XC Camp Algodonales

790

ALL INCLUDED PACKAGE
Improve your cross-country flight skills or achieve your first one!
For Qualified Pilots with more than 50 hours air-time.
Duration: 6 days / 7 nights.
🏠 Accommodation Included.
✈️ Free Airport Transfers.
🚩 Algodonales, Spain

BOOK NOW! Small groups. Limited places

Secure your place with a small deposit and pay the balance on arrival. FREE CANCELLATION UP TO 30 DAYS BEFORE

☹️If dates you like are not available...  CONTACT US

 

✅ INSTRUCTIONS FOR BOOKING: ❶ Navigate the calendar with buttons <>. ❷ Click on the dates you like. ❸ Click on the "Booking" button below.
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Description

Cross-country Training Camp

Our XC camp is a training week specific for paragliding pilots who want to fly far away.  It is an intensive experience for motivated pilots - of all levels of experience - who share the same goal: to improve their cross-country flights and to come together to create an environment of camaraderie and friendship!

This cross-country course is for pilots at any level; It doesn’t matter if you don't have previous experience flying cross-country or you are an experienced pilot with hundreds of flights, we will adapt the training to you. Our aim is that you can achieve your first, or your best, cross-country flight.

Personal training and goals: Every day each pilot can choose to fly cross-country or to fly locally; in this last case, the instructor will propose some specific tasks and exercises. We know every pilot is different, so we follow your progression and set the tasks according to your level. No pressure, our main goal is to have fun!

Amongst other skills and techniques, you can expect to learn about some of the following aspects:

  • How to find thermals: sources of lift and trigger points
  • Improving thermalling performance
  • Flight planning and navigation
  • Instability and incidents: Active flying and how to fly in rough air
  • Optimising performance: Speed to fly
  • Landing out on tricky places
  • Equipment and instruments
  • Safety and general airmanship knowledge

Learn to make your flight plan with modern tools

Nowadays, the internet offers to the paragliding pilots a lot of resources to get information to make a good flight plan: each day, our pilots learn to design the best cross-country route with the support of online tools and the help of an experienced instructor. Learn how to choose the best path to fly, how to avoid forbidden airspaces and how to use Apps in flight.

Your coach also will suggest daily tasks and flight exercises to improve your capabilities and confidence,  and to make the flights easier and safer to you.

Algodonales, Spain, one of the best paragliding spots to fly cross-country

The good weather and orography of the area make Algodonales a perfect destination to learn and improve your cross-country flight skills. There are straight-forward cross-country routes, many big areas for landing.

INCLUDES

WE OFFER YOU IN THE PACKAGE...
Coaching with professional instructors.

  • Accommodation in a single room.
  • Free Transfers from/to Malaga Airport (*Saturdays at 13h00).
  • Daily briefing: weather forecast and planning the XC route and tasks of the day.
  • Daily lessons and masterclasses about XC topics.
  • Shuttle to the flying sites: we can fly in many different spots around the base.
  • Retrievals in new 8 seat van with air conditioning.

 

REQUIREMENTS

WHAT YOU NEED TO BE AND TO BRING
For this course, you must be a pilot-rated leastways FAI Para Pro3, BHPA Club pilot, APPI Pilot, or equivalent, with a minimum of 50 hours, and totally autonomous for taking off, flying and landing.

You don’t need to be an expert; the course is good even if you have never achieved an XC flight before, but you need a bit of previous experience flying in a thermal lift in order to take benefit of the training.

  • You should have a Flight License and a Third Party Insurance specific for paragliding. Bring it with you.
  • Bring your Flight Equipment, with reserve parachute, helmet, Walkie VHF 2m and mobile phone.
  • Despite it is not mandatory, we highly recommend you have a Travel Accident Insurance with full rescue/repatriation cover. If you are a citizen of the EU, bring your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). This entitles you to reduced-cost, sometimes free, medical treatment.

The briefings are in English or Spanish. You must understand at least one of these languages.

 

GPS LIVE TRACKING

YOU JUST FLY; WE WILL BE WATCHING
We use an App on your phone which sends your GPS coordinates to the tracking website while you’re flying and we can see where you are at any moment. This is very good for your safety but it is also very useful to organize your retrieval after landing.

ALGODONALES, SPAIN

FLY WHERE THE SUNSHINE!
Our Paragliding School is located in Algodonales, one of the best paragliding spots in southern Spain and one of the most popular in Europe.

Why you should choose Spain? Because we have the best climate conditions for paragliding the whole year round, even in winter, while the rest of Europe is frozen, we can fly great thermals at 18-20ºC.

