Nice lesson Greg. Here in New Mexico, Sandia Mountains to be exact, we often have to fly leeside when there is an east wind. There are valleys that the east pours through, and this video will help our newer pilots understand this concept. Thank you.
As I'm more used to flying our Southern hills rather than mountain ranges, I always wondered about leeside flying. Thanks for plugging some gaps in my knowledge, Greg.
Very informative video Greg!! I’m definitely not quite ready to tackle Lee side soaring myself yet, but it’s definitely good information to digest before I get there.
How is flying on the lee side possible? Every book I've read told me: Avoid being pushed back over the top in the impossible to fly zone! Every pilot or instructor I've listen to, told me that when they've got there, there were colapses one after another until they barely landed somewhere. So I have no idea how Greg flies there like others fly on the windward side...It's true that we fly in mountains in quite windy conditions sometimes and rotors depending on the wind speed, might be a partially explanation there..
I think it would have been good in this video to say that flying in the lee is an advanced move, mostly in the judgement needed to guess whether the turbulence in a rotor zone will be slightly-rough or scary-rough... Doesn't matter how good you are at SIV or acro, if you underestimate the rotor you're going to not have fun. Rotor is more of a constant danger at soaring sites, because generally you're flying in winds that would be considered too unsafe to fly in the mountains. The energy of the turbulence in rotor goes up hugely as wind speed goes up. Flying right through the rotor from a 5kph breeze blowing over a rocky mountain top will be a non-event. By 30kph, it'd pretty much be insanity. But 20+kph is normal for ridge soaring, and so the rotor zone's turbulence is pretty much always at a dangerous level. Most even semi-conservative fliers won't mountain fly with more than 20kph winds forecast. Also mountain flying usually gives you more outs since you more likely have some elevation to fly out of the rotor area if it's not going well and still get to a safe LZ. So as a simple rule, it's a very good one to never fly in lee-side, but more specifically it's to "never fly lee-side in strong wind", which is always the case at a soaring site, but can be negotiated with a bit in mountain settings since thermal flights allow flying in much lighter winds and with more terrain clearance. That said, over a post-flight beer, a talented local pilot was once admonished by a visiting Paul G., for sticking it out in a rough lee-side thermal behind a mountain ridge during their flight together. Supposedly he said something along the lines of: "I never climb in the lee. I have bronze in X-Alps four times. You don't have to climb in the lee." So I would say not everyone would agree with Greg's video maybe-accidentially-implying that its a normal thing that you should do... unless you're trying for a silver or gold in X-Alps. But Greg did say this was about light-wind leeside at the beginning, and Paul was talking about a strong thermal in pretty strong wind, so I suppose they're not talking about the same thing. Anyway, I think there's some room to push the envelope into light wind lee-side without to much risk if there's some slow progression and careful judgement of conditions and skills
To add what has already been said, if you are experienced with active flying (as the video states you should do) you should be able to prevent most collapses in mildly to moderately turbulent conditions, such as you would encounter in the lee of a light wind.
> How is flying on the lee side possible? Every book I've read told me... It's all about the wind strength and the *dimensions*: Most islands like Reunion and the Canaries or even Cape-Town with the Table-Mountain you will *only* fly on the Lee-side that is protected from the very strong trade-winds. They are much higher than the example here and divert the flow of the wind much more than Greg's example here, but you use some of the principles: go to the center of the Lee where the flows around the corners are cancelled out. As for Rotors: Even in the Alps you can find days where you can fly a complete ridge for many kilometers in the rotor, e.g. in the Chartreuse with a light west-wind. Clouds are being pushed over the top just above you, but as long as you are staying below the top, you can use the Rotor-Updraft to glide along. This can be quite efficient on a XC day, because you don't have to turn a single time. The other side would typically be preferrable but somtimes can not be reached or is blocked by the clouds condensing while the air climbs. But it is definitely not suitable for beginners: You have to be very aware of the lowest points of the ridge where the wind will suddenly concentrate and rush through.
Same here...every book I've read told me: Avoid being pushed back over the top in the impossible to fly zone! So I have no ideea how Greg flies there like others fly on the windward side...
