How Outdoor Companies Get It Wrong -- Trekking Pants for Hot Weather

After reviewing a range of trousers that are out there, it is striking that practically no producer at this point seems to have developed well-designed pants for outdoors in hot climates.

Fjällräven has excellent design and materials for a Scandinavian climate, but not for hot places. One of their few pants for hotter climates is not zip-off. Arcteryx has a great range of mountain pants, but again nothing that is zip-off. Craighoppers, otherwise often a company with sensible design ideas for mosquito areas, has only one thigh pocket, as if they'd never given thought to what you need when it is hot. Mammut, a company that created iconic mountaineering gear, similarly goes for snugness, not sensible design, with a narrow side pocket. Mayer-Sports, a quality firm from Germany made an attempt with its Marinus 3-zip-pants, with excellent textiles, but it still falls short.

Different Design Needed for Hot Climate

So what is the problem? Summer/hot climate pants need a different design from temperate climate pants, not just in textiles. Hot climates typically have stronger sun and shorter days; less reliable sanitation; and higher mosquito risks. Most importantly, in hot climates, the pants may well be the major piece of clothing to carry essential things, as people are not wearing jackets. This is a fundamental difference to more temperate or high mountain climates.

Double Pocket for Hat & Pockets on Side

Let's start with a key feature that is needed in any sensible design for hot weather: a large, ideally double leg pocket on the right. In hot climates, you almost always need to wear a hat, and thus need a large side pocket to put it into, as you may move in and out of cars and houses. This is in addition to other things that you may want accessible for your right hand, so ideally you should have a second pocket integrated. In this second pocket, I typically carry a string and some snacks. Other people carry a map in this pocket.

Moreover, you need a large pocket, too, to store the trouser legs you take off.

Leg pockets should be on the side of the trousers, not on top/upper side, as in hot climate you want there to be direct evaporation, and this is easier if the pockets hang off your legs while sitting, rather than lying on them. This is where the Marinus Mayer-Sports pants fail, in having a pocket that is half on top of the left leg. The Fjällräven Abisko has the same problem, with large pockets on the top of the leg. That may work when you are next to a fjord, but not in hot climates.

Flashlight, Tissues, Sanitizer

What else matters in a hot climate? Ideally a pocket for a flashlight, since hot climates typically have shorter days, and unless you just go on day tours and are reliably back indoors by nightfall, you may find yourself sorting something out in the dark, and having a flashlight, reliably, really matters. My own preference is for the Petzl Zipka headlamp, which packs away well, is waterproof, and can easily be attached so that you can open locks, or carry equipment.

Smart design, Petzl Zipka, for trekking anywhere, but especially in hot climates

Also, hot climates often are places with not-so-great sanitation. A sensible thing to carry are tissues or sanitizer, for which you need an elongated pocket. A separate small pocket for medicines or other trinkets that are important to you can make sense.

All of these pockets should close easily, and take account of how you often travel in hot climates – you're much more likely to sit on the ground, for one because there often is less infrastructure, and secondly, because the ground itself is warm. You thus don't want pockets that drop their content when you sit, for example, on the flat back of a pickup truck. Conversely, a zip on the immediate trouser side pocket, as in the North Face Explorer is a no-no, and unneeded. These are pockets for immediate access.

(And what is it with these triple zip offs? The only reason I see for them is that in some hot temperature environments, it's culturally appropriate to cover your knees. Otherwise, in my view, this is feature overload.)

Long Legs, Fairly Bright

One last item, that often matters: hot climates often have mosquitoes that carry disease. Consequently, clothing should be fairly bright (somewhere between gray and olive) which seems less likely to attract mosquitoes, and makes it easier to spot them. Conversely, you don't want it completely white, as this will quickly show stains. (Bizarrely, some zip off pants are dark or even black, specifically unhelpful in a sunny climate.) Moreover, the trouser legs should be long, to cover the ankles, and ideally it should be possible to close the ankles a bit tighter.

You would think that some designer/company had picked up on these issues, but sadly so far you see little difference on whether trousers are designed for Iceland or Jordan. This is a missed opportunity, not least because you could also suggest sensible accessories for the pockets, helping people be organized, and potentially differentiating your product from the pack.

The Sad Demise of Salewa Yandua 5 C

Yet there once was a design that worked. 

Salewa, had the perfect design with its Yandua 5C Five Continents pants – but they dropped it from production. On the right for the person [1], a double pocket, which was ideal for a light hat. On the other side [2], two small and one longer pocket (flashlight, medicine, sanitizer). All of this long, with velcro at the bottom of the leg against mosquitoes [3] durable, and quick-dry. Around 2010, I managed to buy three pairs of these pants, and I am still using them on most of my outings. I would pay €150 for a used version, but they are hard to find. The good news: if any company wants to develop good trekking pants, there is a model to aspire to.

