11 articles in this category
You're at launch, wind steady from the west. The ridge ahead looks clean—no clouds forming over the top, just a solid blue line. You've checked the fo...
Every summer, pilots launch from ridges and wonder: what if I just keep going? No radio chatter. No car chasing below. Just you and the next thermal. ...
So you want to fly from one spot to another—no guide, no tandem instructor, just you and your wing. Unguided paragliding crossings are the purest form...
So you want to fly a paragliding crossing—no instructor, no guide, just you and the sky. Maybe you've done a few competitions or flown tandem with a p...
You're standing on launch at 8 a.m., wind steady at 12 km/h from the west. Your wing is laid out, GPS loaded, and you've got four hours of daylight. B...
So you're lining up for a 50k crossing. The sky's clean, your wing's trimmed, and you've got three landing zones marked on your GPS—fields that looked...
You have your wing laid out, GPS loaded, and a sinking feeling you forgot something. Not your gloves—something in the scheme. Unguided cross punish th...
You are three kilometers out, a ridge you have never landed near looks close. The GPS says 14 minute of flying. Thermal activity is light. You think: ...
Solo cross are the ultimate check of your navigation instincts. No guide radioing 'turn left at the white barn' or 'push through the next saddle.' Jus...
I have stood on a mountain launch, staring at a green patch two valleys away, and told myself it was a perfect landed zone. The satellite image from l...
Here's a scene that still makes my hands sweat. It's 2 PM over the Pyrenees foothills, 45 kilometer into a 60-kilometer cross. My GPS unit—a three-yea...