Summershots no ? It was summer, back to normal again. Decided unanimously to stay at the coast today. Soaring at the cliffs of Santa Pola. Nice easy going, tandems and hours of relaxed flying with a view. Don't forget, soaring and soaring are two. One is soaring which can be boring, two is soaring with a view, able to topland have a drink a bite and enjoy the company. That was what it was all about today. Good friend , no hassles again, and big smiles at the end of the day, beer o'clock.

Inland Dudo and friends, made XC. Cloudbase 2200 meter, predictable after the cold spell we had lately. Thermals up to 4.5 m/s.

Beautiful day. Above Doug and Julia with their brandnew Niviuk Takoo. Down below Willem carving in the air with his Sol Ellis.
Forecast was pretty bad, but we went for it and found a window at Col de Rates.
We climbed up to 350 meters above take off, touching clouds. Thermals were sweet, just like we love 'em.
In the end some humidity came in from the sea, so clouds got bigger and darker. Knowing it was just humidity (aint' it always ...), and no nasty clouds, everybody tried to get as close as possible to the fog.
For Rudy and Willem, first time out flying under clouds they said. Tomorrow more, here we go Alicante, oh gosh I am sensing some patriotism here, not a good sign.

Henrik, you must have read my blog. Well here is one of worlds' most known Via Ferrata. It is near El chorro, which is the climbing place to be near Valle de Abdalajis, indeed famous for its paragliding as well. A couple of years ago we were there with our club mas7.
The Via at that time was closed due to fatal accidents in 1999 and 2000. But it attracts so much tourists still from all over the world, that the government of Andalucia will restore the whole Via. This cost could well be over 6 million euros.

Look at the video about the Via Ferrate, which is called El Camino del Rey. Called Camino del Ray/ kings' road, because an early Spanish king inaugerated the route back in 1921. Watch it with headphones on, the music is super.

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1438490562

Via ferrata of Villena. Couldn't do anything else than kicking on the climbs of the via ferrata. Didn't linger on and organised a side activity. Another day of strong eastern winds today. Not possible to fly. Rainstorms inland as well. But we had a good day.
Brave Jan, brave Rudy and brave Willem went for it. Equipped with harnasses and life lines they climbed the rocks. Although it wasn't flying, it was a lot of fun and adventure.

Still not flyable down here. Bad week, strange for the time of the year. Got this lovely foto send by Stevie, must be near his homesite Rossili.

Some strange rumours though, some dirty talk lately. Some 'colleagues' talking shit about me. Their main gossip is, that I undermine their profit, they say. Because I am working under the price. They want me to charge 450 euros a week instead of the 350 euros I ask.
But hey, I can tell you, don't worry, because my guiding is sharing the passion of flying. And my aim is doing this in a most professional way, in the most safe way at a correct price. No bullshit.
Actually if I would be in it for the money, I'd probably still be making pizza's.
350 and that's it ! For a car, a nice house, and me who will guide you, find you the site to fly on. The best site, the safest site. And we'll all go to the old mens' bar afterwards, raise a glass, and have some more fun.

How about that ?

Weather maps, don't need no explanation. All countries known for great flying, are under clouds.

The world upside down. I hope our friends from France, Belgium, Holland and Wales I guess have great flying, let us know about it.

We are grounded, and waiting for a window for some coastal flying.

There is a tongue of cold polar air moving very slowly over Spain. This cold air and the hot sea near the mediterranean doesn't permit us to play. We are grounded. And it is raining. The competition of this weekend at Palomaret is cancelled, and we'll do it next week 4/5 october.
Nothing but bad news eh. This meteo situation is not uncommon but pretty rare. Too bad for the visiting pilots, who can't wait to fly our sites which usually in september are very nice with high cloudbases and smooth climbs.
But the good news is ! It can't get worse ....

ohlalalaa, bad weather, all over spain rain, no flying today

Side activities. When not flyable you shouldn't be bored in Alicante. For instance the Via Ferrata of Villena or El cid can be done. Foto's show you what a Via Ferrata is all about.

