Cross Country Issue 269: Nov / Dec 2026

Bridging the Gap

Climbing up the rocky gully, I paused to watch as a chamois appeared on an outcrop above me. Silhouetted by the morning sun it was a timeless moment. The wind was light, the sky was blue, and it was good to be hiking in the hills, in nature.

Minutes later I heard a “whoop!” and looked up to see two pilots swooping down at speed towards me through the gully. They passed a few metres above my head, and flew off, dropping down the mountain like water down a drain. Wow! 

The new generation of parakites is here – and people are having a lot of fun on them. And with social media pumping out at times almost hallucinatory clips (are they even real, we think in our new AI-driven age?) it’s clear parakites are attracting a whole new generation of pilots.

Inside the trade tents at this year’s Coupe Icare the talk was of taking small steps, educating pilots, cooperating with free-flight associations, and establishing training protocols and guidance for the new sport. Outside, pilots are clearly working it out for themselves. Monsieur Chamois meanwhile had hopped off to find another gully.

New disciplines develop through a combination of experimentation and shared experience. Today a lot of that shared experience happens online. Social media clips are great – but there is a gap. They show the incredible result of all the hours, months and years of practice and experience. They don’t show the new pilot how to get there.

It made me think of mentors, and why they matter more than ever. Building knowledge and experience can be a slow process in any sport – go too quickly and you can get scared, lose confidence or worse. Mentors can bridge the gap created by those clips: they are your more experienced flying friend who can listen, encourage and guide your enthusiasm in the right direction without spoiling the fun. If you are lucky enough to find the right one, they can be with you for years.

“Mentoring is a slow, meandering process built on a relationship of trust,” writes Allen Weynberg this issue (p40). “Building community and giving people the opportunity to have more skills,” is what motivates competition pilot Violeta Jimenez, she explains on p80. Elsewhere Mathilde Chivet (p62) writes in depth about her first mentor: “She is impressive, determined… we go flying in Levico Terme, Bassano and Speikboden.”

Mainly, mentoring is done quietly. It can be a club coach who spends their evenings helping pilots prep for an exam. Or a world champion who gives their free time to coach the next generation. 

These are not moments that rack up the views, but they are what help pilots learn – and what they remember. To all the mentors out there: keep doing what you are doing – we need you, and we salute you. 

Enjoy the magazine!

Ed Ewing, editor

Features

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