Letter from Hans Bausenwein and Andreas Reick: Hello XC-Open pilots (or flying dudes as Martin Muller likes to call us J), Martin Muller from Geneva, Red Bull X-Alps pilots and fastest finisher 2007 has made a nice little video again about the 2008 Piedrahita XC-Open [Click here]. Thank you Martin, nice one again! We have [...]

The setting for this year’s HG Worlds, Laragne in the Hautes-Alpes, France, is also the playground of choice for a new, Dutch-run HG competition for sport class hang gliders. The philosophy of the Sport Class Open is that it should be a competition with safe, achievable tasks for kingpost gliders, with an emphasis on learning.  [...]

The 5th Inkafest Mountain Film festival takes place 18 – 22 August 2009 in Huaraz, Peru, at the foot of the beautiful White Mountain chain.  With its primary purpose to educate visitors on the importance of ecology and the preservation of the mountains and nature, mountain films will be screened and competitions held to choose [...]

The first of Raul Rodriguez’ acro wings are now available: The Radix is the competition wing, and sizes 18 and 21 m2 are in production, with the 19.5 undergoing testing at the moment. The Matrix is also scheduled to be launched soon and will be available in size 14, 16, 18, and 20 m2. The [...]

Nova Juniors, Aaron Durogati, 22, and Peter Gebhard, 24, came 4th and 7th overall in the PWC Korea on their Triton-X competition wings. Their team, Cornizzolo Eventi, was joint first (with Advance). The Triton (LTF 2-3, EN D) has been doing well in serial class, with Finnish pilot Antti Jutila winning the Pre Europeans in [...]

The Canungra cup is on again, and this time it’s special: 2009 is its 10th anniversary; it’s also the Australian nationals and a PWC qualifying competition, and so to celebrate, there are some special things planned for the week. Organisers are are also offering a recession-busting, 10th-anniversary-commemorating, early bird discount of  $A 30 for those [...]

Skyline’s competition glider, the Hawk, has passed DHV shock and load tests. Designed as an EN D wing, Skyline say its best features are its high performance, speed range and safety. Its brake perssure starts very light, but quickly increases making it easy to perform either flat or very tight turns and making it handle [...]

Ozone say their new Oxygen 2 harness is a versatile, high quality harness for pilots of all abilities. It is light and simple enough for new students, but sleek and full featured enough for experts. Now the harness of choice for the Ozone Test and Design Team, the Oxygen 2 was designed to be sensitive [...]

Swing say their Arcus 6 (LTF 1, or 1-2 accelerated) has very quickly established itself in its class due to its flight characteristics and unequalled performance, and Swing are now offering the  glider in a compact (700g lighter) version as well. Combined with the Connect Reverse convertible harness, Swing say you have “the ideal combination [...]

Airwave are pleased to announce that ‘A new generation in tandem design has been born!’ They say that through application of new techniques they have been able to combine improved launch characteristics with extremely easy and appealing handling and excellent flaring ability during landing. The Tandem is certified with a massive weight range (120 – [...]

Nova has a new lightweight wing in the offing: The Oryx, (certification ongoing for LTF 1-2, EN B), is based on the Mentor but using lighter fabrics, a slightly altered profile, thinner lines and different risers. The topsail is made from strong and long-lasting 40 g / m2 Porcher fabric, with the very lightweight 27 [...]

Skyline have made updates to three of their harnesses: Their light, all-round harness, the Pure, now comes in four sizes (S, M, L, XL). The new geometry makes it easier to get into after launch, and the angle of the seat board is adjustable.  A 10 cm foam protector complements the airbag, but if weight [...]

The Swift is a new, lightweight glider from Ozone. Derived from the Rush 2, Ozone describes the Swift as “the ultimate in agility, performance and lightweight versatility”. Their test and design team are very pleased with its glide ratio of 9:1 which comes with with EN B safety, handling that is “probably the most precise [...]

A series of choice cuts from Burkhard Martens’ new technique book on everything you need to know about cross country flying WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT THE WEATHER FROM OBSERVING THE WIND? As a supplement to personal weather forecasting, the winds can give important hints as well. • In the Alps, low clouds coming from [...]

Round 3 of the Paragliding World Cup took place at Denizli, Turkey, from 31 May to 6 June. After four tasks, Russell Ogden (UK, Ozone) was the overall winner, with Elisa Houdry (FR, Niviuk) lifting the cup for the women. Only eight points separated Russell from number two, France’s Jean-Marc Caron (Niviuk), who was the [...]

Finnish team ‘Golgoht’ picked up the Golden Peak award at the summer 2009 edition of the Nissan Outdoor Games. Their photographer, Petri Kovaleinen was also named best photographer.

Media and visitors to the European OutDoor exhibition, to be held from 16-19 July in Friedrichshafen, Germany, will have an opportunity to meet and greet a select group of Red Bull X-Alps athletes at a special presentation. At 11am on 17 July, just two days before they begin an 818 km paragliding and hiking adventure [...]

Neils Dachler, director of Performance Flying (available at www.xcshop.com) sent us this report on the Mexico Worlds that he filmed for American TV. The report was originally shown on the world famous ‘Good Morning America’. Get the latest Flash Player to see this player. [Javascript required to view Flash movie, please turn it on and [...]

The Baden Württemberg Open, Germany, has been a highlight of the German paragliding competition scene for years. Yet again at Whitsun (30 – 31 May) the organisers succeeded in attracting many spectators to the Black Forest, bringing our sport to a wide section of the public. Two tasks of 58·8 and 46·6 km decided the [...]

During the Baden Württemberg Championships in the Black Forest, Germany, Chrigel Maurer broke his own infinite tumbling record with 210 rotations, jumping from a helicopter at 3,300 m with his Advance Akro proto. Once again Chrigel had to deal with high g loadings of up to 6g each rotation during the record flight, putting great [...]