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Piedrahita 28 Agosto 2010 from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

Fui a Piedrahita este Sabado donde se celebraba la primera manga del Open Mundial de Distancia Libre. La prevision no daba para mucho (techo a 2500 y viento de norte de unos 15-20km) pero mi intencion era intentar realizar un triangulo fai de unos 80km. Salgo sobre la 1.15h con condiciones muy flojas ; me acerco al puero de villatoro por la Serrota pero ya se nota el viento de nor-este y sin poder pasar de 2200 mt no me arriesgo a pasar; vuelvo a corrales, y despues de haber cogido altura me dirigo al norte tratando de pasar villatoro por las antenas. Nada, hoy no es el dia para pasar (y de hecho nadie creo que pasa) asi que me dejo derivar otra vez hacia Piedrahita; desde alli me dirigo hacia el Barco de Avila y el puerto de Tornavaca. Mi gps marca ya 3 horas y media de vuelo y 64km…podria pasar al valle del Jerte pero son ya las 5 de la tarde y con este pobre techo no me arriesgo. Intento volver a Piedrahita per el venturi de Nor-este que sopla hacia el puerto me tira al suelo. Ha sido un vuelo muy bonito con condiciones muy pobres; si estuviese en la competicion ,mi vuelo hubiera sido entre los 10 mejores de la jornada.Aqui va el track del vuelo.

Went to Piedrahita this Saturday; Piedrahita was hosting the XC world series. With very poor conditions (2500 base and northerlies) I managed a flight of 65km heading first to the Villatoro Pass and then all the way to the Tornavaca pass which leads to the Cherry tree valley of Jerte. My intention was to try to complete an 80km FAI triangle but it was not to be..all in all a good flight which , if in the race, would have been amongst the best 10 of the day.

Volando al Subasio – Flying at Mt Subasio from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

Fui este fin de semana a Perugia a visitar a mi familia y pude volar en el Monte Subasio donde habia un Festival de parapente.

Went for the week-end to Perugia to visit family and had the chance of a flight at Monte Subasio.

Pedro Bernardo -7th August 2010 -FAI triangle 87km from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

Este Sabado fuimos a Pedro Bernardo, yo y Raul a intentar volar un triangulo FAI de unos 80-90Km. La prevision daba este por la manana girando a sur-oeste flojo con buenas termicas y techo de hasta 2800mt. Tambien se junto’ con nosotros el Pana y Fernando que se ofrecio’ como conductor de mi furgo haciendonos recogidas. Salimos sobre las 13.20 y las condiciones estaban todavia muy flojas; costaba mucho mantenerse. El Pana y Raul pinchan antes de Lanzahita y vuelven a subir otra vez. Yo consigo aguantarme y es solo cuando me dirijo hacia la abantera que pillo por fin la primera buena termica del dia que me pone a 2000mt. Desde alli planeo hacia Ramacastanas donde ya se empieza a notar el viento del oeste. Este tramo hacia Candeleda sera’ el mas dificil de todo el vuelo donde, con techo que no pasaba de 2000mt y viento de cara, resultaba muy dificil avanzar y el peligro de pinchar siempre muy presente. Raul y el Pana, despues de haberme alcanzado (iba muy despacio y lento para minimizar al maximo el riesgo de quedarme bajo, aterizan antes de Candeleda. Yo consigo hacer el primer punto de giro al sur de Candeleda , donde con sorpresa hay algo de viento nor-oeste que me empuja hacia Velada (el segundo punto de giro). Voy asegurando y girando todo lo que puedo (siempre no pasando de 2000mt) sobrevolando un llano muy bonito con embalses, bosques y rios (pero con muy pocas carreteras) cuando justo antes de Velada pillo la mejor termica del dia que me pone a 2500mt; Pincho la baliza de Velada y me pongo viento en cola hacia Pedro Bernardo (unos 30km); solo me falta girar dos termicas para cerrar este bonito y muy currado triangulo FAI de 87km. 6horas y 6 mintos en el aire, un vuelo muy tecnico y dificil sobrevolando paisajes maravillosos. Aqui va el track del vuelo.

