You guys REALLY MISSED OUT!
Well once again the Croatia/Slovenia/Austria 2019 XC tour with FLUMEN exceeded all expectations and greatly increased my flying skills and confidence in the air. For those of you who doubted and canceled at the last minute...uufff...you guys REALLY MISSED OUT!
El Buen Sandor and myself were picked up right on time in Trieste, Italy by Marko on the 13th of July, and on the 14th we logged our first flight of the tour at the Croatian seaside spot of Brgad. Was great to be in the air with the locals and Alma (Markos better half) and as storm clouds built to the north we easily landed behind the local pub while Marko top landed and brought down the car.
The very next day we were off for the riverside campsite in Tolmin Slovenia which was to be our home for the next 8 days of NONSTOP XC flights. The campground is perfect as you have great coffee, breakfasts, dinners, beers at reasonable prices, hot water showers, and the fantastic refreshing SOCA river at the edge of your tent to cool off after long flights. A perfect grassy landing is also five steps from the campsite.
Every day Marko got us organized with the transport and the daily permits for launching and then proceeded to evaluate the conditions of the day with us. Once we were able to dust off our memories of the SKEW charts from our last XC tour in Colombia with Marko, it became clearer the reasons why he suggested the planned routes. Understanding the forecast, the approx cloud base and how far it would probably rise, the types of clouds in the morning, and how the day would most likely evolve is always reassuring before takeoff.
We had 80km days flying into Italy and back, fantastic strong thermals as we climbed next to the "Walls of Mordor" at Krn, and even one day that Sandor and I decided to take a second flight under the full moon as we flew over the campsites of thousands of headbangers attending the METAL DAYS concert and didn't land until 745pm...still having to spiral down to burn off all the altitude!
As a bit of bad weather approached Tolmin, Marko made the good call to strike camp and head for Austria to the famous site in Greifenburg. Here we spent 3 days where both Sandor and I broke all our previous distance records. As always, Marko was above and ahead most of the time to be able to keep an eye on our progress and give suggestions when needed. It was on these long (5 to 7 hour) flights that I finally began to understand the exhilaration of constantly PUSHING forward, on full speed bar, to the next thermal and the importance of being "snobby" and staying only with the strongest lift. For a conservative pilot like myself, who only flies 2 weeks per year and is always in new locations, this was a difficult lesson to learn.
But the hours of strong conditions in amazing landscapes flying with Sandor and Marko have opened my eyes to yet another level of the paragliding experience.
In short, great food, perfect camping, excellent planning and superior instruction gave us 12 out of 14 flyable days with a total of over 500km logged. Once again, FLUMEN delivers amazing results and incredible value for the price. If you EVER get a chance to go fly Europe with Capitan Mapache (aka...THE COON) in the summertime...don't hesitate..just buy the ticket and "go full bar!"
Dr Joseph Will