Cross Country Magazine | Latest Issue

Photo: Ágata Dominguez

Step by Step

“Every journey starts with a single step,” goes the saying. Or when you look it up it’s actually, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and it’s attributed to Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. It can also be translated as “A thousand mile journey begins where one stands”.

Several of our stories in this issue follow this exact philosophy, and nowhere more clearly than with Chrigel Maurer and Peter von Känel’s incredible adventure through the Alps this season. On the day they set off they hadn’t even decided if it was a training flight for their “Big Idea” or whether they were actually starting. As Tarquin Cooper writes in his interview with them both: “It was cloudy and windy at the pass, far from ideal, but they decided to take off anyway. ‘We managed to soar up between the clouds and suddenly we were at 3,500m,’ recalls Peter. It was the first of many magic moves of the trip.”

The efficiency with which Peter and Chrigel travelled through the highest Alpine terrain, using gliders to hop across valleys, soar up to summits or fly XC to cover distance, is perfection in mountain movement. That they managed to summit all 82 4,000m peaks in 51 days, in a season which saw so much snow and bad weather, is truly incredible.

Another pilot who writes about taking things step by step this issue is Galen Kirkpatrick, who set a new North American FAI Triangle record in July. Her description of the day will strike a lot of chords, I’m sure: “Safe launch, safe landing, and something in between” is a mantra for any flight, whether it’s a sled ride to the beach or a 200km mission.

And finally those pilot-mountaineers in Pakistan. Waiting weeks for a weather window, acclimatising and battling with ice and snow, then climbing K2 without oxygen before launching from the summit for a single-skin ride to the glacier below – it’s mind-blowing stuff. If anything it proves that our ultralightweight paragliders can now truly be taken anywhere and used like any other mountain tool, from karabiner to ice axe.

Whatever you are planning next, whether it’s an evening soaring or a multi-day vol-biv, tread carefully – and take it step by step.

Enjoy the issue!

Ed Ewing, editor