It’s that time of the year again when we have a look back at all the fun we had trough the past year.

2023 was a fun ride!

We started the season in March and April with the first beginners flocking to our nest to take to the skies.

With fair weather and blossoming trees our beginners courses saw many smiling faces from all around the world.

Students from Bulgaria, Israel, UK, Netherlands and Finland all made their first flights and experienced the magic of free flying.

 Our intermediate – active flying courses were also seeing a lot of interest with pilots eager to improve their abilities in glider handling.

While some were “hard at work”:

Others were trying hard to “acheive their goals”:

 

With fun and smiles came May and June

Weather for the beginning of the year was surprisingly cold with overcast and rainy weather but that didn’t stop us from having fun.

Again the training hill was seeing some action with lots of beginners taking their first steps off the ground and into the sky.

Our BHPA EP/CP courses also allowed our UK students to finish their qualifications according to the BHPA training program.

And again a lot of smiles were seen with lots of happy students, new and old friends enjoying their paragliding time!

And as summer was getting near and the rain was keeping everything fresh – the ground blossomed to mark the coming summer.

July meant that the thermals are now strong enough for our  Cross Country Training courses to start. 

Both XC courses in July were fully booked and saw many pilots bettering their XC abilities, setting personal bests and improving on their thermaling and flight planing abilities.

Despite the usual thunderstorms in the first part of July we were still managing to beat the weather and make the most of the days, often flying unusual routes and discovering new lines.

And again many smiling faces were present among the flying academy graduates.

As August set in it was time for us to focus on our XC guiding tours and to greet again our friends from all over the world  who came flocking to Bulgaria to experience the amazing cross – country conditions that Sopot and Bulgaria offer in the summer months.

Pilots from UK, South Africa, Hong Kong, Israel, Finland, Germany, Norway, Finland and New Caledonia all shared the Bulgarian sky above Sopot as the conditions improved and cloudbase rose over 3000 m to provide for some amazing cross country conditions. Bulgaria was again a small paragliding heaven. 

As Nikolay Yotov was taking our multinational friends on a paragliding tour around the country, Ivelin Kalushkov again managed to take the first spot in the Bulgarian gliding nationals in NE Bulgaria.

 

September showed no signs of the autumn setting in.

High cloudbase and strong thermals were providing for some amazing XC conditions. 

Our usual UK groups came along to make the best of the nice conditions and to flow straight into the Bulgarian round of the British Paragliding Cup.

And as the weather was staying in a never ending summer – the Autumn colors reminded us of the end of the active XC season.

 

October was here!

Our Beginner and Intermediate students again started filling up our training hill and making the skies their home – and the smiles were raining unlike the rain that was missing.  

Sopot saw some major paragliding excitement with the Paragliding Accuracy World Championships taking place on our local landing site.

And as the last students got to enjoy this amazing autumn weather it was time to start the seasonal migrations.

Nikolay Yotov went South to organize the first ever paragliding competition in Kenya and to search for new adventures in Ethiopia.

It was another exciting year for us and our team, a lot of new friends and a lot of flying!

Looking forward to next years adventures and the friends we’re going to make in 2024.

If you want to join the excitement check out our Calendar or Book your paragliding experience.

See you in the air in 2024!