Tag Archives: cross country

Altona PPG

Great flight for two hours on a beautiful morning today.  Took off over mist-shrouded fields and landed 82km and two hours later back at the Altona airstrip to find a large group of PPG and microlight pilots chatting in the sunshine… and offering me a fresh up of coffee.  Can it get better?

Watch in HD if you can!

Snow Hill Island Expedition Postponed

Dear friends and followers,

It is with a very heavy heart that I have to inform you that we will not be departing for Snow Hill Island in the next few days. We’ve been forced to make the difficult (and costly!) decision to postpone the trip by a season or two for safety considerations. This is not an easy call to make, especially with the heavy emotional, financial and time investment we all have made in the expedition, but we believe it is the right course to follow.

As you are no doubt aware, the ice conditions in the Antarctic are at a record high this year, which has made the approach to the Antarctic Peninsula uncertain within our time-frame. This led to the two team members doing penguin research to withdraw or risk losing their research window this year. After a lengthy discussion and much examination of the ice data, the remaining 6 team members decided to continue with the expedition.

It came as a heavy blow when (only 10 days before departure) one of the core team members was also forced to withdraw at the eleventh hour due to a life-threatening illness in his immediate family. Faced with unusually bad ice conditions and a team now dangerously reduced in numbers, we have elected to postpone the expedition. Effectively, this means we will have to try again next October or the year thereafter.

We see this not as a failure, but as a challenge and change in schedule. We are now in a stronger position, having laid the groundwork for all the logistics, gathered vast amounts of data, done endless preparation and provisioning, and ironed out many potential problems with equipment. The knowledge, contacts and systems we have developed will facilitate our next effort.

For our planned physiological research, we see this as an opportunity to expand the conceptual basis. We have already (in the last week) embarked on two projects which were deferred to get the expedition underway, but will actually enhance our fieldwork. Taking a long view, this may be a blessing in disguise. We have already opened some doors (through the Snow Hill preparation) that may accelerate the research far beyond what we envisioned on this expedition…exciting times ahead.

On a personal note, Franelise and I will still be traveling to the Falklands in a few days, where we will sort out, store, and recover some of the expedition gear. We’ll be meeting with role players there and putting the pieces into position for the Snow Hill Island Expedition to come. Thereafter we’re going to disappear into the mountains and fjords of Patagonia for a well-needed break 😉

We are deeply indebted to the individuals and companies that have been so supportive of the expedition, and will be doing our utmost to meet your expectations now and in the future. We take to heart the words of Roald Amundsen: “Obstacles are merely things we overcome”.

X-Alps 2013 is coming…

…and you can follow the leaders right here from 7 July!

 

Hang-gliding Table Mountain

Adam West of our local Cape Albatross Hang-glider Club shot some beautiful video of flying Table Mountain and the Twelve Apostles in a brief break between the winter storm fronts.  Enjoy 🙂

 

Hang Gliding flight over Cape Town and Table Mountain from Adam on Vimeo.

A beautiful day along the Cape Peninsula flying a Wills Wing T2 145. Launching from Signal Hill, climbing out over Lions Head, crossing over to Table Mountain and the 12 Apostles, then back to land at Mouille Point before the rain.

Greyton to Botrivier PPG

My good mate Ant of The Aerial Perspective was very kind to invite me along to Greyton, where he needed to take some pictures.  We cruised out there in the Vito early this morning to find the town dead still (wind and street-life) with heavy dew on the ground, and so we stopped at a local coffee shop for tea and toast.  Greyton is as pleasantly bucolic as I remember, albeit somewhat more developed these days.

Greyton from the air.  Photo courtesy of The Aerial Perspective
Greyton from the air. Photo courtesy of The Aerial Perspective
After completing consumption of our comestibles we went looking for a launch area.  The Greyton Sports Club had a nice field, but it was still very wet and surrounded on three sides by trees.  A foray down the other end of town was more fruitful…well, too fruitful, in fact.  Not only did we find a great little field, which was slightly raised and offered a puff of wind, but it was also downwind of the dump and sewage settlement ponds.  To complete the scene, a large herd of splendidly flatulent bovines stood contemplating us from over the fence.  Perfect.  Although the field was small and the ponds large, the light wind was conveniently blowing across the corners, offering a decent run and space to climb out.  We rigged quickly, and then I helped Ant launch so that he could get the photography done quickly.  I was rapidly ready to go, and then in my enthusiasm flooded my engine and had to take if off to get it restarted.  By that stage, the wind had almost disappeared, and what little remained was now blowing directly over the ponds, across the short axis of the already short field.  Eish.

