“There is a particular type of cloud that offers insight into what turbulence might look like.” Our in-house weatherman Honza Rejmanek introduces the billow cloud, or Kelvin-Helmholtz, and explains what it can teach pilots about the often invisible perils of turbulence. See what else is in Issue 177 …read more
Category: para news
Gavin McClurg: Why execution matters most
“The average intermediate pilot knows just as much as Chrigel knows, he just executes it all better.” If you really want to get to the bottom of why you’re not keeping up with Chrigel ‘The Eagle’ Maurer, says Gavin McClurg, you need to start with the simple things – it’s called training. See what else […] …read more
Portfolio: Julian Cisterna
Acro and competition photographer Julian Cisterna tells us how he captures those amazing moments, why it’s not so different from shooting a wedding and what really happened when he top-landed Mont Blanc. See what else is in Issue 177 …read more
Top-landing with a Super Cub: In Alaska with Paul G
“Landing a Super Cub on a mountain top is a similar feeling to top-landing a paraglider on a small remote mountain somewhere in the Alps.” Paul Guschlbauer tells how he explored the Alaskan wilderness’s untrammeled flying sites – in a Super Cub bush plane. See what else is in Issue 177 …read more
Torsten Siegel on the new bounce at GIN Gliders
A year after their North Korean production factory was closed down without warning, GIN’s designer and test pilot, Torsten Siegel, reveals how the company bounced back to clean up on the main podium at January’s Paragliding World Cup Superfinal in Brazil. See what else is in Issue 177 …read more
Naked Pilot: Bicho Carrera
“I carry a speaker. I like to listen to good music while I fly.” Bicho Carrera tells us about acro, flying barefoot, and his first taste of paragliding – aged just 11 months. See what else is in Issue 177 …read more
Cross Country 178: April 2017
Flying is about making connections – with ourselves, with others, and with nature. They are connections that make us feel alive, that spirit us away from the worries and the rigmarole of everyday life, that make us laugh out loud among the clouds where no one else can hear. Cross Country is about building and […] …read more
Ozone Zeno (EN D) review: Flying XC, full stalls and SIV
As part of our review of the Zeno for an upcoming issue of Cross Country Magazine, we went to Monaco and scared ourselves. The Zeno was actually OK… no dramas. The tips stall much earlier than the centre, and care needs to be taken to ensure a symmetric recovery. We found that as you let […] …read more
El Penon Classic Race 2017: ‘Sports class heaven’
Thirty-four hang glider pilots enjoyed classic conditions at the fifth El Penon Classic in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, over a week of competition from 19-25 February. An annual event in the hang gliding calendar, this year the competition was used as a selection event by Guatemala and Mexico for the FAI Hang Gliding World Championships […] …read more
Final Glide: Chasing World Records in HG and Paragliding
Cross Country Magazine has published a new Kindle Single ebook: Final Glide: Chasing World Records in Hang Gliding and Paragliding. The ebook, which is available on Amazon Kindle at only £1.99, brings together four incredible and classic stories from the Cross Country Magazine archive. The stories include: Dragon Slaying, with Nevil Hulett South African pilot […] …read more