Eternal Glide

Been a while

2012-01-31T02:08:00.000-08:00

do you have a pod, i want to do the big ears, and ass cracker flips on my 2 liner

2010-08-05T02:24:00.000-07:00

the classic goes online

2010-03-04T01:44:00.001-08:00

the old classic Never Ending Thermal, available online for free:

Happy Flying in 2010!!

2010-02-14T04:20:00.000-08:00

Temporary Enlightenment from pimple queens on Vimeo.

Great Flying Quote

2009-11-27T13:48:00.000-08:00

great quote:

"That's one of the other aspects that I love about flying. When you're doing it, you're fully absorbed in it, and whatever troubles, joys, whatever other considerations normally fluttering through your mind, they're far away.
... a lot of flying is about the suspension of disbelief. You can fly. You can do these things..."

Eddie Colfox - Birdman of the Karakoram.

(Eddie runs Himalayan Sky Safaris with John Silvester, Jim Mallinson and Debu Choudhury)

Himalayan Raptor Rescue

2009-11-12T13:52:00.000-08:00

The crew from Himalayan Raptor Rescue have a great new idea called Vulture Restaurant. It will aim to create a safe feeding place for the vultures around Pokhara, and will also expose these magnificent creatures to the public. Find out more here: himalayanraptorrescue.org. Alternatively click on the image to find out more about sponsoring a bird.

ParaglidingMap.com

2009-10-31T02:44:00.000-07:00

I noticed this site via a post on pgforum. Paraglidingmap makes use of site info from paraglidingearth, and combines it with live weather info from Windfinder.com to give you a snapshot of where it is (or will be) flyable.

Its a great idea, and a step in the right direction, but this kind of site will only be as accurate as the info on pgearth and windfinder (personally i've found both of them a bit off the mark at times). So when you have a minute, go check if the sites near listed accurately on pgearth :)

Birdmen

2009-10-09T03:28:00.000-07:00

Finally! Birdman of the Karakoram (earlier post here) is out and it won the adventure film category at St Hilaire (see here). It's available for [pre]order at alhughes.tv. Below an updated preview for the film (also see the interview on xcmag.com)

Birdman of the Karakoram from Alun Hughes on Vimeo.

Freestylair

2009-10-09T03:21:00.000-07:00

Found this nice video of the recent Freestylair acro competition on the justAcro website:

Freestyleair 2009 summary from Adi Ibanez on Vimeo.

UK Paragliding podcast update

2009-08-08T08:08:00.001-07:00

In June last year I posted about the XC talk uk podcasts - these sites/casts come and go and this one was no exception.

Now Judith Mole has taken up the reins and you can find various podcasts in mp3 download on Judith's Blog. They vary in target audience and quality, but cover a wide range of topics from x-alps preparation with Tom Paine, to competition flying and mental training with Nicky Moss and Anja Kroll, to local club coaching and UK xc flying tips. You are likely to find something relevant to you on the list.

What would be really cool is if the PMA could get their act together and publish a regular high quality pod or video cast. After all they have access to all the top designers, pilots, comp circuits, testing houses etc. Come on guys - take it to the next level!

Adrenaline and Turbulance

2009-08-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

A dvd I can highly recommend is Adrenaline and Turbulence. The story of Pal Takats and Gabor Kezi's (recent x-alps contestants) journey to the top of acro paragliding. Its a quality honest film without the freeky voice-over guy and typical cliches. Its got interviews with the likes of Rodriguez brothers, Antoine Montant, the late Matheus Rhoten and many more. I particularly liked the crash sequence between Pal and Matheus during a syncro practice session.

I'M ALIIIIVVEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

2009-06-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

check out this wicked video from Pal Hammar Rognoy, filmed at the torino world airgames 2009:

love the inconspicuous heli d-bag, and early SAT to HELI!

[PS - Pal if you're reading this, were you practicing with your Seven18 at Annecy during May09?]

Speed to Fly in Practice

2009-06-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

Check out this website for a practical look at Speed to Fly theory with useful animations. It's really worth getting the basics of STF theory clear in your own mind and understand how it will affect your flight. With paragliding we can only make limited adjustments to speed, but it is still worth working out those STF rules of thumb that could make or break your next XC flight.

Only losers thermal to the left

2009-04-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

hitler pg meet director...

ha ha - "you fucking left turners should be executed..."

Raul kiting the Matrix

2009-03-26T06:27:00.000-07:00

In this video Raul Rodriguez shows his kiting skills with one of his new wings called the Matrix. Very very agile!