Saturday 7th August went to Pedro Bernardo to try and fly a FAI triangle of about 80-90km. I managed to fly triangle of 87km in very difficult and tricky conditions (low clodbase and a first leg of the triangle against the wind). I was 6 hours in the air and most of the time on my own. Very happy about this flight, awesome landscape and scenery, a mixture of moutains, flatlands, lakes and woodlands. This is the flight tracklog

Paragliding Pre-Worlds 2010 Piedrahita from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

El Miercoles la manga 4 hacia Avila con 4 balizas de paso fue cancelada por viento fuerte en el Valle de Ambles.El Jueves la manga 5 es de nuevo una ida a Avila, esta vez entro en Gol aunque lento, pero lo importante era llegar despues del pinchazo del tercer dia. El Viernes nos ponen una manga de 123km con una ida a Avila y vuelta hacia el puerto del Menga y gol en Amavida en el medio del valle de Ambles. Manga muy dificil con regreso viento en cara; lucho y lucho mucho y al final me quedo a 13km de goal en una prueba donde solo una dozena de pilotos la completan. El Sabado ultimo dia hay un zig-zag por el valle de Corneja de 81km. Vuelo muy bien y llego a goal en los primeros 50 (podia haber atacado mas y eso sera’ mi gran arrepentimiento)- Al final soy 48 de la general y 4 de la clase seria a solo un punto del tercero. 1 punto!…que en el parapente seria creo un segundo o unos diez metros… me voy a casa satisfecho por haber de nuevo volado a un buen nivel (aunque me falta mas regularidad – hay que hacer todos los goles!) y habiendo realizado el vuelo que siempre sone’ hacer, el Piedrahita -Arcones – Me hubiera hecho ilusion subirme al un podio de un pre-mundial..pero nada..asi es el deporte..otra vez hacerlo mejor ! Todos los resultados en la pagina del pre-mundial. Pronto el video de la competicion. Stay tuned.

A good Pre-Worlds in Piedrahita for me, especially for having flown the classic XC route of my dreams, Piedrahita Arcones of 159km (my new free distance record) on the second day of the comp and the first valid task. I made three goals out of 5 tasks; a pity bombing out on the second task, the shortest of all. On the fifth and sixth I made goal, in the sixth I arrived into goal in the first 50 pilots, but should have attacked more and taken some risks in flying faster as I was fighting for the podium oif the serial class. In the end I missed the podium for only 1 point….1 point which in paragliding competitions equates to maybe be a couple of seconds or 10 metres…better luck next time I hope.. In the end I ranked 48th overall and 4th of the serial class which is not too bad in a pre-world comp with lots of very good pilots on competition gliders. All the final results are here Stay tuned for my HD video of the competition coming soon.

Vuelo Piedrahita Arcones from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

El Sabado 9, dia de entrenamiento hice un vuelo de 130km pasando Torrecaballeros (batiendo mi antiguo record de 120km del 2006 con una vela 1-2): el Domingo empieza el Premundial con una manga de 116km hasta Segovia que se para en vuelo por desarrollos. La primera manga valida es una carrera a goal de 154km hasta Arcones, el vuelo XC clasico por excelencia desde Piedrahita con condiciones flojas, especialmente al principio; muchos pinchan en Villatoro. A mi me sale todo bien y llego a Arcones el 21 de 23 que llegaron a goal. Una satisfacion muy grande ya que este vuelo era mi sueño desde que empece´a volar. Ayer manga con ida a Avila de 59km en condiciones flojas y mucho viento. Llegan muchos a goal (73), yo desafortunadamente pincho en Muñana a 27km de Avila habiendome quedado bajo y no podiendo remontar una termica muy tumbada y rota. Una lastima y pierdo ya todas las opciones de quedarme bien en la clasificacion serial. Hoy, dia 4, manga de 81km con goal en Avila. Mucho viento y poco techo, yo me quedo antes del puerto de Villatoro. La manga se para en vuelo por viento fuerte en el valle de Ambles. Aqui va mi vuelo Piedrahita -Arcones. Clasificaciones y noticias en www.piedrahita2011.com

Ager 2010 – Spanish Paragliding Champioship from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