Last flight for 2012

Cape Albatros Hang-Glider Club mate Adam and I decided on a whim to head to Porterville on 30 December despite the so-so forecast.  He had a brand new Wills Wing T2 to get to know, having done only one flight on it at the training hill.  I was keen to try some more XC on my trusty Moyes Sonic.  Conditions at Dasklip Pass were good for a launch, with climbs up to about 1500m ASL predicted: not high at all for Porterville in summer.  Deciding that any flight is better than no flight we quickly rigged and took off.  Adam immediately hooked a good climb and spent most of the flight high above the ridge; I struggled low down and fighting hard for the first 20km before getting a good climb to 1400m.  By that stage the topless T2 was well ahead, so I carried on at my own pace and crossed over into the Citrusdal valley at the N7 pass.  I had forgotten to take my hydration pack, and the rough thermals and heat low on the ridge made me dehydrate fast.  Past Citrusdal town the headache and nausea overtook the fun and I took a long last glide from 1700m ASL to land just short of 50km at Constriction – my new personal best.  Adam, in the meantime, was having an awesome flight despite being very new on the glider.  He worked hard most of the way to Clanwilliam and then found a sweet spot in the sky, flying from there nearly all the way to Vanrhynsdorp with very little stopping to thermal along the way, for a total distance of 140km.  A long retrieve followed, but worth every moment!

A couple of GoPro frame grabs:

Airborne on the Sonic, heading north from Dasklip
Airborne on the Sonic, heading north from Dasklip
2012_1230_fg2
Banking in a tight thermal
2012_1230_fg3
Low down on the ridge and not loving it
2012_1230_fg4
Nearing the top of the inversion while climbing over the ridge towards Citrusdal

Unfortunately, I don’t have a tracklog, as my GPS was stolen the day before and the ThermGeek iPhone app crashed just after takeoff (just the app, not me).  However, Adam’s log is here and is far more impressive than mine would have been.  Next time 😉

Western Cape PG XC League – Task 2

Here are some details regarding this weekend’s WCPGXCL event.  This month’s task will be held in Porterville, to coincide with the yearly Gatskop fun competition (which is on the weekend of 19-21 October).   Two tasks have been set, to allow for winds that are north or south of west.  Looking at the Saturday 14:00 weather forecast, it will probably be the Northbound task this weekend.

Northbound Task:

  • Take Off/start: PL1080 – Pampoenfontein (Radius 400m) – 32°55.630’S 19°02.189’E
  • Turnpoint 01: P17010 – Eendekuil Silos (Radius 400m) – 32°41.125’S 18°53.002’E
  • Turnpoint 02: PG6020 – Renosterhoek  (Radius 400m) – 32°32.287’S 18°50.231’E
  • Goal/ES: P17010 – Eendekuil Silos (Radius 1000m) – 32°41.125’S 18°53.002’E

Click here to link to Livetrack24 Northbound task

Southbound Task

  • Take Off/Start: PL2070 – Dasklip (Radius 400m ) – 32°54.302’S 19°02.294’E
  • Turnpoint 01: PG1024 – Flyers Lodge (Radius 400m) –  33°00.299’S 18°59.569’E
  • Turnpoint 02: P80006 – Misverstand T-junction (Radius 400m) –  33°02.907’S 18°50.135’E
  • Turnpoint 03: P62008 – Halkmanshof Silos (Radius 400m) –  33°08.828’S 18°57.631’E
  • Goal/ES: PG1024 – Flyers Lodge (Radius 1000m) – 33°00.299’S 18°59.569’E

Click here to link to Livetrack24 Sounthbound task

Porterville Turnpoints

Click the link above for all the GPS files compatible with any GPS (in the Porterville Turnpoints .zip file) as well as the Google Earth file for both tasks.  Please let Eugene Claase know if yo need any help either loading the TP files onto your GPS or programming your device manually.  He will be at the Glen Club tomorrow afternoon from 17:30 until 18:30 to help anyone setting up their devices.

