Aparan

Mountain range stretching from nearby area of Aparan town to Dzoraglukh village.

It is a flying site with beautiful scenery, and is beloved site of all Armenian paragliding pilots.

Take off area:

coordinates:  40.595018°/ 44.470536°,  h = 2450m

Pros:

– Excellent, very large, clean and smooth take off area,

– Good conditions for top landings,

– Mountain range, has a long ridge, good for dynamic soaring,

– Practically unlimited, free, flat fields for landings,

– One can reach take off area via 4WD vehicles (there is no asphalt-based road),

– Predictable micrometeorology, “surprise” changes usually do not happen,

– Good XC potential

Cons:

– Far from Yerevan

– Thermals in some sense are not “classic”, they are flowing very close to the slopes during strong winds, they are low (as the rangeitself is already quite high) Thermal cycles are usually short, but there are also high thermals and long-term cycles.

– Strong winds often occur.

Winds:

– Southern, South western, (very rarely Eastern and Western)

Flying period:

– Autumn. Strong winds are more frequent in spring and early summer, precipitation probability is higher and there are more winds with “wrong” directions during this period.

Locals:

– Good people, friendly, hospitable, they showed valuable support during Paragliding Festival held in 2009.