Fly by wire
Where there is not even a hillock in sight a winch is the only way for paragliders to get airborne. All that is needed is a long open space roughly in the direction of the current wind. "Towing opens up a completely new range of flying areas," says Michael Gebert, a guide with the Swiss company Fly with Andy organising trips to fly from tow in Uruguay, Argentina, Brasil and the Balkans. "And it's a supersafe kind of flying," he adds.

15 januari 2024, Cross Country magazine

Checking out glider checks
As free flyers, we are exempt from quite a number of rules and regulations that apply to larger and motorised aircraft. A lot of our sport is self-regulated which makes it such a beautiful and free sport.
An example of this self-regulation we find in the certification process of paragliders and their maintenance. When you think all the norms, checks, inspections and repairs must comply with laws, rules and regulations, you could be disappointed. But the lack of a legal framework doesn't mean these things aren't important. It just means we can't hide behind a law but have to take responsibility ourselves.
(Foto: Nova)

1 december 2023, Cross Country magazine

The tightest acro season ever
This year's acro competition scene was more exciting than ever. There was a change of competition rules for the better, a neck-and-neck battle between the two top pilots of the year: veteran Théo de Blic and upcoming star Luke de Weert and there was a good effort to make it all more accessible to the public. Here's an overview of the year through Luke's eyes.
(...)

This article was published in Cross Country magazine #246, December 2023.

1 december 2023, Cross Country magazine

Why size matters
Being a lightweight pilot in paragliding is a disadvantage. It's no myth that the smallest paragliders fly worse than larger ones. Some competitions such as the BGD Weightless even have a separate ranking for light pilots for this reason.
But recreational pilots struggle as well. Reader Angela Bonato ("considered lightweight by most wing manufacturers") emailed us: "I unfortunately only fly with much heavier guys and at almost every flight I have the feeling we flew in a very different air from what they say to me."
Lightweight competition- and ex-test pilot Joanna diGrigoli can fully relate. Among other wings, she flies an XS EN-B glider below mid-weight range. "I feel light against the wind. It has no bite." On a lightly loaded glider it can be harder to enter thermals, Joanna says. "But the main problem is into wind."

This article was published in Cross Country magazine #246, December 2023.

1 augustus 2023, Cross Country magazine

Chrigel Maurer Eight time Red Bull X-Alps winner 2023
Chrigel, congratulations! You said you didn't quite have the feeling before the race. What did you mean by this?
"Before the race, many things are unclear. This gives me the feeling of not being comfortable. It is always the same. The last experience is so far away, this feeling of insecurity starts to appear and I have to start to get into the next adventure to become comfortable and to focus on the race. And when it feels really good you can start pushing."
(...)

Bastienne Wentzel talked to Chrigel and some of the others who made it in, including Damien Lacaze, Maxime Pinot and the first woman to finish the race, Eli Egger. The final 10-page feature makes for essential reading for X-Alps race-watchers.
Cross Country Magazine #242, August 2023.

1 februari 2023, Boeken

Vrij Vliegen 4e editie
Vanaf februari 2023 is de nieuwe editie van ‘Vrij Vliegen’ leverbaar, het nieuwste Nederlandstalige handboek voor paragliding.

Over de vierde editie
De vierde editie van Vrij Vliegen is compleet vernieuwd! Om te beginnen is het boek veel rijker geïllustreerd. Vrijwel al het beeldmateriaal is vernieuwd. We maakten tientallen nieuwe foto’s, mooiere illustraties en betere grafi eken. De vormgeving is onder handen genomen en gemoderniseerd. De hoofdstukken hebben onderscheidende kleuren en de omslag is een luxe gebonden soft cover.
Het boek is met 216 pagina’s bijna een kwart dikker geworden. De tekst is eveneens flink uitgebreid en geactualiseerd. Het zal zich met deze update kunnen meten met het mooie Engelstalige boek ‘Paragliding - The Beginner’s Guide’ dat op Vrij Vliegen is gebaseerd.

1 oktober 2020, Lift

Recensie Triple Seven Rook 3
Afgelopen maart maakte ik een testvluchtje met de Rook 3 tijdens het Stubai Cup testival. De thermiek was licht maar aanwezig, en binnen de kortste keren klom ik iedereen eruit. Ik keek verbaasd om me heen: thermieken is niet mijn sterkste kant. Meestal vlieg ik ergens onderaan. Kan het zijn dat het scherm toch verschil maakt? Enkele maanden later mocht ik het scherm twee weken meenemen naar de bekende vliegplek Kössen in de Oostenrijkse Alpen om dat uit te vinden.


Naked pilot: Robin Friess
"I always knew I wanted to fly. My parents are both hang glider and paraglider pilots. We lived in Frankfurt in Germany and all our holidays were flying holidays. I first flew when I was six but my mother did not really want me to fly. She told me if I wanted to fly I would have to make my own money, so I delivered newspapers until I had enough. At 13 years old I did my first course in Wildschönau in Austria."

1 april 2020, Lift

Stubai Cup 2020
De jaarlijkse seizoensopening: de Stubai cup in Neustift in Oostenrijk! Altijd de moeite van een bezoek waard, al is het maar omdat het vliegweer altijd meevalt. Dit jaar gaat de aandacht uit naar EN-A schermen. Deze klasse heeft de bijnaam ‘schoolschermen’ en hebben de naam om ‘vliegende deuren’ of vrachtwagens te zijn, vanwege het feit dat ze nauwelijks de bocht om zouden gaan. Maar dat doet de klasse tekort. De nieuwste A-schermen, en dan vooral de ‘hoge’ A-schermen, zijn snel, wendbaar en geschikt voor lange vluchten ver nadat je je B2-opleiding afgerond hebt. Lift zocht uit wat de nieuwste ontwikkelingen zijn in deze klasse en maakte diverse proefvluchten. We waren aangenaam verrast door het comfortabele vlieggedrag van deze schermen.