A few important notes about this weekend’s flying:

1. Pilots are all meeting at 36 on Main (Coffee shop in Porterville) at 10:00 Saturday morning. There will be time for a quick tea/coffee and to sort out the recovery & site fees for the day.  Note: Yearly site subscribers to Pampoenfontein and/or Dasklip do not have to pay any site fees.  The Recovery vehicles will leave from 36 on Main taking everyone up the mountain at 10:45.

2. There is a possibility of a lift to Porterville from Cape Town (courtesy of Ant Allen and the Aerial perspective Vito bus) on Saturday morning leaving Cape Town at 08:00, coming back either Saturday afternoon, or Sunday afternoon, depending on everyone that wants join the group.  Please call me Eugene and let him know if you would like to take up the offer – cost will depend on numbers.

3. There will be a possible 3 Turkey recoveries, driving back up the mountain during the day. The exact times will be decided on the mountain.

4. There will be a site and flight/task briefing on take off (most probably Pampoenfontein) at 11:30 by local site guru Paul Penning.

There are 8 pilots confirmed for the weekend so far… I’m committed elsewhere but wish them all good luck!

3.2 seconds of powered paraglider fame… the Mazda BT-50 TV advert

Regular blog readers may recall that we travelled up to the Augrabies area on the Namibian border some weeks ago to take part in a shoot for the new Mazda BT-50 TV commercial.  It was a long distance made oh-so-worthwhile by the chance to fly in and over the spectacular Riemvasmaak desert and through the Kai Garib gorge.  After a long day of waiting, conditions finally allowed a launch about 2 hours before sunset, and we flew every last minute we could, generating hordes of footage… of which about 3 seconds makes it into the ad 😉

This is the ‘Making Of…’ video, which gives a good feel for the vibe, and features the commercial at the end.  Would I do it again?  Of course… you only live once 😉

Western Cape Paragliding XC League – First Task

The weather didn’t co-operate and allow a task to be set this last weekend, so we’ve set one for the rest of the month.  It’s a classic route and the best time of year to do it: a flight along the Twelve Apostles on the Cape Peninsula, with awesome views of Table Mountain and the western seaboard…if you can do it 😉  In order to make it accessible to both junior and senior pilots, we’re allowing takeoff from three different sites.  The top pilots can launch at Signal Hill and fly an out-and-return, entering the start cylinder from the air, while pilots without a Sport license can launch at Llandudno for a shorter but also challenging flight, scoring the same points.

All the info is on the WCPGXC League page right here on the blog.  You can link directly to the task on the LiveTrack24 site here.

Click here to see a list of participating pilots and provisional scores as they are uploaded!

Other useful resources are the waypoint file and printable map:

Cape Town Waypoints

Cape Waypoints - Map
Cape Waypoints – Map

Winter soaring bliss

Long Pete on the Aspen 4 overhead Judas Peak
Long Pete on the Gradient Aspen 4 overhead Judas Peak

UPDATED:  This time of the year (late August through to October) is one of the best for soaring flights along the Cape Peninsula and surrounding mountains.  As the frontal systems make their march to the south for the summer, the cold fronts lessen in intensity, with more more moderate prefrontal north-westerlies and lingering postfrontal conditions.  The air is cold and moist but the sun begins to reappear, leading to beautifully smooth soaring interspersed with the promise of good instability and thermal flying.  It is certainly the ‘high’ season for the Cape pilot’s classic route:  Signal Hill/Lion’s Head across to Table Mountain, southerly along the Twelve Apostles, and then back for sundowners or onwards into the lesser-flown for the brave (and those with dedicated retrieve drivers!).  For many years this route was more frequented by the hang-glider pilots with their better glide and speed range (the NW can exhibit a strong wind gradient as one climbs), but as paraglider technology has improved it is now achievable by pilots on almost any wing.  Come along on a tour, illustrated with my photos from today…

Continue reading Winter soaring bliss