Cross Country Travel Guide 2016-17

We landed together, five of us coming down in the fields of a small Indian village a little west of Bir. The weather had closed in and the thermals had switched off, so we all slid slowly to the bottom, landing with a thud in the downslope flow. Immediately we were surrounded by laughing children, while curious but more reserved adults stood and watched from a distance. “Please, you will come to my house? We will help you.” After packing we were swept up in a wave of people to the young man’s family home, a fine looking two-story building with balcony. There we were offered tea, sweet peanuts and biscuits. To our left two women worked separating wheat from chaff, while on our right three well-fed cows munched contentedly in their stall.…

Gavin McClurg is well known as a Red Bull X-Alps athlete and a prolific podcaster – his interviews with top pilots are a must listen and are more like listening in to dinner table chat than a formal interview. Just the guy then to take us through the X-Alps turnpoint by turnpoint. A former National Geographic Adventurer of the Year nominee he spent a decade sailing around the world before paragliding gripped him. See No Bull: The X-Alps, p90. cloudbasemayhem.com Jamie Shelden is a non-stop traveller, a trait she has successfully combined with her love of hang gliding to take her around the world numerous times. Famous in the comp scene as the goto person for up-to-the-minute news and tweets on who’s winning what and by how much, she is also Chair…

The Promised Land Home and R&D playground of Apco Aviation, Israel promises more than 300 flyable days a year, good food and a warm welcome from the pilot community whether you are paragliding or paramotoring. Most of the free-flying sites are in the north, between Haifa and the Sea of Galilee. Flying with pelicans and storks in the Gilboa or enjoying an authentic local Druze experience after flying at Har Ha’ari are examples of a typical day in Israeli winter. Southern Israel will see you flying above the ancient, breathtaking landscape of the Negev. As well as the beauty of the desert, southern Israel hosts the Dead Sea. If you don’t come in winter, but instead are visiting from April to October then ridge soaring in Netanya on the ‘Israeli Riveria’ is the easiest…

Banish the northern winter blues and give your year the perfect kickstart in Bright. Known as a town for all seasons, Bright’s tree-lined streets provide summer shade and brilliant colours every day. It’s a small resort town that sits in the heart of the Australian alpine region, only three hours north of Melbourne. Fifteen minutes away is the launch of Mystic, probably Australia’s most accessible take-off. Mystic faces north (remember you’re in the southern hemisphere) in a north-south valley, so the valley wind is always up the face. After climbing out in one of the house thermals – known as Marcus and Emily – you can fly any way you wish, or wherever the wind blows you. Landing fields and roads in every valley make retrieves and hitching easy, and the…

Àger has long days and a long season, which have attracted serious XC and comp pilots for decades. And indeed Àger has seen its fair share of top-level competitions – European Hang Gliding Championships and the Paragliding World Cup have all been fairly recent visitors. However, there is a lot here for all levels of pilot, including novices: you can go XC without even leaving the valley. There are four main launches and getting to the main one is easy. A 30-minute drive on a good forest road from Camping Vall d’Àger gets you to the main Coll d’Ares launch, while a Land Rover taxi shuttle also operates from the campsite for a few euros a head. Once up on launch the valley opens out before you. Now it’s just a…

1. Figure out the weather With the expense and effort that goes into an international flying trip, the last thing you want to do is spend your precious time in Tahiti waiting out bad weather. There are many climate resources available online but I go the next step and hire a meteorologist to create easily digestible graphs from historical records to determine the best season to fly at my chosen destination. Rick at Weatherguy.com has helped me plan flying trips from California to Peru. 2. Local laws Do your homework! First, purchase the low-level aviation charts for your destination. Then find a local pilot to help educate you on laws, licensing requirements, hazardous conditions and flight restrictions. Flying clubs, professional pilots, tour operators and gear vendors can all help you locate the right…