Paragliders soar like eagles

The Loan Tree Hill take-off site has for years been used by paragliders visiting Barberton. According to pilots, it remains one of the best places to fly during winter.
The annual paragliding open started on June 28 and for most of the eight days the skies were shrouded in a colourful display of wings.

There were 87 pre-entries, but many free flyers came on board later.
On the first and second days the pilots could not fly because the wind direction was wrong. On the third day, however, although the wind was still a bit bumpy and conditions not 100 per cent conducive, the competition commenced.

There was one major recovery of Kevin Mitchell who landed way behind what was known as Zig-Zags, the old Almada Road which had been built by prisoners in the 1800s. This pilot landed approximately three kilometres from take off, which was 42 kilometres by vehicle from the golf club. The recovery started at 15:00 and the pilot was picked up at 19:30.
There were also a few who had interesting landings in trees, without injury and they were all recovered within 15 to 20 minutes of landing. One of the pilots experienced a hair-raising moment when he landed in Emjindini Trust and hit a power line. Luckily no one was electrocuted or injured, but a few houses were without electricity for a while.

The competition’s success would not have been possible without the local organisers and sponsors: Barberton Tourism, Friends of the Barberton Daisy, Barberton Mines, Barberton Ford, Coastal Hire, Barberton Taxi Association and many more who all pulled their weight. Their effort and time didn’t go unnoticed.

One of these was Barberton Tourism, and like every year it once again played a huge role in ensuring that everything ran smoothly. Headed by Astrid Christianson, its contribution to the competition has had a huge impact on the event’s success. It took care of all legalities, 911 backup and a myriad other things down to the cutting of grass and any other municipal issues. Christianson and Daphne van Rensburg also manned the little shop at the take-off point and made sure pilots had nourishment while waiting. The food stall at the golf club was managed by JP and Ems Steyn.

Another organisation, Friends of Barberton Daisy which was a community social investment project of Barberton Mines also pulled its weight. Headed by Andrea Botha, it cleaned up the take-off area and was once again responsible for the coordination of pilot recoveries.
“This year we had fantastic feedback from pilots who said it was one of the best competitions in the world. An international pilot compared our paragliding site with the best rated in the world and said this had hit the target and according to him Barberton’s site was better than the top rated. Recoveries all took between 15 to 20 minutes and in most cases it was very difficult this year due to the tracking system not being 100 per cent operational, but even without that it was still a great success,” said Botha.

Throughout the week the pilots also flew 15 tandems each for the community at large. If you would like to take part in a tandem flight, visit Lowveld Slope Soaring Club’s page

The main organisers of the nationals, Lowveld Slope and Soaring Club have to be complimented on a job well done and pilots and locals alike are looking forward to next year’s event.

On Saturday evening, the prize-giving was held at Jathira Guest House and the main results were as follows:

Competition overall
Andre Rainsford
Duncan Kotze
Leon Viljoen
Final Overall
Andre Rainsford
Russell Achterberg
Leon Viljoen
Final Results – Female
Khobi-Jane Bowden
Tracey King
Competition Overall T5
Andre Rainsford
Russell Achterberg
Duncan Kotze
Final Results – CCC
Andre Rainsford
Russell Achterberg
Leon Viljoen
Final Results – Intermediate
Stephan Ferreira
Kelvin van Baalen
Johan De Bruijn
Novice
William Roth
Gert Immelman
Robert Blake
Serial
Dudley de Klerk
Ron Aylward
Fanie Badenhorst
Tandem
Thomas Webb
Jacques du Plessis
Sport
Eugene Claase
Hans Fokkens
Jan Anthony Minnaar.