2 Free-flying, 3 especially cross-country paragliding, is an activity that seems to overturn people’s usual relationships with territories. Pilots set off with an objective and a route in mind, but are aware that they may have to make unforeseen detours, or even change their objective, during the flight. In reality, paraglider routes are transient, convoluted, contingent and uncertain, while remaining largely predictable, planned and regulated. Laypeople might expect paraglider flights to be direct and without obstacles and therefore see paragliding as a symbol of almost total freedom. Flights may be competitive, recreational, contemplative or adventurous. “The term free-f (.)ģ The present paper focuses on cross-country paragliding, 1 a sport in which pilots harness the energy of thermals and valley wind systems in order to travel tens, if not hundreds, of kilometres. 3 Free-flying describes all forms of flying using ultralight and unpowered aircraft.2 French has a term for this type of journey: itinérance, which is a combination of the word for “ rou (.).This conversation also reveals another paradox of paragliding: It is an individual sport in which each pilot has their own wing, but pilots often fly in the company of other pilots, with whom they converse by radio. In fact, although paragliding temporarily frees pilots from contact with the Earth, they are always linked to the ground through the topography and the nature of the terrain over which they fly. The above conversation includes the names of peaks around Grenoble, altitudes and advice about which route to follow, which is not a straight line but a complex course with minimum altitudes that must be reached before continuing. By deciphering these customs and rules from a geographical perspective, it is possible to determine the factors that shape paraglider pilots’ usage of airspace and thereby examine the ways in which they appropriate the areas in which they fly. However, it illustrates the type of jargon used in paragliding, a sport that, like many other activities, has its own language, customs and rules. You can usually start at around 1800, and today’s light bise should help us.”Ģ This type of radio chatter between paraglider pilots (a fictional but realistic conversation) is likely to be impenetrable for the lay reader. Affirmative, otherwise your flight won’t be valid. OK, thanks! And then, to get to the Vercors, you have to go over the city above 1200 m, aiming for the power lines? It would be a shame to bomb out there, especially in the lee. Yeah, no problem, but aim for the south ridge of the Néron – the jagged arête – and immediately try and connect with the slope breeze. Do you think I’m high enough to get to that peak over there? The Rachais, the Néron, whatever it’s called… These territorialities can be studied by analysing written and filmed accounts of long-distance flights, which express the experiential aspects of free-flying and of viewing the Earth from the sky. Finally, the way in which pilots appropriate the areas over which they fly results in cross-country paragliding producing its own territorialities. Moreover, the conflict between the sport’s recreational and contemplative dimensions and its performance and competitive dimensions, combined with the intangible factors (air conditions, rules governing airspace) that constrain pilots’ liberty of movement, mean that paragliding is not quite as synonymous with freedom as one might think. A detailed description of the sport is followed by an analysis of pilots’ singular relationship with airspace, which results from the paradoxes of cross-country paragliding and the fact that every flight inevitably includes detours: A straight line is never the most efficient or effective route, even in the air.
The present paper focuses on cross-country paragliding, a form of “aerial wandering” whose goal is to use the lift provided by rising air currents to accomplish long circuits or journeys.