Peter’s Paragliding Nomadness

Paragliding Slovenia

October 13, 2007

Last year I spent a month in Slovenia, and loved every minute of it. I couldn't resist the opportunity to return to this beautiful country. The scenery is like Switzerland. The natives are friendly. The euro goes a lot further here than everywhere to the west.

I headed for Camping Lazar in Kobarid, highly recommended by Fredye, a Canadian pilot I had met in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, in January. A sign in the parking lot showed the number for the ParaTaxi. “Yes, we are flying today. Can you come to Tolmin?” My stay in Kobarid was a short as last year. I headed for Tolmin.

Saturday's flight was nothing to write home about. At least I made the LZ along with one Austrian. The other 2 pilots who launched with us, landed on the other side of town, short by more than a kilometer.

Sunday was spectacular. Catching some nice lift, I toured the ridge to the north of the Lijak launch before heading back over the town. Over the castle, I found the thermal I was expecting, and spiralled a up few hundred meters before heading down the valley. Lots of low scratching over the trees eventually resulted in a successful climb over the ridge. Continuing on to Kobarid was tempting, but there was no way back upwind other than hitch-hiking, so I decided to pack it in and head for the LZ. On the way, I toured the castle from above. What fun it is, flying over castles.

Jani and Seba, local pilots I had met last year, met me in the LZ. Over pizza that evening, we planned to fly Lijak on Monday. Lijak is a 5 km long ridge fed by thermals from the flat valley to the south.

The launch was full of pilots from Austria, the Czech Republic, the UK, Russia and Poland. There were even some locals here. Once in the air, it was clear what was drawing the pilots. A couple of hours of touring the length of the ridge was a great way to spend a Monday afternoon. Tuesday was even better.

Camping Lijak is a few hundred meters from the LZ. In fact, you can even land in the campground if you want to. The campground was packed with pilots from all over eastern Europe. A great place to take a paragliding vacation.

Where next?


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Peter Jennings