Project 100: Ariel Zlatkovski’s incredible XC challenge

A year has 24*365 = 8,760 hours. In the 2025 XContest season I was in the air for over 10% of those hours (893 to be exact). I was chasing kilometres for what I called Project 100: flying an XC route of at least 100km, 100 days in one year. 

I succeeded, but I want to reflect on and share the realities of pursuing an undertaking that ended up significantly different than expected, the orchestration and effort that went into it, and how the project pushed my limits – both as a pilot and a person. 

I’m Ariel. I was born in Israel but moved to the US when I was five years old, and have spent most of my life in Alaska and Washington states. I learned to paraglide in spring of 2019 when I was 25 (32 now) and immediately converted...