This page contains Flying the Sacred Valley of the Incas which was published in the summer 2005 issue of Paraglider Magazine.
Flying the Sacred Valley of the Incas
Cuzco Peru is best known for the spectacular ruins of Macchu Picchu, but for paraglider pilots the nearby Sacred Valley of the Urubamba is just as alluring. 
The deep agricultural valley of the Urubamba River maintains a timeless beauty. Rising above the small central town is the Cordillera Urubamba, with the Cordilleras Vilcabamba and Vilcanota to the north and south, both with summits reaching six thousand meters. Nearby are arguably the world's most famous ruins, Macchu Picchu. In these mountains local "campesinos" go about their lives, planting crops and herding animals, as they have for centuries, traditionally dressed, speaking mainly Quechua.
The culture is vibrant; the food is basic and good, and best of all the flying is huge. Launches are around three thousand five hundred meters and cloud base often breaks six thousand meters. The Sacred Valley also has a well-deserved reputation for seriously rowdy air. Pilots come back with stories of big whacks, full frontals, trouble getting down and near falls into wings.
At the same time, the potential for big cross-country flights is vast. Good roads lead north and south, so getting back is simple on local buses and colectivos. Wide-open valleys offer lots of clear fields for landing. It's important to be sure to land before the air gets too trashy, as afternoon thermals can be gut wrenching and stronger than any pilot enjoys. 
People who fly frameless aircraft made of fabric and string should note that full sized commercial jets avoid scheduling afternoon flights into Cuzco because of turbulence and afternoon overdevelopment. That said, the rewards of visiting the Southern Andes of Peru and experiencing the beauty, culture and people, as well as the world class flying, are priceless. The only problem is finding enough time to fit in all the various must do activities; from site seeing and discos in Cuzco, visiting the ruins of Macchu Picchu to the many treks that cross high passes on ancient Incan roads under glaciated peaks.
The town of Urubamba is one and a half hours and seventy kilometers from Cuzco. The road passes El Mirador and Cerro Sacro, the two main launches that overlook the Sacred Valley. Both have great layout areas and awesome views across the valley to the snowy Cordillera Urubamba.
The high Andes can experience bad weather any time of year, but June through August is considered the dry season. Local pilot and hotelier Franz Schilter, considered by many the best pilot in Peru, estimates eight out of ten days are flyable during this season. Nevertheless, due to the proximity of the equator, "winter" doesn't exist here, and flying into November and December is often good, while the beginning of February generally begins a wet spell.
I first visited Urubamba with my paraglider in November 2000. During my days flying there I gained a huge respect for the sites and conditions, had a good friend seriously injured and experienced the biggest air I've ever flown.
I came back with my own stories, some of which can't be blamed on the conditions. One bright morning I launched into a broad smooth thermal. I climbed to five thousand five hundred meters without leaving the strong lift. Friends on the ground radioed for conditions, and I decided to fly to the edge of the thermal to get a feel for the air. I gently stepped on my speed bar, and heard a tearing sound come from my reserve container. In an instant I freed my hands from my brakes and grabbed my reserve as it fell from it's home. I stuffed the bag under my chest strap and spiraled down to top land and rerig the reserve. I inadvertently strung my speed system through my brake handle, and almost got a very long ride down under canopy. 
As with most mountain sites, the weather changes daily, hourly and by the minute. Clear blue skies turn overcast with towering cummies by seven thirty in the morning. Afternoons that have overdeveloped suddenly clear with perfect conditions and brilliant sunsets setting nearby glaciers aglow. I've stood on launch, ready to go with perfect cycles coming straight in, and seen conditions change in five minutes to constant twenty-five mph wind that lasts through the afternoon.
The thermals can be tiny but incredibly strong. Once I just laid out my wing when a dusty came through. Three of us jumped on the glider, then watched the thermal pick up a wing still in it's bag and toss it six feet into the air, while not even turning the pages of an open magazine ten feet away,
I also had some great flights. Climbing to six thousand meters without leaving lift. Day after day, flying cross-country for three or four hours, beyond Cuszco, forced down by overdevelopment after more than thirty miles. All the while spellbound from views of the Cordilleras Vilcabamba to the north and Vilcanota to the south.
Cerro Sacro, the radio antennae spiked hill above Urubamba, is the valley's main site. The afternoon wind is often too strong to launch from the top, so pilots start halfway down, exactly what your instructor taught you not to do when you learned to fly. It usually works, and the gullied hillside can have fairly smooth air, but often thermals join in to create a bumpy soup. By sunset the air smoothes out, making a relaxing end of the day, while the light on the nearby peaks go off.
