[La Palma, November 14th, 2007]

Important Notice
All pilots classified and invited by "wildcard" must fly during the competition days of the Final (December 1-9) in order to become awarded with any of the prizes. Also, the pilots must attend the closing ceremony to receive a prize - as the organization will not send prizes to pilots who are not present at the Final.

[La Palma, November 7th, 2007]

Ivan Colas beats Urban Valic’s record in La Palma: 39,76km!

Only 5 days before the end of the qualifying phase of the Challenge, the Spanish champion and recent winner of the Spanish League, Ivan Colas fetched the record of distance in the island (38.8 km) from Slovenian top PWC pilot Urban Valic. Ivan took off on Monday 5th from near the peak of Roque de Los Muchachos and pushed the distance towards the north of the island, to then fly back and head to the southern end of the island, where he landed after covering 39.76 km: the longest flight ever done in the "pretty island", which is only 45 km long.

The Spanish champion is now placed 3rd in the ranking of the Challenge before the Final –that will take place on December 1 to 9– behind the famous Valic brothers, who are 1st and 2nd. In the Final, the best ranked pilots of the qualification phase and some invited pilots will fight for the prizes of this Challenge.

Among the top pilots that will dispute the Final phase are the PWC champion Chrigel Maurer, winner of the 1st Challenge, and those who ended 2nd and 3rd in 2005: Charles Cazaux and Kari Eisenhut. The big cash prizes -with 8.000 euros for the 1st- have also attracted other ‘top-guns’, like Hans Bollinger, Olivier Nef, Toni Bender and the Valic, to name some.

After 11 months of competition, the balance is very positive for the organizers of the Challenge: Since the competition started in December 2006, it has brought more than 1100 visitors to the island related to the event; the pilots have done about 3000 flights both ‘official’ and training in La Palma, which sum up more than 10,000 kilometres flown; and La Palma has been placed as a privileged destination for this sport in the world.

Spanish League concluded in La Palma

A good training for the Final of the Challenge was the last leg of the Spanish Paragliding League held in La Palma last weekend, with a bit more than 50 participants. Many of the pilots also took the chance to do the last qualifying flights for the Challenge –as the 1st phase closes on November 10th.

With favourable conditions for free flying, the pilots completed four tasks in 4 days that tested their abilities and speed over circuits of around 50 km. Finally, Juan Carlos Martinez Melon took the victory after winning 3 tasks, always followed closely by Ivan Colas (2nd) who crowned an excellent season adding the title of the Spanish League 2007 to that of Spanish Champion, won in Pegalajar in May.

The national champion is highly motivated to battle against some of the best pilots of the world in December, and to try and keep the big prize of the Challenge in Spain!

[La Palma, November 5th, 2007]
New video: Last leg of the Spanish League 2007 at La Palma.

[La Palma, October 15, 2007]
Special offer for pilots at Hotel SOL Melia
For those of you coming to La Palma for the Challenge there's a very special accommodation offer at the 4-stars hotel SOL Melia of Puerto Naos (just some metres walk from the beach LZ): Accommodation + half board at 34,25 euros per person / night in a double room. This offer is valid for pilots registered in the Challenge, since now until December 24th . Contact us for details & booking.

[La Palma, October 03, 2007]
New video: Flying in la Palma
The 2nd Challenge Island of La Palma is now on the last glide of the 1st phase, which closes on November 10th. If you still didn't come to fly in the "pretty island" of the Canary, this video will show you what you're missing (specially now that the autumm arrived in the continent). Remember that you can still enter in the comp...

[La Palma, June 14th, 2007]
Valic brothers in la Palma

[La Palma, May 29, 2007]
Video Spanish Championships at Pegalajar 2007:

[La Palma, May 11, 2007]
Video Gin Team in la Palma:

[La Palma, May 08, 2007]
From the World Record to the record of La Palma:
Urban Valic flies the longest distance!

The Valic brothers (Mac Para Magus proto), holders of the present paraglider world record of distance (426km), spent 3 days doing distance flights in the island to obtain good scores for the 2nd Challenge Island of La Palma, and they soon broke a couple of records! Urban managed to do the longest flight ever done in La Palma: 39.67 km in straight line (for an island only 45 km long) between Fuencaliente (South) and Puntagorda, in a flight of great technical complexity due to the strong winds that prevail on the ends of the island. The South zone was specially hard as it was on the lee side, and the pilot said that he had to manage strong turbulences and face wind to return, losing nearly a thousand meters of height in only a couple of km. This time, Aljaz remained behind his younger brother, with 35.5 km, the second best flight of this edition of the Challenge.

The Valic travelled to the island of La Palma during the first week of May with the intention to obtain the best possible classifications in the 1st Phase of the Challenge (open until November 10 th ), and as soon as they got down from the airplane they asked to be taken directly to the takeoff. Both pilots started from Puerto Naos at noon and spent 5 hours flying, to complete two good flights each. This is how the pair debuted in the Challenge. On the following day, they crossed the island again a couple of times, beating the record of distance of this 2 nd Challenge and the island of La Palma , showing why they are on the highest level of our sport. Both pilots flew more than 200km altogether in just three days and with conditions that were not the best for distance flights.

