XC1 – 05 to 14 January 2026
XC1 Guiding Fees: £1250
Fees include XC guidance and GPS trackers
XC1 Duration: 7 flying days
Roldanillo, tucked into Colombia’s sun soaked Cauca Valley, is a world class flatland flying destination known for its smooth, reliable conditions and welcoming skies. Thermals form as low as 30 metres and build steadily to cloudbase, creating the perfect canvas for long, rewarding XC flights.
The flying here is primarily flatland in style, with wide valley floors, gentle convergence lines, and consistent climbs. Early in the day, there’s often a chance to dip into the mountains before the day opens up into classic lowland flying ideal for developing your range, rhythm, and glide decisions.
With a 3:1 pilot-to-guide ratio, we’ll give full attention to all facets of your flying, offering tailored feedback and clear strategies for improvement both on the ground and in the air.
SELF Retrieve: We don’t offer retrieve as the Cauca Valley has brilliant transport connectivity, and the locals are super friendly and helpful making hitch hiking easy. It is typically faster to self retrieve than wait for the bus and it gives you an experience of the Colombian community.
To reach Roldanillo you will fly into Pereira airport where you can get a taxi to your hotel. There are 2 flights into the airport a day so it will be likely that we organise to have shared taxis or a bus if there are more than 4 pilots.
Roldanillo is a small town with many Air BnB’s, homestays and hotels in town. Most of these places are 5 -10 min from the town centre and our morning meeting point.
Roldanillo.
Facing east the main takeoff launches you high above the town of Roldanillo. The mountains around takeoff have very reliable house thermals but do have a possible pacific wind that comes in, so takeoff will be earlier in the day.
Ansermanuevo
“Anserma” is our backup takeoff, we use it in the case of a northerly flowing wind, as it gives more options for distance to the south. This launch is more sheltered, thus it can be used later in the day. It is a bus journey to the town and transport up the hill in the infamous Willys jeeps to get to the takeoff site.
SELF RETRIEVE
We don’t offer retrieve as the Cauca Valley has brilliant transport connectivity, and the locals are super friendly and helpful making hitch hiking easy. It is typically faster to self retrieve than wait for the bus and it gives you an experience of the Colombian community.
There are 3 main ways to get to Bir:
1. Domestic flight from Delhi to Dharamshala and from there you can get a taxi to bir.
2. Overnight bus from Delhi -ISBT Kashmiri gate, which will take you directly to Bir.
3. Fly to Amritsar or Chandigarh and get a private car to Bir.
There are many lovely hostel, homestay and hotels in Bir.
Most of the places are on the Main Street of Bir or just 5 mins away.
We will be staying in a lovely hotel, if you would like to book the same let us know.
Takeoff in Bir is at 2400m ASL, It is ideal for all major wind directions.
Once you arrive at the takeoff, there is a very short walk up the hill to get to the best launch spot.
There we will have a briefing for the day and set a task for us to follow. After this, we will enjoy a wonderful day flying together.
There are 3 main ways to get to Bir:
1. Domestic flight from Delhi to Dharamshala and from there you can get a taxi to bir.
2. Overnight bus from Delhi -ISBT Kashmiri gate, which will take you directly to Bir.
3. Fly to Amritsar or Chandigarh and get a private car to Bir.
There are many lovely hostel, homestay and hotels in Bir.
Most of the places are on the Main Street of Bir or just 5 mins away.
We will be staying in a lovely hotel, if you would like to book the same let us know.
Takeoff in Bir is at 2400m ASL, It is ideal for all major wind directions.
Once you arrive at the takeoff, there is a very short walk up the hill to get to the best launch spot.
There we will have a briefing for the day and set a task for us to follow. After this, we will enjoy a wonderful day flying together.
Please be aware of your own physical and mental limits throughout the tour and on each flight. We aim to do a lot of flying and this can be tiring, especially in heat that you may not be used to, so please be realistic and fly within your comfort and skill levels, cut the flight plan early if you feel tired. We can always change our flight plan to suit what you feel happy dealing with.
We expect that you will arrive with a functional paraglider, harness, reserve parachute, helmet, and Vario/GPS.
The weather is nice and warm, good enough to fly in shorts, thin flying jacket and gloves.
We provide flymaster trackers in Colombia.
It is essential that you have travel insurance that covers you in respect of the following:
The typical route in Colombia is a 4 leg route, starting at Roldanillo we head north along the ridge with a turn point at La Union, from there we will usually head out into the valley and start our flatland flying. We will then head south and fly as far as we can with what the day offers.
Depending on the conditions of the day we may head north from La Union, from there we will be aiming to fly as far north up the valley as possible.
Kanan is a talented pilot and truly enjoys guiding.
Her love for flying and excellent organisational skills make all of our courses run smoothly anywhere in the world.
Josh is a highly skilled pilot and a natural guide.
He possesses a profound understanding of XC and competition flying across diverse environments.
Escape Paragliding Ltd
4 Southey Court
Keswick, Cumbria ,CA12 5FG
