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NEWS
A busy year! [11 Sep 2007] Spiralling the Steppes - Presentation in the Lakes (UK) [06 Mar 2007] We are giving our first photo presentation at Ambleside in the Lake District on 24th March 2007 at 19:30, St Martins College. This talk is being hosted by the Cumbria Soaring Club, for more details see the attached link: http://www.cumbriasoaringclub.co.uk/events/ Home [29 Oct 2006] We returned to the UK in the early evening of Sunday 15th October. Despite meticulous planning our planned taxi to Sheremetyevo airport failed to show. After some hard haggling, we managed to secure a car with little time to spare. The classy Lada was driven by a quintessential KGB look-alike, who had a deep desire to take Michael Schumacher’s place with Ferrari. It was an interesting trip and shorter in time than we thought it would be (despite an intermittent engine fault!). We successfully ran the weight gauntlet again, both of us carrying around 24kg in our packs and around 12kg in our hand luggage and coats! It has been a little strange re-adjusting to ‘normal life’, but we have over 8500 photographs to go through, along with copious notes and hours of video. As this is going to take a while to sort, here are a few random pics of our trip to be going on with. We have a host of plans and ideas to implement; from a gallery of selected images, illustrated lectures to full expedition information on trips to Mongolia. The information on all of these will appear on this website, but due to other commitments will take a little while so please be patient. If you have any questions or information you think we could help with, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We would both like to take this opportunity to thank all our sponsors who helped make this amazing expedition possible, it was a truly incredible experience and we hope it has helped to show a slightly different approach to what is possible with a paraglider. We would also like to thank all those people who sent their comments and mails of support. Finally, thanks to the team at home who did an incredible job of keeping the website updated, especially Nick, Mal, Shirley, Lynne and Molli. We hoped you enjoyed the trip so far; there will be a lot more to follow… Gareth and Steve Arrived in Moscow [14 Oct 2006] After our mammoth train journey (93 hrs 10mins) we have arrived in Moscow. After surviving the lack of food, the condition of the carriage toilets and the unbearable heat at night, we are just happy to be here. We are staying in pure luxury at the Ukraina hotel (just opposite the Russian White House). After checking-in, we caught a taxi straight away to see Red Square, the Kremlin and St Basil's cathedral (proper tourists). The original plan was to fly one of the wings for photos in Red Square; unfortunately this has been thwarted by a) some recent assasination causing a high state of security in Moscow, b) it was raining cats and dogs and finally, c) neither of us fancied being arrested anyway! The last leg of our trip takes us rather conventionally by plane from Moscow to Manchester via Frankfurt. Siberia [13 Oct 2006] We are 3,000km from Moscow, awoke this morning to find it was snowing and looking exactly as you would expect Siberia to look. 12 hours later it still looked like Siberia, we did spot a couple of birch trees! Steve managed to annoy the train attendant by constantly leaving the windows open! After 2 days travelling, we finally stopped somewhere, where we were allowed to get off the train and have a shop for some bread. Lake Baikal [12 Oct 2006] We passed by Lake Baikal for 3 hours, very large and impressive. Moved through Irkutsk; heading east through the first of 5 time zones. There are plenty of birch trees, everywhere! Train report: Windows very dirty (except where we have managed to clean a port hole), cabin temperature is still too hot, toilet hygiene deterating. Carriage companions, they have all but deserted us. Carriage attendant has shorter socks! Train Journey [11 Oct 2006] We have just crossed into Russia, after boarding the Trans Siberian train at Ulaanbaatar. The boarder crossing took nearly 5 hours. Looking forward to seeing Lake Baikal, in the morning, (it holds a fifth of the world’s fresh water). Train report: Windows slightly dirty, cabin temperature too hot, toilet hygiene is quite reasonable. Carriage companions are interesting; they