Morocco: land of the unexpected.
What an incredible trip! We surely did not expect to encounter such great flying conditions in Morocco… The country has a huge potential and is really underestimated. We were lucky to found some new spots near Tafraoute deep in the Atlas and reach incredible altitudes of 4400m high! One day we flew some serious distances above the desert were the scenery was outstanding, no human trace below for around 35km… Another day we traveled 50km before to hit a huge conflence. The wave took us above the clouds and we stayed there for more than an hour. It was smooth and going up everywhere. The team also climbed the 4167m Tubkal in two days and took off from the very top to go back down to the valley in less than 20 minutes. We flew at the coast, performed some base jump from the tandem. It was intense. Morocco was not only great for flying. The people are very hospitable and we were lucky enough to experience it. We went for a sea fishing session with locals in Tifnit, shared tea on many occasions, made friends, met local pilots. This combo made Morocco one of our greatest trip. We were super happy to travel with our special guest, friend and pro pilot Felix Rodriguez. What a great company ! Also, our prod guys, Benoit and Dorian are learning to fly really fast and made their first big flights alone. It was great to see them discover the sport from another angle. ; ) The SEARCH production crew is now working on short films that will be available soon on the web. Stay tuned on https://www.facebook.com/searchprojects… Fly high, fly safe. Tom.
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SEARCH Morocco is about to start…
Hi all,
The team is on the road again for new adventures. We left Belgiun with an Amarok packed with flying gears and we arrived 3 days later in Morocco. The next SEARCH Projects can start. We are now looking at the maps, studying possibilities and getting ready to go deep into the country. We are planing to fly at the coast, in the Atlas, climb some big mountains. I am pretty sure it is going to be a great one. This time the team counts a special guest: we are happy to have Felix Rodriguez on board. Now let’s see what this beautiful country has to offer… Stay tuned. Tom.
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New Zealand. Mission accomplished.
I have to say that this one was probably one of my best trip ever… It combined everything I like: Being deep into the wild, fly remote places never flown before, hike and travel in total autonomy. Ferdinand Van Schelven and I arrived in New Zealand a month ago with the idea to cross the all South Island on foot and flying through the NZ Alps. It had never been done and never been tried… The area is really remote and we thought it was a great place to train for the next Red Bull X Alps as it is winter in Europe and there is not much happening. We started from Te Anau and ended in Nelson, 28 days later. We were travelling with 22 kg bag pack including sleeping bag, stove, food for 7 days, clothing, fishing gears, flying gears, etc. We travelled through approximately 800km of high mountains and remote valleys. It was quiet amazing, we had some great flights and walked around 9 hours a day. It was an incredible way to train as we were climbing mountain passes everyday, walking on glaciers or through the bushes… It sometimes took hours to cover only a few kilometers. We also encountered really tricky flying conditions and strong wind wich was great for trainning to fly in difficult conditions. We have learn to read the weather and worked a lot on our instinct. We have met very few people on the way. We only walked 80km on the road, the rest was into the wild… We caught some trout for diner, slept in huts or wrapped in our gliders. We came back really fit and ready to tackle the next project. Now we still have a few weeks here, we will do some more flying and training. New Zealand is just a perfect place for that. Read the full story soon in the best paragliding magazines.
And please, do not hesitate to contact me if you ever think about doing something like that, even if it’s for a few days. I would be really happy to share what I have learned here. ; )
Blue skies & soft landings,
Tom.
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Brazil, here we go!
The SEARCH crew is really happy to hit the road again for a new adventure. John and Tom arrived from Belgium while Horacio and Rafael Goberna, the local rising star in the acro scene flew from Spain. We met in Quixada, well known as the flying Mecca for long distance flights. This is a great place with a huge flying potential. Some of the best pilots in the world are there to go big… Conditions start around 6:30 in the morning so you can expect 11 hours in the sky. It gives you great possibilities.
We will see what happens over the next days. We have a week to spend here before to go South. People say there are a lot of spots to be discovered there…
Stay tuned.
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The next SEARCH destination is revealed…
The team is very happy to announce our next destination… The SEARCH crew is going to Brazil from Nov 4th to mid December. Our plan is to reach Qixada and try some long distance flights. The Gradient team and his director, Ondrej Dupal will join us there for some flying. Once we have enough we will travel the country in search of the most beautiful flying spots. Brazil is huge and so is its potential for paragliding. Follow us here and on www.facebook.com/searchprojects
Vai voar para o Brasil…
Tom.
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Bivouac flight through the Great Karakoram, Pakistan.