You can also rent an enduro Motor bike and go trial. Or go sailing, diving, mountain biking etc... . Or just chill in the cities Elche or Alicante. Or beach ..... of course.

Time for a visit to the Isla de Tabarca. An island 6 km out in the sea. Also worth a visit on a not flyable day.

Nasty weather but flyable. Huge cunimbs coming in from the southwest, you could see them whilst flying on your right. In the back others towering over the valley of Onil and Villena.

Climbs were strong, and winds were gusty.

Michael and Amin our Swiss friends left today for home, see you again guys ! Eyling left this morning and is probably party-ing in Oslo. Sean was Sean, and top of the stack with his beaten up old Gin Bolero. Dave and James, brothers in arms, were getting close to personal bests with their Hook and Bolero+. Leslie is not recognisable after 5 years, he is lots more confident and better at it overall. Jeremy is still flying his old whit, now grey Gradient Aspen. Good day today, flying well, and a visit to the Hacienda of Palomaret.

Next days could be not flyable, need to do some repairs on gliders and pack some reserves, free time will come in handy. Hasta Luego.

We are pretty worried about our site Cabo de Santa Pola. That's why we ask any visiting pilot to take care, to respect the site and only to fly it in safe conditions. One of the reasons is, because last summer we had some nasty accidents, resulting in some protest by surrounding urbanisations asking us to stop flying this site. Trying to stop by all means from enjoying our sport, been happening on the site for over 20 years.

Still some who are visiting think it is wise to fly while no other local is flying it and jeopardizing the site. While on a saturday afternoon, there is no local in the air, why not asking questions why nobody is flying it ? Why is nobody flying now ? Why is everybody sitting on the hill waiting for the wind to get less cross. Waiting for things to get better ?

The only reason I can think of is, that the visiting pilot thinks he is skygod. Nothing can hurt him. Funny thing is, that last year he had an accident at this same site, taking off when all locals thought it was too strong. Fools never learn to they ?
Sorry to be so offensive, but goddamned, we do try everything thats possible to let pilots fly this site safe to keep and maintain this site open.

The good news today was, when winds were getting better, that Erling from Norway topped up his airtime with another 2 hours today. In total he must have flewn more than 12 hours this week. As a beginner, he has only been in the sport for a year, I can tell he has the skills, the nerves and the greed to get better in our sport. I hope for sure I'll see him back, so we can go big time. With his other Norwegian buddies from Tromso.

Petrer in the distance down below. A foto from the saddle of El cid. And an older summer foto of Herve landing at El Cid.
But we didn't fly today. We just parawaited on the huge hill of El Cid and the gusts were too strong. 10 paragliding noses in the wind, none of them eager to go. It was too tricky.
And it is easy to think afterwards, shit I should have gone. But no, decision made, always in a safe sense.
We had a good day though, because El Cid is one of our highest mountains, where nobody never is. You are always alone on this huge mountain overlooking the valleys all towards the sea. A bit Arizona like, dry dry dry, hasn't seen rain for ages.

Shots taken by my beautiful married to David passenger, Eleanora, what a beautiful name eh.

We flew all over, enjoying her first paragliding flight ever.

Excellent, especially knowing next days could be less epic. But we'll see.

At first sun was out, later we could see the clouds coming in from the southwest, coming from the Canaries where the weather is rainy. Soon the sun was screened, curtained, but the hot valley and the colder air above us still gave us nice thermals.

I am reading the book 'The Cloudspotter's Guide' by Gavin Pretor-Pinney, but more important got it as a surprise present from Darren, who had a tandem flight with us last year. He liked it so much, he is following a course to learn the sport. Really appreciate this Darren !

And we spotted 'electric clouds' as StevieG said this morning. In no time the winds were howling, luckily nobody was in the air. And it was forecasted, gusts up to 60 km per hour.
But no worries at 4 pm, winds were dying off already, and just when StevieG and Chris were heading back home to Wales, we took of at the cliffs of Santa Pola.
It is 7.30 pm, getting ready to pick up more british pilots leaving the bad weather up there, and some of us are still soaring over the Med. Great stuff.
Conditions were very laminar, after the storm we had this morning. Amin and Michael our Swiss pilots didn't have time to unpack their luggage, they jsut had time for a beer and fly.

