Mountain photos - amateur and professional photos of mountains.

The author: Afalin Darya

 

Paragliding

Bulgaria

The flight from Moscow to Sophia was so smooth and timeless like we were born and spent whole life in the air. Bulgaria met us with flowering gardens, fresh grass, warm wind and just unreliable smell of spring.

Paragliders

Pilots make the launch with paraglider from the ground – from mountain or with the help of a winch. Pilot start to run, canopy fulfill with the air and than fly. You can get altitude using thermals, flying for hours, making cross-countries for a long distances and enjoying by wonderful Bulgarian landscape.

You determine the level of risk by yourself – it can be acro or elementary flight in good weather conditions. As usual paragliding doesn’t make you feel fear of altitude or of falling down, on the contrary paraglider gives unlimited freedom to you.

Without advance training you can fly in tandem with experienced instructor. For learning to fly with paraglider, to become a pilot you must pass the primary course and SIV-course (learning the base of escaping different dangerous situations in the air).

Paragliding pilots

The portrait of a pilot: daring romantic but of the same skill in gliding as birds

Who are paraglider pilots? Faithful subjects of air space, may be birds in previous lives… Or they are men who can fly?

They are strong and fearless people. Conquerors of the sky, all of them are charismatic persons. Their individuality is contrasting and irresistible. For one more minute of soaring they are ready to neglect all material prosperity.

It’s rather difficult to force them doing something – they have strong own will.

It is wrongly considered that paragliding is a sport for desperate people who going to loose all riches and even the life for an opportunity to fly. As thought these people sacrifice the family, the career, a luxury life for paragliding. And nothing can prevent them to fly in air space.

But it’s not the truth. Paragliding pilots are devided on two categories: for one part paragliding is life passion, they are looking all the time for the opportunity to take part in competitions and for the others it is a work.

The first category consists of teenagers, students, and also successful businessmen, people of all ages and professions. Paragliding is on the first place in their life. They are going to lose everything for the pleasure of flight. And sometimes it is rather perceptible expense for their means. But not for sure. Everybody is free to choose their own altar of investments. For somebody it is cars or motorcycles, others prefer to build cottages or create a big family. While paragliding pilots spend their money for buying equipment. And this can’t be determine like desperate or crazy thing.

Everything depends of lifestyle – you can save and increase material means or you can get unforgettable feelings for your soul.

So we chose the way by ourselves and have a chance to enjoy the life. Paragliding pilots prefer air, sky, mountains, freedom of flight and opportunity to feel like a bird.

After all they spread such means of conveyance that doesn’t make harm to the ecology, doesn’t pollute the environment.

How dangerous paragliding is

Paragliding is not so frightful and dangerous for life as it seems to people who never go for paragliding. Everything depends of pilot’s level, skill and ability of situation control.

Inexperienced or dull pilot actually risk his life. As a rule the majority of tragic incidents happened with the beginners.

Interesting fact is: paragliding is less dangerous than traffic, incidents on the road more probable because of big quantity of cars.

Pilots have the same opinion: with competent gliding technique you can correct the situation by your own arms and to overcome turbulence before falling on the ground.

Open Cup of Russia in Paragliding

In 10^th – 20^th April, 2004 in Sopot it is held Bulgaria international competition “Open cup of Russia in paragliding” under the aegis of paragliding club “Extreme Style” and “Sentre-Region group” company with the participation of high-level foreign pilots. The competition’s range is the second FAI category (witch correspond to the National State league).

The competition get an active support of Bulgarian SLA Federation and local paragliding clubs: Rotor (Sofia), Prilet (Varna), Skynomad (Plovdiv). Participants are pilots from all Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakh regions and also gests from Bulgaria, Greece, Poland and Great Britain.

The official competition opening took place in 12^th April in cinema hall of Sopot. 13^th - 19^th of April was planning as days for competition program flights and 20^th of April fixed for closing ceremony.

The place where the Open Cup of Russia take place is “Shambhala” – European extreme sport and meditation centre. It’s the Promised Land for freedom and fond of primeval nature people. It’s maximum concentration of adrenalin, extreme and crazy amusements for one meter in square.

Highly developed sport and superficial infrastructure, very comfortable placement at the foot of the mountain, long-distance lift, good climate and ecological conditions are merits of this place.

Centre “Shambhala” is on the territory of Balkan Reserve, that’s why all gests pay special attention to cleanliness of mountainsides and take care about environment. Ecological actions are hold here every year (gathering of plastic bottles in forest, planting turf on camp-fire places, resolute measures against poaching).

