Somehow winter managed to pass me by with no paragliding days, and due to a very slow start to spring we were at the end of April before I had flown this year, in fact about 6 months since my last flight. I set off for the day with a big plan but fairly low expectations and the day turned out to be spectacular with excellent thermals a clear sky with views that went on forever. We started from Hochfelln along with what seemed like every other paraglider in Bavaria, as it was one of the few lifts which was running so early in the season, and the launch was complete chaos, as it was clearly most peoples first flight of the season after a winter with no groundhandling. Whilst the conditions were difficult due to snow on the ground, there were numerous paragliders who crashed onto the walking patch, most people failed to launch and there was some terrible launch etiquette. Eventually it was my turn to launch, which went very smoothly after my ground handling practice earlier in the week and I was soon up at the departure. Read the full article…