Flying at Valle de Bravo

Andrew flying in front of me.

Valle de Bravo is known around the world as a fantastic paragliding site. We'd read and heard so much about it. Everything from being a great beginner site for learning and cross country to a very strong thermic area for more experience pilots. However, it's also known for crowds and several reserve tosses a year. We weren't totally sure we wanted to fly here but being so close because of wanting to see the Monarca butterflies, we couldn't resist at least checking it out. So we went from not going at all, to checking it out, to actually flying. Not surprising!

Because we wanted to at least get a site briefing, figure out transportation to and from launch/LZ, learn the site etiquette, etc. Andrew looked online for local guides. Finding two websites, and choosing the one that looked best, Flumen Paragliding, he contacted a guy named Marko. After the fact, we realized this was Marko Hrgetic who competed in the Red Bull X-Alps last year.

In flight, with El Penón on the right

Because we arrived in Valle de Bravo fairly late and Marko was leaving for the site at 8:15, we decided to take a day's break rather than feel rushed and disorganized. We drove out, found the landing zone and walked it thoroughly, and watched a few pilots take off and land. The next day, we went straight to launch with Marko and crew (the road to launch is well before the LZ so would have been quite out of the way) so I was very thankful we'd checked the LZ already.

With paragliding being such a male dominated sport, it was quite refreshing that the three other pilots heading out with Marko that day were women. We represented western Canada very well, being from Pemberton, Kelowna, Edmonton and Saskatoon.

Parawaiting in the afternoon for the stronger winds to slow down.

Parawaiting and enjoying the view.

Marko did a great job providing a site and weather briefing, showing us where the house thermals are and giving advice during the flight so we could get the most of our time in the air.

While the crowds weren't actually as bad as we had anticipated (we counted about 20-30 pilots in any given "gaggle") I consider myself a timid pilot so I was happy to be the "wind dummy" (the first one to launch so that other pilots can see if the thermals are working yet). So by the time the gaggle really started forming, I'd be happy with my flight and head out away from the crowd and eventually land.

Using the birds to help find the thermals.

It was a nice big landing area with two taco stands at the bottom so we didn't have to worry about lunch or refreshments after our last flight of the day. There were also lots of kids offering to pack up wings for a small fee but Andrew and I always feel it isn't something we want to encourage so we declined.

We only flew a couple days because the weather was starting to change and Andrew got quite sick to his stomach. All in all, we had a great Valle experience and I expect we'll be back here sometime! 

Sunset in the LZ after a late afternoon flight.

A colourful visitor near the LZ.