Cross Country

Cross Country is the world’s leading voice for hang gliding, paragliding and paramotoring pilots. Ten times a year, our magazine content reflects our obsession with flying, and we express it by packing each issue with the most imaginative, inspirational photography and writing we can lay our hands on.

CHILDISH CURIOSITY

CONTRIBUTORS

Cross Country

Gallery

NEED TO KNOW • News and insight from around the free-flying world

HOT SHOTS

RAFAEL SALADINI WINS THE PAN-AMS

GIN’S WIN AT THE PWC BRAZIL

XCONTEST IN APRIL

NAKED PILOT BEN KELLETT

INSIDER’S GUIDE: PANCAS • Ruth Jessop from the Paragliding World Cup reveals all you need to know about flying inside Brazil’s Jurassic Park

MONTEGRAPPA MAKES MAGIC

25 YEARS AGO

10 YEARS AGO

FLYING IQ • Helping you fly better with expert advice and know-how

HOW TO DO A GOOD GLIDE TEST • Bruce Goldsmith is a paraglider designer and pilot. He learnt to fly hang gliders in 1979, paragliders in 1989 and won the FAI Paragliding World Championships in 2007 flying a glider he designed

MASTERING YOUR GROUND CONTROL • Greg Hamerton has been flying and teaching for 30 years. He is an instructor, reviewer and film maker. This year he is competing in the X-Pyr again. He runs the Online Flight Academy for progressing pilots at flywithgreg.com

REAR-RISER CONTROL FOR EN-B PILOTS • Rear-riser control is now a reality for the new generation of EN-B wings. We find out what that means for pilots.

THE WISE EAGLES

LESSONS FROM MY MENTORS • Gavin McClurg is a Red Bull X-Alps pilot, and National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. He hosts the Cloudbase Mayhem podcast at cloudbasemayhem.com

FLOODS, FLYING AND FRIENDSHIP

COUPLING AND DECOUPLING IN THE ATMOSPHERE • Meteorologist Honza Rejmanek has been a paraglider pilot since 1993. He has competed in five Red Bull X-Alps, and came third in 2009. He lives in California. Got a question for him? Email editor@xcmag.com

SATELLITE EYE • Looking down at the Earth below from the sky above

CASUAL PILOTS AND ADVANCED WINGS • Jeff Goin is author of the Powered Paragliding Bible and producer of the Master Powered Paragliding DVDs. A commercial airline pilot he lives in Florida and blogs at footflyer.com

IN PATAGONIA • On the edge of the South Patagonian Icefield the 3,000m granite peaks here saw more flying activity on one day in January this season than they have in decades. In this twopart report Mario Heller describes his team’s climb-and-fly of Cerro Torre, while Manuel Canale describes his ground-breaking circumnavigation of the Fitz Roy massif

THE TEAM

FLYING FITZ ROY • “The weather was perfect.” Manuel Canale is the first pilot to circumnavigate the Fitz Roy massif by paraglider

FLYING PATAGONIA

WHAT HORACIO DID NEXT • “People now want instant results, but you have to be patient.” After 21 years on the acro competition scene Horacio Llorens reveals why now is the perfect time to be moving on.

HORACIO LLORENS: FLYING CV

DUNE • From ripples on the beach to sand mountains in the remotest deserts, Jeff Hamann’s photographs reveal the world of dunes from above

CALL OF THE WILD • “The dopamine hit of social media is out to kill me,” decided Keith Forsyth as he biked, hiked, skied and flew across Washington State. It forced him to look inside and ask, “Why am I doing this anyway? What’s my motivation?”

KITLIST • All the latest reviews, gear and technology for free flying

IN BRIEF

ULTRABIP

EVARIO GEN 2

GAGGLE

PACKING LIGHT

SYRIDE APP

TAPA X-ALPS

IN BRIEF

BGD EPIC 2

X-ALPS5

PASHA 7

DUDEK WARP...