I'm currently in the process of trying to reach designers at various companies, and will update if I find anyone who got it right.

Flying Gudauri to Kazbegi | More Routes

We found a few good ways of flying from Gudauri to Kazbegi. Here is a long video, showing one route.

Among the key lessons: fly along the ridge; don't get down into the valley, where the wind gets stronger, and often comes from the north. If you are at 3400 m above Sadzele, you can easily crossover to Kobi, and soar up. Otherwise, fly west of the road on the pass, hopping from ridge to ridge, and you will also get across nicely.

Definitely, as mentioned above, stay out of the narrow valley, you will almost certainly get washed down in unpleasant winds. The tracks are also on Leonardo.

Manavis Tsivi - New Flying Site

In the last two years, a crew has been exploring flying over Sagarejo, under the guidance of great local pilots, Here is a video that shows some of the great possibilities, in this case in April. 

More on this soon. 

Getting Thermal Forecasts in the Caucasus | Meteoblue

How can you get thermal forecasts in the Caucasus? In the Alps you may have other tools, in the Caucasus you can draw on Meteoblue.

How does this work? Check out the quick info video. (Note that this may require a basic subscription to Meteoblue.)

We will test this out more in the future, and share updates from time to time. 

Gudauri Paragliding Route

We have been having great flights lately. Here is one such flight from Gudauri, last Sunday. The wind was good (South-East), not too strong. It had rained the day before, but thermals still developing.

Here is the flight.

Key lessons:

1. the break-out thermal after launch is likely to be on the mountain before Kudebi, shown on the bottom right. Kudebi itself often is inconsistent. 
2. going along the ridge facing North is likely a good idea. I could have taken this even further. 
3. above Ukhati, good to get maximum altitude. It's not entirely easy, as there is convergence of winds. 
4. once you crossed the valley, keep on that broad face, to get up. I went toward Kanobi, and there is no lift there, because of valley winds. 

Great day, can't wait to go back.

Where to get Weather Information for Flying in Georgia

Where do we get weather information when flying in Georgia? Over time, we found the following the most useful resources. 

Meteoblue.com, which in my personal estimate is 80% right. Sometimes it misses details by 20%, so wind is not entirely strong enough for soaring, or the wind change happens a few hours earlier than predicted. But on balance it's proven fairly reliable. (Disclosure: my brother works there, so this assessment is not independent -- but conversely I can say I spent quite a few years watching the service, in flying, windsurfing and kiting).

YR.no - Norwegian weather service. Some paragliders use both YR and Meteoblue and believe that if both agree, then this really is the final & best weather forecast.  

Tbilisi Airport Information: ATIS: 132.8 MHz, with hourly updates. Almost always accurate. The highest recorded windspeed at TBS airport that allowed us to still fly in Rustavi was 12 knots, but that was borderline. Above 5 knots per hour from the Southeast is typically promising for the Tbilisi Sea flying site. Occasionally the online service, here, lags. 

Always watch out for lenticular clouds, as a sudden increase in windspeed (once more than doubling in 45 minutes) can be a bit unwelcome when in the air. 

Any other suggestions? Let us know. 

Flying high in Tianeti

Up to now, the flying site in Tianeti primarily worked for soaring. The peak draws the thermals from the entire region below, making it a reliable flying site in almost all conditions when the wind is from the South, or Southwest.

However, there have been a number of  longer flights from this location, typically heading out East.  Roland flew 15+ km, a good way towards Akhmeta, on our very first flight there in 2007, landing in a small clearing. Conditions that day turned rough, with the wind coming in from Southwest (unusual) with average speeds above 30 km shortly after Roland had launched.



The highest altitude in Tianeti was about 3800m above ground, which would be about 2000m above the launch site, on April 28, 2008. Above is the footage. We launched as usual, catching the thermal on the right shoulder of the mountain. Curiously, we did not find a single other thermal once we had topped out, when we were flying east, so that it ended up being a glide flight into the neighboring valley, north of Tianeti city.  It seemed that we had found one rare day with one rare gap in the inversion, but we did not stumble on any others.

The key point here is that there is still a long-distance flight waiting to happen from Tianeti, on a good & strong spring day, when you pierce through that inversion, to then fly on and on.

Clouding Up in Rustavi | GoPro

Catching up with processing some of the old recordings. Here is one of a good Rustavi flying day that was bright and sunny, and within 35 minutes the clouds had closed in, the wind got stronger, and it was high time to land. You see the difference from cut to cut.



