Cross Country Travel Guide 2019

1 – Aksaray, Turkey p58 2 – Alphubel, Switzerland p34 3 – Annecy, France p22 4 – Åre, Sweden p43 5 – Ayaş, Turkey p58 6 – Baigura, France p48 7 – Big Spring, Texas, USA p63 8 – Bol, Croatia p45 9 – Bolivia p76 10 – Bovbjerg, Denmark p41 11 – Brajići, Montenegro p46 12 – Çameli, Turkey p57 13 – Castejón de Sos, Spain p49 14 – Castelo, Brazil p75 3 – Chamonix, France p22, p68 16 – Chamrousse, France p23 17 – Chelan, Washington, USA p62 18 – Col Rodella, Italy p37 19 – Colombia p74 16 – Courtet, France p23 16 – Dôme de Neige, France p32 2 – Dufourspitze, Switzerland p33 23 – El Hierro, Spain p70 24 – Empesos, Greece p46 25 – Finland p42 26 – Florida, USA p63 27 – Fuerteventura, Spain p53 28 – Gaisberg, Austria p27 18 – Gerlitzen, Austria p26 27 – Gran Canaria, Spain p52 18 –…

Welcome to the eighth edition of the Cross Country Travel Guide – your annual snapshot into the world of free flight heaven. This year we again take our satellite-view of some of the world’s best sites, zooming in to give more detail where we can, or going wide-angle to show the big picture. Our aim is to inspire you to explore more. To look up at the horizon and think, “I’m going to go there.” Our lightspeed digital culture gives us extraordinary knowledge and insight into places and people we’ve never even heard of, at the touch of a button or the share of a social-media post. The out-there becomes the new normal very quickly. Today’s undiscovered destination can become tomorrow’s “bucket-list must-do” almost overnight. For many, that sort of misses the point…

Dora Göksal is 28 and lives in Ölüdeniz where he works as a paragliding instructor and tandem pilot. He started flying in 2011 and got into competitions a few years later. flying his first PWC in 2016. He took part in his first hike-and-fly comp, the X-Pyr, in 2018. His favourite place to fly in Turkey is the Taurus Mountains. “There is so much potential for doing an open distance, FAI triangles or vol-biv all year round.” He tells us all about Turkey on p56 instagram.com/dora.goksal Sasha Serebrennikova was born in Moscow, “where it is absolutely flat for 1,500km all around!” She discovered the “wild world” of the mountains early on during mountaineering trips in Russia and Central Asia, then found hang gliding in 2011. She has since devoted herself to…

Annecy The name Annecy has echoed through the paragliding world for years. The region around Lake Annecy is known all over the world for its mountain scenery, nice climate and beautiful flying. Take-offs are many, as are the options for hike-and-fly. Thermal flying really starts in March and lasts until late October. Weekends in springtime and the summer attract the crowds, especially at the site of Montmin in Col de la Forclaz. Once in the air though, you can quickly escape the masses and head off to explore this huge playground. Classic routes around the lake are marked by gliders, so you can fly in small groups and help each other out. The relief around the lake is almost cookie-cutter perfect for free flight: when they talk about textbook mountain flying, they mean…

Hohe Wand, Vienna If you ever wanted to combine a trip to one of Europe’s most beautiful cities with paragliding, this is your perfect choice. The Hohe Wand (High Wall) is situated only one hour’s drive south of Vienna, Austria’s capital. The 5km-long ridge stretches from the northeast to the southwest, making it best for flying in wind directions S, SE and E. With a 500m difference between launch and landing you have a great view towards the Hungarian border and the grasslands of the Puszta, one of Europe’s largest expanses of protected prairie. Whilst the Hohe Wand is mostly good for soaring and easy thermalling, on good days you can continue on XC flights south and southwest and follow higher ground into the Styrian Alps. Make sure to buy a…

The Soča Valley is the outdoor capital of Slovenia. From kayaking to trail running, you’ll find it here. And that of course includes hang gliding and paragliding. Slovenia’s Julian Alps are smaller than the French or Swiss Alps, but packed full of XC potential, whatever level you’re at. The launches are Stol, near Kobarid, and Kobala, near Tolmin, at the other end of the E/W valley. On a clear day you can see the Dolomites to the west, but the region is dominated by 3,000m Triglav to the north. In season (April to September) shuttle buses run to the launches, which are grassy and well maintained. A small site fee applies. If you are looking to rack up distance come here to test yourself on the classic 200km+ out-and-return route that takes…