His brand of whings will be manufactured by Nova, this video from their latest newsletter:

also see the Nova site for a video of Raul flying the Radix

Some Footage from the Worlds

2009-02-18T05:31:00.000-08:00

some cool video footage of the worlds! make sure you check the massive gaggle flying around 4min 25secs into the vid:

Worlds paragliding 2009 /2 from art vandeley on Vimeo.

Some Fun in Pokhara

2009-01-28T04:19:00.000-08:00

from the Antigravity Acro Team

Take only what you need! from Terry on Vimeo.

London to Timbuktu by Para....buggy..thing

2009-01-13T05:15:00.000-08:00

...this week a British adventurer will set off from London on an incredible journey through Europe and Africa in a souped-up sand buggy, travelling by road - and air. With the help of a parachute and a giant fan-motor, Neil Laughton plans to soar over the Pyrenees near Andorra, before taking to the skies again to hop across the 14-km (nine-mile) Straits of Gibraltar...

from this BBC Article

Red Rock & Rip Stop - Ozone 2009

2008-12-19T08:01:00.000-08:00

Wicked new vid from Adrenaline Addicted:

507km - New PG World Record

2008-12-15T06:58:00.000-08:00

quoted from Cross Country

Nevil Hulett has broken the world paragliding distance record in the de Aar area of South Africa with a 507 km flight from Copperton on his Mac Magus 6.

James Braid’s report on the XC Open World series website, www.xc-open.org, reads that Nevil “flew from Copperton (about 60km SW of Prieska) to somewhere near the Lesotho border (inside Lesotho by the sounds of things).

The conditions were really strong, high clouds, strong winds, strong thermals, just the stuff one needs. Unfortunately, only a handful of pilots in the world can handle that kind of flying.”

Congratulations Nevil!

Hindu Kush and Karakorum

2008-10-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

Look at this astounding image of the Yacund glacier* in the Hindu Kush range! great... but look in the bottom middle of the image and spot the lone glider to get a sense of the epic scale!

It is from the amazing adventures of Julien Wirtz & Philippe Nodet in the Karakorum and Hindu Kush in 2004/5. Read a translated version here "A Trip in Indu Kuch".

If this kind of stuff excite you, do yourself a favour and pick up a copy of the Sep-Oct 2008 Cross Country mag (edition 119) and read about the awesome flights John Silvester and Brad Sanders recently made in the karakorum.

* I'm not 100% sure this is the correct name for the glacier as I can't find other references to it online

Just Acro Team

2008-09-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

some uber flying and cinematography from the Just Acro Team...

(appreciate the sequence and timing on the infinity shots!)

Coupe Icare 2008

2008-09-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

when you have a sec, check out this array of aerial magnificence...

The Birdman of the Karakoram

2008-09-17T02:17:00.000-07:00

An amazing look at John Sylvestor and Alun Hughes' most recent flights in the Karakoram - a taster of their next PG film:

Vertigo Voss

2008-09-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

A great video with some acro, syncro, d-bagging and more:

Pre Worlds Results

2008-08-27T04:41:00.000-07:00

The Pre-Worlds concluded in Sopot with the results as follows:

Overall:
1. Helmut Eichholzer
2. Tomas Brauner
3. Jean-Marc Caron

Women:
1. Klaudia Bulgakow
2. Anja Kroll
3. Ewa Wisnierska

Team:
1. ex-aequo Advance & Gin Factory Team
2. Abac

more info here: Sopot World Cup event prize ceremony

Brittain from Above

2008-08-27T04:30:00.000-07:00

Jocky Sanderson and Andrew Marr go for a flight as part of the BBC Brittain from Above series:

You can also see the behind the scenes video here

Brad in Pakistan

2008-08-19T03:17:00.000-07:00

By now you probably know about the epic flight Brad Sanders did in Pakistan. Check out the latest post on his blog. Below is the video from his post:

The Way Back from Brad Sander on Vimeo.

Para-Commuting

2008-07-21T05:52:00.001-07:00

Classic!! This bloke has had enough with rising fuel costs, rush hour traffic and the long drive to work, so he found an alternative... Flying to work!! from katu.com:

"Evans (pictured) said para-commuting is a do-able way to get to work – and he proved it this past week. Inspired by his love of paragliding and paramotoring, he flew to work. His buddies there thought it was a joke until they saw the parked paramotor pack. "I parked it in my normal parking spot the first time I did it," he said. "Later on that day when I launched and left them there to work, they knew I wasn't kidding."