In November 2000, at this lower launch, my friend launched. Instantly she found the wind picked up and blew her back. She was on a very stable but slow DHV1 glider and put on speed to penetrate. Twenty meters off the deck, she took a large collapse and was turned into the hill. A new pilot, this was her last flight, leaving her with a badly broken ankle and back. Unfortunately, the story didn't end there. She needed a full anesthesia operation in Cuzco to set her ankle and the doctors didn't see her compressed vertebrae in the x-rays and sent her home on crutches. (Badly risking further serious injury). Needless to say, medical attention in Peru is not generally up to the standards of the US or Europe. Still we were thankful the ambulance, hospital and doctors were there for her. I felt even more helpless since the day of the accident I flew past Cuzco on a cross-country flight and didn't get back until after dark.
My friends were evacuated to the US but I stayed on. Every day I took a local bus to the bottom of the hill and hiked to launch. Most days I flew x-c, but I prayed for an afternoon without overdevelopment. Instead, everyday I was forced to land (sometimes B-lining for thousands of meters to get down) just before the inevitable gust front hit.
Alone on another mid-day flight, almost to six thousand meters though not yet at cloud base, I started off head cross-country. As I glanced up, to my disbelief I saw another glider almost a thousand meters above me. By this time I was well acclimated, but simultaneously pretty strung out from the whole trip, and seriously questioned whether what I saw was real. It turned out to be the local "Maestro", Franz Shulter, showing a group of Austrians he was guiding, how to do it.
Most sites have changing conditions, but it's rained and hailed on me after almost every x-c flight here. If there weren't so many other reasons, like the adventure of traveling and experiencing Peru and its people, it would be hard to recommend paragliding in the Sacred Valley. At the same time, this spectacular area can easily provide the most incredible flying of your life.
The other launch in the Urubamba Valley is at a scenic viewpoint called El Mirador. Here women sit with mantas piled with woven textiles and handicrafts for sale. The launch is on a smooth grassy slope, a few feet below the overlook. Obviously it has an especially beautiful view since it was chosen as an overlook.
Unfortunately the landing options in the town of Huayllabamba, a thousand meters below, are less than optimal. The typical soccer field landing zone is surrounded by a high fence and barbed wire, and is close to a hillside covered with tall eucalyptus trees. The second option, fields on the south edge of town next to the Rio Urubamba, are cut in half by tall high-tension electrical lines. Both landing zones are useable, but neither is great, as opposed to the vast open flat fields below Cerro Sacro.
Huayllabamba is a beautiful village with typical tiled red roofs, central plaza and colonial church. Pilots travel to paraglide to discover just this off the beaten track kind of place. The El Mirador site is sheltered from south wind, so when it's cross or over the back on Cerro Sacro, this is a the option. Another five minutes up the road is the pueblo of Chincero, with its colorful Sunday market.
I guided my last paragliding trip to Cuzco. After several days flying over Urubamba with cloud base near five thousand meters and a successful cross-country flight with my client, Bill Morris, we headed north to Abancay. Here we flew the beautiful ridge soaring site of Sawite and witnessed another spectacular sunset on the snowy peaks of the Cordillera Vilcabamba.
The next day we flew the main site on the mountain above Abancay. Again we experienced the power and fury the nearby peaks produce. By ten it's typically soarable, and local pilots always land by early afternoon. We found it hard to get down over town there was so much lift. Abancay is four hours north of Cuzco with little to offer the tourist other than flying.
On our drive back south, we found the Sawite site a perfect warm down after a big-air, bouncy mid-day flight in the nearby city. We landed after sunset and were greeted by a troupe of young kids with hands sticky with honey. They gleefully shared the dripping fresh honeycombs with us, and we by chance had a pocket full of toothbrushes, which we gave them as gifts.
Back at our "home" site of Cerro Sacro, the kids who live around the landing fields became friends during the week. Thankfully, they hadn't been taught to fold wings, or to ask for money. Also they were much happier to get small finger puppets than the gang who got toothbrushes. Kids are the same the world over.
During the week tour we flew five different sites and got almost ten hours in the air. Cloud base was lower than normal, but it was a week that left us glowing with the exhaustion that comes from an adventure well lived. 
Once again the Southern Andes of Peru provided an adventure to match any in the world. The scenic beauty of the nearby mountains combined with the culture and friendliness of the locals made the week fly by. I look forward to my next opportunity to visit and explore this area, and of course still dream of the big cross-country flights that await the initiated visiting pilot.
Go To Flying the Sacred Valley of the Incas
Go To A Summer Vacation. Part I: Northwest Roadtrip.
Go To A Summer Vacation. Part II: PWC Pemberton-Whistler Championships.
Go To A Summer Vacation. Part III: Mount 7. Golden B.C.
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