Long video (and I forgot to switch off the camera at the end, so there is a glimpse of me reflecting on weather patterns with Nodari & the Boss) --  I still love the panoramic perspective of the GoPro in these wide-open spaces.

 More to follow.

Flying in Rustavi, July 2011

You have seen it before, but this video by Levan Iasashvili (in the air with Alex Iskandarov) gives you an even better idea of the gorgeous time one has in Rustavi when the wind is right.

Great video, guys!

Paramotoring over Sighnaghi

Nodar and Rostom flying over Sighnaghi.

For the (pretty amazing) video, click here.

Tsalka Kiting | Plateau

We went to the kiting site in Tsalka once more, about 90 min. west of Tbilisi. The ice on the lake was excellent, but we also found kiting on the plateau just before Tsalka to be awesome. The main bowl is quite flat, but there are some variations that make it interesting, including a chance to go uphill a little further east. Lots of space to race back and forth. The tips of the arrow in the image above are more than 2 km apart.

A close-up shows how well the mountains even funnel the wind.


You may see the light patch running through the fields like a stripe, from top to bottom. That is the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, and the security guards at one of the stations will likely be a bit curious about what you do.

We have now also made out a good restaurant, right in the center of Tsalka, on the right as you drive west, just off the main square. It's called Pontia, and while it is simple the people are very friendly. They now already have seen the first guests come in with ski boots, so likely will not be surprised.


Film to follow.

Tsalka Kiting | Wind, Sideways

So we like wind, and if there's too much of it, we go windsurfing, and if it's a good winter, there is Plan C: ice-kiting.

It only takes about 90 min. to get out to Tsalka, over the great new road (short plug for American development assistance). The ice is thick, although you may want to watch it since it is a reservoir and the lowering of water levels does create some gaps. Not all of those freeze over quickly. Also, there are some fishing holes that are not marked. In the video, you see me looking at one of them. You wouldn't want to sink your skis into one of those. Next time, I will be wearing a life vest.

(My hands were cold, so I had not yet hooked into the harness.)

Preferable kites size would be between 1.5 and 3 sqm, with one or two larger ones in reserve. Average wind speeds were between 30 and 40 km/h, although earlier in the day they reached 60 km/h, at which point the Ozone safety chart for the 3 sqm Flow Kite suggested in firm wording that even Expert Kiters watch instructional DVDs, rather than trying their luck with the winds. Sharpening edges may also be a good idea, given the sheer ice. And you want to take an ice axe, so that you can secure the kite when it is down, and potentially claw your way out of a hole. (Definitely: helmet. On my first kiting day in the season, I was taking it easy, and my GPS still read out speeds of more than 46 km/h. Good idea: radios. So we can use pretty much all our toys. Yay!)


This is a happily exhausted me, after three hours on the ice. Haven't yet checked out the Tsalka restaurants, so as to support local people a bit, but that's next on the list.

Delphinus | Flying in Inversion

As promised, here more of an update on Delphinus, on my flight on September 5. Higher up wind from the east, but in general an inversion layer at 2000 m (as reported by Alex, from his ultralight).

I was soaring on the ridge itself for about 30 minutes. Good thermals, although pulsating, typically coming through for about three or four minutes, and then a break of around one minute. The thermal releases come up unevenly across the hill, with the strongest surges at 5.9 m/s. Typically you see the releases working their way up the hill, on the grass, or the trees below. You could probably sustain yourself up there for a long time, if you stay nimble.

At one point, I gained more altitude (see below) and then ventured east, hoping to catch thermals further out. There weren't any clouds, but I thought maybe the thermals would be blue. No luck! I slipped into the inversion, and it was all the way downhill from then.

The landing site is good, but as mentioned, plenty of sand.

The lesson is that this is a great mountain even during powerful inversions, but there's little to be gained further out. Stay close to the ridge.

Delphinus | new site!

We found a new flying location! Locals refer to the mountain as Delphinus, and it towers visibly over the road between Ananuri and Pasanauri. Yesterday, we finally decided to take a look at it. Locals immediately told us that the mountain was accessible by road, up to the main ridge.

As it turns out, there is a ridge that is almost 2 km long, running roughly east to west. You can launch at multiple points along the ridge, although the best point probably is close to the peak, since it affords a flatter takeoff point, as well as the opportunity to launch when the wind comes more from the east. At 2150 m, it is higher than Tianeti, and also seems to offer better opportunities for cross-country flying.

Two flights there so far, September 4 & 5, 2010. One took me quite a way out west, but that's a different story. The second one, on a day with strong inversion, gave good lift along the ridge, although no thermals to be found further out.

Landing in the Valley is not a problem, although you need to watch for various powerlines. Also, some of the landing sites have plenty of rocks, and several have lots of sand, which your wing may not like too much. (Obviously, watch the valley winds!)