Check the video here
.

Lake District

2008-07-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

I just LOVE this video!! Great Stuff!

GPS Tracks

2008-07-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

Further to a previous post on Garmins and Maps I thought I'd share my experience of actually getting your tracks of the GPS and viewing them in Google Earth.

You get various utilities that can download or convert your tracks (GpsDump, GPSBabel, IGC Flight Replay etc). But the one that I've found especially useful and easy to use is Track Album.

Track Album can download your tracks from the GPS or import an IGC file. It provides log book functionality with stats and you can view your flights tracks (or as an animation) in Google Earth

Only things is, the free version only allows you a max of 10 records, but if all you want to do is check the tracklog in GE then you can import the IGC's as you need them.

Scooter Winch

2008-07-02T03:32:00.000-07:00

Excellent SA enginuity

From Hanggliding.co.za:

"The winch is made from a Kymco 250cc scooter motorcycle. It has an automatic gearbox which works perfectly for towing up first time students. The scooter is mounted to a trailer by means of support stands, The rear wheel has been removed and replaced with a steel Drum(spool) that can hold up to 2000 meters of spectra tow line. The front wheel has also been removed and replaced with a line guide and tensioning system. Our scooter has more than enough towing power and with a qualified winch operator the system is fantastic for training students and for just getting hang glider pilots into the air."

via the Oz Report:

"The interest has grown so much that I have decided to start manufacturing them for the global market. I have done almost 6000 tows on my rig without any incident and still using the same dyneema line. The rig has certainly improved my training ability and unless it’s raining or blowing a gale I’m able to train."

Klaudia on Tour

2008-07-01T01:36:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in an inside view of life on the tour then visit Klaudia Bulgakow's website. She updates her blog regularly with detailed info on the tasks, results and just general life on tour. The latest post is on the start of the europeans, but if you scroll down you'll find loads of goodies on the PWC.

A list of her exploits and achievements in 2007:
* 4th Women World Cup 2007
* 1st Women PWC Tucùman Argentina
* 1st Women Argentina Open Loma Bola
* 3th Paragliding World Cup Turky
* 3th Slovenja Open
* 9th World Cup Italy
* 3th Russia Open
* 9th Paragliding World Cup Spain
* 7th Paragliding World Cup Japan
* 5th World Championship Manilla
* 1st Manilla XC (Australia)

Good Luck Klaudia!

Airfoil Simulator

2008-06-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

If you ever wanted to dabble in fluid dynamics and play with the a wing airfoil in a windtunnel then check out this NASA simulator. You can play around with the angle of attack and the airfoil shape and see how the lift component change. You can also find that spot where the air breaks away from the wing (which will result in a stall)

Paragliding Earth Simulator

2008-06-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

The Paragliding Earth website has the cool new feature where you can fly any site configured with enough information (the wind direction it takes seems to be one of the crucial bits of data needed). It makes use of a google earth component and allows you to specify the size and number of thermals (NICE!!! - wish i could do that in real life) and you can even choose the color of your glider. It still seems very much in beta but its fun to try.

Have a go at flying Dasklip Pass in Porterville, South Africa. With some patience you can even cross over the back into the big mountains

UK Paragliding Podcast

2008-06-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

Great news is that there is a new paragliding podcast called Cross Country Talk. It's HQ is in sussex, UK and the content will be especially relevant and useful to the pilots of the south.

The first episode is an interview with British team member Mark Watts about his 95km flight from Bo Peep, and the second is an interview with Carlo Borsattino from Flybubble paragliding about the ntricacies of getting away from Caburn.

You can find the podcast on iTunes or download the mp3s from the XC Talk website.

Jet Man - Yves Rossy

2008-06-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

This is amazing stuff, check out the FUSIONMAN website for more info. Especially check out his biography, he flies everything from paragliders to Mirage III jets - finally the mans got his own wings ;)

Aconcagua Speed Flying First Decent

2008-06-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

Finally back after a bit of internet access absence!

Check out this vid of the first speed flying decent of the south face of Aconcagua (6962m, highest peak in the Americas) by Francois Bon.

from the Gin website:

The 3000 meters of height were “eaten” in just 4 minutes 50 seconds!
“At altitude, things happen so fast!! I fell from the sky along the walls—it was incredible…!” he said.
After Premieres of Mont Blanc, Eiger and now Aconcagua, François continues his “wild” descents…

Low Flying Aircraft

2008-04-24T02:24:00.000-07:00

Too close for comfort I think!

