Cross Country April 2023

Nicole Holmes is a professional photographer based in Mexico City. A paraglider pilot, she learned to fly in Valle de Bravo so she was the perfect person to ask to shoot the pilots at the PWCA Super Final in December last year. She spent three days chasing pilots around launch and landing – see page 48 Jeff Hamann is a regular in these pages but his latest adventure truly broke new ground. Selecting a group of hand-picked pilots he spent months planning to fly into the heart of the Amazon rainforest, 1,000km along the Rio Negro. His extraordinary photographs of the trip start on page 56 Kari Eisenhut is founder/owner of Chill Out Paragliding School in Interlaken and is an Advance test pilot and team manager. A passionate XC pilot he has…

“Everything is going ok,” Nicole Holmes said by voice message on the penultimate day of the Paragliding World Cup Super Final in Valle de Bravo, Mexico in December. “I did some portraits at the launch, I wanted to get the pilots as they were going by.” Not everything was going to plan though. “A lot of the pilots don’t want to take the time before launching. Some just said no, that I could get them at the landing zone, but my only concern is they don’t get to goal!” Nicole is a photographer based in Mexico City and is also a pilot. She learned to fly in Valle de Bravo, it’s her home site, and her vision for her project, which we feature this issue, was to capture the pilots…

Nicole Holmes is a professional photographer based in Mexico City. A paraglider pilot, she learned to fly in Valle de Bravo so she was the perfect person to ask to shoot the pilots at the PWCA Super Final in December last year. She spent three days chasing pilots around launch and landing – see page 48 Jeff Hamann is a regular in these pages but his latest adventure truly broke new ground. Selecting a group of hand-picked pilots he spent months planning to fly into the heart of the Amazon rainforest, 1,000km along the Rio Negro. His extraordinary photographs of the trip start on page 56 Kari Eisenhut is founder/owner of Chill Out Paragliding School in Interlaken and is an Advance test pilot and team manager. A passionate XC pilot…

The Flory Cup Billed as a satellite event of the famous Montegrappa Trophy the Flory Cup is targeting young pilots and women – 25 places are reserved for both. It’s all about mentoring and fun – plus XC in Italy. 31 Mar to 4 Apr, airtribune.com Montegrappa Trophy Both HG and PG Montegrappa Trophy competitions run in the same week, connected but separate. It’s high-quality competition flying in a classic Alpine venue – Italy’s north-east corner of the Alps. 5-10 April, trofeomontegrappa.it Swiss Paragliding League Fly the Swiss Alps with those who know it best – the Swiss. Scheduled to be held in the Interlaken area this is one of 13 Swiss League competitions in 2023. Non-Swiss pilots can take part – you just need to register. 7-10 April, swissleague.ch Dalby Big Air 2023 Based at the Dalby Aerodrome 2hr30m…

The new year started with a bang in South Africa when Timo Leonetti and Clément Latour both flew +500km on 9 January. It was the first time any paraglider pilot had flown more than 500km in South Africa since Nevil Hulett set the world record there, flying 501km in 2008. Timo flew 542km straight-line (XContest distance) and Clément 535.9km. Both pilots launched from tow and were in the air for nearly 10 hours. Timo had literally just arrived in the country and it was his first flight of the trip. The celebrations fizzled out however when it was realised both pilots had broken Class A airspace. Corridors for commercial air traffic between Johannesburg and Cape Town traverse the XC zone. Pilots need to stay below about 4,500m (FL145), but both pilots were…

“We had 10,000ft base, +100km tasks every day and final glides with eagles!” Forbes Flatlands Hang Gliding Championships 2023 didn’t disappoint this year, despite record flooding just a month before. The competition in Australia at the end of January saw six tasks in eight days, over 200 tows and 30 “very happy pilots”. Attila Bertok (HU) took first place for the third time in Open class, with Corinna Schwiegershausen (DE) placing first woman for the fifth time. Stuart McElroy won the Sports class. Pictured: Olav Opsanger (NO) ready to launch.…