And pilots propagate by their own way of living, appearance and world view ecological progress.

Pilot’s rout

The take-off of pilots begin from the second lift station on the altitude 1920 m. Landing is on the special square near the lift. After the launch pilot must pass the rout about 60 km, get all turn points and to reach finish line on the landing area. As a rule the task is speed race. Passing through turn points is controlling by GPS (global position system). During the flight pilots need to get altitude using thermals as eagles do for soaring. The task is always new for every competition’s day. The winner is the pilot who got the maximum of scores for all attempts, who demonstrated paragliding skill and can foresee air conditions. Competition accompanies by musical show and by another amusing measures. Everybody has a chance to fly in tandem with instructor.

Launch and flights conditions

Take-off place is wide and smooth, covered with grass, of a middle gradient. The place is very comfortable with north, south and east wind directions. South wind direction preoccupy on the south side. Getting the take-off by the lift (cableways) takes about 20 minutes. A large valley spread out below the mountains. The length of range Stara Planina (south side) is 200 km. The record distance of cross-country flight in this place was 210 km. Pilots get fine possibility for aerobatic under mountains and the valley.

Entertainment program

Demonstration flights of top-pilots: extreme flights with folding of canopy, piloting at mountainside, point landing. Tandem flights open for everybody who wants to taste paragliding at the first time.

• Photographic exhibition on paragliding subject
• Paragliding amateur songs party
• Disco party for all gests and participants
• Extreme Beer Drink Party with competitions and prize drawing
• Musical folklore concerts

Training flights

The sky covered with light clouds and such feeling of the sun hiding somewhere behind the range. Mountains with pine-trees and bushes aspirated high in to the air, the lift ascending right to the sky… Crowns of trees below our feet. We are lifting at the first time to the take-off place. An oxygen stream rushed into our lungs.

Pilots are lifting on the mountain, unpacking canopies and preparing for flight.

Invisibleness of airspace is dangerous, because our eyes can’t see a border of collision of two air flows – ascending and descending – turbulent zone. And because of this it is very important to learn to feel mood and intention of the air. Pilot must be ready to be caught in shears,

changes in wind velocity, to wave-induced rotors, - those unexpected factors can cause folding of canopy and sudden descending from gained altitude.

Paragliding as a kind of sport

Paragliding is the younger, but the most entertainment type of air sport. There is no need in specialized airdromes and landing areas for paragliding, compact equipment and ability to fly in low altitude and in limited space make this sport very mobile. Paraglider draw in all advantages

of parachute jumping and gliding, beside of that it’s no necessary to use any aircrafts to get altitude. Paragliding is the most available and ecological type of aviation. Paraglider is the sort of parachute (soft wing), made of special light and airproof synthetic materials. High aerodynamical qualities of this aircraft allow to launch from mountainside and from the ground with the help of winch. Sometimes pilots can get altitude till 6000 m and make flights on the distance about 300 km. The development of paragliding aerobatic gives to this kind of sport all accomplished beauty of air show.

Paragliding is alternative analogue to figure skating in aloft, executing in three-dimensional puzzle in spite of terrestrial gravity. All this indicated qualities make paragliding an amazing entertainment for the spectators, it’s a perfect subject for travel films and photographs.

The history of paragliding competitions

Paragliding club “Extreme Style” became one of the first social organizations witch take part in popularization and development of paragliding as sport. From 1997 “Extreme Style” is a permanent organizer of Open Cup of Professionals in Paragliding. In 2003 under the control and with active participation of an international aviation federation - FAI ( Switghzerland) this club held international competition in Bulgaria. In summer 2003 “Extreme Style” became the member of organizers of Russian Championship. From 1995 “Extreme Style” participate in competitions as a team and usually got prize-winning places. From 1997 these pilots take part in Championships and Open World Cups.

Also “Extreme Style” was the organizer of Paragliding Festival The SKY 2000 in Piatygorsk, several photograph exhibitions in Dombay (1999), in Moscow (2002), in Sofia (2003). In 2002 was held Open Cup of Moscow in Bouling among extreme people by “Extreme Style” in WORLD CLASS (s. Zhukovka) where the top Russian paragliding, skydiving, snowboarding and other X-sportsmen attended.

In 2001 and 2002 two film pictures produced by this sports club took part in film festival COUPE ICARE in St. Heleir, France.

“Extreme Style” is the first Russian club witch began professional training of acro-pilots on the base of it’s school. The team more than once participated in preparation of telecasts and magazine publications.