Description

A Cross-country Camp to smash your personal distance!

Extremadura: one of the best paragliding zone in Spain

Spain has a good reputation to paraglide, mainly due to its weather conditions. Areas such as Piedrahita, Ager or Algodonales are well known by paragliding pilots to make long-distance cross-country flights.

But there were still areas to discover: in the last years, some of the best Spanish XC pilots were looking for an area without restricted airspaces and with the best weather conditions to make cross-country flights of more than 200 and 300 km. We knew that Extremadura region met these requirements, but we needed to find a suitable take-off place.

And we found it! In the region of La Serena is the small town of Zarza-Capilla, located at the foot of the Sierra de Torozo, a relief of just over 120 meters high that interrupts an immense plain, next to one of the largest reservoirs of the country.

La Serena is a comarca based on a natural region which includes plains, as well as some low ranges of the Sierra Morena. This region has always remained somewhat isolated from the rest of the country, both in its economic and demographic aspects.

The orography of the terrain of this area is easy to fly, with many landing zones, immense plains and low reliefs that make understandable and easy navigation for any type of pilot; The weather conditions in this area are great for paragliding distance flying, with thermal conditions that will allow you to reach flight levels of more than 3,000 meters and incredible low-safes.

Here there are no changing valley breezes or complicated mountain passes. Here you just have to worry about staying high and gliding for hundreds of kilometres!

There are other places in the region where we can take-off and fly, in the strange event that the wind direction doesn't make the flight possible from Zarza-Capilla, we will move to a different site, if necessary.

The best season here to fly cross-country runs from May to September.

An amazing place to fly cross-country here, in Europe

Zero Gravity wants to bet on this flight zone; we believe it can offer the same or better flight conditions for long-distance paragliding flights than other areas located on other continents: you may not need to travel to South America or South Africa to beat your flight distance record. You maybe have a place to do it here, in Europe, with all the advantages that this implies.

Check it out in XContest.org

A PLACE TO BREAK DISTANCE RECORDS

In recent years, several paragliding competitions have been held in Zarza-Capilla, and the pilots have always managed to break records.

You can check the flights made in this area at XContest.org and see a large number of flights over 200, 250 and 300 km made here. The current record (July 2019) is 314 km.

Check it out here

Fly with a paragliding champion

Our crew for this adventure will be the Zero Gravity Team: Jose will be the CFI in charge, with the support of Pablo, Luisma and Ivan; they will organize the retrievals with a live tracking system, all the safety issues and the necessary logistic.

Our local guide for this amazing adventure will be one of the best Spanish cross-country pilots: Andres Sanchez, "Driu".

Driu is an instructor and owns a local paragliding school in Badajoz. He has been a competition pilot since 2005, first place in several Spanish Championships and member of the Spanish Team in nine PG World Cups.

He also has organized many paragliding cross-country championships at Zarza-Capilla. There is no one better for this job; He knows the area like the palm of his hand.

Driu will be our personal guide, responsible for designing the daily XC routes and will fly with the group of pilots.

REQUIREMENTS

WHAT YOU NEED TO BE AND TO BRING

For this course, you must be a pilot-rated leastways FAI Para Pro4, BHPA pilot, APPI Pilot, or equivalent.

Although the expected flight conditions are not particularly harsh, this XC Camp is only recommended for experienced pilots with more than 100 hours air-time and with previous experience in cross-country flight.

• You should have a Flight License and a Third Party Insurance specific for paragliding. Bring it with you.
• Bring your Flight Equipment, with reserve parachute, helmet, Walkie VHF 2m and mobile phone.

The briefings are in English or Spanish. You must understand at least one of these languages.

INCLUDES

WE OFFER YOU IN THE PACKAGE...

Coaching with professional instructors.

• Daily briefing to check the weather forecast and design the XC route of the day.
• Shuttle to the flying sites: we can fly in many different spots around the base.
• Retrievals in new 8 seat van with air conditioning.
• Airport transfers included.
• Accommodation included.

ACCOMMODATION

INCLUDED IN THE PRICE

Accommodation is included in the price of this tour, based in shared rooms. You can also choose a single room by an extra fee of 15 euros/night.

We will have our base in the Youth Hostel at Zarza-Capilla. There are not too many accommodations in this small village but in this hostel, we have everything we need: there is a small restaurant, wifi, a next-door pool and it is located just 10 minutes from the take-off

YOUR INSURANCE

NOT INCLUDED IN THE PRICE

Despite it is not mandatory, we highly recommend you have a Travel Accident Insurance with full rescue/repatriation cover.

If you are a citizen of the EU, bring your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). This entitles you to reduced-cost, sometimes free, medical treatment.

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WE GUARANTEE YOU WILL FLY

Spain has the best weather to fly but, you know, we can't control the weather!

We always do everything to try to fly and we don't mind to drive hundreds of kilometres around our base to find a place with good conditions to fly if necessary.

Anyway, in the rare event that we have to cancel some days during a week due to bad weather, we will give you credit for your next booking in one of our packages.

GPS LIVE TRACKING

YOU JUST FLY; WE WILL BE WATCHING

We use an App on your phone which sends your GPS coordinates to the tracking website while you’re flying and we can see where you are at any moment. This is very good for your safety but it is also very useful to organize your retrieval after landing.

• FIGHT TICKETS
• AIRPORT SHUTTLE
• HOW TO GET HERE?

FLIGHT TICKETS

WHEN TO ARRIVE AND DEPART?

If you come by plane, the nearest airports to Zarza-Capilla are Madrid and Sevilla. We only offer airport transfers from/to Madrid.

The dates of your booking are starting and finishing dates. You should arrive on the day before the starting date, at any time, and depart on the day after the finishing date.

i.e. If your reservation is Sunday, Sept 22th at 9.00 to Friday, Sept 27th at 20.00 you should arrive on the 21st. We start at 9:00 a.m. on the 22nd and finish on the 27th evening. You must check-out on the 28th.

AIRPORT SHUTTLE

FOR FREE

We provide a free airport transfer only from/to the Madrid airport on the set travel dates, Saturdays.

The shuttle service is at the airport at 13:00 h on the arrival date (the day before the starting date of the course or tour) and departs from Algodonales approx. 10h00 on the check-out day (the day after the finishing date). Please keep this time in mind when you book your flights.

HOW TO GET HERE

Zarza-Capilla. Badajoz. Spain

If you cannot take our airport shuttle service then the only way to get here is by car. You can rent a car at the airport.

BOOK NOW, PAY ON ARRIVAL

NO DEPOSIT OR PRE-PAYMENT NEEDED

Remember, the number of available places for each course or tour is limited!

1. Book now and secure your reservation without any deposit or pre-payment.
2. Look for flight tickets and make your other travel arrangements.
3. Pay on your arrival.

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