XC Open 2009

August 2009

XC Open Day 1 - Larger image

We will post the latest news on the competition here

You can see the online sign in chart to see pilot's reported landing positions

Also see Steve's daily report in the blog

For the latest results see the XC Open results page

Final Overall Results After 7 Tasks

Trips To La Palma This winter

July 2009

This winter we are running paragliding holiday trips to the Canary island of La Palma. Fire and lava, rain and rivers have carved the so called ¨Pretty Island¨. Declared a Reserve of the Biosphere, La Palma is the highest island in the world in relation to its surface area of only 706km2, with mountains rising over 2,000m.

Like other good volcanic island flying destinations such as La Reunion and Tenerife, the height of the island allows safe and consistent flying on the south west of the island in the lee of the trade winds from the NE.

One of the principal advantages of La Palma over Tenerife and La Reunion are the better take off and landing sites. Tenerife in particular is plagued with mass tourism and the building and power lines can make flying quite hazardous. La Palma has maintained a much more natural setting offers a wide range of quality take off and landing sites. The popular Desafio and pre PWC events have brought improvements to the facilities. The more popular sites can be seen on this website

Our trips will run from Monday to Monday to take advantage of the only direct flights from the UK leaving from Gatwick or Manchester and run by Thomson.

The price of the flights to and from the UK is not included in our price.

The price of 420 euros includes:

• Transport to and from the airport (Santa Cruz on the East of the Island), to the apartments in the Puerto Nao flying area on the West side of the Island.
• Transport and retrieve in 4X4 vehicles, daily guidance and meteo briefings from myself and 2 local guide/instructors.
• Non flying day excursions and mountain bike use.

For non flying partners the price is 175Euros. This covers accommodation, airport transfer and excursions.

For information on dates, see the booking calendar.

Other information on the Island can be found on this website.

Campeonato de España 2009 - Spanish Nationals 2009

July 2009

254K from Peña Negra - Bruno Croué Flies Off The Map!

July 2009

Bruno Croué has once again broke the site record from Peña Negra. On 1st July, when the pilots were making goal at 126km on task 2 in the British Open, Bruno, who was not in the competition, broke his previous site record which he achieved on the 29th of June last year.

Bruno left the hill at 11:45 and landed an epic 7 hours 40 minutes later, having 'flown off' the US airmap we often use.

His tracklog is in ''The Flying / Maps and Navigation' page.

World Paragliding Championship Comes To Piedrahita in 2011

February 2009

Piedrahita has won the bid for the organisation of the World Paragliding Championships in 2011. On 21st February in the CIVL Plenary meeting in Hall, Austria, the bid was presented against Turkey (Kayseri) and Italy (Feltre).

It has been a long ambition of Steve's to see the World Championships in Piedrahita. He said, "I arrived in 1991, so it will have taken 20 years to get there. Hopefully the committment now shown by the local and provincial government will finally allow us to get the take off and landing situation fully resolved and access to some other take offs. The Success of this bid should be positive for all pilots of the world who enjoy flying in Piedraita, not just the lucky 150 pilots selected to fly for their nation in two years time."

Read the full story of the successful bid here.

Spanish tandem record from Peña Negra

September 2008

Steve flew one of the Journalists from the Avila newpaper with the intention of getting some good shots of Avila with the camera pole and some good coverage of the XC open event.

The flight conditions were excellent with a classic convergence marked by cumulus to over 3000m. Although Maria (the reporter) was sick three times, she was keen to continue after Avila for the record. Landing at 6.45 there was still the possibility to go much further, but Steve needed to wind down and land well before the official competition land by time to do his Meet Director job and check the SMS messages of pilots.

The previous record distance was 119km, also by Steve, but with Puri in 1998.

Dave Regan smashes PB by 4

September 2008

Dave Regan, who the last time he was with us had a poor weather week, more than made up for things by increasing his PB from 25km to 100km during an XC Open task.

PB for John Kingsley to Avila on DHV 1

August 2008

Our congratulations to John Kingsley, senior member of the Malvern group, who reached Avila on his DHV 1 glider.

This was done on John's second day of his two week stay with us, so he is hoping to improve on his new personal best.

New Peña Negra site record of 247km

July 2008

Our congratulations to Bruno Croué from France, who made some fantastic flights at the end of June. On Saturday 29th June he flew 178km and on Monday 30th June, he beat the Peña Negra site record of 245km previously held by Steve, with 247km.

A great flight in very pleasant conditons with very little wind, but great convergence and Cu allowing him to negotiate the new airspace after Avila.

The biggest distance from the area is still 281km flown by another French pilot, Patrice Quillet, from Lastra del Cano.

PC now available for guests to access the internet

July 2008

We now have a PC available which guests can use to access the internet during their stay. This uses the WIFI installed in the house which you can use if you prefer to bring your own PC.

The PC has a serial port and software you can use to upload your tracks or download waypoints.

Steve wins the Serial Class in 2008 British Championship in Pedro Bernardo

June 2008

Steve has won the Serial Class in first Leg of 2008 Nationals held in Pedro Bernardo. Instrumental in attracting and setting up the nationals this year to the ¨new¨ Avila venue of Pedro Bernardo, he was the Technical Director for the event. In the same province as Piedrahita, but with a distinctly different microclimate it was considered that the area would provide interesting terrain and conditions. Although the mountain routes along the south side of the Gredos chain were not flown, four very interesting routes were flown out into the flatlands around Talavera. The British Championships have run 9 events in Piedrahita and perhaps the success of the event in Pedro Bernardo will lead to more events in Avila and stimulate the town of Piedrahita to further improve their installations at the risk of loosing future competitions to Pedro Bernardo.

