Author: winguu

The Atlas is the new EN B from Gin – video review by Greg Hamerton. …read more
Source: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine

The 2013 X-Alps route has been revealed, and Ozone pilots around the world are already training hard for what many consider to be the world’s toughest adventure race. The biannual event will be even longer, more technical, and more complex this year, with turnpoints forcing the athletes to cross through several very difficult sections of the Alps and travel more than 1000kms in total.

The 2013 edition comes 10 years after the first X-Alps, in which Ozone’s Chief Designer and Test Pilot, Dav Dagault, placed 2nd flying a special light wing of his own design. Ozone’s passion for light equipment and vol-biv adventure flying has encouraged us to support pilots in the X-Alps every since, as well as many intrepid adventurers who have set distance and altitude records in the wildest parts of the Himalaya, American West, South America and Africa. In addition to Dav’s X-Alps performance, Luc Armant’s now famous 1000km solo unsupported Himalayan vol-biv flight and Fred Pieri’s vol-biv adventures across central Asia have provided much fuel for our lightweight innovation.

With Chrigel Maurer heading up the Ozone X-Alps Team of pilots and helping us to develop the ideal X-Alps equipment package (Wing, Harness, Backpack), we’re very excited about this year’s event. We will post more details on the list of pilots flying Ozone and the equipment that we will be supporting them with, very soon. Please stay tuned and we look forward to following the pilots on this year’s course! Good luck to all involved, and we hope for another safe and fun event.

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Source: Ozone Paragliders

Mike Robinson of BlackHawk Paramotors was welcomed back to REI Sporting Goods to conduct an introductory Powered Paragliding demonstration. The event was a total success! Numerous people preregistered online, leaving only a couple of empty chairs once the seminar started. Mike Robinson of BlackHawk Paramotors said: “Any chance we get to expose people to the life-changing experience of flight, we are there!” The BlackHawk team brought everything, from their top-selling flying machines, to the latest gear and accessories on the market. Several students attended to show their support, as well as BlackHawk’s head instructor Rick Hallowes. The audience was captivated by seeing these machines in person for the first time. Many of the attendees were very excited to hear about the upcoming 2013 BlackHawk Ranch Fly-In in Valley Springs, Ca. Mike Robinson stated “this will be a great opportunity for everyone who attended the seminar to see these machines in the air.” The management team at the REI store were very pleased with the feedback from customers and they look forward to having the BlackHawk Paramotor team return in the near future.

Please remember to mark your calendars for the 2013 BlackHawk Ranch Fly-In!  This family-friendly event will be at 8591 Hoagan Dam Road, in Valley Springs California – April 18th-21st.  For more information, please visit http://blackhawkparamotor.com/ or call (209)-481-0493.

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Source: US Paramotor News

PWC Porterville, the new season is on! …read more
Source: Niviuk

Image: Red Bull Content Pool

The Red Bull X-Alps 2013 is to be the biggest yet, with organisers announcing that the route is now more than 1,000km long as the crow flies. At 1,031 km long the course is almost 20% – 167km – longer than the 2011 race, which was 864km as the crow flies.

The route was officially unveiled at a launch in Salzburg, Austria on 11 March, where organiser Hannes Arch said the longer route would “test athletes to the limit”. The route is longer because of extra turnpoints. The 2011 race had eight turnpoints plus the start and finish – 2013 will see 10 plus start and finish.

The 2013 race will zig and zag through the Alps. After the start in Salzburg pilots will head south to the Dachstein, before heading west to southern Germany. They will then have to turn sharply south to the Sud Tyrol in Italy, before heading west but staying north to reach Interlaken. From there it’s south to the Matterhorn, west to Mont Blanc, and then even further west out to St Hilaire, home of the famous Coupe Icare.

This adds a whole new dimension to the event – in all previous X-Alps races athletes have made the Mont Blanc turnpoint and then headed south. This year they will instead have to follow the arc of the French Alps all the way round before turning south towards Monaco and goal.

TURNPOINTS

Like 2009 and 2011 the race will begin in Salzburg, Austria. From there athletes must make their way southeast to the Hoher Dachstein (2,995m) and then west through the Hohe Tauern national park to the Kitzbühel Alps where a tough ascent of Wildkogel (2,224m) awaits.

Athletes must then negotiate tricky Innsbruck airspace and a potentially confusing Karwendel crossing to the Zugspitze (2,962m), Germany’s highest mountain. The route then crosses to the southern Alps, passes through Sulden in the Ortler region and then heads west on one of the longest stages to Interlaken in Switzerland. Then it’s south across the Bernese Oberland to the Matterhorn (4,478m), one of the most spectacular parts of the route.

The race then takes in Mont Blanc (4,810m), before heading west to St Hilaire. After that it’s south to Monaco and, for the elite few, splashdown on the raft in the Mediterranean. Athletes who complete the 1,031km 2013 race could well travel over 2,000km by foot and paraglider to get to Monaco, making the 2013 race the hardest yet.

…read more
Source: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine