PWC Super Final 2022: Mexico 6-17 December

24 November, 2022

The town of Valle de Bravo in Mexico is getting ready to welcome the world’s top competition paraglider pilots to the Paragliding World Cup Super Final 2022, which will run from 6-17 December.

The PWC Super Final is the culmination of the Paragliding World Cup season and takes place every year at a different location.

This year 129 pilots are heading to the small town of Valle de Bravo, 150km west of Mexico City. They will compete for the titles of PWC Super Final Champion Overall and PWC Women’s Super Final Champion.

The Venue

Valle de Bravo, 150km west of Mexico City, is one of the world’s best competition paragliding venues and has hosted numerous international paragliding and hang gliding competitions over the last four decades.

The famous launch of El Peñón, Temascaltepec, is a 45-minute drive west of Valle de Bravo. It has hosted two Paragliding World Cup Super Finals, in 2011 and 2015, and is known for its consistent and reliable flying conditions.

The flying season in Valle de Bravo runs from November to April, with the XC season kicking off properly in December. Conditions allow for 100km triangles with 4,000m cloudbase.

Valle de Bravo has been at the heart of free flying in Mexico and North America for 40 years, since the beginning of the sports of hang gliding and paragliding. In 2008 the launch was expanded in preparation for the FAI Paragliding World Championships and now allows 150 pilots to take off in less than 40 minutes.

Tasks typically take pilots around the region on large circuits, before bringing pilots back to land at the lake next to the town. Find out more about paragliding and hang gliding in Valle de Bravo at this site guide.

The Pilots

Defending Super Final champions Luc Armant (FRA) and Seiko Fukuoka Naville (FRA) are top of the ones-to-watch list, but that doesn’t mean they will have it easy.

There are many contenders who could win this year’s title, from local pilot Manuel Quintanilla, to any of the 21 pilots who have already won a Paragliding World Cup leg.

Five pilots taking part in this year’s Super Final have previously won a Super Final (overall). Those include Luc Armant, Charles Cazaux (FRA), Pierre Remy (FRA), Aaron Durogati (ITA, twice) and Maxime Pinot (FRA). There are also five former World Champions and four European Champions who will be there.

Fifteen women are taking part. Three have already won the Super Final: Meryl Delferriere (FRA), Seiko Fukuoka Naville (FRA, defending champion and three times winner) and Keiko Hiraki (JPN). Between them the women hold nine World and European titles.