See the Pedro Bernardo blog entries for more details.

'Classic Routes' article in the latest issue of XC Magazine

June 2008

XC magazine has an article on classic routes in Piedrahita in the May/June issue of the magazine.

"169 km of orbital rides, chocolate glides and tense grovels across the plains east of Piedrahita, imprints an indelible memory on Bob Drury as he visits Europe’s premier big distance flatland venue and enjoys a party to remember".

New Activity - Walking Holidays

February 2008

We are widening our season by offering walking holidays during the early spring and autumn.

This area is already a well know trekking destination for Spanish mountaneers, but almost unknown to British walkers. We can offer dramatic scenery in a friendly environment, and we hope to back that up with a good service.

The first group is set for a week from the 17th to the 24th of April. Check the walking section for more info about walking in this area.

Change in Arrival and Departure day from Saturday to Sunday for 2008.

December 2007

Our arrival and departure day for 2008 is now SUNDAY. From July 2007 easyJet stopped their flights from some provincial airports on Saturday. Also, some clients made it known to us that a Sunday to Sunday would be easier for them for work reasons. There is also a direct bus to from Madrid to Piedrahita at 8.30pm on Sunday for those arriving too late for our shuttle service.

Prices for 2008

December 2007

Our price of 450€ still the same after 5 years! But there are some changes depending on group size.

Our price has remained constant for the last 5 years. Our price includes all flying services, our alternative activities, airport pick up, accommodation, breakfast and three of your evening meals. Our only change in that time was to reduce from 4 evening meals to 3 in 2007.

We are able to maintain this price mainly due to our popularity: It is more cost effective with a larger group than with a small group. However, due to the high inflation in Spain, we are this year adapting the prices for smaller groups.

The base price of 450€ remains the same providing there is a group of five pilots or more.

For groups with less than 5 people, the price is 470€. If you book alone, but later find there are four other pilots here that week, you will only pay 450€. Check with the booking calendar, which shows how many pilots are booked each week, you will then know your full cost before arrival and can make your final payment of the correct amount. Of course, if you make a group booking of five or more, you can be assured of the €450 price.

If you are less that 5 persons and wish to pay the full amount at the time of reservation when there are still less that 5 booked, we will refund the 20€ to you on arrival if we have later made up a group of 5 or more that week.

Steve wins Serial Class in British Championships 2007

September 2007

For the second year running Steve is Serial Class British Champion. In 2006,aboard his Airwave Magic 4, after winning the pre-World Championships and the Australian nationals in Serial class, he went on to dominate the British Championship series, only loosing the overall Open class title on the penultimate to come runner up to the overall title, and first in serial class.

During the 2007 season Steve flew various wings. Open Class for the World Championships with the Airwave FR3, then various serial wings for the British Championship legs (the UP Trango in Piedrahita, the Gin Boomerang Sport in the UK, and the new Niviuk Peak in the last leg at San Andre).

Steve got to goal every day but one during the championship, the big day of 153km to Arcones from Piedrahita, where he dropped a very frustrating 12km short of goal. On the first day at San André, although getting to goal with a good time he was shown to have crossed the start gate 2 seconds early, loosing 960 points, and any chance of the overall title and making catching up John Chambers, leading the serial class a lot more difficult. Racing hard over the short course on the last day saw Steve a few minutes ahead of John, securing the title for the second time.

Tom Payne wins british championships Best Newcomer Award and a flyPiedrahita Holiday for 2008

September 2007

Tom is no stranger to Piedrahita, having flown with us in the past. Tom, aboard his Mac Magus XC made some particularly impressive flights in San André. Much of the week pushing ahead and often up with the Open class pilots on his serial wing. Well done Tom. We look forward to having him out with us in 2008 as winner of our British Nationals sponsored prize.

XC-Open Series hits classic conditions in Piedrahita

September 2007

Steve Ham was the Meet Director for this competition. The first week in September traditionally provides classic flying and this year was no exception with fantastic conditions and 8 tasks out of 8 days. Typically the winning flights were between between 100km and 150km, the XC Open in Piedrahita was a great success.

Here is a video made by Martin Muller while competing in the XC Open. This is the original video on his site with a streamed copy below. See the report on the competition .

Steve makes front Cover of Cross Country magazine

June 2007

Steve is very proud to make the front cover of his favourite magazine. He is shown flying his new FR3 with its Spanish Flag colours during the World Championships in Manilla, Australia. The photo was taken by team mate and subsequently World Champion, Bruce Goldsmith, on an epic Manilla day. The fantastic conditions which had lasted throughout the week before for the XC Open, were soon to turn problematic for the World Championships.

Bruce is famed for his ability to get fantastic pictures, happily snapping away in the gaggles, whilst most find they need to keep their full attention on controlling their glider. Even on the last day, of maximum pressure for Bruce as competition leader, he was still taking photos with the likes of Crigel Mauer and Jean-Marc Caron a few points behind and in conditions which soon had the rest of the British team on the ground. Well, done Bruce, and thanks for the great photo.