Super Brazil

So I got an invite to the PWC Superfinal after some reasonable comp results in 2016; it is the highest ranked competition of the year.    I have always wanted to go to Brazil so 2 weeks of competition in Governador Valadares in January escaping from the Scottish winter with Jules, Russ, Idris and Guy  was an attractive option.    We flew 10 tasks of between 80 and 110km (3-5 hrs each day) plus two practice days.     The first half had a relatively low base and weak conditions but things turned on nicely for the later tasks with climb rates up to 5m/s and fast racing.  The last 98km task was epic with a bit of everything including 28kph of headwind for the first bit of the task.

On day 6 I forgot to put my glider on the lorry in the morning before we went up the hill.    After grinding up hill in the bus for 45 minutes we arrived at take off on the top of Ibitiruna mountain and I had a sudden sinking feeling.  Fortunately Deo lent me his motorbike for a sprint down the mountain (almost 20 years since I rode one) and back up and I took off just in time for the task.  I wasn't feeling my best throughout the whole comp but persevered and was pleased to finish 33rd overall out of 120.  I still don't feel I have flown well at a PWC event.  There is always next time...

Check out the cool videos below from event videographer Phil Broers.  The action at the 3 minute mark in the second one is about as close as you will ever get to "seeing" a thermal.

So many other places to see in Brazil; I have to go back!

The comp results are here.  And Yassen's brilliant blog and film about the aftermath in Rio shouldn't be missed!

Pic from Philippe Broers


The Superfinal from arvidberg on Vimeo.

World Cup Governador Valadares super 16 task 6 part 2 from Philippe Broers on Vimeo.

Ben Nevis, Climb and Fly Season

Thanks Seb and Mark for a great day out on Tower Ridge and then a tricky take off before flying down to Glen Nevis.  More pics here.

The first steep bit after the Douglas Boulder

Tower Gap

Skinny Longlegs' new Niviuk Skin P - a single surface 16m2 wing which only weight 1.6kg

200km in Scotland - North South Cup

The North South Cup is a delightfully informal comp organised by Jim, Hugh and Jocky bringing together some of the best pilots in the UK.  The comp is mobile and will follow the weather to the best location.   This spring that turned out to be be one our local sites: Tinto in the Scottish Borders.    With one of the best forecasts I have ever seen, 50 pilots set off to a distant goal.   Over 30 people flew over 100km south into Englandshire; 10  flew over 200km with 8 of us in goal at Skipton at 210km after about six and a half hours.   Guy carried on to set the new Scottish record at 217km - previously 154km.      The next step is to do a 200km flight in the Highlands which will be an even bigger adventure.   All we need is the right forecast.  :)

A longer write up of how my day unfolded is here.

All pics from Wayne Seeley

Paragliding World Cup - Portugal

My second Paragliding World Cup was great fun; there were two tricky thunderstorm affected tasks at the start of the week, then some windy and stormy rest days to get us keen, and then two fast racing tasks of 101km and 121km in blue conditions which took the winners 2hrs 34mins and 3hrs 7mins to complete. There is a lot to learn about flying at this level; it was interesting to observe some of the differences in flying styles of the top pilots.    The Brazilians got a big cheer at the prizegiving; they were pushing out front of the gaggles in all the tasks and ended up taking 2 of the top 3 places.  I was lucky that task 2, which I flew badly, was stopped due to rain on the course line and was happy to end up 19th overall out of 120 pilots.

Task 3 from Philippe Broers on Vimeo.

Storm-chasing on T2, pic by Phillipe Broers

Trying hard anyway

On a brief trip to Annecy in France for SIV with fellow Brit comp pilots last week, I had one day spare for free flying.   The SIV didn't go quite as well as hoped (yes I got wet, twice!) but after a poor sleep i got up at 7:30am to re-pack my now dry reserve at Flyeo, patch up my harness and then after a quick croissant, dashed back to meet the others.

Understandably, everyone was a bit tired after two exciting days and most opted to have a chilled morning and a valley flight later in the day.   However, I knew that someone had flown 275km from Col de Bleyne to Chamonix two days previously and although I hadn't had time to check the weather properly it might still be a good airmass today even if the met wind was still from the S; not the easiest direction in the Northern Alps.

