The pilots blog

Six weeks of cycling on the highest roads in the world, then six weeks of mountaineering in Pakistan. Aurélie and her partner set off from Samarkand with a SuSi XPed in their bike bags. They took off from three summits, including two 6,000ers, which had most likely never been flown by paraglider before.

The plan is straightforward: link Nikkaluokta to Abisko, roughly 110 kilometres along the Kungsleden, by ski pulka, with paragliding whenever conditions allow. Gear choice is central. We set off with AirDesign Susi XPed wings and Slip 2 harnesses, designed for exactly this kind of use: light, compact and suited to mountain flying.

Our French team pilot did recently quite an expedition by crossing the Pyrenees range in Winter, riding a bike, bivouacking and combining this big trip with his other passions: highline, paragliding and skiing. And yes, he had the new UFO on his pannier rack!

Our representative from Czechia teamed up with Sebastian Weber to participate in the 4th occasion of the winter Eigertour. After having braved the elements to find the sun again on the last day, the pair finished 3rd of this frosted race. Tomas tells us the inside story.

Our Argentine ambassador Pablo Pontoriero recently flew the biggest distance from Chapelco take-off, stepping on the 200km mark. And right before this beautiful free-distance flight, Pablo made an amazing FAI triangle from which he wrote the following account:

According to our Austrian team pilots, “Climb&Fly is more than just a sport – it’s a mindset, a way of approaching the mountains with a sense of lightness, freedom and adventure”. Here is a tale about lightness, verticality and some Samurai, by Marlies Czerny and Andreas Lattner.