During winter, the flights are calm, it is not too cold and there are smooth thermals. It could rain, but generally not too many consecutive days. In the Spring and early Autumn, the thermals offer especially high and long-distance flights, and the temperature is perfect. In summer it is hot (very!) but we can enjoy smooth flights during the long evenings until sunset.

The mountains around Algodonales have a variety of flying spots and the coast is just one hour away and offers two other easy coastal flying sites above sand dunes.

And it is not only about flying but you will enjoy the culture and the real people of Spain.

Despite Algodonales is not a big town, you will find all you need for a comfortable holiday: there are supermarkets, local shops, several banks with cash machines, pharmacies and a health centre.

The village is full of restaurants and cafes, and they are open from early morning to midnight: you cannot miss tasting the fantastic local food and tapas at low prices: coffee or beer from 1.2€, tapas from 2€ and a daily menu by only 8-10€.

Algodonales is also ideally situated for visiting the surrounding great cities and sights of interest such as Ronda, Grazalema, Sevilla, Granada, Cordoba, Cadiz, Jerez de la Frontera, Costa de la Luz and Costa del Sol.

PLAN YOUR TRIP TO SPAIN

ACCOMMODATION

INCLUDED IN YOUR PACKAGE
We have included your accommodation in the price of the package

We cooperate with local hosts and we will make a reservation for you: a single private room in a self-catering house shared with other pilots. All the houses have wifi, bed sheets, towels and kitchen facilities. They are located in the centre of the village and a few minutes walk to restaurants, shops and our Flight Centre.

If you require accommodation for couples or families please get in touch and we can arrange this.

If you don't need an accommodation or you wish to arrange your own accommodation please let us know: we will give a discount of 175 euros per week on your final price.

NEAREST AIRPORTS

WHERE AND WHEN TO ARRIVE AND DEPART?
If you come by plane, the nearest airports to Algodonales are Malaga, Sevilla, and also Jerez.

The dates of your booking are starting and finishing dates. You should arrive on the day before the starting date, at any time, and depart on the day after the finishing date.

i.e. If your reservation is Sept 22th - Sept 27th you should arrive on the 21st. We start on the 22nd morning and finish on the 27th evening. You must check-out on the 28th.

AIRPORT SHUTTLE

FREE AIRPORT TRANSFERS
We provide free airport transfer only from/to the Malaga airport <> Algodonales (we do not have a shuttle service to Sevilla or Jerez Airports) on the set travel dates, normally on Saturdays.

The shuttle service departs from Malaga airport on the arrival date (the day before the starting date, normally on Saturdays) at 13:00 h, and arrives at Algodonales approx. at 15:00 h

On the check-out day (the day after the finishing date, normally on Saturdays) the shuttle departs from Algodonales approx. at 10:30 h and arrives at Malaga airport at approx. 12:30 h

Please keep this time in mind when you book your flights.

HOW TO GET HERE

OUR ADDRESS: Calle Ronda, 10. Algodonales. 11680. Spain
If you cannot take our airport shuttle service then you can try another way to get here:

RENT A CAR: Hiring a car could be the best option and sometimes is cheaper than taking a bus. There are several Rental Car Companies in the airports which offer very good prices. You can find cheap offers on their websites. Please check the fuel policies (we always recommend full to full) and insurance options/costs for deposit or top-up insurance policies.

TAXI: There is a taxi service at Algodonales and they offer the airport shuttle. The price from Malaga or Sevilla to Algodonales is approx. 120€. Sometimes, there are more people taking the same taxi and you can share the price with them. Ask for sharing the taxi when you make your booking.

You can also take any other taxi at the airport, but ask for the price first!; it will be often much much expensive than the local taxi.

You can book your taxi here: Algodonales Taxi driver's contact phone number: +34 695 39 66 34 (WhatsApp available)

BUS: There are Bus Companies that make the route to Algodonales from Malaga or Sevilla. You may take a bus or a taxi from the airport to the main Bus Station in the town, then take a bus to Algodonales. If you can't find a direct line to Algodonales you can try to Ronda or to Olvera, which are close to Algodonales and change to another bus to Algodonales.

Malaga Bus Station (Paseo de los Tilos, s/n. 29006 Malaga, Spain). Website: http://estabus.malaga.eu/

Sevilla Bus Station (Plaza Prado San Sebastián, s/n. 41004 Sevilla, Spain). Website:

Frequently Asked Questions

Breakfasts and other meals are not included in the prices.
Restaurants and shops at Algodonales are not expensive. The accommodation has a shared kitchen with all facilities, so you can also cook your own food if you wish.

Our paragliding school is recognized by several associations and federations (APPI, BHPA, FAI, RFAE). This means that you will qualify for a paragliding license with them upon completing your course with us. The fee to join any of these organizations is not included in the price of the course. Joining a federation is not mandatory, but recommended if you like to get a license.

