Too much western winds today. Spain is in a bad mood, snow up north and windy down south. Till the end of this week, then all should settle again.

Foto by Paco Martin, Arenales del Sol. Beach near Alicante.

Its probably good timing. My last pilots, all Swedish, just left today. And as soon as they must have boarded, hell broke loose. Lots of rain, and a huge drop in temperature.

It looks like finally autumn kicked in. On the maps it will be that way till thursday. Then it looks better again.

But again, no complaints about our Indian summer we had till yesterday. It was amazing to still walk, fly around in shorts and T-shirt.

Yesterday I thought it wouldn't be flyable for several days. Well the opposite was proven, we flew at Fortuna. Southeastern bowl, we flew it bits lee-side as winds were coming in from southwest.

An extra, we didn't think about flying today, but we managed anyway.

Last day for Rolf, Ronny, Leonard, Anders, Johan and Madeleine, all posing under San Geronimo statue near Sierra del Corque.

We will have several days of non flying now. Winds are west, and strong for at least 5 days. Not so abnormal, as these are our first hits with cold fronts coming from over the Azores.

Usually some november days get hit by bad weather. And colder temperatures. But nothing of that, today even 25 degrees still, and sunny till late afternoon. So we can't complain, we just have to chill and wait for better days to come. All part of the game.

Thanks Dudo for the info. I was in Elche, shopping, I was at the beach Playa de Pinet, having a drink. And winds were dying off. But had no idea how it was inland. Until Dudo let me know he was gonna head for Palomaret.

Later got a message that the sun was trying to burn off some cloud, so teasingly southerly breezes up the hill.

We choose for El Cid, a high take off, a spectacular view.

The road up is bad, but soon repairs will be needed to bring up the cars and 4x4's for maintenance. So hopefully local pilots were re-enjoy this fantastic site with its potential. We had a good taste today.

Life was not too bad today. My good old friend Joost came to visit us yesterday by surprise.

Today we went go-carting in Finestrat as winds were too strong at Toix.

Later on we had our little bit of flying near Palomaret. And there, no wind at all .... . Life was not too bad at all today.

We flew Reconco again today. It is november, late november. The weather is still unbelievable. Warm sun, blue skies. But thermals get more watery. From now on, we will need more wind to have some dynamic help to fly sportive.

Foto shot on our way home. Sunset was so pretty.

Hold the leading edge tight, so it can't escape. I see it, down here in the middle. A triangular headed snake must have crawled in the canapé at take off. Flying it down, clearly viewing it in the trailing edge. About 30 cm long, and Frank staying cool holding the canapé steady right above his hear till landing. Smooth turns, hoping not to have a surge... imagine screaming in flight having a snake around your neck.

All this after a parawait, because westerwinds were on till breeze took over. Had a feeling guiding could have been better. Maybe should have chosen for Peña Rubia or even Almudaina. Don't know, that kind of feeling. And especially when I was in the air and felt the air.

Front right above us. Winds from our least favourite direction which is west. Some of my friends went up hiking to Serella, but I can't imagine they could fly.

Temperatures were still very nice at the beach, actually some families were still swimming in the sea. A bit weird for the time of the year, but excellent if you are on vacation of course.

Old foto from Serella, a northern site, which actually is not one of our better spots to fly. North is usually strong and gusty.

Guiding visiting pilots is not going to a picknick.
May I ?

Guiding is knowing where the best site and when the best time is, to give a maximum of flying pleasure to your guests.

And I think we succeeded once again. We were soon decided to go inland to Reconco, where a cross eastern wind, was gonna give us the most playtime possible near Alicante.
It was about reading the sky, reading why it was so inverted at the coast, having the info inland it was west.

The most beautiful thing is being modest. But I am running a business. A business where visiting pilots rely upon. So have to try to be the best. The best in choosing sites, the best in timing it right. I hope once again I hit 'high score'.

'High Score' ? But only 'high score' after hitting bonus, an extra ball. That extra ball was , the friendship amongst the local pilots who do fly their homesite Reconco. Nowhere it feels so warm, so welcoming with these guys.

Glass if red wine in the hand, inviting to have some more jamon. That's the way !

For those who have never been here, this will mean little.
For all those who have ever been here, you will remember this man. Antoniet, the owner of the old mans' bar in Agost, Palomaret. He died yesterday, so today we couldn't have our beer in his old mans' bar.
I knew the man since 1996, when I first arrived in Alicante for flying. Meanwhile there was hardly a miss seeing him, when we flew at Palomaret. He was always there, sitting in his chair in the end, but always so happy to see us. He got pretty old, how old doesn't matter. The old mans' bar will never be the same.

Foggy, misty. All day. But still flying in thermals. Magic today. Excellent turns, climb up to 3.5 m/s, second half of november. And yes in watery air.

We all had a blast, especially Greg with his brandnew Sigma7.

Although once high it got chilly, we cannot complain, we still walk around in sandals, and T-shirt. Very weird hearing people talk about christmas. It all feels so far away in this warm and gentle climate.

Wind from east, south, north and west. And fog inland, take offs rainy. Not a good day in good old Alicante.

It was supposed to howl today. Strong north to norhteastern winds. But none of that at the coast. Only inland impossible to fly due to hard winds. Winds were blocked, never reached the coast.

So the usual café con leche and chill. And one of the most frequent asked questions on non flying days is, how we think about bullfighting. Well I think in one way it is barbarian and rude and dangerous. And way too embarassing . . .

Fredrik down below, trying out his brandnew Airwave sport4, thanks for buying !