SPOT - Sattelite Personal Tracker

2008-03-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

If you are heading of into the wild on that paragliding adventure that you've been dreaming of for so long, then this device might interest you.

The SPOT will constantly track you via GPS and your family and mates back home can access the live tracklog of your journey. Its got a check-in function that will send a txt or email to your chosen contact, and a 911 emergy feature that will alert the emergency services closest to you. Just the kind of re-assurance you need on that remote bivouac trip.

For more information see the http://www.findmespot.com/ website.

via CrossCountry newsletter (Feb08) - or see SPOT on xcshop.com

Paragliding Fiction

2008-03-14T16:41:00.000-07:00

You rarely come across paragliding fiction. Most movies and books contain instructional or documentary content, but thanks to South African paragliding pilot, author(and now movie maker) Greg Hamerton that is changing.

His book Beyond the Invisible is a tale about cutting away from everyday life and living the 'Big Sky Life'. He is also in the process of making a movie called The Journey which looks to be along he same lines.

On his website you can also find a free google earth kml file with all South African paragliding sites.

enjoy

Skateboard to Basejump

2008-03-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

umm... ok

Top Tips from Comp Pilots

2008-03-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

The paragliding forum produced an excellent gold mine of a thread with information and tips on competition flying from some top pilots! And for a change its constant-bickering-and-petty-mud-slinging FREE!!

Thanks to Tim O'Neill for initiating the thread and collating the responses into this useful pdf document:

PDF Document

PG Forum Thread

happy flying!

Vintage Paragliding

2008-03-04T14:14:00.000-08:00

Some vintage paragliding footage (or sky-sailing as they like to call it). I'm glad glider technology has evolved since then.

Hamburg A320

2008-03-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

Once again not really free flying, but thought it worth while to post. Check out this amazing footage of a Lufthansa A320 that tried to land at Hamburg airport.

They apparently encountered winds of up to 150 mph!! See this article for more information.

and to think... they had to come in for landing AGAIN!

[Update - I initially posted A380 which was incorrect, it was actually a A320]

Launching with ears??

2008-02-27T02:33:00.000-08:00

If I'm not mistaken this guy is launching with ears! Is this a standard technique?

back to Eternal Glide Home

28ft fly-by with Boeing 777

2008-02-25T03:48:00.000-08:00

Slightly off the 'free flying' topic, but this is pretty scary! A British Cathay Pacific pilot was fired after doing a 28ft fly-by with a boeing 777 - with the undercarriage up! Below is an extract from the article and the supposed pictures of the fly-by.

from: The Press Association

A British pilot has been sacked after performing a low-flying stunt with a new 230-ton Boeing 777. Captain Ian Wilkinson took the Cathay Pacific plane within 28ft of the ground in a ceremonial fly-by on a delivery flight on which VIPs were aboard. Cathay Pacific said Capt Wilkinson, 55, had not sought or obtained permission for the fly-by and had been dismissed... There were 69 people on board the flight, including four pilots and eight other crew. VIPs are thought to have included Cathay Pacific's British chairman Chris Pratt. Pictures of the stunt showed the giant aircraft just off the ground with its undercarriage raised.

Flying at Devil's Dyke on BBC3 tonight

2008-02-20T02:21:00.000-08:00

BBC3 - Freaky Eaters @ 21:00 tonight (20 Feb) will feature some paragliding at Devil's Dyke, Sussex

[Update] - watch this here until the 27th of Feb. Jump to 29min40sec

Zermatt

2008-02-14T07:22:00.001-08:00

Another site high on my list! A cool video of some chilled out flying in Zermatt + great soundtrack!

Crane Jump in Paris

2008-02-14T06:32:00.000-08:00

Wow!! found this in the latest Cross Country email newsletter. Insane!

Valle de Bravo

2008-02-07T15:12:00.000-08:00

Cool youtube vid about some guys holiday in Valle de Bravo during 2008 pre worlds. Looks like an amazing site!!

