The North Coast 200

I was sitting in the sun with Ella by the River Shee, recharging and swimming after a 139 km triangle – a new British record – when the message pinged in. It was an invitation of a lift further north from Jules. He and Matt had a bold idea: fly 200km south from the far northwest of Scotland. They were driving up soon, ready for an early launch. It would be an epic route, never flown before and if it worked, he said, he’d happily give up paragliding.

We were planning to return to England tomorrow. I was going to attempt a repeat cross-country flight south from Scotland into England from Tinto, a large hill near the Scottish border – and an ode to a great North South Cup adventure from a past time, when Wayne still flew amongst us. I studied the...