BGD’s Weightless is back in January 2020, this time in Roldanillo, Colombia.
The competition scores pilots in weight categories, the thinking being to even things out with a handicap system that favours lighter pilots. Organisers say:
“Being big has less of an advantage, and carrying excessive ballast will not help you so much. We want to have a fun week where everyone feels like they have a chance of scoring well, regardless of what they fly, and how heavy they fly“.
Organisers can’t praise the venue enough, listing off attributes including: “grassy launches, colourful valleys, masses of landing options, some of the friendliest people on the planet, sun, flowers, music, good food and loads and loads of good flatland flying which everyone can enjoy”.
A brand new BGD glider is the most coveted prize in the raffle, but there are lots of other goodies to be won too including Naviter flight instruments.
The competition precedes the British Open and Colombian Nationals to be held at the same venue, so if you have the time and the inclination there’s the possibility to do all three.
The British Winter Open 2020 will take place in Roldanillo, Colombia from 18-25 January 2020.
The British Championships will be determined by the combined results of this competition, and a Summer Open.
Flying is in the foothills of the Cordillera Occidental. The Cauca Valley is now well known as a cross-country paragliding destination, thanks to its good infrastructure and plenty of open space to land.
More information on Airtribune, Registration here.
The eighth edition of the X-Berg Challenge will take place from 24-29 March 2020 with Extreme (three-day) and Mini (two-day) versions.
Paraglider pilots race mountain bikers and runners around turnpoints in the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa / Lesotho. The route distance depends which way you go, and typically only 10% of competitors make it to the finish of the Extreme Challenge.
2019’s Extreme winner was mountain biker Jon Kirkman who finished in 24 hours and 43 minutes; second in were biker team Justin Armstrong and Peter Joughin, a day later.
Between Heaven and Earth, who organise the event, are offering complete travel packages from Johannesburg International Airport to the 2020 X-Berg Challenge event, along with return transport, accommodation and add-on travel packages including trips to game reserves, Cape Town and Wilderness retreat.
