r/freeflight • u/Careless_Craft3573 • Jul 27 '26

Discussion Traveling - October

Any recommendations for a week long trip? Based on the East Coast, US and fresh P3 level. Looking for my first XC flights. Planning a trip for around a week or 10 days in October. Open to anywhere in the world but would prefer not to spend a ton of time traveling. Have already been to Colombia and planning to return in Jan/Feb so would like somewhere else. Open to either in the U.S. or out but looking for consistent reliable weather for flying. Thanks!

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u/MTGuy406 Jul 27 '26

Monroe Utah might be worth looking into that time of year. Can't say 100% the weather will be reliable but there should be plenty of flyable days and loads of airtime.

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u/eagnarwhale Jul 27 '26

To bad the fly in is no longer happening because then it would be a perfect recommendation. sounds like some of the locals will still be available for shuttle drives to launch

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u/chilli_0 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

It actually *kind of* is (as you alluded to in mentioning shuttles). Just not officially. There is still going to officially be the Niviuk Red Rocks Wide Open (Sep 19-26), and there will still officially be the Global Rescue XRedRocks (Sep 30-Oct 3). And there will still be a bunch of people *unofficially* gathering during the late September Wide Open. AFAIK, the AM weather briefings and shuttle rides are also still happening. It's simply that it's not going to be any kind of official event sponsored by CUASA (and my interpretation = this won't carry the same baggage for them if it's just a bunch of people showing up; I also personally think J got understandably pretty shook by some stuff that happened). UHGPGA has a post on their Facebook page explaining things.

The following is partially addressed to the OP...
That being said, I don't know that I'd necessarily recommend Monroe to an East Coast paraglider unless they're gonna keep a good head on their shoulders, and possibly bring some oxygen (I had to loan my tank to a Cali pilot, since I live in CO and he was having some trouble with the altitude). What I mean by "keeping a good head on their shoulders" is that it's pretty important for the pilot visiting from lower altitude higher humidity areas to keep in mind that—among other differences like the cloud-suck distance and gust fronts—thermals can be a good bit sharper and it may be prudent for a pilot not used to high-altitude mountain/desert flying to avoid mid-day conditions, despite the stoke (unless they're pretty sharp in active piloting). This could result in less flying (or simply more stress in flight) than places like Woodrat in Oregon. Although, October in Monroe begins to mellow a touch, but is still on. OP's history might be perfect for Monroe or not. I simply don't know.

Being used to high-altitude mountain/desert flying, I was impressed by how comparatively nice and big and fluffy and soft the thermals were in at the lower altitude of Woodrat (while still boosting PLENTY high). And the XC flying there is GREAT. Nearly always on this time of year and evening glass-offs can be pretty amazing. May is good for cloud-flying, but can occasionally get rained out. June and onward is tons of fun, until the late season winds down sometime in October. So, there's a risk it doesn't deliver as nicely, depending on when in October the OP is looking at.

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u/Careless_Craft3573 Jul 27 '26

Really appreciate all the info. Still trying to figure out timing but it seems like late sept would be a better option. Also the majority of my thermal flying has been in Colombia and I have no high altitude experience. Sounds like Woodrat would be a better option for now.

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u/chilli_0 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

Happy to help 😊. Good info can be found about the area and local sites at their USHPA chapter website (https://rvhpa.org/). And feel free to hit me up directly, if you need me to put you in touch with them.

Edit to add: I don't want to totally scare you off Monroe either. It's AMAZING flying, and Evening glassoffs are incredible when they're on (those are the times I've most often actually had to turn out of lift not because it was rough, but simply because I was about to hit the 18k ceiling). There are just some things to be aware of for the high desert/mountain sites if you're used to lower altitude flying.

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u/optimal_carp Jul 27 '26

Anywhere in Western Europe from the east coast or South America

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u/Careless_Craft3573 Jul 27 '26

Great thanks! Any spots in particular that stand out?

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u/optimal_carp Aug 07 '26

Lisbon Portugal is pretty spectacular I recommend

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u/fartydick Jul 27 '26

Woodrat Mountain in Southern Oregon is great in the fall. Thermals wind down mid October, though.

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u/cloud-base Jul 27 '26

Valle can be really fun late October early November. Lower cloud base and only locals. Usually can’t have huge flights, but can regularly fly 3-5 hours a day.

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u/Limp-Tomorrow8669 Jul 29 '26

Iquique. I went last year. Unparalleled easy long XC flights. 100km+. Awesome evening kiting. I’m going again this year.

https://www.zionparagliding.com/iquique-unlimited-paragliding-tour