On balance, this appears like a major new opportunity for flying in Georgia, even if Google Earth decides to show it in the darkest of colors. It may offer very significant cross-country possibilities. Even just for soaring, it presents you with the sight of beautiful mountains, church ruins, Kazbegi in the distance, two lakes, and much more.

It's probably only suitable for advanced pilots, or intermediate pilots with detailed guidance. On a day with strong eastward wind, I reached climbing speeds of 6.9 m/s. The next day, with little wind from the east, I still had short surges of 5.9 m/s, as the thermals punch their way up along the hillside. Flying needs to be pretty active.

More information and nicer photography to follow! We will also try and find out more about the mountain's great name.

Lawnmowers Fly!

Here you see a short clip with take off, ascent, soaring under clouds, spiral and then a (rough!) crosswind landing. Alex N. took me on a spin with his machine, in early September 2010.

The entire thing, except for the wing, is tiny.

In terms of paragliding, we noticed strong thermals high up. So once we have higher altitude, we should have a good chance to do more cross-country. To be explored in the next season!

Evening Soaring at TBS Sea

We have to get into the habit of actually capturing the weather data, and then comparing it with our actual flying experience. (Alternatively, we should build a small weather station at the radar station.)

It was a usual day, where at some point you get a little frustrated with the Tbilisi Sea launching site, since it's just too inconsistent. However, Irhan K. did at one point catch a thermal and managed to get up 700 m above the launching site, which probably would have put him on track for cross-country flying, but unfortunately he decided to come back to us.

At any rate, at 6:15 PM in the evening, the wind, which had been coming too much from the east, turned, and suddenly came straight from the south. Everyone else had left, I was the only one still up there. Flying until sunset! Remarkable: within three or four minutes of the sun going down, the wind slowed down, and I sank into the valley. I was surprised, since it had appeared to me that the wind was dynamic, with no thermal component. It could be that the drop was coincidental, but clearly we are still learning about this site.
One day, when we really have it figured out, and maybe if we do a little bit of landscaping, there will be better flights. More generally, a good illustration to how small sites can hold positive surprises.
One particular surprise that evening was that once I had hiked back up to the launch site, to the belongings scattered around my car, I encountered six Georgians having a feast, on the occasion of the date of Holy Mary. They had a campfire, which we later heard people saw in Tbilisi, since it's at an elevated spot. I stayed with the group until almost midnight.


After dusk, the launch site is totally magical: you see all of the city, you see the planes coming in, and reflections on the lake. The stars are clear, and there's a nice breeze.

Flying with an Ultralight

Yesterday, Alexander N. took me out on his ultralight, on a glorious day, from the Natakhtari Airport. The runway in itself was an experience (there was no runway). Flying in this ultralight felt incredibly immediate, and fun. The only thing that you crave is turning off the engine as you're approaching a big cloud and beginning to feel how it draws you in. But that is not what this toy is designed for.

Cloud base somewhere above 2200 m, which would be plenty for flying over land, even if it's on the low side for the foothills of the Caucasus. Again, we were thinking that the one thing we need is either a winch (the first thermals start 200 m above the ground, or less) or eventually one of the electric motors.

On a day like yesterday, after three days of strong wind from the Northwest, the Northwest wind breaking down around noon, there would be plenty of potential for epic flights -- to be sure, only in one direction, since the wind is pretty zippy up there (around 50 km/h above Mtskheta), but distance nevertheless. There is so much potential that's waiting to be explored...

[Pictures/film to follow soon.]

Israeli Pilots in Paragliding Festival

Among the guests in a paragliding festival we had two pilots from Israel, Teddy and Tal.



This was gentle evening soaring. Typical for mountain weather, it had actually been raining, briefly, around noon. The launch site is just about the Austrian hut, and accessible by car.

Caucasus Paragliding Festival | Gudauri

Irakli Kapanadze organized a great paragliding festival, the first Caucasus Paragliding Fly-In, at the end of June.



On the Monday, we went out flying to Gudauri. Here we are flying over Kudebi, with Mik Broschart from Nova. It's tough working your way up to over the peak, since you risk flying into an isolated valley. But if you stay close to the mountains, you can soar up. Launch is just up from the Austrian hut.

Georgian Paragliding on Facebook

For the day-to-day things, check out Georgian paragliding on Facebook. They have an excellent site, with many photographs, videos, and as you can see the group is very popular. The moderator does a great job of bringing nice new material in.


We are keeping up the blog with tags & labels, for more site-specific information. It's a little more searchable for people who want to figure out the main locations, their flying conditions, and also directed at more experienced pilots.