Garmin GPS & maps

2008-01-23T04:26:00.000-08:00

For anyone out there with a garmin gps the following sites might be useful to UK pilots:

Download Topography maps for the whole of the UK:
Scottish Mountaineering Club - Contour Maps

Download UK Airspace maps:
UK Garmin Airmap

View / Edit / Export your the maps with:
GPSMapEdit

and upload the whole lot to your gps with:
Garmin IMG2GPS

PS - you can even upload a new basemap to the gps (it won't replace the original) - I believe an EU basemap can be found on torrent sites, search for something like "garmin eu basemap"

Bye Bye Emaho

2008-01-18T01:12:00.000-08:00

According to the first Cross Country issue of 2008 (115) the Emaho Corner in Bir, India will be closing down after 10 years! If you're a pilot and you've been in Bir, chances are you've spent that post-flight glow in the Emaho, drinking a Chai or wolfing down a chow mein. It sounds like there is a chance it will re-open next year when the building is done, so fingers crossed!

taken from the Emaho last Oct07:

Play Gravity

2008-01-17T02:39:00.000-08:00

As I got back from holiday my copy of the much anticipated Play Gravity was waiting for me. This dvd is a graphic showcase with a cool mix of paragliding, snowboarding and speed riding and a few glimpses of kite surfing and skydiving. I must say its got some of the best audio-visual content I've yet seen in these type of films. From awesome moving-camera paragliding footage at Dune de Pyla, to dual-screen snowboarding and speedflying (down nothing less than the Eiger NF, Monch, Jungfrau and some serious Alaskan monsters).

It sports Uli Kestenholz, Seth Wescott (Snowboarding), Mathias Roten, Raul Rodriguez (Paragliding), Stefan Klaus (Skydiving), Stephan Siegrist (Blimbing) and Ueli Gegenschatz (BASE)

Check out the trailer here:

Welcome to 2008

2008-01-17T02:29:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2008 - may this year bring us all loads of free flying and happy landings! I have just returned from a decent holiday in South Africa. Sadly I didn't get nearly enough flying done, but did manage to fly the beautifull Lion's Head in Cape Town. I met a Slovakian pilot there who told me he came fully prepared for SA, bringing his paraglider, surfboard and kite surfing kit. This made me realise that SA really is an ideal location for the outdoor sports enthusiast. Skydiving, Paragliding, Surfing, Kite Surfing, Wind Surfing or Mountain Biking... name it and you'll find it in SA. All of this can be done at a good price in some of the most spectacular scenery you can imagine - I highly recommend it!

Ewa Wisnierska - New German open distance record

2007-12-06T03:14:00.000-08:00

Ewa Wisnierska set a new German open distance record by flying just over 300km in South Africa. She launched from De Aar as part of the Anglorand X-SA distance record attempt. More information at www.x-sa.co.za

You want to take WHAT onto the airplane!?

2007-12-05T02:22:00.000-08:00

In October this year (2007) a group of us went to Billing/Bir in India for 2 weeks of flying. It is an amazing flying location and I can recommend it to anyone!

On the way back we were going through airport security in Amritsar. Keep in mind the current security climate in airports and the fact that Amritsar is a border town between Pakistan and India when you consider the following scene:

A mate of mine had all his electronics in his hand luggage, and naturally the security person wanted to have a look at the tangle of boxes and wires that showed up on the scan. He had to take out EVERY item, explain what it was for, and turn it on to show that it actually worked...

So after the following show and tell:
Vario - "Um, this measures height and tells you if you're going up or down",
Radio - ".. its a normal 2m radio..",
GPS - "this is a gps, it connects to satellites and tell you where you are",
you could see the security was already a little apprehensive, when he finally got to his EPIRB

"..umm, I can't turn this one on to show that it works, but basically it will send a signal to an airplane so that..." - I think he trailed off at this point as he realised what he was saying, and he and the security kinda stared at each other blankly...

Eventually we did get through after disassembling everything and taking out all the batteries. We also manage to convince them to let us take our EPIRBs (hired in the UK) even though we couldn't turn them on OR take out the battery :D

Can't wait to go back next year!! (maybe without the epirb this time :)

Spot what happened here...

2007-12-03T13:08:00.001-08:00

10 points if you can spot what happened in this clip first time round:

RC Paraglider II

2007-11-29T02:36:00.000-08:00

Further to the earlier post on an radio controlled paraglider, this video shows a much nicer one that is apparently available commercially. If found it on this PG Forum thread about concerning all kinds of crazy RC ideas

Record Chasing in SA

2007-11-22T04:39:00.000-08:00

The Swiss and South African teams are in South Africa and gearing up for some long distance XC. They hope to break the recent record set in Brazil. They have sponsorship this year and apparently a proffesional film crew, so we might see some good footage!!

follow the action here www.x-sa.co.za

Infinity Dreams

2007-11-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

have a look at this funny video about Antoine Montant breaking the infinity tumbling record at this year's (2007) Coupe Icare. He upped the bar to 130 revolutions from the previous 108 set by Raul Rodriguez the prev year.