are cross boarder traders. Carriage attendant has nice socks! The last flying day ! [10 Oct 2006] Location - Ulaanbaatar (news date - 9/10) During the night it had snowed in Ulaanbaatar and there were still flurries until 11:00, so no morning flight. We used the time to collect our ongoing train tickets from the agent in Sukhbaatar square, fortunately we have the 2 person cabin as planned. The weather improved dramatically at midday, so we went to the mountains south of UB, hoping to fly the forecasted north wind that was blowing. We drove to the slope that has Chinggis Khan's face on it, then unpacked the paragliders. It was blowing about 15mph (just right) and birds were thermalling away in front of us. By the time we were ready to launch (10 mins) the wind had gone and the sky went blue (no thermals). The switch was dramatic, but something that we had now come to expect. We waited about an hour, then flew straight down to the jeep. We moved 20 km to the east of UB to fly Bayanzurkh mountain, it was about 15:00. Using the ridge after ridge topography that is so common here we were able to fly about 18km. Steve also managed to get stuck way down the 'valley of doom' only just staying off the ground and in the air...a proper hairy moment. We landed at 17:30. Tomorrow we board the Trans Siberian Train to Moscow (5 days / 4 nights / 6500 km). Do Turtles rock, they do in Mongolia ! [08 Oct 2006] Position - Terelj National Park (lat/long N47' 54.509, E107' 25.428) Today we have visited the Terelj National Park, which is 35 km to the North East of Ulaanbaatar. Inside this Strictly Protected Area, there are some amazing rock formations. The best by far being Turtle Rock, which had us both with our chins on the floor! It looks so much like a huge turtle it is unreal. Steve then tried to fly the side of the turtle, but the wind was too light to get much above it's feet. We then moved out of the park and stopped to fly a mountain that was facing into wind. As we were getting ready to fly, a golden eagle flew over to check out what we were. We had a good flight, but it was in a very strong wind with good thermic activity. In fact too good, as not far away we could see dust devils pummeling the grounds, that were the size of UK roundabouts ! Tomorrow is our last flying day, so we are hoping for a good one. Return to civilisation [07 Oct 2006] Location - Ulaanbaatar Today we returned to UB, due to overcast skies and little chance of flying. A visit to the market was a real eye-opener, with virtually everything you could think of for sale; from Mongolian slippers to safes and Gucci glasses to snuff boxes. The hustle and bustle felt strange to a Westerner, as Mongolians have no concept of having your own space, consequently we were pushed and shoved like the next man. The problem is that this market is the best place in the city to loose your possesions, in fact we were warned only to take the bare minimum of things with us. We did manage to fly one of the gliders at Sukhbaatar Square for some photos, it just happened to be the same day as the 'Day of Information Transparency' was being celebrated with lots of people including the military about. The funny thing was that no-one batted an eyelid when we were running around this huge square with a paraglider; that's Mongolia for you ! Horsing about [06 Oct 2006] Lat/lon N47’ 45.860 E105’ 52.733 The locals were right it snowed in the night. We moved east as the winds were around 25-30mph and icy cold. Breathtaking snow covered scenery and dropping winds had us ridge soaring before lunch. Then moved on to Khustai National Park, home of the Takhi wild horse, where we flew the local hill. The food is better here, but the new threat to our well being has become the electrical wiring in the ger. Khognokhan [05 Oct 2006] Lat/lon N47’ 25.561 E103 41.686 Having survived yesterday’s dodgy goat meat, we have flown Khognokhan Mountain. A little disappointing as high pressure is dominating the weather giving few if any thermals and no wind. Two hours later we launch from another mountain 20km south and within 10 minutes we’re being blown backwards at a rate of 10km/h! The weather is changeable in the extreme – it is forecast to snow tomorrow. At the dunes (4 Oct 2006) [05 Oct 2006] Location - Mongol Els (lat/lon N47’ 17.026 E103’ 45.108) Moved east from Kharkhorin due to strong winds, but when we arrived at Mongol Els (40km long sand dune) there was no