Cross Country August 2022

The joy of flying lies largely in the unexpected win. The low save pulled out of nowhere, the view you’ve never seen, the climb up the side of a cloud I had one such flight at the start of summer. A hot, low wind day with flat cumulus meant a wait on launch until a bird tempted me into the air. There I found a rowdy climb which took me straight up and out. Then an hour’s slow drifting, circling, climbing over the back, gently moving from cloud to cloud, flirting with the base of one, climbing through it at the edge into the sunlight. A slow day with time to admire the views of the rolling fields all around. A little too quiet as I progressed north, the clouds fading away…

Bastian Brüsecke is a filmmaker and photographer who has a passion for motorbikes, paramotoring and the desert. Put them all together and you have a recipe for adventure in the Arabian Peninsula. His latest project saw him visit Saudi Arabia earlier this year for an 8,000km road trip. See p64 Michi Maurer is the younger brother of Chrigel Maurer and leads the test team at Advance. An experienced competition and acro pilot he often works with photographer Adi Geisegger to help realise “impossible” images. This issue he, Adi and Melanie Weber did just that. See p48 Adrien Colombié learned to fly in 2016 in Valle de Bravo, and was Marko Hrgetic’s supporter in the Red Bull X-Alps 2019. This issue he describes his valley wind adventure. “I had to talk about it!”…

The joy of flying lies largely in the unexpected win. The low save pulled out of nowhere, the view you’ve never seen, the climb up the side of a cloud I had one such flight at the start of summer. A hot, low wind day with flat cumulus meant a wait on launch until a bird tempted me into the air. There I found a rowdy climb which took me straight up and out. Then an hour’s slow drifting, circling, climbing over the back, gently moving from cloud to cloud, flirting with the base of one, climbing through it at the edge into the sunlight. A slow day with time to admire the views of the rolling fields all around. A little too quiet as I progressed north, the clouds…

Bastian Brüsecke is a filmmaker and photographer who has a passion for motorbikes, paramotoring and the desert. Put them all together and you have a recipe for adventure in the Arabian Peninsula. His latest project saw him visit Saudi Arabia earlier this year for an 8,000km road trip. See p64 Michi Maurer is the younger brother of Chrigel Maurer and leads the test team at Advance. An experienced competition and acro pilot he often works with photographer Adi Geisegger to help realise “impossible” images. This issue he, Adi and Melanie Weber did just that. See p48 Adrien Colombié learned to fly in 2016 in Valle de Bravo, and was Marko Hrgetic’s supporter in the Red Bull X-Alps 2019. This issue he describes his valley wind adventure. “I had to talk…

25km World Record Charles Cazaux (FR, Ozone Enzo 3) raced around a 25km course near the Col du Banchet, France on 16 June to claim a new paragliding world record for speed over a triangular course of 25km. He averaged 46.9km/h – and also claimed the European record too. 50km European Record Veronika Štampfl (SL) has claimed a new European women’s paragliding record for speed over a 50km triangle. She flew from Kobala, Slovenia on 19 June on her Ozone Rush 6 (EN B) and averaged 30.46km/h around the course. Zillertal Battle Nova test pilot Ferdinand Vogel (DE) won the Zillertal Battle 2022 at the start of June, flying his new Mentor 7 Light (EN B). This weekend Alpine XC competition sees everyone flying EN A and B gliders and this year attracted several PWC…

The spring/summer season in Europe has seen some big flights, so here’s an unapologetic round-up of some of the best and the biggest flights from the past few weeks. First up, Jouni Makkonen (FI, Ozone Enzo 3, pic 1), who holds the European paragliding record for his 500km flight in Finland last year, flew a huge 229km flatland FAI triangle just north of Helsinki on 24 May. He said: “It’s the first time I have managed to fly 200km FAI in Finland. Trust me, it’s not that easy! I was more tired after this than the 500km tailwind last spring.” A few days later, on 29 May, Franck Arnaud (Niviuk Icepeak Evox, pic 2) took advantage of a strong NE wind and flew Europe’s first 400km flight of the season –…