We are closed now till the 12th of january. 13th back for guiding.
If you want to book, we are still home till the 4th then on a trip to Morocco. My friend will be staying at our place, so you can call on 0034 965 687 143. Or you can try and email, or call on 0034 606 781 180.
Have a great time. And thanks reading myt blog. In 2009 I will keep you posted again daily, what we do flying wise in Alicante.

Davina passenger tandem flight, over the cliffs of Santa Pola.
Lovely winter day, over the mediterranean. Hours of soaring.

This is a time where everybody means well to each other. Meanwhile war-loving-criminals are killing innocent people. It has to stop.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_time_for_peace/?cl=162576231&v=2609

Maybe you feel this has nothing to do with paragliding, but to me it has everything to do with paragliding.
Because for me, when I am paragliding I feel alive. I feel life.
And I strongly believe everybody has a right to life. Everybody.
From behind our keyboards we cannot imagine how cruel life becomes, missing your child, your beloved, your family, your friends. It has to stop.

Indifference is a crime (don't know whoever said it to me, but since then it is my life), that's why I wrote this.

Soaring on the coast. Ronald had his best flight ever in. And loved it. Jessie had one of her first flights in without instructing. Great.

I do guide for club pilots with hours in, Ronald and Jessie are just qualified though. But ... I am happy to help just qualified pilots with a drive to learn, to get better at the sport. And I felt, sensed and saw that Ronald is eager to get better. So hey, why not give him a helping hand, guide him into a flight. So he enjoys it more, so he keeps his drive, keeps the spirit.

He flew for more than an hour in weak conditions. It was not easy, but with some help he managed. Feels good. He flies a Tequila Skywalk.

Down below, his wife Jessie and daughter Davina. Posing.

Old foto of me flying over the orographic clouds at Cabo de Santa Pola. Today there was a pilot flying, but didn't feel good about it. Strong cross wind and lots of white horses in the sea. We left it for another day.

Ronald and family, all helping out with daddy, next time put glider cross wind lots easier to pack. But nothing else to do anyway. Because strong gusty and corss.

At the coast strong in very short time. But inland was flyable. Tricky for less experienced pilots though. Winds cross, gusty and strong. That's why Ronald stayed on the ground. Safety first, lets build up some airtime before.

Hondon Norte as a surprise. Late afternoon, got some flying in. After a long wait at the coast, where the weather forecast was never met.

See you later Joel and Marc, vive la Belgique !

We took it easy to day on Xmas day. Lots of sun as you can see, unbelievable temperatures, 22 degrees at San Juan Playa Alicante.

Ronald and family took a day off and went for a trip, relaxed. Joel and Marc only called late, had a typical Alicante fiesta night I guess.

No worries, some were flying inland, we took it easy.

We flew at El cid and Palomaret today. At the coast we could have been soaring as well, but we decided to see some sun. And that was inland.

Ronald, Jessie and Davina arrived, and were happy to see the yellow thing in the sky, which as belgians don't very often have the chance to meet these months.

Joel flew his favourite site El cid, Marc joining.

Below, the darker clouds from the coast coming in.

Peace to yo all

I took this photo when we were having a beer tonight. Older men playing dominoes, having a good time with friends. When I asked them if they wouldn't mind me taking a foto, the guy on the right said : " No, as long as you put it on the internet, and add the words 'chicos buscan chicas' . Which means 'boys looking for girls' . Authentic, I swear. I pissed my pants.

Now back to the flying. Well those foto's tell a story don't they. Lovely day again. Tandem flights included. Just us and a handfull of local pilots. So much better than the sunday Time Square traffic. Relaxed flying.

I like the foto in the middle, U2 ? It is Marcus german pilot with his Ozone Vulcan.

¡'

We always complain don't we ? For paragliding pilots the weather is never 100 % good.

Not even when temperature reaches 20 degrees on the 22nd of december. Not even when the sky cannot be more clearer.

Yes that's how our sky looked like today. Flying inland again. Low inversion, but still giving us time to practice. It wasn't easy. Only better pilots could stay up and topland.

I wished everybody flew, but now was the time to practice the flat turns, the weightshifting in the harnass.

When it is easy everybody stays up, when it is weak, skills come in.

Also take offs were worth watching, you could easily pick out the one who have the hands.

the end of the day, getting the glider off the windsock ....
always winds dying off just before the sun goes down, and then catabatic.
but many have such a passion to fly, they want to squeeze everything out of the day,
like Jan, who left this morning, every second he wants to be in the air,
never a landing in between, always such a big smile on his face, his helmet almost falling off,
see you again Jan !
Today was not as good as yesterday, but the atmosphere, the comradship on the hill made everything worthwile, super.


Are you sure its your first one ?

All of us. Flying at El cid this morning, superb views. Later good old Palomaret, where it was as if summer arrived. Carving the air for hours. As long as you pleased enjoying the smooth winter thermals. Superb day, already forgotten the bad spell we left behind.

The sun really means so much don't it, it welcomes you in the morning, it warms you, it serves you thermals in the afternoon, and the sunsets you cannot believe how beautiful they are, and this in winter. Loving it, see you all soon.

http://www.sockandawe.com/

Yes sir, back to normal. Very nice temperatures again, blue sky, our friend the sun was embracing us again. Fantastic, didn't feel like Xmas was near. It felt far away.

We flew at Peña Rubia. At last we had our wings out, and played. Weather is getting lovely now again. Just the way we want it.

Huge walks, 16 km walks on the hills. Up and down, along canyons, dry canyons this is. Steep climbs, all you want. Knackered. Just burning some energy off, because we knew flying was out of the question again today.