wind and sadly no wind activity all day. We ate goat and rice, unfortunately this was not the best piece of goat’s meat to be served in Mongolia! Gareth then flew for the camera on the dunes, only to finish the day with a wing twice its original weight, (really it weighed 9kg). We are now left wondering how to clean it! Answers on a postcard to 'Rancid goat meat consumers Mongolia……………..' Culture Day [03 Oct 2006] Location - Karakorum (lat/lon N47' 11.981 E102' 50.527) We moved east today reaching the ancient capital of Mongolia, Karakorum. Built by Genghis Khan in 1220, it only served for 40 years prior to the capital being moved to Beijing. We also visited the nearby Erdene Zuu Buddhist Monastery, considered to be the most important in Mongolia. After a look around the temples Steve managed to fly along the outer Monastery walls whilst Gareth ran along taking photos. The wind was too light and the air too stable for fly anywhere else today. The upside was we got our first taste of Airag (fermented mares milk), which is alcohol and delicious. Camera drop test day ! [02 Oct 2006] Location - SW of Tsetserleg (lat/lon N47' 25.739 E101'36.115) We have flown all day at a superb mountain ridge that we have called the Mongolian Blorenge (pilots will understand). The late morning photo and video session was brought to an abrupt end when Gareth dropped his Canon XM2 (1600 GBP) video camera from 40 ft in turbulence. Incredibly, only the battery was harmed and the camera still seems to function OK. As the sun got stronger, so did the wind. The thermals were very broken and difficult to stay with. We did leave the hill and eventually flew about 10km, until we reached the flat valley area. The flats do not seem to work like they do back home, so we will have to figure out a different route to fly further. We had a choice of staying out in the sticks eating sheep's testicle soup or back to the comfy room in Tsetserleg, a cappuccino and another slice of carrot cake. Tsetserleg it is then....... Flying in Tsetserleg [01 Oct 2006] Location - Tsetserleg (lat / long 49'31.959, E97'46.011) After a breakfast of pancakes and jam, we set off to a suitable looking hill to the south of Tsetserleg. It had been raining all night, but it looked like it would clear. Having driven most of the way up the hill, we had a short 10 min walk to the top. No wind and too early for thermals. After midday, still no wind or thermals, we decided to moved to the rockier mountains to the north of the city. We waited and waited, until eventually Steve volunteered to walk to the top to launch to see if it was working. After a 45 min hike, the launch site was the rockiest you could wish for (think Tryfan for anyone that knows North Wales). I eventually got off and stayed up for 30 mins or so in weakening lift. After I landed, I offered our logistics man Batbayer from Mongolian Expeditions a go on the glider (he had flown many years ago on his Airwave Black Magic). After a while spent ground handling he was ready for a run down the gentle slope. Only trouble was he enjoyed it so much I thought he would never stop, running and flying a good 400m ! With me chasing after him shouting instructions. The weather is forecast good again for tomorrow. What a Delite ! (30/09/06) [01 Oct 2006] Location - Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur lake (lat/long N48' 07.0, E99' 35.0) Today (morning) we have been flying right next to the lake shore in strong but constant winds. It was fun to see how far we could push forwards over the lake without getting wet. Then after midday, the wind calmed slightly and we were able to fly a ridge at the end of the lake in the now thermic conditions. We spent most of the time with about 60 vultures, who seemed to be congregating over one particular area, they were not interested in the lift available. We flew for an hour or so, then saw this huge number of vultures on the ground feasting on a couple of dead yaks. After a short drive, we walked up to see the intact volcano cone that dominates this area. We so wanted to fly it, but the sharp volcanic rock would have had the gliders in tatters. We left the lake area for Tsetserleg during the afternoon, a drive of about five hours (in a very comfortable Toyota pick-up). When we arrived at Testerleg, we checked in at the Fairfield guest house / bakery, which is run by a British couple. The room is very tidy, but the real attraction was an