Infinity Dreams

Mini RC paraglider

2007-11-18T04:36:00.000-08:00

check out this mini remote control paraglider. at the end of the video he even pulls a spiral

PARAGLIDING OPEN DISTANCE WORLD RECORD BROKEN

2007-11-15T06:12:00.000-08:00

from the Cross Country newsflash email:

Yesterday, three of Brazil's most accomplished big distance XC pilots, Frank Brown, Rafael Salladi and Marcelo Preito, foot launched from Brazil's fabled big distance mecca of Quixada in Ceara state and 461.8 km!

The team took off on Sol Tracer competition wings at 07:30 and managed to climb out under a cloudy sky. They were part of a group of seven pilots, but the other four quickly went down. The team of three flew the entire day together and only landed after night had fallen.
...
With the record out of the way the team can focus themselves on what will be a massive milestone in the history books of paragliding: the first 500 km flight by paraglider. With other teams in South Africa and Australia waiting for conditions the race is on.

congratulations fellas and good luck!!

Mad Mike Kung

2007-11-14T02:21:00.000-08:00

This is insane!! Indoor jump launch...

Glide of the sunbeam

2007-11-11T16:04:00.000-08:00

I just had to post this amazing photo I found on Flickr (a user called waciobird, check out his photostream, some amazing photos!):

Paragliding Movies

2007-11-11T15:41:00.000-08:00

[UPDATE: 31/10/2009]
I notice this post regularly gets hits, so I thought an update is in order. If you are looking for paragliding movies - i would HIGHLY recommend:
- Adrenaline and Turbulance - the story of Pal and Gabor (justAcro team)
- From nowhere to the middle of nowhere - John Sylvester's adventures in Nepal
- Play Gravity - just for the brilliant footage
- Never Ending Thermal - the old classic
- Birdman of the Karakoram - this recommendation is based purely on the trailers, can't wait!

(on the side, if you are into mountain biking, try "The Collective" and for snowboarding "First Descent")

[END UPDATE]

Paragliding movies are not like most other mainstream movies that you can find for download within a week of release (or even before they are released). This results in paragliding movies being the only kind of DVD I regularly have to pay for - and to be honest, I don't mind it at all. Most people involved in paragliding share that passion for the sport, and I will gladly pay for someone that attempts to extend that dream to a sustainable venture.

The only thing is that sadly most paragliding videos are kinda lacking - usually in quality and often in length/depth. I have just recently received my copy of Manila Sky, and although it gave a good look at the worlds from the inside, I was slightly disapointed. For me it was similar to the 2005 Red Bull X-Alps DVD which I found generally a bit lacking. I am however waiting in anticipation for my 2007 X-Alps DVD to arrive as I understand they have invested heavily in the production this time round. I'll write an update as soon as i've seen it (maybe i'll do a full writeup of all the para DVD's i've seen so far...)

Anyway, so to come to the point, of all the paragliding movies i've seen (and I don't claim I've seen ALL of them out there), I believe the handsdown winner is Never Ending Thermal. It was a great movie that really made paragliding accessible even to non flyers. For some shorter clips and good video I can also recommend the SAT dvd.

Never Ending Thermal Trailer:

I am also looking forward to getting my hands on this year's Coupe Icare films, if anyone knows about a list of films that were shown and how I can get hold of them please let me know.

Happy Flying!

X-Alps 07 on BBC

2007-11-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

The following program follows Ulrich Jessop in the 2007 x-alps. It was shown on BBC Scotland:

You can also view/download the file from here (free registration required)

Hand of God

2007-11-03T07:57:00.001-07:00

and this... is what we call a 9m/s up...

from Paragliding Forum gallery

HG Soaring @ Cottesloe, Perth

2007-11-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

I love this video of a HG soaring the coastal site of Cottesloe in Perth:

Eternal Glide

2007-10-31T14:43:00.000-07:00

Hi,

With this blog I plan to share all things free flight with anyone interested. We all have our own specific preference (mine being paragliding), but we all pursue it with similar passion!

Starting off I'd like to share this clip thats been posted all over the web lately. Wing suite BASE jumping to the extreme!!

enjoy
Loxon