During the long Vesak weekend in Singapore, I had the chance to make a trip to Palu with some of my fellow pilot from the Singaporean Paragliding Association. Palu is located in Central Sulawesi. It is quite a large town surrounded by luxurious mountains.
Matantimali, the main paragliding site, is just a fabulous spot to practice ridge soaring or thermalling. The heat and the sea breeze make a unique combination, and it is actually easier to stay up for hours rather than coming down to earth. Be very careful during the landing approach as the strong wind does not allow any penetration in the field. You drop vertically (winds are often around above 20-25 km/h with gust of 30 km/h) That was for me my first real experience at cross country… and quite a scary one. Conditions were quite above my comfort level: the thermals were too strong, the wind making the ride even more bumpier. I experienced during the weekend all my first collapses: 2 asymmetric ones and 1 frontal one with horseshoe. At least, It gives you a lot of confidence in what an EN-A glider can handle.
First time also logging some data in Leonardo. You learn quite a lot during analyzing these data!
Paragliding Weekend at Matantimali, Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia from Stephane Coupleux on Vimeo.