Expresso coffee and a slice of carrot cake. Hottest ger in Mongolia! [30 Sep 2006] Moved to the lake there was no wind for the best part of the day. Then at 15.00 hrs it was blowing at 20–25 mph and getting stronger. Finally we flew around 18.00 hrs when we thought it had dropped but flew backwards and had a good dragging. We are hoping for better conditions tomorrow. The good news is we are sleeping in the hottest ger in Mongolia it is 34° at 23.00hrs. Nirvana [29 Sep 2006] We were dropped of in Tariat after 11 hours 45 minutes in the bus from hell. We made a brew to recover sanity and then hired 2 horses to cross the river to avoid paying park fees (a local Mongolians idea). This took 3 hours to save £1.50 each! Lake and scenery looks stunning, hoping to fly along lake tomorrow. Got out of town at the eleventh hour [28 Sep 2006] After a day of ups and down in the Uliastai mini bus park we finally got our ride out of town, (narrowly avoiding an international incident – fight!) The agreed leaving time of 17.00 became 22.30 and so started our surreal bus ride from hell – words cannot describe! Stuck in Uliastai ! [27 Sep 2006] Yesterday, after our successful extraction from the dead ended valley, we were hopeful to leave Uliastai by one of the many minibuses parked down by the river. By 10:30 we had done a deal to get us to Terkin Tsaagan Nuur (white lake). We were told to come back to the minibus at 17:00 to leave at 18:00. The trip was to take all night to cover the 400km. When we returned at 17:00, the driver asked us to get in the bus and he took us to see an English teacher who translated for him. She told us that the bus would not leave today as there were not enough people who wanted to go. We would have to come back tomorrow. Having seen all that Uliastai can offer the first time we were here, this was not great news. We resigned ourselves to camping just outside the city to the West. We settled down to cook our packet meal, when we realised that everyone seemed to be congregating in the area that we had chosen to stay. In horror, we then realised why they were running into the fields squating, then running back. We were in the city's makeshift lattrine. We upped sticks and moved as far away as possible. We were then harrassed by packs of stray dogs all night. Hoping for a better day tomorrow. Turnaround ! [26 Sep 2006] After an early start on our last chance to fly the crossing, the winds were light with a blue sky. We walked up to 9000ft , then at 12:00 the wind started to increase. By 15:00 it was blowing 30-35mph. Then by 17:00, it was howling at 40-45mph !!!! The crossing was over. This meant that we had to descend by foot to the valley bottom at over 1250ft below. We headed back West towards Uliastai on foot, with the prospect of a lift on the 80km walk out looking bleak. Incredibly, the first Gers we came to had a driver that was willing to take us back the 80km for 15GBP (both of us!). We accepted without thinking about it, then they made us Yak cheese bread served with mares milk tea. What we didn't realise, was that this was the weekly dead Marmot skins delivery bus, which also took 12 other Mongolians back to Uliastai (in a bus that seated 8!). We started at 20:00 and after many stops at Gers along the way to pick up more dead marmot skins and eat and drink at every one, we finally arrived at Uliastai at just after 03:00 in the morning. The driver offered us a floor to sleep on , which we accepted over getting ravaged by the roaming dogs that were howling in the pitch blackness. We now hope to fly in the other regions that we will be visiting, we hope the weather will play ball for us. Blue skies but.......... [25 Sep 2006] Yet another poor flying day, blue skies all day but no thermals. We waited until 16.30, took off and flew down 1000ft! We will decide what to do next, depending on the weather, but with a SE wind forecast it looks like we will have to turn back. This may mean an 80km walk back to Uliastai. The Longest Day [24 Sep 2006] No flying today due to high winds (30mph). It has also been snowing, so we have now spent the whole day in the tent. We desperately need a good flying day tomorrow, to cover the ground required. The temperature in the tent at 07.00am was -8°c. Weather against us [23 Sep 2006] Sat most of the day up a mountain at 8,000 ft, overcast all day. Finally we decided to ridge run up to our current position at 8,500ft. Steve managed