Un campeonato 2010 con sabor agridulce para mi; las primeras tres mangas voladas muy bien (la tercera fue la clasica Ager-Berga) con llegadas a gol bastante rapidas y la cuarta y ultima manga, las mas facil de todas, no completada por un error que todavia no llego a comprender. Despues de tre mangas iba 22 en la general, un resultado excelente para mi; fue una pena y un golpe muy duro quedarse sin gol y sin puntos en la cuarta manga casi durante el planeo final a gol, un dia donde era casi imposible pinchar (casi 100 pilotos en gol) con las condiciones increibles que habian. Al final acabo el 33 de la general. Me quedo con el vuelazo Ager-Berga, un pedazo de vuelo de mas de 100km de distancia pasando por lugares, montanas y paisajes increibles y saver de poder luchar por estar arriba en la clase serial. Resultados aqui.
Las mejores fotos aqui. pronto colgare’ el video.

A bitter-sweet Spanish Championship 2010 for me; first three tasks well flown and 22nd overall before the doomed 4th task, the easiest one, where I managed to bomb out 8km from goal in a day where almost 100 pilots made it. A stuipid mistake that I cannot still fully comprehend prevented me from obtaining otherwise an excellent overall result. The flight Ager-Berga, a classic XC route, was awesome, flying over big mountains and amazing landscapes. All the results are here. All the pictures here. Stay tuned for the video.

Italian Paragliding Nationals – Poggio Bustone 2010 from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

Aproveche’ este fin de semana para pasar a visitar a mi familia en Italia y a volar en Poggio Bustone ( habia el campeonato Italiano de Parapente 2010 en Poggio Bustone a unos 90km de distancia desde mi casa).
El sabado habia viento fuerte (manga cancelada) y pudimos volar por la tarde un rato; el domingo sali’ de Wind Dummy fuera de competicion y me di un bonito vuelo de una hora y media con mi nueva vela, la Boomerang GTO S. Despues de 6 horas con la GTO me estoy acostumbrando bien a su pilotaje; es una vela que pide mucho pilotaje pero a cambio de prestaciones muy buenas, al top de la clase EN D. Volvi a ver a un monton de viejos amigos y lo pase muy bien aunque el tiempo fue poco (me fui el sabato al mediodia y regrese’ el domingo por la tarde.

This week-end I went to Italy for a family visit and also had the opportunity ( since my parent’s house is about 90km from Poggio Bustone) to fly a little bit my new Boomerang GTO in the Italian Championship as a wind-dummy. On Sunday I flew for almost 2 hours; I nice flight to get accustomed to the GTO a very performant but also demanding wing that requires very precise piloting.

Paragliding World Cup – Japan 2010 from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

PWC Japan Happo-Fuji Movie Trailer from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

PWC Japan task 2 Saturday 29th – First thermal up from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

Today a 49km task was called with Goal in the city of Arumino with 2 previous waypoints. Conditions were tricky with low cloud base. As I write over 50 pilots are expected to be in goal. A very bad day for me, throwing away the possibility of a good task finish by making a mistake going to the second waypoint. I thought that the waypoint was near the second lake on the ridge, whereas it was on the right on the valley below our main flying ridge. With a not very good height I hesitated several times to go with the others, given the scarce landing options and in the ned decided to go to land given I was now on my own. An amateurish mistake and I gave away the possibility of a goal and since it was and elapsed time task, also the chance of a nice result. Today I realised that I need to study the map in detail and carefully before each task and also that if you hesitate and not follow the gaggle (and I was with the main one after the first waypoint) you´re going nowhere. Now I have to change my glider (put my beloved Trango 3 into retirement) and put a lot more flying hours under my belt this season (I have not really flown a lot so far in 2010 compared to other years). A real shame today (but with only myself to blame). The scenery was also today stunning.. Bring on the Spanish Nationals soon…

PWC Japan Task 1 – Mount Fuji Friday 28th May from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