So I persuaded Robin, Andrew, Caedmon and Antonio to try Marlens where, on a good day, you can take off at between 10 and 11am and hop round a tricky corner onto the E face of the Aravis.    Getting up wasn't easy but as I got established above Charvin, I was pleased to join a thermal with a green Boom 10 which I half recognised as Cedric who I had met at the British Open in Macedonia in 2015.   

As we topped out the blue thermal, Cedric whistled and pointed NE up the Chaine d'Aravis and I tramped on the bar.   Game on. 

The pictures tell the story better than words.

What a day!   Great flying with you Cedric and thank you Camile for the retrieve.

A slide show is here. Click "i" on the photos if you want to see some captions/place names.

Flight track log is here or download the Google Earth track here.

Other flights done in the area on the same day including Cedric's are here (click on "gps" to see a visualisation).

Looking E from Tete du Colonney to Mont Blanc on the R

Bernese Alps

Spring has sprung again

Great to get out in the spring air for the first xc flights of the year from Beinn Leabhainn in Glen Ogle and Bodesbeck Law in the Borders.  The air pressure was very high at 1028mb on Saturday and 1026mb on Sunday but we found just enough thermal lift to make progress during the peak of these early season days.

Slide shows are here and here.
Track logs are here and here.

Tim B taking off at Beinn Leabhainn (Burger Van)

Looking N to Przemek and Bob near St Mary's Loch

Climb Fly

A few years of fun

I seem to have lost some memorable track logs but here are some from a few years of Scottish flying.  Still hundreds of new take offs to explore and many interesting new lines to fly.

Deep Play

St Andre-les-Alpes at the end of summer is one of the best places in the world to fly.   It was a rare pleasure to spend a week there with Matt, Przemek, Mike, Bob, Ben, Seb, Jonni and Paul before staying on for the British Open the following week.  For the first week, we had great conditions and flew 7 XC days in a row with several trips up to St Vincent and back for some.   The whole team flew really well. Thanks to Stu for the loan of the Mentor 2 - it took some getting used to but definitely helped gaggle cohesion.

Back on my Enzo 2 just before the comp, I had a lovely XC day out with Guy and Adrian out past Digne and then down to Moustiers at the mouth of the Verdon gorge but I got careless and got flushed on the way home.   Racing gliders in St Andre is deep play and it was great fun to learn a bit more about just how good these gliders are at speed in big air.  I managed to cross the line first by one second in one task but lost out on the win due to lead out points.  It is hard to get many lead out points when you have an appalling start and are in about 90th place one thermal after the start ;-)

After it was all over, we went for a midnight fly down under the harvest full moon and I hit mild valley convergence over the lac and had to work to get down.   Ooooaaaawwwoooohhhh!

Bob M on top of Coste Longue on a St V OR trip (Matt saw a wolf trotting along near the summit later)

Adrian above Moustiers with the Verdon Gorge ahead

Me, Ronnie and Adrian.  Pic by Lawrie Noctor

Turnpoint 1 on Task 1.  Pic by Lawrie Noctor

La grenouille volant

Funny story from Sunday 14th June... about 10mins after take off, I noticed a small dark ball inside the trailing edge of my glider and was puzzled by what it could be.    

After another 10km it started moving!

After 20km he decided he was cold enough (it was probably below zero at base) and wanted to get out even though I was now at 1800m above the ground.    But there was no stopping him and he jumped and crawled determinedly through the cell cross bracings to reach the cell opening in the leading edge.

There was a small pause and then the sharknose disgorged a 5cm long frog of the flying variety; he must have stowed away at take off.     With his feet splayed out, he looked like a sky diving pro for the first few metres but a collision with one of the middle cascade lines put him in a vicious spin as he disappeared from view. 

I hope he made it.

The flying was excellent with climbs up to 5m/s; four of us managed to do 85km out and return flights from Aonach Mor to the E near Dalwhinnie despite the met wind (up to 17kph NE at times),

Track log is here.
Pics below are from Graham Saunders

Looking W up Loch Eil from near take off, Pic by Graham Saunders

Looking SW at Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis. Pic by Graham Saunders

Moruisg to Home (Fairburn)

A nice 40km flight with Mark R from Glencarron with an amazing moment just as we were leaving Moruisg to avoid a growing cloud that was starting to rain on us.