to avoid a mid air collision with an unattentive hawk. 12 hours of rain [22 Sep 2006] Rained for 12 hours, until 3 pm. Classic skies found us at takeoff at 5.00, unfortunately the wind was strong and very off the slope, making weak thermal difficult to stay with. Desperately need good weather tomorrow. Local horse man reappeared wanting to exchange Tag Heuer watch (made in Japan) for Steve’s Sunnto! Still no flying [21 Sep 2006] No flying due to overcast skies again! We walked part way up a mountain that will give us the best opportunity to fly from, IF the weather picks up. We are both feeling disappointed to still be on the ground on this flying expedition. A local horse man wanted to trade a dead marmot for one of our Sunnto watches. We wait to see what tomorrow will bring. No thermals [20 Sep 2006] No rain today, in fact very sunny, but no thermic activity. We climbed on foot to 9,000 ft, just to achieve a disappointing flight down to 8,000ft. Because the rivers were dried up, we then had to walk up to the other side of the Valley to reach a lake for our water. Mongolian Brothers [19 Sep 2006] No flying due to overcast skies. Pack weights are at the limit of our carrying ability. 4 Mongolian brothers turned up at our camp on a motorbike and later returned with black tea. Unfortunately they told us that the radio says its going to rain tomorrow so we will probably sit it out and wait to fly the next day. Starting the crossing [18 Sep 2006] We are just about to set off on the crossing of the Khangai Nuruu. The weather is not looking to good, with SE winds forecast for much of this week (we are travelling east!!). At the moment it is overcast and our chances of starting the crossing with a flight look slim! We will set off in the direction of the Tsaagan Nuur (white lake), as this gives us the best route for both flying and walking. The fully ladened packs are weighing in at about 30kg, so we both really hope that we get to fly a significant distance. Will try to keep this news up to date with the satellite phone from now on. Wishing ourselves luck. Plane to Uliastai [16 Sep 2006] Today we flew from Ulaanbaatar airport to Uliastai in the central region of Mongolia. The flight on a small twin prop Fokker 50 was full of spectacular views. We were able to see some of the landmarks for our Khangai flight; Tsaagan Nuur lake, Otgontenger mountain and much of the area surrounding Uliastai, where we will start. After being picked up by our driver Bold, we dropped into the hotel (where they do not get many Westerners). Bold does not speak English, so we were relying on the Lonely Planet's translation book. Just as things were getting tricky at the hotel check-in, a girl in her twenties (called Sitsing) offered to translate for us, thankfully. The result is a room for two nights, for just under a tenner. This afternoon we have had our first good thermic flight. We started on a mountain that overlooks Ulaistai from the East. A light breeze from the West ensured we connected with the nice smooth thermals. Topped out at 3000m with a cloudbase at 4000m. After some spirals (of course!) over the town full of Gers, we landed to a welcoming party of local families and children. One man there was 87 years old and his daughter told us in good English that he had never seen a man fly, let alone a paraglider. The other request was that if we were flying on the same mountain tomorrow, the old man asked if we could take his gun with us. Apparently, there are wolves at the top of the mountain that he cannot get to, but we must have seemed like the perfect answer. Anyway its 17:30 here, so we are off on a hunt for some food.... Ripping Time [15 Sep 2006] Today we flew Bayandzur Mountain, east of Ulaanbaatar. We had an early morning flight and then waited for thermals. Gareth managed to rip his wing (40cm); we spent most of the afternoon searching the shops for some tape. We are making final preparations for travelling by plane to Uliastai first thing in the morning in preparation for the start of our Khangai Nuruu crossing on Monday. First flight in Mongolia [14 Sep 2006] Started early to make the most of the day, flying the mountains to the south of UlaanBaatar. We enjoyed some awesome views of the city, which is a mix of modern high rise buildings and gers (round white felt huts) sited side-by-side. We then spent some time in the city to sort out our UK mobile phone, which had been disabled as soon