Cloud School.....

Eagles in Colombia - by: Jeff Shapiro

By KAVU

February 25^th, 2020

Eagle tours - 2020

Each year, Eagle Paragliding offers week-long flying tours in the Valle Del Cauca....... a beautiful valley in the country of Colombia known for it's sugar cane, corn, vineyards, friendly locals and incredible paragliding . Three tours... each lasting one week... brings pilots to an area between Roldanillo and La Union, where the flying conditions are legendary and perfectly suited for pilots of all levels.

Our goals for each week-long tour is to split our 30 pilots up into groups, each guided by one of the (7) Eagle instructors, and to fly, learn, and have fun in the consistently good skies. One of the most unique parts of coming to Colombia to paraglide is that unlike almost anywhere else, you can pretty much count on flying every single day! This allows huge learning opportunities where pilots can consistently take what they learned "today" and apply it to "tomorrow". Most agree that they learn more in one week that an entire season at "home".

Eagle's Guide crew of Dave Turner, Mitch Riley, Marty DeVietti, Brian Howell, Rob Sporrer, and Chris Clontz are all legends of the sport.

I feel super grateful to be a part of a group who feels a strong passion for giving back to the sport that's given so much to our lives. Teaching people how to fly better... and safer, is a privileged but, seeing pilots each week have the "flights of their lives" and several personal bests throughout their tour is pure joy for us!

Like I said, Roldanillo is a world destination for paraglider pilots all over the world. But also, it's a place that's full of culture, color, art, and amazingly friendly and generous people.

Seeing some of the same smiling faces each year makes this trip a bit like coming "home" for many of us. For me, every day in Colombia is a KAVU day indeed!

Each morning, all of Eagle's clients wake up like an excited family, anxious to see what the day will bring. At 8:30am, we jump in the buses and head up to launch at Los Tanques. The feeling and energy on launch is always good with tunes pumping through portable speakers and psyched pilots talking about the conditions in anticipation of what's to come....

As soon as the first gliders launch and find thermals.... those invisible elevators to cloud base.... pilots run off the hill in droves. The goal for the guides during our tours is to watch and help our groups get airborne, and then launch (sometimes tandem) and via radio, gather our pilots at cloud base to begin our adventure route for the day.

I'll top out in a thermal, and then go on glide toward the next hopeful source of lift to stay airborne. My group will follow and/or fly with me. Together, we'll help each other to "connect the dots" on a multi-hour flight around the valley. Normally, we cross over multiple towns, linking clouds and flying with birds until, one by one..... pilots either land or decide they've had enough and choose a landing zone that allows for shade and sometimes even.... a cold Cervaza!

Cipriano

Then our retrieve drivers, Flacco or Cipriano.... find us and give us a lift back to town or the hotel to rest up and prepare for "tomorrow".

One of the best parts of a day of cross country paragliding is the adventure after we land. If Flacco or the Cipri is busy retrieving other pilots, the valley surrounding Roldanillo is supported by a bus system that's both reliable and prolific. Pretty much any main road offers an opportunity to flag down a local bus and get a very inexpensive ride into a town for food and a taxi to the hotel. That, or a friendly local on a motorcycle, horse or any number of transport methods, usually show up pretty quick to see if you're OK or need help.

The locals are truly what makes this place special! KAVU vibes!

Flacco

Flacco is our Jedi retrieve driver and prides himself with being able to find pilots.... pretty much anywhere in the Valle del Cauca. Pilot's safety is his concern each and every day and he doesn't rest until all of our clients are safe and smiling!

Birds of a feather!

A few years ago, the Eagle family lost one of their members to a tragic accident in California. Marge was a beautiful person and contributed so much to her flying community that, after her passing, her son and the Eagle crew got together and in her honor, gathered donations to help improve one of the local schools in Colombia..... a place that was dear to her heart.

Over the years, Eagle partnered with The Cloudbase Foundation to use these donations for renovations and additions to a school which brings education opportunities for local children to the area where we fly. Rob and Marite (Sporrer) have spearheaded the efforts and it was a cool bonus to stop at the school one day and see their efforts.

Smiling kids and parents, happy and grateful for a better facility and opportunity for a better education is what it's all about! Everyone in the Eagle family was feeling pretty lucky!

Pay it Forward

Gracias!!

Huge THANKS to everyone who contributed!

Colombian wildlife holds such contrast to what I find in Montana.

It's always so cool to experience diversity and new perspectives..... even if it does require you to check you shoes each morning for scorpions;-)

makin' memories!

Colombia is a dramatic place..... made better because I got to, once again, share it with good friends and family.

Some new and some old friends.... the coolest part of this Eagle trip each year is the opportunity to connect with like minded, KAVU-lifestyle peeps. When you wake up every day, grateful and ready for the adventure, that's KAVU and this trip was all about that.... living our best lives.