AS: I heard that you had a fascinating trip to the Huaraz Valley in Peru with Jeff Cristol of Adventure Tour Productions, based in Colorado. In a few sentences, how would you describe the overall trip?

DF: From cultural perspective it was wonderful. The Quechua people have obviously lived in this valley for a very long time and they still farm their small terraces and tend their animals pretty much the way they always have. They seem to have a strong sense of identity and to be very comfortable with who they are. It was great to see that.

I would say the flying was pretty intense - at least for me. I guess it was the combination of an overwhelming mountain environment, high altitude sites, XC landings, big verticals and a new unfamiliar site almost every day. It was an amazing place to fly but I will admit that on more than one occasion I was, well... scared. Now that I’m back, I am feeling much braver and would love to go again.

AS: How would you characterize the flying conditions in general at the sites you visited?

DF: It’s a little difficult to generalize because we were there in November, at the beginning of the rainy season. The more obvious flying season would be May – September. However, weather and flying conditions were surprisingly good.

On many days there was considerable buildup over the Blanca, but invariably the Negra remained flyable. Several times we launched from sites in the Negra, under partly cloudy skies while, just across the valley the Blanca was completely socked in with heavy rain and snow. Maybe we were just lucky, but we flew every day, except for one blowing-over-the-back day in the Blanca.

Jeff Cristol sets up at one of the Cordillera Negra sites. Photo by Dan Foust

I would say thermal conditions, at least while we were there, were similar to many sites in California – you had to look for them. There certainly wasn’t soft easy lift everywhere. However, we were able to get up most of the time and that was at sites we usually flew only once.

Cloud bases are extraordinarily high - always above the Negra (16k +) and usually above the Blanca (23k +). I would assume that conditions could be much stronger during the “summer” season.

Oxygen is a good idea. Most of the launches are above 14k and, if you climb out at all, you are getting pretty high. You will also need 2 – 3 days of acclimatization before doing the higher launches.

The valley has potential for epic XC flying. Both the Negra and Blanca run virtually unbroken for 120 kilometers on either side of the valley. Obvious routes would be either along the crest of the Negra or along the front of the Blanca (flying over the peaks of the Blanca may be asking a little too much).

Jeff and I often discussed the Negra route. It would start at my favorite site above Caraz and ride the valley winds south along the entire length of the Negra, ending in the stunningly beautiful high pampas near the Cordillera Huayhuash. I never had near the nerve to try it. 

Tim Jackson from the U.K. greets a local resident. Photo by Dan Foust

AS: How many different paragliding sites did you visits and what was your favorite site? Are these sites well-established or are some places that Jeff has pioneered?

DF: It was a new site every day for the first 10 days. Jeff had flown about half of them. A couple others he had heard about and the rest we scouted and flew on our own. The Cordillera Negra is such a great place to fly that, if you can find a road that reaches the upper ridges, you can certainly find a place to launch and to land. There are no local pilots, none of these are official sites and you will certainly not see other pilots.

One of the really great things about this area is that you are free to launch and land virtually anywhere you like. There are no gates. No fences. No closed roads. And best of all, no "No Trespassing" signs. The entire valley is intensely cultivated and we often launched from farm terraces in the mountains and landed in fields in the valley. However, the land is communally owned and, although the farm plots are individually worked, they are not considered private property. Everyone is apparently free to pass through, linger about or even launch a paraglider. Several times we launched from farm terraces directly behind the farmer's little adobe house while he and his family watched.

Jeff once landed in a local school yard. From the air it looked like he was leading a school pep rally. The reaction from the local municipal official? “We are quite happy to have you participate in your sport here in our town”. 

Favorite site? That’s a tough one. We did a couple of sites in the Blanca, both in spectacular settings; 16,000 feet, glaciers just above us, ice walls and 22,000 foot peaks all around, clouds scudding in over from the Amazon side. Awesome!..., and seriously scary. However, I think my favorite was on the other side of the valley in the Negra above Caraz. It was also close to 16,000 feet but instead of glaciers and peaks it is rounded grassy mountain tops, giant cacti, old Inca terraces and Quechua herders..., and 7,000 feet to the river! 

Jeff flying in front of the Ranrapalca glacier. Photo by Dan Foust

AS: Please describe your most memorable flight of the trip.

DF: I guess the most memorable flight (maybe for some of the wrong reasons) was the one flight we managed to get off in the Blanca, at Puertachuelo de Llanganuco. We had tried a very similar site a few days earlier and had not been able to launch due to high-altitude winds blowing over the back of the Blanca. It was obvious from the clouds moving over the peaks, that we had the same issue again at this site.

However, we had some things going for us. The backside winds didn’t seem as strong and, although we were launching at 15,000 feet, we were a full 5,000 feet below the peaks. Also there was intermittent sun and light upslope thermals. Glide out didn’t seem to be a problem; We were looking almost straight down at a long alpine lake with a huge meadow at one end. I thought about rotors and downdrafts but figured with the peaks that far above us, it would be ok... should have thought about it a little harder. 