The previous distance mark, 38.7 km, was set by French pilot Charles Cazaux, during the first edition of the Challenge, in 2005.

Specialized Press in the Challenge
At the time of the Valic brothers' visit to La Palma we also had a group of eight journalists specialized in paragliding here, flying and taking hundreds of pictures in the ‘pretty island' to show it to their readers. Correspondents of the magazines Cross Country, Paraglider Magazine, USHGA, Aerial, FFVL, Parapente Mag and Ojovolador.com had the chance to fly from different sites in the western region of La Palma and score for the ranking of this Challenge. They all expect to be able to come again for the Final in December, not only to cover the event as press members but also to compete in it for any of the prizes. The journalists were pleasingly impressed by the conditions for paragliding and the landscapes of the island, after visiting the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, the Viewpoint of El Time and the volcanoes of Fuencaliente, among other natural attractions of the island.

*See some pictures of the week in this album

*See the tracklogs of the flights in the PILOTS section, under 'Flights'.

 [La Palma, April 12th 2007]

VIDEO: Canarian League at la Palma

 [La Palma, March 8th 2007]
GIN Gliders partner of the 2nd Challenge Island of La Palma

The paraglider manufacturer GIN Gliders, one of the leader companies in the sport, is the new partner of the 2nd Challenge Island of La Palma. The GIN Factory Team is now in La Palma to work and take part in the qualification phase of the contest (open until November 10th), which consists in making 3 distance flights in the island to score as many points as possible and enter the Final phase. In the Final (December 1-9), the best 50 pilots of the qualification phase will fight for the big prize of 8,000 euros and many prizes for the top ranked pilots in categories DHV1 & 1-2, DHV2 and general.

Gin Team pilot Charles Cazaux (FR) was 2nd overall in the first edition of the Challenge, in 2005. Back then, he said it was “a fun event in a perfect spot for winter and training”. He is now in La Palma waiting for the right conditions to fly his new Boomerang 5 (competition glider) over the volcanoes of La Palma. With him are Jean Maxpierre (FR), top pilot of the Paragliding World Cup, Klaudia Bulgakow (POL), one the best young women doing top-level competition (1st woman in Manilla Open 2007), and Jerome Maupoint, experienced pilot and professional aerial photographer.
Photo: Jerome Maupoint

Photo: Jerome Maupoint

+Info: www.gingliders.com

[La Palma, March 8th 2007]
2nd Video from Manilla: The Spanish Team at the Worlds in Australia, 4th Task (by ©Alfonso Diaz)

*The Spanish Team pilots have accepted the 2nd Challenge Island of La Palma and will be here to fly distance and score for the 1st phase of the Challenge soon.

   [La Palma, March 6th 2007]
Video from Manilla: The Spanish Team at the Worlds in Australia (by ©Alfonso Diaz).

  [La Palma, January 24th 2007]
 The longest flight so far!

It seems that the atmosphere in La Palma is getting hotter as days pass! Yves Jouanisson, a French pilot who lives in the island and member of the local team Palmaclub, has done the longest flight so far of almost 30 km, which is a very respectable distance for the island standards and the difficulties involved. Like in the previous edition of the Challenge, in which he kept the first place in the ranking since the middle of the year to the second phase, Yves is now determined to reach a top position. "This year I want to have as much advantage as possible compared to the ‘sky gods' and give them a hard fight, and at the same time, I want to win in my category, up to DHV2". Yves has good options to take, again, the prize for the longest flight in his category and the prize for the pilot with the most flights of over 15 km by the end of the Challenge. Congratulations!

    [January 13th, 2007]
  La Palma will have an International
  Flight Center to manage Paragliding

The island of La Palma will soon count on a specific institution to take care of all matters related to paragliding here, and to help preserve the flying zones in coordination with the local authorities. The International Flight Center will also regulate the professional and sportive practice of paragliding in order to prevent accidents. The project was approved by the Tourism Board of La Palma on January 12th, in a new step for the promotion of free flight in the island.

One of the first actions of the International Flight Center (IFC) will be the creation of the rules that will apply to paragliding in the Island, to ensure that all pilots have their national license and insurance (including third party liability) and fulfill the legal requirements to fly or guide, which will help reduce the risk of accidents. The IFC will also control, together with the Enviroment and Coasts department, the landings and takeoffs in the island, promoting new locations and making the necessary contacts with local town councils for this purpose. Another important work to be done by the IFC is the publication of a complete guidebook for paragliding in La Palma, including maps of the take-offs and landing zones, coordinates, etc.

The local authorities believe that this project will also contribute to improve the competition results of the local pilots and to promote the skies of the Island as a destination involved in sustainable development, with special weather conditions and orography that make it a perfect location for the practice of air sports during the European winter.

In a future, the new Center will also assume the coordination of the main event for promotion of paragliding in the island, the "Challenge Island of La Palma".

    [December 2006]
  The Challenge starts!
Javier López, president of the local paragliding club Palmaclub and organizer of the Challenge, signs the agreement with the Island authorities to start the 2nd Paragliding Challenge Island of La Palma. The president of the Cabildo Insular de La Palma, José Luis Perestelo, gave full support to the event, whose first phase is now open.

*More resources for media in Press Info.