You might want to fly the lee side because it faces the sun and is producing thermals for example, even though the gradient wind above is coming from the other side. You can see in thus video Greg says early on the wind is light - no headwind as he approaches the face - so not much rotor. You need to stay out of the rotor.
I also get confused about this but my understanding is that lee side flying is acceptable when the wind is very gentle, since in those situations it won't create rotor. But you have to be careful because if the wind increases you can get caught in the worst spot. Here it seems the wind is very gently coming around the mountain so it's okay, if it was strong greg would be getting the crap kicked out of him
Great video Greg, just an observation here that would help me have a better understanding when your giving your commentary. Would you consider using a clock face method. I'm flying towards 12 o'clock the wind is coming over the back from 2 o clock. Then it is very obvious exactly where you are talking about?
![MTB-route Nijmegen (rood) [4K] - Zijn dit de beste afdalingen in Nederland?](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YzBlk2gbqAQ/mqdefault.jpg)
When the weather is like this, Snowdonia is a GREAT place to fly!
Danke!
Brilliant lesson there! thank you Greg! and I love the way you were staying so calm, I would have been quite nervous! Well done!
And legend has it this buddy is still flying around this spot showing novice paragliders how to get down.
A masterclass lesson. Thank you very much!
Nice lesson Greg. Here in New Mexico, Sandia Mountains to be exact, we often have to fly leeside when there is an east wind. There are valleys that the east pours through, and this video will help our newer pilots understand this concept. Thank you.
I was just re-watching some of your older videos Greg, when this one popped up. Thanks again, great stuff!
As I'm more used to flying our Southern hills rather than mountain ranges, I always wondered about leeside flying. Thanks for plugging some gaps in my knowledge, Greg.
situation awareness is a key point to approach the lee side... thanks for the precious tips
Thanks for the video, Greg! Good stuff, that!
Great flying, very instructional and a good watch...thanks.
Awesome, thanks!
Beautiful.
Brilliant lesson there! thank you Greg!
Very informative video Greg!! I’m definitely not quite ready to tackle Lee side soaring myself yet, but it’s definitely good information to digest before I get there.
How does it work with dealing with the rotors caused by the lee side. I'm really confused
where/ how did you fixed the camera stick? thx
Outstanding
Superbe lesson mate - learned quite a bit !
Ah here we go 14:9 amonth WELL WORTH IT ! Gimme that content i like you !
Keep the thumbs up reminders, love the vids but auto play holds me up from doing them unless i am reminded.
you get a thumbs up!
Cool! Thanks for sharing. Are those LED strips on your shoulder straps?
Wrestling with the wind! Dynamic flying!
Really nice place, are they good cross country flights to do there??
awesome viveo!!!
How is flying on the lee side possible? Every book I've read told me: Avoid being pushed back over the top in the impossible to fly zone! Every pilot or instructor I've listen to, told me that when they've got there, there were colapses one after another until they barely landed somewhere. So I have no idea how Greg flies there like others fly on the windward side...It's true that we fly in mountains in quite windy conditions sometimes and rotors depending on the wind speed, might be a partially explanation there..
I think it would have been good in this video to say that flying in the lee is an advanced move, mostly in the judgement needed to guess whether the turbulence in a rotor zone will be slightly-rough or scary-rough... Doesn't matter how good you are at SIV or acro, if you underestimate the rotor you're going to not have fun.
Rotor is more of a constant danger at soaring sites, because generally you're flying in winds that would be considered too unsafe to fly in the mountains. The energy of the turbulence in rotor goes up hugely as wind speed goes up. Flying right through the rotor from a 5kph breeze blowing over a rocky mountain top will be a non-event. By 30kph, it'd pretty much be insanity. But 20+kph is normal for ridge soaring, and so the rotor zone's turbulence is pretty much always at a dangerous level. Most even semi-conservative fliers won't mountain fly with more than 20kph winds forecast. Also mountain flying usually gives you more outs since you more likely have some elevation to fly out of the rotor area if it's not going well and still get to a safe LZ.
