"Valadares", as the locals call it for short, is in the Minas Gerais province of Brazil, and is without doubt one of the world's greatest paragliding locations, offering superb and very reliable cross country flying conditions in a very friendly flying locality.

Overlooking the City of Governador Valadares is Pico de Ibituruna, the superb take-off mountain, rising 900m above the surrounding terrain and offering an ideal launch pad into usually blissful, easy thermic conditions with very light winds. Once you are off, there are usually plenty of divine thermals to be found to climb up to cloudbase in, whereupon you will find yourself surrounded by endless green rolling hills and puffy white clouds stretching out for hundreds of kilometres, as far as the eye can see, and in all directions. It's like flying on the best possible UK cross country day of the year almost EVERY SINGLE DAY, but without all the problems of strong winds, annoying airspace, sea (ie. running out of land!) and over-crowding! All these things must surely make Valadares absolutely THE perfect winter destination for British pilots!

A bit about Valadares and the flying

"Valadares", as the locals call it for short, is in the Minas Gerais province of Brazil, and is without doubt one of the world's greatest paragliding locations, offering superb and very reliable cross country flying conditions in a very friendly flying locality.

Overlooking the City of Governador Valadares is Pico de Ibituruna, the superb take-off mountain, rising 900m above the surrounding terrain and offering an ideal launch pad into usually blissful, easy thermic conditions with very light winds. Once you are off, there are usually plenty of divine thermals to be found to climb up to cloudbase in, whereupon you will find yourself surrounded by endless green rolling hills and puffy white clouds stretching out for hundreds of kilometres, as far as the eye can see, and in all directions. It's like flying on the best possible UK cross country day of the year almost EVERY SINGLE DAY, but without all the problems of strong winds, annoying airspace, sea (ie. running out of land!) and over-crowding! All these things must surely make Valadares absolutely THE perfect winter destination for British pilots!