Three of the latest flying DVD releases reviewed by Hugh Miller

The Coupe Icare festival, held in the French Alps on the 17-19 September, was swamped by pilots keen to celebrate the free flying culture and the end of another European season.

“So, there I was, having just started a gentle left hand turn when the nice sedate little DHV 1-2 I was flying decided to enter a spin on about 6cm of left brake. I thought, but not a problem. Hands up, and it’ll stop. It didn’t!”
Cross Country’s Ian Blackmore goes for a little twirl.

The original film ‘Instability’ was made in 1992 and was the first instructional paragliding film to show paraglider pilots how to cope with collapses and other possible flight incidents. It became a classic, and is still used today by many paragliding schools worldwide. Bruce Goldsmith explains the background for a new sequel set to revolutionise the way we learn how to deal with collapses

Travelling light, Manu Bonte chases his childhood dreams in the ancient and sacred lands of the Inca in Peru. Words and photos: Manu Bonte!
During all those years sitting at the back of the classroom, my wandering mind was fuelled by mostly two things: my teacher’s strange pronunciation of faraway places like Titicaca and Machupichu, and by Tintin comic books - especially the one where he ventures off in search of the Temple of the Sun. Finally, the day had come for me to seek out those crystal clear waters and long lost Incan treasures for myself.

Bob Drury continues his search for paragliding nirvana in the Indian Himalayas

As 7,000 metres lights up on my altimeter, my climb rate gets even stronger and my wing starts tugging at my hands like an angry dog on a lead. My heart’s already trying to pound its way out of my chest, my head’s spinning like I’m drunk, my nostrils are blocked with ice, and my body’s starting to shake violently with the cold. Welcome back to Zanskar! I’m sure I swore I’d never come here again

Rock formations too fragile to stand, yet too ancient to fall, point heavenwards from a desert immortalised on screen as the classic American landscape. Monument Valley IS the West, the Frontier, truly a final, unflown outpost. Othar Lawrence leads the Red Bull Air Force Huckspedition across the border

The Annapurna range in Nepal had taunted Scottish instructor Zabdi Keen just once too often, capping her climbs towards it from the lower slopes with heavy inversions. Trekking towards a higher launch seemed the only option - one that needed proper preparation, not an overnight decision

In his everydaylife, French pilot Pierre Bouilloux designs harnesses and accessories for paragliding.Occasionally, when the weather looks particularly good, he nips out and has a crack at the FAI triangle or some other record which he breaks fairly regularly. Once a year though, he puts work aside for longer, takes a minimum amount of equipment and heads off for a vol bivouac through the Alps: completely alone - tout seul - in flight over the mountains. Pierre speaks about his love of bivouac flying to Carla Beekman

It was the best flying summer the Alps have known. Record-breaking conditions, cloud bases for the first time rising above 5000m, enabling top landings on Mt Blanc. But conditions got stronger, more hectic than we’ve known before. This year, more people got hurt and killed than before. Is this the trend to come? Former hang glider pilot and University of Cape Town meteorologist Dr Bruce Hewitson tells Jaco Wolmarans to buckle up. It’s going to get worse