cumulus cycle and predicting where thermals…

MIAMI AND CUBA An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this oblique view of the Florida Peninsula and Cuba at night. The photograph reveals the bright centre of the Moon’s reflection point, known as moonglint, reflecting off the water surface. Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, appears as a bright spot about 320km offshore from Miami. Small towns along the Florida Keys create a faint but discernible string of lights. South of the Keys lies Havana, Cuba’s capital. ATMOSPHERIC RIVER Waves of heavy rainfall in December led to landslides and flooding in parts of the Pacific Northwest. The deluge was the result of a potent atmospheric river that started around 7 December. Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow bands of moisture that move like rivers in the sky, transporting water…

Flymaster obs tacles update Flymaster’s latest firmware upgrade now displays dangerous obstacles such as power lines and cable cars. It’s also possible to receive messages via the Livetracking portal. flymaster.net Wing Rental A new rental service has started in France where you can rent wings for short or longterm. Wings start at around €160 a month. locawing.fr Neo rain cover For those times when you really can’t escape the elements, Neo’s rain cover (125g for size M) will keep your wing from getting wet. neo-backpacks.fr Ozone Ninja balaclava Forget the two-buff combo. The perfect solution for flying in cold temperatures is a balaclava. Make it the Ninja. flyozone.com…

Austrian company AirDesign was founded in 2011 by former paragliding world champion Stephan Stiegler and Martin Gostner. They found quick success in the world of hikeand-fly with the lightweight SuSi and in the XC world with the Rise series (EN B), Volt (EN C) and Hero (EN D). At the end of last year they announced that well known Swiss pilot Michael Witschi is buying into the business, and that they will be moving the company HQ from Austria to Switzerland. Michu, as he is known, is an X-Alps finisher (famously, in the 2015 race he suffered a collapse, threw his reserve and landed in the middle of Lago di Poschiavo and had to swim to shore), a former World Cup pilot and the organiser of the Eigertour. We asked…

Roldanillo Opens The Cauca Valley is in peak season. January saw it host the SRS and in February it will host both the Copa de las Americas and the British Open. 2-9 and 10-17 Feb, civlcomps.org/events HG in NZ The New Zealand Hang Gliding National Open is in Murchison, south of Nelson. The venue has proved to be a consistent and reliable location in the north of South Island. 7-14 Feb, civlcomps.org PWC India The first PWC of the season heads to Panchgani, a picturesque hill station 150km south-east of Mumbai nestled amid five hills of the Sahyadri mountain range. Expect mild temperatures, strong thermals, and moderate winds. 14-21 Feb, pwca.events Wanaka Hike-and-Fly A fun race for hike-and-fly pilots of all levels. A three-day event in the stunning Southern Alps,…

X-ALPS CHALLENGER The Red Bull X-Alps Challenger is taking place 28-31 May 2026 in Mayrhofen, Austria. A threeday hike-and-fly event it has been designed to bring “the essence” of the X-Alps to more pilots. Some 200 pilots will tackle a mix of trail running, hiking and paragliding; 40 spaces have been reserved for women. There will also be workshops led by X‑Alps veterans. Race organiser Ulrich Grill said: “We are eager to discover new talent.” The winner of both overall and women’s races will win a place in the 2027 Red Bull X-Alps. redbullxalps.com THANK YOU MARTIN! Martin Scheel was honoured for 30 years of service in the SHV at the end of 2025. Martin helped found the XC and most recently the H&F leagues in Switzerland and has been…

Today’s filmmakers don’t realise how fortunate they are. Stick a GoPro on a helmet, an Insta360 on a pole – you don’t even need to press a button to start recording. And the footage is there waiting for you at the end of the flight, complete with audio, ready to be cut and shared. It wasn’t quite like that for the legendary filmmaker and pilot Henry Hauck, who has digitally restored and released online his archive of early free-flight films from the mid-’80s and ‘90s. The five films include the award-winning Gegenwind (1986), a ten-minute documentary about pilots launching from the Zugspitze, and Thermik, The Art of Flying (1989). This follows pilots such as John Pendry, Robbie Whittall, and Toni Bender flying the Alps, the iconic Neuschwanstein castle and Lanzarote.…

Last issue we looked at the different mental skills involved in free flight. Developing that further, in this article I want to look at what we call the executive functions and then explore how you can assess your own mental state while in flight. Executive functions are those higher-level cognitive functions that help you plan, focus, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully for daily living and goal achievement. They include. Inhibition: The ability to prevent impulsive or inappropriate reactions in order to remain focused on the task at hand. It’s the ability to refrain from saying or doing something. For example, when approaching landing, a novice pilot must inhibit their instinctive urge to flare too early as they near the ground, so they don’t stall in from a height.…

The three lead contributors, Bruce Goldsmith, Théo de Blic and Greg Hamerton, are all regular contributors to Cross Country magazine. Bruce started out hang gliding in the 1980s and quickly found success in the competition scene, ultimately becoming paragliding world champion in 2007. He set up BGD in 2012. Théo de Blic is a French professional pilot who started flying aged 12 and went on to dominate the acro scene for a decade. Beyond competition he works in equipment development. Greg Hamerton is an instructor, writer and filmmaker who has been immersed in free flight for the last 30 years. He founded his online training platform Fly With Greg to help pilots progress safely through the sport. Other contributors include: Tom Bradbury, Bob Drury, Ed Ewing, Kelly Farina, Till Gottbrath,…

Spinning smoothly, my view is a series of thin blue strips. A watercolour-world of washed-out hues – a distant line of cumulus to the west, bright white wispies here at base and below a hazy smear of mountains. At over three thousand metres, I’ve punched through the inversion late in the day. I lean back exhausted and let the glider circle itself. Looking at my phone, I realise two things, I must stay under the 3,500m competition ceiling and I am now nine kilometres from the first turnpoint, alone. The last day of the BGD Weightless in Laragne, listless and waiting on take-off. The wind blows gently over the back but Bruce smiles and says it will come good. Every now and then a dusty blasts through, keeping everyone awake.…

How and when did you get into flying? I saw hang gliders while I was a student at the Aspen Music Festival. I instantly knew I had to do that, so I started lessons in the summer of 1989. In 1998 I added paragliding. What’s your earliest flying adventure? Every lesson was an adventure, from lugging the glider up dirt mounds in Colorado to spending weekends at the Point in Utah. What’s been your best flying adventure? For hang gliding maybe flying above the incredible terrain in Telluride, Colorado. Paragliding it was the first task of the 2025 SRS in Àger, Spain, flying toward the jagged Pyrenees and then over castles and ruins en route to goal in Organya. What got you hooked? One winter hang gliding day in Ellenville,…