This is a personal blog about my passion for paragliding at a few of the best places in the world for free flying. It's part travel-log, part experience sharing, part photo album, inspiration from and for other pilots
My flying history...
1999-2000 - Learned to fly with Eva and Rueben from Wings and Waves, at Kariotahi, Maioro, Dills Hill, in Auckland, New Zealand.
2000 - New Zealand Club Pilot Licence
2000 - My First Glider, Swing Arcus
2001 - Moved to Germany and joined the local club Ostwindefreunde.
2002 - German paragliding theory and German Sportflugshein, Germany
2003 - Annercy and Le Grand Bornard, France with German group from Paracenter, Germany.
2003 - 'The Wrekin', United Kingdom
2004 - Bought my second glider - a Windtech Pulsar
2004 - Over the pass during mid-summer flying in Piedrahita, Spain with Steve and Puri from flyPiedrahita
2005 - Rough and tumble spring thermals Piedrahita, Spain
2005 - SIV course in Bohinji, Slovenia with Eva from Wings and Waves and an Austrian group.
2006 - Governador Valedares, Brazil with a Jocky Sanderson group from Escape Paragliding Adventures. Set personal best of 3hrs 25mins flying time in a single flight, 53 km
2006 - Valle de Bravo, Mexico with Jeff Hunt from FlyMexico
2007 - Coastal soaring at Green Bay, Michigan, USA
2007 - Point of the Mountain, Provo, Utah, USA
2008 - Valle de Bravo, Mexico, including the famous milk run over the back, over the plateau and over the lake to land in Valle de Bravo.
2008 - 6m+ thermals, over 3000m elevation, and perfect evening glass-offs in Piedrahita, Spain
2009 - Armchair flying with Cross Country magazine while weathering the financial crisis...
2010 - Coastal soaring at Pyramid Point, Michigan
2010 - Epic flying day at Green Point, with over 3hrs in the air in a single flight, my second longest ever paragliding flight.
2011 - Upgraded to cross country/XC harness Advance Impress2+
2011 - New personal best of 87km in the legendary Piedrahita convergence, personal height record of 3250m, and 8m/s thermals, and flying alongside some of the worlds best pilots as they trained for the 2011 World Championships.
2011 - Followed the World Championships at Piedrahita , and the subsequent blogstorm regarding the safety of 2-line open class competition gliders.
2011 - Flying in the legenday Owens Valley in California
2012 - Upgraded to EN-C Ozone Delta. Retiring my now 8 year old Windtech Pulsar.
2012 - First competition after nearly 13 years of flying...18th out of 89 competitors in the Rat Race Sprint in Ruch, Oregon
2013 - 3rd in goal out of about 90 competitors on Day 2 of the 2013 Rat Race Sprint.
2013 - Moved to Vista, California, 30mins drive from beautiful coastal soaring at Torrey Pines, and an hour from legendary SoCal XC sites of Marshall and Elsinore.
2014 - Competed in the SoCal XC League
2014 - 15th overall in the Sport Class at Rat Race 2014
2014 - Won my first paragliding race at Marshall
2014 - 77km flight my first time at Elsinore, new personal height record of 3950m
2015 - Won my second paragliding race, a 66km flight from Marshall to Soboba
2015 - Upgraded my four year old Ozone Delta to 'Black Magic', an Ozone Delta 2. Competed at the Nationals in the Owens Valley
2016 - Competed at Rat Race 2016 in Oregon
Happy reading and fly high, safe and far!
Peter Hill
2011 - Flying in the legenday Owens Valley in California
2012 - Upgraded to EN-C Ozone Delta. Retiring my now 8 year old Windtech Pulsar.
2012 - First competition after nearly 13 years of flying...18th out of 89 competitors in the Rat Race Sprint in Ruch, Oregon
2013 - 3rd in goal out of about 90 competitors on Day 2 of the 2013 Rat Race Sprint.
2013 - Moved to Vista, California, 30mins drive from beautiful coastal soaring at Torrey Pines, and an hour from legendary SoCal XC sites of Marshall and Elsinore.
2014 - Competed in the SoCal XC League
2014 - 15th overall in the Sport Class at Rat Race 2014
2014 - Won my first paragliding race at Marshall
2014 - 77km flight my first time at Elsinore, new personal height record of 3950m
2015 - Won my second paragliding race, a 66km flight from Marshall to Soboba
2015 - Upgraded my four year old Ozone Delta to 'Black Magic', an Ozone Delta 2. Competed at the Nationals in the Owens Valley
2016 - Competed at Rat Race 2016 in Oregon
Happy reading and fly high, safe and far!
Peter Hill