Mañana.

Weather is getting better. Soon we will be flying again. And it should be good. Cold air that hit us, should give us high cloudbases. A little bit more patience and you'll read all about it.

While the XC distance record was broke, now on 507 km and in south africa, we were just hoping for the winds to die off.

Eveybody looks pretty unamused during this extraordinary bad spell of weather we have. Even my neighbour.... .

Ouch. Nova importer/dealer in Spain has seen better times. Some of my colleagues have to sue him, because he hasn't fullfilled his payments. Bad times. Although after the dodgy Nova RA we all thought NOVA was back on track, with their new Nova Factor. Damn. In Spain we see less and less NOVA gliders. Due to unprofessional attitude., and that's a shame.

Anyway, the flying is little down here for the moment. Spain is in pain, it is cold, and it is raining in most parts. Upcoming days bad as well. Lets enjoy the spanish food, culture and do a sightseeing trip to the sites. Can't do any better.

No flying again. Westwinds how we hate them.

I think this photo is photo-shopped. This is a site 30 m high dune, at Wijk aan Zee, Holland. If this is true, well I certainly hope they all had a good relaxing flight.

At least they could play, we couldn't, too much westernwinds ... again ... .

Ooops. Carla Beeckman wrote me it is not photo shopped, it was one of those rare days that the wind was spot on. And a sunday. Carla is a dutch pilot friend who has visited us on diferent ocassions.

in summer the beaches are packed with bikinis so small,
you can floss your teeth with,
today these beaches are for kitesurfers,
wearing thick neoprenes,

clear sky, but too much offshore winds today

Overlooking the coastline, whilst soaring over Hondon North.

In front of us, huge cloudformation and rain in the distance.

Hondon de las Nieves north. We had a two hour window and took it. When we arrived there was slight rain, and had to wait.
We were at take off at 1 pm, just central hour, when the sun is at its strongest. With some luck cloudbase would higher up a bit, and we would maybe get a clear spell.
10 minutes later Robert in the air, followed by his fellow pilots from Sweden.
Two hours later, just after Robert had landed, clouds gathered again, wind dropped and first drops were felt.

Hondon North is not a regular site. The road is bad, it is a bit of a drive, and lots of times we'd been up there and couldn't fly. Although the ridge gives you splendid views overlooking the coastline, the Arizona looking terrain of dry Crevillente.

Thanks Borje Svensson, Robert Wikstrand, Eduardo Gibs (no foto sorry .... you were too fast ....), Jan Erik Lundin from Skarmsflyg Sweden (did I pronounce it right this time guys ?).

Thanks for flying again with us, always a pleasure. Say hello to your girl and boyfriends up there. Good skills at take off can take you far away, it is of such an importance, and you had the skills, good one.

Cloudy today, possible drizzly. No good winds to fly. So took off with Warren's boat to the islands. And had a damn good paella. After all it was a holiday in Spain today, some virgin had to be celebrated. Long live catholic countries for their fiestas !

Quick shot from a Nova Factor been tried out by Ismael. Lovely glider, as you can see the arch is there, more and more glider types have 'copied' the Boomerang-Ice Peak arch, haven't they.

Lovely day, sunday, social get together at Palomaret of course. The usual suspects at the take off. Best performance, Pepe with his McMagnus, flew all the way to Muxamel. Cloudbase for him 1500 ASL, which means 700 m, above take off.

While he was flying this, we were at Peña Rubia. We were not so succesfull, and had to get back to Palomaret, but too late to enjoy the best part of the day.

A good day out with flights at Peña Rubia and `later Palomaret.

Little flying we did near Murcia. Still open this site, till 31 of december. Then closed again for hunting.

I have to fill in the forms with duration of flights, name pilot, nationality pilot etc... , so local club pilots can hand in the paperwork before the end of the year. I feel lots of sympathy for the pilots of Murcia. I am always welcome to join their site with my pilots. They always keep me informed about new restrictions, rules etc... . And I know they work hard to keep their sites open and maintained.
The take off of Carrascoy for instance is one of the best take offs you can find in Spain. Type St Hilaire du Touvet France. Nicely carpeted, protecting your glider, giving you enough space to prepare your glider cleanly. No spanish grass, sticky bushes, all as it should be.
And this very active paragliding club, Club Murciavuela, has the most problems with the local authorities to keep their sites open. Shame, they deserve better.

Un abrazo a todo los pilotos de Murcia y gracias !

This mornings' sky.

and

this evenings' sky

Too much wind to play. Best thing was getting the surfboard out, and do it on the waves

Windy from the west again, no chance to fly. Later in the day it got more cloudy, grey lenticulares, not a good sign. Swedish pilots arrived, lets hope in a couple of days this spell is over, it's been unusually long.... temperatures rose today, but that was the only thing that pleased us.

http://vimeo.com/2327391

You probably have seen this video, anyway, for those who are interested and haven't seen it yet. A very scary video about two polish pilots in Madeira Portugal, flying on the coast. They were surprised by a local meteo phenomenon, known by the locals.
Luckily both pilots were allright afterwards.

Down in Alicante we had sunny, nice temperatures but only if you got out of the strong norhtwesterly wind. On the hills, too strong and ice cold air from the north.

If you are down here as a tourist, wanting to enjoy the culture, the beaches, the mountians, the Via Ferrata's, the rock climbing, kitesurfing, the 4x4 trips and so on, then this is the right spot.
However for our game, paragliding, the wind is too strong this week. Shame.