Colombia - 2024 XC coaching

Sign-up / questions: PALTAKATS@GMAIL.COM 

Please contact by email for further information.

What will you learn?

- Pro tips & tricks.
- Thermal techniques, coring.
- Cross-country strategy and mindset.
- Fly faster and more efficiently.
- Advanced glider control (rear-riser steering, speed bar, etc).
- Decision-making.
- Choosing your line.
- How to get the most out of the day.
- Reading the sky.
- Meteo.
- Fly in a group and work together as a strong team.
- Competition strategy.

How we will do it?

Instructional tandem flights with our instructors (WATCH VIDEO).
- You get special attention: thanks to the high participants/guide ratio.
- Best preparation with in-depth briefings.
- Individual coaching according to your level.
- Setting daily tasks & goals.
- We will be flying and learning together as a group to ensure the best result.
- Accompanied and coached by world-class pilots.

Minimum requirements to participate:

- Valid paragliding license.
- Valid liability insurance.
- Accident insurance covering paragliding.
- Experience level to safely take-off and land by yourself.
- Basic thermal flying skills.
- Fluently speak one of these languages: English / German / Spanish / Hungarian.
- Complete flying kit suitable for your skill level. 
- Reserve parachute re-packed within the last 6 months prior to the course.
- A quality 2-meter band radio (this is crucial for us to be able to work together. If you don't hear us, we can't help you. It is recommended to invest in a high-quality radio: ICOM, Yaesu, etc.)
- Travel cancellation insurance is strongly recommended.
Flying together as a team: no matter if you are pushing in front or need help in the back, one of our guides will be around!
*Why Piedechinche?

Our team strongly believes that Piedechinche is the overall best flying site for such a course in Colombia, if not in South America or even the entire world!
Our team have competed and dominated the most prestigious cross-country competitions held in Colombia in recent years. Historically, these events mostly take place in Roldanillo, which turned the Cauca Valley into the most popular paragliding destination of the southern hemisphere. We all agree that Roldanillo is the best place for competition flying and big triangles, but it is not without a catch. Two sets of high-voltage power lines are teasing the nerves along the entire mountain range. There is no official landing field and the east-facing slopes do not only produce early thermals but also powerful turbulences and lee-sides, making the flying there significantly more risky and demanding. And last but not least, the incoming sea-breeze from the Pacific Ocean makes launching impossible latest in the early afternoon and turns the ridge into a massive lee-side later on. If you land out early, there is no chance for a second try and your flying day is over.

Magical Piedechinche

Piedechinche is situated on the other side of the Cauca Valley, a short 45-minute drive away from Cali international airport. The nearest town is Santa Elena, where we will stay in the high-standard Siga la Vaca hotel.  Although its slopes are facing west, thermal conditions can begin as early as 10 am. Piedechinche has it all to be a world-class flying site. Multiple perfectly maintained take-offs with quicker access, a huge beginner-friendly landing place, and a breathtaking rainforest mountain backdrop. Unlike in Roldanillo there are NO obstructing power lines, NO dangerous sea breeze in the afternoon, so we can fly all day long into the sunset! Piedechinche is a magical place and the perfect flying environment to work on your skills. But we will not limit ourselves to just be flying locally. We will try to make the best out of each day and when conditions allow, we will aim for 4-5 hours and 100+ km long one-way or out-and-return flights.


Your crew:

 

Pál TakátsPál Takáts
Coming from Hungary and began to fly in 2001. Pál won the Aerobatic World Cup Tour three times, was a Red Bull athlete for 10 years, participated in the Red Bull X-Alps two times, is a Guinness record holder, invented new maneuvers, created the Master Acro educational series, flew 528 km in Brazil, finished 3rd in 2019 Paragliding World Cup Argentina, and the list goes on. Today he's seasonally living between Austria and Colombia.  
Together with his wife, he became a landowner in Piedechinche, a place they quickly fell in love with. He knows the Cauca Valley really well, which made him be the Meet Director of the prestigious Paragliding World Cup Superfinal in 2017. Pál is a cross-country and acro specialist, fluently speaking English, German, Spanish, and Hungarian. A man on a mission to leave a footprint in paragliding education. 


Monika TakátsMonika Takáts
Moni started to fly in 2016 and she is quickly exploring the beauty of her new passion. In 2022 she finished second in the EN-B class and won the female class in her very first competition, the Ozone Open in Piedechinche, the flying arena she knows the best. She is fluent in German, English, and Spanish and will be happy to introduce you to the Colombian lifestyle. Her longest distance flight is currently 115 km and 6:30h, also flown in the same region. She will be helping us everywhere, from the logistics to in-flight coaching.


 

 

 

Sign up / questions?

PALTAKATS@GMAIL.COM




 

 

Download this page as PDF: