Last week I managed to get out paragliding. It turned out to be a epic few days.
A good patch of weather meant I could get out on Wednesday. 3 great days of Cross country flying followed.
On Wednesday I flew from Wether Fell in the dales to nr. Selby in York. This was a great flight and I almost made it to the 100km mark. (100 km is the benchmark for a “massive flight”) The flight lasted for 4hrs.
On Thursday things just got better and I had my camera with me.
I took off at 10.30am. Straight away the air was thermic and I soon climbed out to 4 thousand feet. I knew the weather was set to deteriorate so I went XC right away.
The next climb was a bit of a gamble, but I made it up again and spend the next 1hr slowly exiting the Dales. I got lowish at Patley Bridge then got a great climb from Greenhow quarry.
The next few hours saw me cross Harrogate, Wetherby, Tadcaster then South of York. Conditions were fantastic and I rarely got low. I had the pleasure of climbing up with sailplanes too.
I finally made the outskirts of Hull wher I got am amazing series of climbs over the city. Finally I eeked the day out long enough to make it down toward Spurn Head. The light at this point was amazing with great views up the Humber and out to sea.
I landed after 6hrs and 163km distance point to point. That is a personal best flight for me, and a new record distance for a paraglider flight from the Dales.
On Saturday I also got a 49km flight in from Staggs Fell. This was great fun as I flew with a big gaggle of other pilots. Landed in Weardale.
So 3 days and 310km in distance. Amazing. Those 3 flights took me to 11th in the 2010 UK XC league and 7th in the UK All time XC league. Can’t wait until it gets really good in June!
Just discovered your blog Jake. Really nice to read …….. my … how you compressed 163k into so few words and pics.