Idiots Guide to Alpine Flying

Welcome to this new monthly series designed to help the leisure pilot get more from flying in an Alpine environment, helping him prepare for his first trips to the mountains and getting some good XCs in the bag. As the title suggests, the series is not going to be too technical or hard to read, but it will put across some important facts every pilot should know before attempting to fly abroad, not just in Alpine areas. Let me start by introducing the authors:

Brett Janaway. I have been around aviation for my entire life in one form or another and spent my teenage years out with my father in the early
days of hang gliding on the slopes of Rhossili in South Wales. During the 1990s this developed into paragliding whilst still dabbling with other craft from my father’s stable, including microlights, light aircraft and even homebuilts. I have a varied experience in the sport, having been three times National Champion in Accuracy, record-holder in Paramotoring, an accomplished pilot in XC and, more recently, enjoying acro. I have spent the last three years guiding and coaching pilots in the Julian Alps in Slovenia, being the owner of XTC Paragliding.

Toby Colombé. Toby, having discarded a flourishing career in the city, has become a bit of a nomad. He is now in his fifth year on the road and has flown in 14 countries, having been in the sport for six years, all of them flying in mountainous environments. He is a qualified ski instructor and has successfully transferred those skills into paragliding guiding. He is an accomplished XC pilot and spends his summers split between guiding for XTC and for his own company, Passion Paragliding, in Morocco. In between working as a guide or ski instructor he is usually touring the globe searching for the next exciting place to hang out and fly in his trusty VW camper van.

During our time in Slovenia, welcoming up to 80 pilots a year, we have been constantly amazed at how unprepared people are for flying in an alpine region. By this I don't necessarily mean equipment, gliders, etc, but mentally: technique, practice and knowledge. All these can be improved without much effort, but can radically alter the gains from a trip abroad. Understanding just a few aspects of the differences between Alpine flying and UK flying will at the very least get you better distance, but in some cases could save you from serious injury or worse. Please enjoy the series. I hope one day you will put it to good use and book up with one of the many good guides operating abroad to further your knowledge and keep you safe.

Alpine flying
In the UK, where the majority of us are taught, we are become adept at dynamic soaring. The wind flowing up the hill creates a lift band which we manoeuvre in. Later we learn about thermals, small things that help us fly a bit higher and finally leave the hill. The sky gods seem to be able to put several of these together and fly for great distances.

In Alpine flying the world is very, very different. But is it really that difficult? Well, yes and no. The flying can be tremendously easy most of the time. It can be very powerful a lot of the time and can be dangerous some of the time. But how can you tell which day, or moment, is which?
The first big difference to learn about is that the lift is not coming from dynamic soaring any more but from thermals. Those things you occasionally bumped into are now a feature of every flight.
What else? Well, you used to worry about one wind direction and it was either on your hill or another (the one your mates went to, usually). Well, in Alpine flying it is a lot simpler. There are three wind directions. How is that simpler you ask? There is the actual wind direction, the one you are used to. There is the wind direction on launch and the wind direction at the landing field. They can be, and usually are, all blowing a different way. The good news is that the first won't usually affect you and the other two are usually going the correct way on all sites.

And there's more! Launch sites are usually small, steep and daunting; launch technique is different; no one hangs around after launch; cloudbase is much, much higher; lift is much more powerful; everyone is giving you dagger looks whilst you preflight your glider in the middle of the launch. The list is endless, and your instructor said, “Only change one thing at a time”! These are just some of the things you will notice
when you go abroad for the first time. We will look at each of these in a lot more detail across the series, dispelling myths and giving you some basic, practical tips to help you build your confidence along the way.