 |
| View from Launch, Bajo Molle down below. |
Launch (S 20°16’54”, W 70°06’27”) 506 m
Landing Zone (N 0°22’21”, W 78°5’25”) 0 m
Northern Chile is truly in a class of it’s own when it comes to paragliding. The driest climate in the world coupled with a coastal mountain range produces legendarily consistent winds, and the utter lack of vegetation means you can launch and land from almost anywhere. And no city in Chile is more paraglider-friendly than Iquique. One day after landing at the beach near downtown I found myself a bit lost looking for the right bus back to Altazor Flight Park. After wandering around for a while like a dumb tourist, a car pulled over and rolled the window down. The guy inside said he noticed my large backpack and asked if I was a paraglider... he was headed to Palo Buque (another nearby fly site), do I need a ride? Only in Iquique!
Alto Hospicio is an outlying community near Iquique up on the mesa above the city and is the main launch used for flying around Iquique. It is easily reached by bus from almost anywhere in the city. From launch there is access to clean, sea breeze-impacted ridgeline extending all along behind the city. Flying is thermal-dynamic, meaning one can almost always find lift near the ridgeline while seeking thermals further out.
A fun flight to attempt is launching from Alto Hospicio and landing on the beach at either Playa Brava or Playa Cavancha. Head North along the ridge from Alto Hospicio and then out over the city to the beach. There are electrical lines to avoid in several places (difficult to see even with the orange balls), ask to have someone describe to you where they are. Make sure you have good elevation before pointing your glider out over the city to land on the beach!
THE place is town for pilots to stay is Altazor Flight Park. Here you will find answers to any questions you have about flying in the area from an expert staff of fellow pilot/travelers. They are located next to a good LZ in the sand dunes, have all levels of accommodation in a fun hostel-style atmosphere, all you need for equipment repair and maintenance, and blessedly- a large astroturf surface where you can clean out the copious amounts of sand that will get in to your wing...
 |
| Camping at Altazor Flight Park
Notes on Launch: Launch is free of any nearby obstacles. There is almost always a service thermaldirectly below launch, but avoid spending too much time there if other pilots are waiting to launch.
|
Notes on Landing Zone: As mentioned earlier, the beauty of flying in the desert is one can be less worried about always being in reach of an LZ. Between Alto Hospicio and Iquique is pure sand dunes, so almost anywhere will do. Of course, if you bail out try to land closer to the road so you don’t have to hoof it so far! Be prepared to be bounced back up from your intended LZ from the omnipresent thermal/glass off conditions.
From launch at Alto Hospicio, Altazor Flight Park is visible as the long, white wall straight ahead in the line of vision towards the ocean from launch.
If you plan to land on the beach at Playa Cavancha or Playa Brava, you’ll have a very wide, smooth, sandy beach to land. Keep your distance from the skyscrapers in your approximation. Watch out to not land on any sunbathers, kids building sand castles, or people playing beach tennis.
Flyable days per year: Just about all of ‘em, they tell me.
Best times of the day: When I was there in April, best time to launch was between 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m and then again after 4 or 5:00 p.m. until dusk.
Cost: No launch fees.
How to get there:
To Iquique
Daily direct buses are available from nearly any other major Chilean city as well as from Jujuy, Argentina just across the border. Tur-Bus and Pullman are two enterprises I with whom I had good experiences.
Flights are also scheduled daily from Santiago on LAN airlines.
To Alto Hospicio
From the Iquique Bus Terminal- From nearly anywhere in town, the No. 3 bus (or any bus clearly marked with Alto Hospicio, there are several) will take you on the route you need. At the terminal, ask which bus will take you to Alto Hospicio (sorry guys, I didn’t ever go straight from the terminal so I’m not sure what all the bus routes are that go up there...). Once you are headed up the long, gradual slope leaving out of the city, you are on the way there. When you are close to the three very large flags up on the ridge top ( you can’t miss them!) let the driver know to let you off at the mirador de parapente in just a minute. Launch will be on your left, a large cleared area.
If you are arriving into Iquique overland from the North, you will pass through Alto Hospicio en route to Iquique. If you don’t have too much luggage, here’s a cool trick: you can ask the bus driver to drop you off at Alto Hospicio on his way down and fly directly down below to Altazor, thereby avoiding any extra buses or taxis in town. (I had too much stuff, so lame...)
No comments:
Post a Comment