Thanks to the southerly trade winds and a ribbon of ridge line, the Bukit Peninsula is home to epic soaring. In the month since we arrived less than five days have been unflyable. Typically, the wind has a bit of east in it, limiting the paragliding to about ten kilometers of ridge line between the Nikko, a soarable resort hotel to the east, and the Bali Cliff, the ruins of the abandoned presidential villa to the west. The ridge dies out at the Nikko, but pilots can hop over to soar the updraft on the hotel and wave at the tourists in the pools and on the beach. Below the Bali Cliff, the beaches disappear, leaving pilots without a bomb out landing. So, it’s a rare day to fly further west, but with the right conditions, an unbelievably beautiful fifteen kilometer stretch opens up to pilots lucky enough to experience it.

Last Wednesday, Ted, an Australian pilot and paragliding instructor, led a group of six pilots west. He briefed us on the flight plan and obstacles and lent us radios to use. He and Wayan flew a tandem and everyone else was solo. Sati and I had to catch up to them all and they were already out of range on the radios when we launched. We topped up our altitude at the Bali Cliff and jumped the gap to the wall beyond. Then we had to make it around the next bend before the beach rejoined us below. We had plenty of height and could see the other three wings climbing ahead, but still heard nothing over the radio. Ted had told us that at this point it will feel like we are just maintaining our altitude, but that the ridge gets higher and higher in this section. As the sea dropped away below us, I could see what he meant. We passed a wedding in progress on the cliff, with the party at the altar before an immense expanse of sea.

The lift was plentiful and smooth, floating us into the sky as we approached the shark’s fin, a knife edge of ridge that shears the coastline, jutting out into the water and forcing pilots to fly out over the ocean around its turbulent wake. I was happy to pass this point with plenty of altitude, and to be able to glimpse down into the little hidden crescents of sand between the lower spires.

It was here, beyond the shark’s fin that we caught up to the rest of the paragliders and that the island dropped away beneath our feet. The vast sweeping stretch of deserted beach at Nyang Nyang spread out before us with a shipwreck the only feature breaking the even pattern of sand and shoreline. I was so surprised to see such open land above and below the cliffs right here in the busy Bukit. To our left, it was only the massive blue ocean. To the right, we could see the entire peninsula with all its familiar landmarks and villages and far beyond into the mainland of the island. Little kids ran through their fields with kites, waving up at us from wayyyy down below. We all flew out to the western tip of the ridge line just south of the Uluwatu Temple before turning back toward Timbis under big puffy clouds and above long, late afternoon shadows. Epic.

The Next Day – Sati’s Story:
The next day the wind started off a little light but south again. There was actually a fair amount of west in the wind. Melody and I launched and had a nice flight as far as the Bali Cliff but the lift seemed to drop off beyond that. Ted also had a nice flight and went to the Karma Kandera across the gap after the Bali Cliff. Afterwards we were all hanging out on launch. Ted thought it might be possible to get to Uluwatu again today, but we had all been having trouble getting around the various points going west. I had, in fact, had the hardest time I can remember getting around the first point west of Timbis ending up below ridge height which is unusual. But, there was a lot of west in the wind.

At around 4pm I decided I’d take another short flight. People had mostly moved on to Bintang time so it would just be me and a couple of students in the air. I launched and headed west towards the Bali Cliff immediately leaving the students behind. I knew that first point would be trouble and it was. But it was a bit easier than earlier. There was a surprising amount of lift on the Bali Cliff ridge and I climbed out nicely. By the time I reached the gap before the Karma, things were looking surprisingly good. I thought “well I’ll try to go to the Karma and turn back there.” So I did and it was all up, up, up. The point after the Karma had the potential to stop me with the west component in the wind so I approached with caution. Really, I figured this would be my turnaround point. Quite surprisingly, passing the point was easy and bang, I was on the big cliffs climbing out! Hmmm, maybe this wasn’t going to be such a short flight…

The cliffs along the southern edge of the Bukit are tallest in the west at Uluwatu and drop off as you go east. After the point at the Karma Kandera the cliff climbs dramatically, So much, in fact, that pilots can be fooled into thinking they are sinking out because the cliff rises faster than their climb rate which makes the cliff get closer giving the impression of losing altitude. Add to this the lack of landing options and crashing waves and it’s a bit of a recipe for pilot stress.

When I reached the big cliffs it was all up again and it wasn’t long before I was at close to 1200 ft.. At this point I thought, “Holy Shit, I’m going back to Uluwatu!” I also realized that as I moved west on the ridge the wind was straightening to almost due south, losing the west component. That’s why the points were getting easier and why I was skying out over the ridge. There was still one more challenge to go, the shark’s fin. I was high when I reached it, but still headed out over the ocean giving it wide berth for fear that any west left in the wind would kick a nasty rotor off its point. Passing it was no problem though and there was massive Nyang Nyang Beach laid out before me with Uluwatu and the edge of Bali at its far end. I cruised along the Nyang Nyang Ridge between 1000 and 1100 feet. The view was spectacular; I could see the whole Bukit, Jimbaran, Tanjung Benoa, Kuta, Denpasar and in the distance, Java. The light was also amazing with sun beams bursting through huge heavy clouds. Soon I reached the end of the ridge and turned around to head back to Timbis. The little bit of west left in the wind provided a delightful tail wind, blowing me back all the way to Timbis high and ecstatic. In the end I landed just before sunset to a waiting Bintang and bowl of bakso Melody had gotten for me. I drank and ate with a big grin on my face basking in my solo trip to Uluwatu.