We finally managed to get a valid task in and with a stunning scenery..the majestic Mount Fuji..a 63.9km task with multiple clock starts. We left Hakuba at 4.30 in the morning and arrive in the flying area at around 9 am. The take off was very small (2 wings maximum) so a ranking order was established. The first pilots who took off rode to base quite easily, with the passing of time the wind increased and the broken thermals made it difficult to get established high on the ridge. I took off very late and was difficult, with the drifting, to get high, when I finally managed I was already in one of the last gaggles. Conditions were turbulent and rough at times, there were news on the radio of some reserve throwing and pilots in the trees. I was also flying rather slow today as I did not want to scratch low on the heavy forested ridge and since I was late anyway, I just wanted to make sure to get to goal. I was going to tag the penultimate waypoint when ,at 2pm the cloud base suddenly lowered to 1100mt, and a huge cloud cover arrived shutting down all thermal activity. Disappointing result for me race-wise but at least we got to fly! I enjoyed it very much, the scenery was awesome.

PWC Japan Task 3 – blowing hard at take off from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

Today it is very cloudy and windy so the 5th task was also cancelled. The organization decided to try for a task tomorrow at Mount Fuji, a good 4 hours drive from Hakuba where the weather forecast is promising. We have to leave at 4.30 in the morning!! The weather gods have not been kind to us, a real shame also for the wonderful Japanese organization who everyday entertained us and looked after us in spite of the really bad weather..

Todavia no hemos volado una manga, hoy hay mucho viento y nubes bajas. La organizacion ha decidido intentar disputar una manga manana cerca del monte Fuji donde la prevision meteo es algo mejor. Son 4 horas de viaje desde Hakuba y tenemos que salir a las 4.30 de la manana! Estamos teniendo una mala suerte increible con la meteo, una verdadera lastima ya que la organizacion y la gente aqui en Hakuba estan haciendo todo para que nos los pasemos en grande no obstante el tiempo malo.

Snow Monkey Park – Nakano Japan 26-5-10 from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

Still no tasks flown, well the weather is so dreadful that I haven´t even had the chance to take my glider out of the bag. Yesterday we went up to take off but during the briefing the wind started to blow with hurricane force from the back of the mountain. then it started raining again all day, evening and night….this morning, Wednesday, the task was again cancelled at 9.30 am since it was raining and has not stopped since. The organization took us to the Nagano area again, tis time to see some Snow Monkeys having a hot spring bath. we are getting really desperate to fly…this is unbelievable and depressing at the same time..we are actually risking not flying at all in this PWC…

Sushi Train from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

Rain, rain and more rain. Some real bad weather and low pressure is upon us. Today the task was cancelled and we went to Nagano to see a very old Buddist temple and for some sightseeing and sushi.
Tomorrow it looks like the weather could give us a small window to fly…the ground is unbelievably wet after two days of heavy rain so even if the sun comes out the thermals will be weak with plenty of cumulus.

PWC opening ceremony 22 May from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

After a very well organized opening ceremony and great food buffet yesterday we woke up this morning to some very bad weather with plenty of rain coming down. The forecast for the next days is also not very good, so please send some positive energy through so we can maybe hope for an improvement! Yesterday after a 5 hours bus ride from Tokyo I arrived in Hakuba-Happo and after having registered I went up the mountain for a quick flight. It was already late and most of the pilots had finished already with their training day (some went 20km down the ridge and back with a cloudbase of nearly 3000mt), but nevertheless I enjoyed very much the last few thermals and the breathtaking scenery of the Northern Japan Alps. The flying area looks really good for a competition, although the landing options are scarce (lots of rice fields and power lines). 18 nationalities are represented, with Japan, France and Korea having the highest number of pilots. R10s and Boom 7s are the wings most represented. Let´s hope the weather improves so we can fly a task soon.

Tokyo 21-5-2010 from Silvio Zugarini on Vimeo.

PWC JAPAN Hakuba Happo del 22 al 29 de Mayo – Mi primera PWC, tengo mucha ilusion aunque la prevision no parece ser de las mejores – Japon es un pais increible, Tokyio una ciudad maravillosa, es como acer un viaje de 20 anos en el futuro.

PWC JAPAN Hakuba-Happo from 22nd to 29th May. My very first PWC and I am very looking forward to it altough the weather forecast is not great for the moment. We´ll see. Finally I got to see Japan, a beautifully striking country. Tokyo is an awesome place, like being catapulted 20 years into the future.
News and pics here – Stay tuned.