Hi all, we are back to civilization after 20 days into the high mountains of the great Karakoram, Pakistan. Today Islamabad looks like New York! I had a great welcoming by the Red Bull Pakistan crew. I can finally sleep in a real bed and leave my dry food for the next expeditions… They even get us a personal driver taking us around the city. This really feels like luxury after having spent 3 weeks walking on a glacier, sleeping in our gliders and and taking showers in frozen rivers… I am glad to let you know that we did the first crossing of Hispar, Biafo and Baltoro glaciers on a « bivouac style ». My friends Ramon Morillas, Simon Elias and I travelled around 300km on foot or flying our paragliders from Hunza to Hushé. We reached 7250m flying, climbed a 5364m virgin peak, slept 4 days in a cave waiting for better conditions and flew the all length of Baltoro all the way to the K2! I have lost 8kg on the way and I am exhausted but very happy. We really lived a very intense trip. Again I was amazed by the hospitality of the locals, we were invited to their houses and to share their meal on many occasions. It was such a relieve to see Hushé appearing on the horizon on my last day. I was very glad to see all my friends again, Apol ali, Hussein, Ali Madad. Here is a shot I took above the Concordia, during one of the most incredible flight I have ever done. I will soon write a full story about this incredible adventure. Stay tuned, Tom.
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Glacier crossing in Pakistan. 7 weeks in the high mountains.
Hi all,
A great one is about to start. We arrived in Islamabad 2 days ago. I am now with the team getting ready to travel North to the high mountains of the Karakoram. We are refueling the O2 cylinders for high altitude flights, buying dry food, and spending hours on Google earth, analyzing landing on the glaciers of Hispar, Biafo and Concordia. Why ? Because we are about to go for a first crossing of 280 km of ice from Hunza the the K2, the second highest peak in the world. Its a project or call it a dream we have since we first saw it on a map 3 years ago… Here is our plan: Leave Hunza flying with all the necessary gears (sleeping bags, crampons, axe, ropes, food for many days, etc) fly as far of possible inside the Hispar glacier, land and start to walk, sleep on the ice, climb a mountain, take off and so on all the way to the K2. We are hoping to do it in less than 2 weeks. 3 guys are taking part: Ramon Morillas (pilot), Simon Elias (mountain guide) and I. We also have a prod team on the ground (Mariano and Sebas). We take care of Simon in the air and he will watch out for crevasses once on the ground. We will fly at altitude up to 7000m and walk on the glacier at 4000m. We are crossing fingers for good conditions as it has been pretty bad lately. There is a lot of fresh snow.
This would all be perfect if Vueling did not lost my brand new paraglider and part of my mountain gears on a flight from Brussels to Barcelona the other day… We have no news of the bag so we had to organize a plan B. My mate and SEARCH team member, Horacio Llorens, sent me his flying gears (Aspen4, Sup’Air Delight, Red Bull helmet) through DHL on friday. Thanks to him! It should arrive in a few days. I am a bit scared of customs here. Let’s hope it all works out.
After reaching the K2, the plan is to climb and cross the Gondogorola pass and fly down to Hushé, our second home where we will spend a few more weeks. There we will intend to fly as high as possible and land on high virgin peaks… Stay tuned, it will be a great one!
I wish you all the best,
Fly safe, be good. : )
Tom.
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Thomas de Dorlodot & John Stapels present « SEARCH Projects »
Back from a 4 months trip that has taken them from Brussels to Cape Town exploring Africa’s cultures and landscapes from land and from the sky with the mission to document their adventure, Thomas de Dorlodot and John Stapels have brought back eye candy for you.
Thomas barely needs mention: aerial photographer, one of Belgium’s most revered athletes and one of the world’s most progressive paragliders. He will present a selection of photographies taken during his expeditions around the world.
John his acolyte, professional photographer and natural traveller with a gift for sharing and reporting his exotic adventures through his photographs will expose some of his best shots made during their last trip together through Africa.
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Home sweet Home. SEARCH team is back from 4 months in Africa.
The crew is back from an epic trip through Africa. They travelled 4 months and crossed 10 countries from Egypt to South Africa. Now it is time to rest a little and get ready for the next adventure.
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Namibia.
What can you say when a big country like Namibia provide you of so many beautiful places to fly, in very different conditions and landscapes and with a great weather. Just perfect! We couldn’t leave the country without enjoying all this possibilities. That’s why we stayed there almost three weeks.
Starting in the great dunes of Sandwich Bay, with the Atlantic Ocean in front, and a few lakes full of pelicans and seagulls we had the opportunity to slide bare foot in the sand. It felt just like holydays in paradise. Veso, Tom and I loved this place but Spitzkoppe was still to be discovered, a huge mountain of pure rocks that appeared in the middle of a flat desert area, and of course we had try to fly. The stones were covered with bushman paintings of owner of the place thousands of years ago. A place with an incredible energy that provide us one of the best acro days of the trip, on a perfect afternoon flight finishing with a red-orange sunset that gives a hypnotizing color to the stones… just magic.
We moved a few days later to try our luck in Sossusvlei, a national park in the south of Namibia that have some of the most incredible dunes to fly in the world with a perfect and red sand. Once again we were enjoying like child in an attraction park.
Finally we were ready to leave the country, South Africa was waiting, the last Stop in our big trip.
Horacio.
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