Paragliding is weather dependent activity so we have to be flexible when making plans. We try to seize the time to optimize the training practices, but on a normal day you can expect the following plan:

We start at 9:30h with theory lessons at the school, and there is a briefing with the students, pilots, and instructors around 10:30h.

After the daily briefing, we go flying. We provide transport to the flying sites; you don't need to drive your own car.

The flight sites are around 30 minutes to one hour by car from Algodonales. Some days, if the weather is not good for flying in our area, we move to a different flying site; this could take one or two hours by car.

If the conditions to fly are good, we can spend the whole day flying in the mountains (or the coast), up to sunset. But if part of the day is not good for flying we can organice theory lessons, ground-handling practices or just time off for you to relax or for visiting the areas around.

We normally have a pack-lunch with us, but if there is a time we prefer to have lunch in a local restaurant to taste real Spanish food.

On our return to the town, most of the people like to have dinner together.

In the case of bad weather, we spend more time in theory lessons and we can organize an alternative activity for the group, or anyone can do whatever they want, such as a tourist tour, hiking,… or just resting for the next day.

Pack adequate comfortable clothing: warm clothes if your course is in winter. You will need a jacket in spring; it can be cold at the top of a mountain. Bring walking boots (ideally with ankle support), a sun hat, sun cream, sunglasses and also a swimming costume as there is a lake that you can canoe or swim.

For students enrolled in a beginner's course, a long-sleeved t-shirt is a good idea for ground-handling practice. Long pants will avoid scratches on your legs.

We provide towels in accommodation.

Bring your reusable bottle and help reduce single-use plastic. There are good water fountains here and you can also refill your bottle from the tap.

Beginners Paragliding courses: Max. 6 students in a group with  2-3 instructors.

Guided tours: Max. 8 pilots per instructor.

XC Camps: Max. 8 pilots per instructor, and a driver who tracks the pilots with GPS.

Only the students signed up for any of our beginner's courses have basic accident and third-party insurance included in the price. Anyway, buying your own accident and travel insurance is recommended.

Read here the terms and conditions of the accident insurance.

Qualified pilots signed up for holidays or tours should have their accident insurance, and full rescue/repatriation cover – specific to paragliding.

For citizens members of the EU, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) entitles you to reduced-cost, sometimes free, medical treatment that becomes necessary while you’re in a European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland. EHIC full info here.

You can be sure that we never give up! If the weather is bad in our area, we are going to move to a different one, with better weather. There are more than ten different flying spots up to 150 km around Algodonales, at the coast or inland.

The bad weather days can be also used for ground-handling practices or for theory lessons, and not only for the students but we also organise masterclasses for more experienced pilots.

If some tasks of a course are not completed, because of bad weather, it is possible to complete them on a different day. Some people extend their days.

Some people prefer to stay in the area for a few more days so they have more chances to complete the course or to fly and, in any case, they can spend this extra time on tourism.

Anyway, in the very unlikely event that due to bad weather, we have to cancel some days during a weekly course or tour, we will give you credit that will be discounted from the price of your next booking with us.

All are welcome. Algodonales is a beautiful area; There are massive amounts to keep everyone busy while you are flying. horse riding to kitesurfing. picnics & canoeing and beautiful white hillside villages of Andalucia, everything is out there to do and explore. We can organise tandem flights for non-flyers. They will need a car because we cannot guarantee a place for them in our vehicle.

In the rare event of bad weather and the inability to fly, we have some alternative activities to keep you entertained:

Touristic Routes, throughout typical white villages all over the Sierra, with visits to museums, Natural Parks, Gastronomic Stops,…
Visits to the nearest cities: Cadiz, Sevilla, Ronda, all of the great tourist interest.
Archeologic tours. In the nearby areas, there are many remains of ancient cultures such as Phoenicians, Romans, Moors…
Trekking: There are a lot of routes through Grazalema’s Natural Park with amazing landscapes, animals and forests.
Mountain bike: You can hire bikes to cross the routes through the Natural Park. One of which is an old disused railway with tunnels, bridges, stations,… and of course, always a restaurant to end your ride!
Canoe: You can also rent canoes enjoying the nearby lakes of Zahara.

You don’t. We provide transport to flying sites and for the retrieve. But if you want, you can hire a car to visit the surrounding areas, for your non-flying partners or if you cannot take on time our airport shuttle.

Our shop is fully stocked with all the equipment you may wish to purchase for flying and all at good Spanish prices. If you are interested in buying a glider please contact us in advance due to it could take weeks to get the items here.

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