Anyway, I launched and got away from the slope. When I hit the first big downdraft, my wing didn’t ball up, it just quite flying. It felt like I dropped 500 feet. There was air moving in all sorts of directions and I just tried to concentrate on keeping my wing open and away from the canyon walls. With all that air moving down into the canyon, the flight didn’t last long. As I got close to lake level, the downdrafts turned into a horizontal wind blowing down the lake. I landed on full speed bar slowing moving backward toward the lakeshore. I was absolutely thrilled to be on the ground!

AS: How would you characterize the landscape and the people in the Huaraz Valley?

DF: The local people are almost entirely native Quechua Indians and have lived in this valley since long before the Inca era. For the most part they are subsistence farmers and live very traditional lives. The valley floor is at 10,000 feet but much of the farming and many of the villages are on terraces as high as 14,000 feet. We saw old terraces and often met locals herding their animals at launch sites as high as 16,000 feet. All the field work is done by hand or with oxen. They are wonderful people, open, honest and charming.

The valley runs north and south with the Cordillera Blanca on the east and the Cordillera Negra on the west. The Blanca is one of the great mountain ranges of the world, with more than 25 peaks over 6,000 meters. The upper half of the Blanca is entirely glaciated and so launches are limited to just a few (very intimidating) sites just below glacier level at about 5,000 meters. 

The Negra is a thousand meters lower and in the rain shadow of the Blanca. Consequently, although the crest is still over 16,000 feet, the ridges and mountain tops are grassy and rounded... perfect places to launch. It is possible to launch from virtually anywhere along the 120 kilometers of the Negra and it is always an easy glide out to the river and main road. The only thing that is required is road access, of which there is a surprising amount. The views of the Blanca just across the valley are breathtaking.

AS: Was there a quintessential moment or experience that kind of summed up the uniqueness of the trip?

DF: Some of the most quintessential experiences had more to do with getting to and from the flying sites than actually flying. Riding in the little colectivo vans with the farmers and their animals; coming down out of Corderilla Blanca in the back of a truck with a wonderful mix of farmers, climbers, trekkers and local women with their babies or just hiking down a mountain road with a couple of local kids and their burro.

One of my favorites was a colectivo van ride to a launch in the Cordillera Negra at Pamparomas. As usual the van was jammed with locals and top-heavy with our paragliders and farm produce. The dirt road (hardly wider than a cow trail) seemed to wind endlessly up the steep face of the Negra. We rounded a blind corner to find a woman and her burros plastered up against the road cut. A few switchbacks later, it was a young boy and his small flock of sheep, diving over the side onto the nearly vertical slope.

All I could see out the side window was thousands of feet of airspace. I tried not to think about blowouts and rollovers. It was comforting that the local women were sleeping and nursing their babies. We got out at the pass at 16,000 feet and the colectivo drove on to Pomparomas. After looking at the map, Jeff wasn’t sure this was the right road. It was going to be a long walk if we couldn’t fly. The altitude was making me breathless and dizzy and I was nervous.

Not sure why this one sticks in my head - it was fairly typical morning.

AS: Where did you stay and what was the food like?

DF: We stayed in Huaraz most of the time, which made a good base for all of the sites at the southern end of the valley. However, one of the very best sites was about 70 kilometers down the valley in the Negra above Caraz. We flew that site twice and stayed in Caraz each time to catch the early morning colectivo to the pass. 

Huaraz is not a pretty town. It was completely destroyed by a quake in 1971 and has been rebuilt with adobe brick and rebar. However, it has a reasonably good visitor infrastructure, mostly catering to climbers and trekkers. There are several good hostels and guest houses that are quite adequate and very reasonable. The guest house, where I stayed, was run by friends of Jeff. I had my own room with en suite bath, maid service, use of a nice lounge upstairs and a lovely breakfast served each morning on the rooftop terrace - with a stunning view of the Blanca. I paid $148 for 11 days.

I liked Caraz better than Huaraz. It is a smaller town with more atmosphere and even fewer visitors. (I think we were the only gringos in town.) I’m not sure about accommodations for a longer term visit. The place we stayed was pretty basic and came outfitted with a “gringo fryer” in the shower and its own parrot.

It is hard to pay more than $2 or $3 for a meal. There are plenty of places to choose from, some of dubious quality and hygiene. (We avoided the sidewalk vendors unless it was well cooked in front of us.) Most are pretty basic but the food is generally good. Ceviche (raw fish marinated in lime juice with cilantro and peppers) is a local/Peruvian favorite and is very good.

AS: Would you recommend this trip to other pilots? Do you have any advice on who might enjoy it the most?

DF: If you are looking to fly really high altitude sites (up to 16k), around really big mountains (up to 23k), there probably isn’t a better place. It is certainly unstructured and there is lots of opportunity to pioneer new sites and XC routes. It wouldn’t be a good place to get yourself hurt.

Don’t expect a resort atmosphere. There are no quaint sidewalk cafes or trendy bars. The local people are still relatively traditional and can be very charming but they are poor and you will find yourself appalled as often as charmed. Things can be a bit gritty.

AS: Thanks for giving us all that information Dan and for submitting your beautiful photographs. This seems like a great trip for pilots who want an adventure set amid spectacular scenery. However, it’s obvious that you would want to go with someone like Jeff Cristol who is familiar with the area and the flying sites.

Dan Foust at Pamparomas above the town of Caraz. Photo By Dan Foust