It looked this morning as if we had a little sort of a 'gota fria'. Gota Fria stands for 'cold drop'. For this we need a warm sea (we have), eastern winds (we have) and cold air above the land (we have !).

Well if you think we are soaring, look at this then

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzOCEDm73tM

holy shit !

Summertime. Henrik got his four hours in today. Soaring and later on thermalling, I think he is obsessed !

In the morning some east giving us the chance to get rid of the hangover, the dry taste... .

A little bit later it all turned excellent inland to enjoy the thermals. Rafa, Dudo, yes good old dudo is finally back and Ismael and Rhise, were already cruising the sky. It was rock 'n roll. The higher you flew the more rocky it got. Northeastern winds up high, promising for tomorrow ? We'll see.
After a while of course it got smoother, so we all ended up with a nice evening flight as well.

Look at the foto's, more blue it cannot get. Summertime.

Brilliant. Beach and fly. Temperatures just you want them. Thermals just like you want them.

Stevie, Erling and good old Sean, had an achievement to fullfill. They had to get to Maigmo. As soon as they had some lift they had to go left immediately and then park there, frind the triggers and go for Maigmo. Done ! Great job guys.
It was splendid, relaxed atmosphere, not too many pilots, bingo with the weather.
Midphoto is a shot from Erling, heading back for base, taking from Maigmo.

Later in the afternoon Peter had his first thermal flights. Foto of him just before launching, and then one flying with his white HOOK.

What a sky eh ? Climbs 4/5 m/s, here and there clouds pointing out where to head to.

Just an ordinary sunday afternoon in Alicante. Lots of pilots around of course.

Stevie first time to El Cid and back, Henrik first time to Maigmo and back. Others just flew for hours in thermals.

Peter, dutch guy, had his first thermal flights later in the afternoon. Sorry Peter, just have some foto's you rigging for take off. During your flight my battery was down. Peter flies a Niviuk Hook and has a Kortel Kamasutra2 harnass. All 'mercedes' kind of gear, he only goes for the best you see.

Some shots of the day. A full day. Early start at Peña Rubia, where Stevie made his flight to Biar and back. Where Sean had a spectacular low save. Where Henrik unfortunately didn't hear his vario beep once ....

Later, after chilling, flying the other side. Villena, with its castle, its old bullring, its Via Ferrata, and its hill of course. We flew on that one till there was no more light.

Knackered, talk to you tomorrow. Hope your day was as good.

Morning flights over Cabo. Untill it got too strong.

Something else. Something I love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhSc8qVMjKM
ahhooo !

Late in the day, winds died off. At 5 pm we could do what we love to do, fly !

I wasn't there, Kath took care of the guests. Had to go to the reunion of the federacion. Partly to defend our dearly site of Santa Pola. Of course we all agreed to go ahead with the procedure and not give in to any consession the urbanisation could and would ask in the near future. Huuray ? One for all, all for one !

Sean, Stevie, Henrik, Chris in the air. Peter wisely decided to follow a refreshing course with Kasana. By the way if any of you out there want to follow a course in English, now is the time. English speaking instructors around in the near future. Spread the word.

Peters new glider, Niviuk HOOK with personal colours, nice one, havebig fun with your new baby Peter.
Alicante take offs, desert like isn't it, after Almeria it is the most dry region of Spain. Airshots by Henrik.

Drove inland at noon to check if the weather really was as bad as forecasted. And it looked that way indeed, as soon as we passed the valley of Tibi.

So plan B, heading back and flying at Palo.

But at first, cross wind and again looking very nasty. But the sun, the sun, the always shining hot sun in Alicante burned off the nasty stuff and w could play. And how !

For hours in pretty strong but friendly thermals.

Rafa, 40 km triangle flight. Palo, Maigmo, Los Ventos, above village Agost, Orito, back to El Cid, and toplanding at Palo. Holy shit.