A golden eagle joined our glide and then suddenly turned 90 degrees in front of us heading for the shallow back of a deep coire in heavy shade.   I would never have chosen that glide.  We turned and followed and soon all three were in a smooth 3m/s climb to base :)

Great fun to climb in smooth circles with Mark above Scardroy before managing to land in my Dad's garden in Fairburn.

A slide show is here.

Cluanie to Strath Oykel

A grand day out with friends from Glasgow, Aberdeen, the Lakes and the Pennines.    A tired but happy crew met for fish and chips in the sun in Ullapool at the end of the day.   Big grins all round.

A slide show is here.

Jules on his Boomerang 10 with the 5 Sisters of Kintail on the horizon in the centre.

Glencoe, Glen Etive and Glen Orchy

Great fun to gaggle up with Tony, Mark, Phil W, Barney, Cav, Hugh and Jerome.      Four of us managed to get home to close a declared 71km triangle on a day with a bit of wind, 5500ft base and some interesting lee-side flying.

A slide show is here.

Looking SW down Glen Etive.  TP1 horizon right

A key climb out for the day from the lee on the E shore of Loch Etive

Cluanie to Kintail

The hills NW of Fort William are probably some of the best in the UK for flying.   However, they are a fair drive to reach from the main cities and are relatively rarely flown.  

Last weekend I met up with Mark, Tony, Iain and Mike for a lovely day starting in a new spot on a hill called Carn nam Feuaich above Loch Cluanie.  Despite weak thermals and a rock solid inversion at the same height as the peaks we managed to make progress W towards the Five Sisters of Kintail ridge which I have been wanting to fly along for a while.

A slide show is here.
Track log.

Iain's photo looking N to Aonach Shasuinn.  Glen Affric is a couple of hills over the back.

Iain's photo of Tony and me working the first climb with Loch Cluanie below

Winter sun in Colombia

Colombia is a fascinating country, thriving, vibrant, varied and friendly.  At 4 degrees N of the equator, it is blessed with a climate that is ideal for a trip in the middle of a European winter (and almost the same year round).   We did a road trip from Bucaramanga in the N down through Medellin, Damasco (one of the prettiest valleys ever and one I would like to go back to) near La Pintada and then on to Ansermanuevo and Roldanillo in the Valle de Cauca.  Thanks to Gum for the invite to join a great group from both sides of the pond and a memorable trip.

Here is a slide show of an out and return to the N of Roldanillo.
Below are short videos from Jonni and Thai

Fire thermal - avoid!

Tony Shepherd over Onando

Sgorr Dhearg Hike and Fly

A memorable day out with Mark R on Beinn a'Bheithir (hill of the thunderbolt).   I was nervous at take off just below the summit but the air turned out to be smoother than expected and holes in the cloud layers lined up for us perfectly.   My downwind landing with crampons was a bit messy though!

Slide show is here.

Winter is here!

Hike and Fly Season

Had a nice walk up and fly down from Beinn Eighe in Torridon with Mark on Sunday.    Rucksack is just over 3kg for a small wing and light harness.   We were enjoying the view above the clouds a bit too much as we walked along the summit ridge and the clouds closed in a bit.

Slide show is here

Looking S from Beinn Eighe to the Loch Carron hills

A few weeks ago the Glasgow gang flew down from Ben Toaig (Saturday) and Ben Starav (Sunday).  Slide show is here (pics from Przemek and Aleks).

No snow yet in this very mild autumn - the ptarmigan and mountain hares are feeling a bit white for the surroundings

Summer Nights

Fun soaring and wagga after work with the gang at Dungavel (May) and Fairlie (July).

Slideshows are here (my pics) and here (thanks Przemek).

Looking S at Dungavel (Victor trying my R10)

Looking W over the Firth of Clyde to Arran in the distance (16m2 Ultralite 2)

Glencoe Triangle - 24th May 2013

Another fantastic day out over some reasonably remote ground and this time three of us (me, Barney, Mike) managed to get round a shorter 65km triangle after a late start.    We had to wait until just before 3pm before the met wind died down but suddenly conditions were sweet and we headed down Glen Etive as a big gaggle.

Well done to Graham who took his own route and a very good flight for an early xc.

Slide show is here.
Track log is here

Looking SW at Mike Cavanagh in front of Ben Chaorach with Ben Starav and Loch Etive to the right