So as a simple rule, it's a very good one to never fly in lee-side, but more specifically it's to "never fly lee-side in strong wind", which is always the case at a soaring site, but can be negotiated with a bit in mountain settings since thermal flights allow flying in much lighter winds and with more terrain clearance.
That said, over a post-flight beer, a talented local pilot was once admonished by a visiting Paul G., for sticking it out in a rough lee-side thermal behind a mountain ridge during their flight together. Supposedly he said something along the lines of: "I never climb in the lee. I have bronze in X-Alps four times. You don't have to climb in the lee." So I would say not everyone would agree with Greg's video maybe-accidentially-implying that its a normal thing that you should do... unless you're trying for a silver or gold in X-Alps. But Greg did say this was about light-wind leeside at the beginning, and Paul was talking about a strong thermal in pretty strong wind, so I suppose they're not talking about the same thing.
Anyway, I think there's some room to push the envelope into light wind lee-side without to much risk if there's some slow progression and careful judgement of conditions and skills
absolutely. #1 LIGHT WIND
#1 LIGHT WIND. thermic conditions. sunny slope. The combination of these factors means the air is rising on the lee side.
To add what has already been said, if you are experienced with active flying (as the video states you should do) you should be able to prevent most collapses in mildly to moderately turbulent conditions, such as you would encounter in the lee of a light wind.
> How is flying on the lee side possible? Every book I've read told me...
It's all about the wind strength and the *dimensions*: Most islands like Reunion and the Canaries or even Cape-Town with the Table-Mountain you will *only* fly on the Lee-side that is protected from the very strong trade-winds.
They are much higher than the example here and divert the flow of the wind much more than Greg's example here, but you use some of the principles: go to the center of the Lee where the flows around the corners are cancelled out.
As for Rotors: Even in the Alps you can find days where you can fly a complete ridge for many kilometers in the rotor, e.g. in the Chartreuse with a light west-wind. Clouds are being pushed over the top just above you, but as long as you are staying below the top, you can use the Rotor-Updraft to glide along. This can be quite efficient on a XC day, because you don't have to turn a single time. The other side would typically be preferrable but somtimes can not be reached or is blocked by the clouds condensing while the air climbs.
But it is definitely not suitable for beginners: You have to be very aware of the lowest points of the ridge where the wind will suddenly concentrate and rush through.
I wish we could see your wing because that looked rough a couple of times.
This is exactly what I would do. :) :)
I have absolutely no clue what this is all about 🤩 I thought you should not fly on the lee side, due to the danger of rotors.
Same here...every book I've read told me: Avoid being pushed back over the top in the impossible to fly zone! So I have no ideea how Greg flies there like others fly on the windward side...
You might want to fly the lee side because it faces the sun and is producing thermals for example, even though the gradient wind above is coming from the other side. You can see in thus video Greg says early on the wind is light - no headwind as he approaches the face - so not much rotor. You need to stay out of the rotor.
I also get confused about this but my understanding is that lee side flying is acceptable when the wind is very gentle, since in those situations it won't create rotor. But you have to be careful because if the wind increases you can get caught in the worst spot. Here it seems the wind is very gently coming around the mountain so it's okay, if it was strong greg would be getting the crap kicked out of him
Great explanation, not that I'm going to try it anytime soon. Thanks anyway
How is this filmed, where is your cam attached to? Great video and I'm not into paragliding!
It's an insta360 or something similar on a pole. But it edits itself out of the picture :)
What is lee/luv side?
the opposite side of an obstacle to the windward side (the slope that the airmass is generally approaching from)
Often it is worth it to stay in "0m/s lift", then suddenly 1-5min later a nice thermal will break through in your sourrounding (
Bad combination: Steep slope in the luv and shallow slope in the lee will have many eddies coming your way.
First learn how to grip the steering line. In an emergency, your hands may get stuck in the steering line.
!
Great video Greg, just an observation here that would help me have a better understanding when your giving your commentary. Would you consider using a clock face method. I'm flying towards 12 o'clock the wind is coming over the back from 2 o clock. Then it is very obvious exactly where you are talking about?
miałe takie wal się
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never fly lee side soo simple !
There is no safe paragliding on lee sides... i would not make such videos...