It was lovely in the air, just what you expect in september. Bit cloudy at times, so you worry, but then again the surprising flying in the afternoon.

It changed. The season changed. For the better. I prefer it this way.

I was cruising along the beaches today, some flamenco music as a tune. Some older flamenco, a la Jose el de la Tomasa. The 'unrest' of the summer, the families with kids, running on the boardwalk, skaters rushing by at times. Lots of em in a hurry, because it had to happen, the week time off. Kids with kites under their arms, coloured balls, waveboards with sharks. This is gone a bit. It is all much quiter. Traffic slowed down again, there is less stress on the street. You see the old neighbour again, going to get his daily paper. Some of the pensionist playing domino, where before their places were kept by busy tourists for a month or two. Cafe con leche, at ease again.

Still hot though, still summer, today 36 degrees in El Altet my village, where no more triple parking is spotted.

Other foreign tourism as well. Spotted Norwegians today, easy to spot. Sandals, Jesus shoes with black socks. They'll never learn. Mind you, my wife got back from shopping, she bought herself striped pyjamas. Times are a changing ....



Anyway, Henrik, Chris, Stevie, Sean and Peter, top to bottom today. The weather was not my style today. That kind of sky I don't like at all, merky it is called ? If you would take a picture you couldn't tell how it was. Just all embedded. You have to check out the sea, huge waves, red flags, no swimming. No wind, very humid, very hot, sweaty. Ice cold beer served in an iced frozen glass. I love you all. Salud.

Got my 'free hug' sign out today, and headed for the beach.

Wrong move.

It was chilly, and very windy, nobody out there.

It felt like tilting point summer/autumn, although this is too early in the season. Surely wednesday it'll be in the thirties again, sunny. Just a couple of days of rough sea, strong winds, great for our fellow kite-surfers.

Driving up, flying it, and landing at Carche. Old foto's of mine.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TODAY


Although competition is not the most important thing in paragliding, I also tend to talk about best achievements of the day once in a while.
And those were again for Pepe, Bartual, Ismael and Rafa. The left for Carche early day, to see if there was any XC possibility.

They got more than 1000 m above take off, cloudbase at 2300 meter. Clouds were developing rapidly though, so only Pepe stayed close to them. One made it to Pinoso, others nearly to Monovar. Pepe registered strong thermals 4 to 5 m/s all the way to cloudbase. Just a 100 m before reaching cloud it all damped.
Most of local pilots were around for some sunday afternoon soaring though, which was delayed today, because the winds didn't die off. Kike, who is one of our Palo-addictos, parawaited at his favourite hill, and wisely decided to leave it for another day as well, as clouds were not inviting to play.

Man, man.
You don't have to believe me, but it was 37 degrees celsius again and such a gorgeous weather. Blue sky, exactly like in the advertisements, making you warm to spend some time in heaven.

And of course went to the beach, and had a dip in that lovely blue Mediterranean water. The beach of El Altet still looks lovely this time of the year, and not only by its surroundings... .

Got out of the water when the flag was changed from green to yellow. Time to get some lunch in and get ready to go. This breeze will get inland soon enough to have a marvellous time.

Most stayed at their known hill Palomaret, the more challenging pilots went to Peña Rubia, where they had 1000 m climb above take off. Pepe, Bartual and Ismael.

I was hiking on the northern side of Maigmo late in the afternoon, checking out an old via ferrata, checking if it still can be used safely in case we want to do something else this winter. At 6 pm, I still saw flyers in the distance filling up their boots.

Tonight we are invited to have Arroz Negro. A speciality in this region where paella reigns. Arroz Negro is rice dish like paella, but cooked in inkfish' ink. Delicious.

And soon we will have our local competition again at Palomaret amd we all hope you will be here. Check out last years video of some take offs at the event, video man was Jan Bernaerts. You don't know him ? Well time to get down here, he is a regular !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n628uVh-l0M

I think the only hill flyable in Spain was down here. All over Spain it was howling, and in the norhtern parts raining. Not down here. Yes lots of wind till late in the afternoon.

But at 5.30 pm pilots were flying sky high over the crest in Palomaret.