as we had fitted the Mongolian network SIM card. After a lot of hassle we gave up and bought a new one for GBP25. As we came out of the 'Big Shop' Mongolian department store, we realised that the wind had switched direction and the sky was spotted with cumulus clouds (great for flying). We then headed north of the city to make use of the SE wind, only to find when we got there it had switched back to the north; we still flew! We think UlaanBaatar is probably one of the most paraglider friendly cities in the world, as there are hills almost 360 degrees around it and you can land anywhere you choose. The adventure begins.. [13 Sep 2006] Position Lat/Lon 0642548 5310050 Arriving at Manchester airport and using their scales we clocked up a massive 8kg overweight, we were looking at GBP230 excess charge! Not only that, but our single piece of carefully packed hand-luggage did not fit into the metal container thay had on every check-in. After 30 mins of stress and re-packing we went for it ready to pay dearly. As it turned out, the check-in hostess didn't even bat an eye or test the size of our hand luggage in the box. We boarded the Trans Mongolian Railway at Beijing at 07:40 on Tuesday 12th Sept. The journey was full of astounding scenery including the Great Wall, the Gobi dessert and finally the Mongolian Steppe. The skies were classic white clouds on a huge blue backdrop, all the way to Ulaanbaatar. We only had to wait 4.5 hours to clear customs at the Chinese/ Mongolian border, but we will forgive them as they had to change the bogies on the carriage, so that it would fit on the wider Mongolian rails. Total train journey time - 31 hours. We've met up with Batbayer from Mongolian Expeditions and he fills us with confidence. Tomorrow, we are aiming to paraglide on the local hills around UlaanBaatar. Leaving tomorrow [09 Sep 2006] Today has been very busy, checking lists and makings things fit into our rucksack and hand luggage. The difficulty being weight and items considered not suitable to be carried in hand luggage. i.e. supply leads, syringes and anything else in liquid form. Almost all last minute preparations complete and as the grass has been cut I am now allowed, I mean, ready to go! 3 days to go ! [07 Sep 2006] After 22 months of planning and organising, we now have 3 days left until we leave for Mongolia. We have gathered 99% of our equipment, a lot of it due to the kind support of our partners. We'll feel more relaxed once we have packed it all away into our paragliding rucksacks and we're sat on the plane. Our plan is to update this news page as often as possible, providing the Motarola Iridium satellite phone plays ball. The recently enforced airport restrictions on hand luggage will cause us some bother, as we were planning to carry at least 8kgs, plus camera bags etc. This allowance has been drastically reduced and it looks increasingly likely that we will get hit with £29 / kilo excess charges. One month left ! [10 Aug 2006] We have got just one month left until we leave for Mongolia. We are in possession of our Chinese and Mongolian visas, just waiting on the Russians. After much testing, it looks like we will be carrying approx. 35kgs during the trip. We are most of the way through our innoculations, still a couple of Rabies jabs to go (@£122) ! More updates soon. Sports Council for Wales Support [11 Jun 2006] The expedition has been successful in securing Overseas Expedition Support Funding from the Sports Council for Wales. We now have three months of preparation left before the trip. Confirmed Dates [26 Mar 2006] The dates for this trip have now been confirmed. We will leave Manchester for Beijing on Sunday 10th September and return from Moscow to Manchester on Sunday 15th October. Support from the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom [25 Jan 2006] We are pleased to announce that our expedition has the full support of the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom, who are the coordinating body of the British Airsports Organisations. A copy of the letter of support can be found in the 'Partners' section of this website. Gliders [01 Jan 2006] For the trans-Mongolian expedition, we propose to fly Gradient Delite paragliders. New Partners [01 Jan 2006] We thank Snowdon Gliders & Gradient Paragliders who have joined us as Partners for our project |
Image courtesy Andrea Rasetti
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