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Paragliding is one of the most amazing sports; where you realize one of humankind’s dreams. Have you ever dreamed of flying?

Paragliding is exactly this experience…you are flying without engines, you feel the air in your face and you fly like the birds. The experience of freedom is difficult to comprehend fully unless you try it yourself.

The challenge is to glide through the air taking advantage of the bubbles of warm air formed by the ground heating the air above it (produced when the sun heats up the rock faces and slopes). This phenomenon is called thermals and paragliders can fly up to 4.000 meters or even more crossing the valleys and mountains.

As with other sports, there are different levels of difficulty and expertise. This competition is the Formula One of paragliding. Pilots are highly trained and conditioned and must practice hours every day to maintain their skills.

The key to success in this competition is to fly as much as you can. Nevertheless, you’ll always have to negotiate some parts of the race on foot. Besides the hiking needed to reach ideal vantage points from which to take off, contestants will be forced occasionally to hike due to weather conditions like strong winds or rain.

From past competitions, we know that contestants on average fly 60% of the race and hike the other 40%. But, we know also know from past situations that some contestants had to hike 60% of the way…that means 490 Km by foot!

Orienteering, the ability to navigate using a map and compass over diverse and unfamiliar terrain, is very important in this race. Being good at it can give contestants strategic advantage over their competitors.