The tricks of Jordi Vilalta, the reference for paragliding in Spain: "The vultures are our guides"
To fly, beyond each person's tactics or ability, the most important thing is to interpret the weather,” summarizes Jordi Vilalta about a sport that no one understands.. How do those human birds sustain themselves? With their wings, their chairs and the cables that connect both parts, they are capable of ascending up to 5,000 meters in altitude, traveling 60 kilometers in a single flight, and exceeding 40 km/h.. How do they do that?
«The key is the thermal columns. When the sun shines on the ground, it creates a mass of warm air above it that rises.. What we do is get inside that mass and go up with it, spinning around inside it.. We replicate what vultures do. In fact, along with cumulus clouds, vultures are our guides to detect where those thermals are, which is the most difficult part of the sport.. A flight consists of gliding and climbing, gliding and climbing,” describes Vilalta, one of the best in the world crossing mountains with these aircraft.
Last July he became the first Spaniard to finish the Red Bull X-Alps, something like the Tour de France of paragliding. Most competitions are based on speed, seeing who crosses a valley first, but this one is not. The Red Bull X-Alps is an endurance test in which the participants, chosen by the brand for their merits, must cross the Alps, just as it sounds. This year they started in Salzburg, Austria, crossed Switzerland, went around Mont Blanc and returned through Italy to reach Zell am See, again in Austria.. In total, about 2,200 kilometers to travel in less than 12 days. Vilalta, who finished twenty-fourth, walked 570 kilometers and 1,700 flying with a maximum flight altitude of 3,986 and an average speed of 36.11 km/h.
«It is the mecca of sport. I am a firefighter, paragliding is just my hobby, I am an amateur, but the majority of those who participate are professionals. There is the Swiss [Christian] Maurer [winner of the last eight editions, all since 2009] and it is like being a tennis fan and being able to play at Wimbledon against Roger Federer,” says Vilalta.
And how does one start paragliding? Since I was little I have always done mountains. I'm from Ripoll, near the Pyrenees, and I saw people practicing paragliding and I thought: “How handsome!”. 14 years ago, I took some very old paragliding equipment that my uncle had in his garage and I showed up at a school. They told me where was I going with that, that I should rent a new one to take the course. I was hooked. How dangerous is it? If you are careful, not too much, the risk is quite low. Paragliding is not a sport for the brave. You must control everything that happens very well because if you gamble it can be very dangerous, of course.. I have never suffered an accident, although I have had some scares.. The main danger is competition, when you want to extend a flight because if you get off you lose a lot of time.
“When you fly you realize how slow you are walking,” concludes Vilalta, 38, who will hardly return to the Red Bull X-Alps.. Although Red Bull gave the registration fee and the material was provided by a sponsor, he had to pay his expenses and those of his friends, who served as assistance with a van in which he slept.. In the end, a good pinch. Next year is the firefighters from Granollers, will take his ultralight paraglider, weighing just six or seven kilos, will climb the Pyrenees and jump into the void to ascend like a vulture through a pocket of invisible hot air. To fly you only need to “understand the air, know how to read something invisible.”