Cross Country December 2021 - January 2022

The cloud was still on the top of the hill when I arrived at launch. It was a foggy autumn day, forecast to lift at lunchtime, and there were a handful of pilots about, hiding in cars or tucked into their jackets watching the weather. Slowly the fog did indeed start to rise, leaving a 10m gap between it and the ground. Someone broke first. Eager to fly he unfurled his lightweight wing and, wearing what looked the lightest-of-light bootlace harnesses, he tugged his glider into the air. Caught out by the fact it was actually a crosswind he found himself bounding around chasing his glider, legs going one way, wing the other, his face a picture. The watching pilots hugged themselves deeper into their damp jackets and chuckled. Still, at least…

Lindsey Ripa has been flying for four years and recently bought an Ozone Delta 4 after many adventures on her Swift 5. She says her best flying experience was “coring a thermal to base, eye to eye with a Himalayan griffon vulture in Bir, India”. She reports on the US Women’s Mountain Fly-In – p54 Olivier Laugero is a legendary free-flight photographer, and was the first tandem pilot to to-pland Mont Blanc back in 2009. Based in Chamonix he has shot flying at locations around the world, from Ethiopia to the Caribbean via the Karakoram. But home is where the heart is – as you can see on p46 ‘IT’S ALL ABOUT THINKING POSITIVE. IT’S A MENTAL GAME. WHY WOULDN’T YOU PERFORM AT YOUR BEST?’ Bicho Carrera, p60 Joe Orsi is a US paramotor…

The competition scene is getting back to normal after the 18-month hiatus caused by the pandemic, reports CIVL in its latest briefing note. CIVL is the hang gliding and paragliding commission of the FAI, the World Air Sports Federation. And after nearly two years of meeting online an in-person meeting of the core CIVL team place for a “brainstorming session” in Belgrade, Serbia at the end of September. Highlights of that three-day meeting are that the WPRS – World Pilot Ranking System – was to be “unfrozen” on 1 November. The WPRS, which ranks pilots according to their performance in competitions over the last 36 months, was put into a state of slumber at the start of the pandemic on 1 April 2020. Now, as competitions restart around the world, it’s coming…

December and January will see a return of some of the classic competitions in the southern hemisphere, including: The Canaries Hang Gliding Open in Lanzarote (5-11 Dec); the South African Pre-PWC at Porterville (12-18 Dec); the New Zealand Fun Cup in Wanaka (27-30 Dec); the famous Monarca Open in Valle de Bravo (PG 9-15 January); the New Zealand Hang Gliding Open in Murchison (20-29 January); and the Bright Paragliding Open at Mystic, northeast of Melbourne (5-11 February). With fewer pilots travelling many of these competitions still have places available. Airtribune.com/events…

The Manilla XC Camp in NSW, Australia is back for 2022, from 22-29 Jan. The famous open-distance XC event is more cross-country fly-in than competition, and welcomes pilots of all levels. In 2020 nearly 150 pilots took part, with seven days flying out of eight. The rules are straightforward – you just fly as far as you can and enter your straight-line distance into the on-site scoring system (aka score sheet). Daily weather briefings from site guru Godfrey Wenness help reveal the mysteries of the Australian flatlands. Australia’s ban on overseas tourists is expected to lift early next year. Flymanilla.com…

My dad was flying before I was born. I thought it was quite normal until aged about 10 I realised most parents don’t do that. We did some tandems but I didn’t find it so interesting. Then when I was 14 we did a small cross country and played at cloudbase and I thought: “Maybe I should try this!” I did a course with my dad’s friend’s school. My progression was a bit slow because of the British weather, especially in Wales. But when I was 18, I basically put any money I had into going to the Alps for camping, hitch-hiking to take-off, jam sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and just flying as much as possible. Learning about the mountains, valley winds, getting airtime. My first competition was as a wind…