We were looking for a dynamic flight today. Looking for a valley where winds veer up in the afternoon, like near the Vinalopo Valley, near Villena.

And, we didn't even have to wait till late afternoon. Just arriving at 12.30, preparing and flying till 4.30. Nice, all up, soaring, clocking up airtime.

One of the better days at Villena.

Villena is on the highway to Madrid, and has a wonderful castle which you shouldn't miss. Also, a few kilometers further there is Bocairent, with its Arab Caves, you can crawl in and fantasize how it must have been hiding from the christians, and later in history vice versa. Also in Bocairent there is the only bullfight arena cut out in the mountain. No cement, no wood. Just a 'natural' aging old bull fight arena. There, that was your portion culture for the day.

Tomorrow we are supposed to have more autumn weather, more winds from north which will drop the temperature. Today it was still in the twenties. Not abnormal, but not every november is so warm, no complaints there, we just keep enjoying it.

talking about foto's, thanks Remi !

http://www.tristanshu.com/gallerie/blog/2009/vrcrossannecylake/index.html

Lots of foto's I know. I hope you don't mind. But some of them are sometimes so precious, I just cannot withhold publishing them. I tend to take less and less foto's, I just ask my guests to give me their card, so I can make a selection of their foto's. Hope you don't mind.

Some foto's today by Jonathan Tew, and Rob/Ruth.

Again we had a summer day, 25 degrees celsius an thermals. Of course not strong, as it is the 15th of november already and heading for winter ... . But with our southern spanish sun, and numerous hills, we always find a spot to play. Get our wings out and fly for hours. Again, today.

So foto's show some parawaiting, some flying, and the afterparty. Afterparty, chatting about our flights, about our previous trips. with the charming chief of the hacienda de Palomaret, offering us his homegrown grapes today. Sometimes we are more lucky and we get to taste his homebrewn liquer.

Young and old, Ernst and Ruth, both ends.

Arriving at Alicante and immediately flying our Toix in Calpe. Not everyone has this luck.

Morro de Toix, lips of toix, stretching out in the sea, where a rocky take off takes you over the ridge, with astonishing views of Benidorm in the distance and the rock Peñon d Ifach just behind you. Quoted by several books and articles in parapente magazine (french leading paragliding paragliding magazine), as one of the most beautiful sites around the Mediterranean, olé !

This is Toix.

Antolino and Moncho flew over Toix today. Lovely coastal site, southwest.

Inland west, nothing to do.

Take off Monte Casino. Gonzalo's old hill. Abandoned for years, high grass growing on take off, but still managed to take off.

Although not a special day, but a day to remember. 4 pilots having fun, chasing the wind, to find a hill, a little hill where we could fly on. Just like the old days.

Alicante flies again. Two sites, Toix and Palomaret. Alex went to Toix and Dudo went to Palomaret. That's all I know, as I spent my time doing other things today.

Foto's of previous flights at Toix and Palomaret.

Our roadtrip to the Pyrenees is fully booked, pilots are Tono and Frank from Ireland, Marcel from Belgium, StevieG Wales, Henrik from Sweden, and Andy from Mazarron Spain. All

ready to fly the Pyrenees at the end of june 2010.

Back from rainy and grey Belgium, with now and then a sunny spell. But thats' the way it is supposed to be up north. Most important was spending some time with my mom and dad and family. Meeting up 'old' friends, see how they are doing. Everybody is doing well.
Heartwarming it was.

Back home now, sun is shining still 25 degrees celsius, and according to my local buddies winds have died off. Today is flyable, Toix or Peña Rubia. Light western winds so.
Don't know if I'll go, I think I stay relax, listen to some music, pick my olives, cook, read a book. Getting ready for our second part of the season, now till March.


mom and dad

Off for some days,till next thursday, then guiding again. Off to see my parents, family and old friends in Belgium. Gonna have belgian chocolate, frikandel specials, lots of belgian beers.

Meanwhile I have organised some dates for our annual roadtrip to the Pyrenees, Organya - Berga - Ager. Dates will be sat 26th june - sat 3th of july.
Only 6 pilots come along, two places already booked. Toni and Frank from Ireland, first ones.

Other news is that we'll be working closely with instructor and SIV instructor Luc Van Sant. I know lots of you will be interested. He will be down here running thermalling courses down here in Alicante. So 'not yet'- club pilots, be interested.

He also runs SIV courses in Rouen, France. There he operates a winch above the lake of Rouen. Where he lets you climb to 800 m (more than Annecy ...), and let you do your maneuvers under his instructions.
More on my website soon, his website http://www.coolvision.be/

What you see is a day out when not flyable. Most of the time we have individual pilots from all over Europe. This week we have Belgain pilots around, with their family as it is school holidays in Belgium. So what is more nice than having a BBQ in our Rio Seco (dry river...) and enjoy a 'halloween' trip through our dark old tunnels of the ancient Copper Mines.

We even had to tiptoe not to disturb the bats in the copper mine.

All enjoyed it.

No flying today. Western winds too strong.

next days not flyable,
but we have this fantastic voice to listen to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8-YMpYbRqY

close your eyes and fly safe

A hot summer day and a lightbreeze. Thats' what we had as fly condition today near Murcia.

Arriving at 1 pm, which was a bit too early. Thermals kicked in now and again, but not steady enough to keep on flying over the village of Alhama de Murcia.

Second flight was as much as you wanted. Thermals were stronger and some ridge lift generated by the incoming seabreeze were a great mix for hours of fun.

All belgians today. And on foto my brother in arms for years Luc Van Sant, he was here already in 1996, exploring the sites of Alicante with us.