Category: Holidays
-
The Inaugural Gumball Transalps Rally!
Having had an amazing volbiv adventure with four friends in July 2019, flying from Saint André-les-Alpes in the south of France to Andermatt in Switzerland, I was keen to encourage more pilots to give volbiv a go in a supportive group environment, and so the idea of the Gumball Transalps Rally was hatched
-
Volbiv 2018 – A Grand Tour of the Ecrins
I’d been talking the talk but not walking the walk for quite a long time before this summer’s volbiv trip to France, and if “shopping the shops” was also a phrase, then I’d being doing that too, buying all sorts of stuff over the internet – from Amazon and eBay of course, but also from…
-
Great Expectations
Well, it’s been a funny old season for me, I’ve had some really fun flights but the big distances have been elusive apart from a lovely 135km from Rybury back in early June. I’ve been busier at work this year and haven’t been able to take so many days off on short notice, and on…
-
A Mountain Masterclass
Back in February my old friend Marcus King tipped a few of us in the Avon Club off about Gavin McClurg’s Mountain Masterclass in the Lake District in April, and a couple of us booked up straight away. Gavin has always been a bit of a hero of mine through his films and amazing flights…
-
Oh, St-André…
… I miss you…! It’s only taken me about four months to finish editing a couple of short videos of my eight or nine days in St-André-les-Alps for the British Open back in August, but doing so brought back such great memories – the start gaggles, the booming climbs, the low saves, the scratching low over trees and…
-
As SIV as houses…
Some months ago I booked up on a SIV / pilotage course with Flyeo in Annecy, and as the time neared I have to admit I was feeling just a tad nervous, after all, I’d been finding excuses not to do one for the best part of fifteen years! (I don’t think I even knew about…
-
Summer seems like a long time ago…
Gosh, the clocks are about to go back, and summer seems like a very long time ago now. I’ve had a couple of nice flights since getting back from Ager in early September – a short XC on my solo glider, and a great day taking some friends of mine tandeming at Pandy, but that’s…
-
Ager Task 3
This was the classic 80km task to Berga, and wow, was it ever spectacular! Convergence in the valley before the start gave us a lovely relaxed start flying around the clouds, and then once the race was on we headed east over the first gorge at the end of the Ager ridge (where I got…
-
Ager Tasks 1 & 2
After much deliberation the task setting committee finally chose a 88km cat’s cradle task around the valley in light of the fact that there were some interesting looking lenticulars over the hills to the north. Race start was at 1350 and I was off at 1300, heading east along the ridge where I found a…
-
Desperate measures called for…!
After missing out on “Big Saturday” (6th April) when 4,218kms were flown, due to being on holiday down in Cornwall, and with the following weekend looking very poor for XC-Scotia attempt three, and with me unable to do attempt 4 on 20/21 April should it be on, I randomly checked the forecast for Chamonix for…
Advance paragliders in the West Country 