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Description
Hike & Fly, occasionally used, good cross-country potential. Cable car available.
Region: Scotland - UK. Site record: 56.0 km.
Region: Highlands - UK. Site record: 35.3 km.
Takeoff: There are two commonly used takeoffs. The usual one is reached by walking downhill from the top of the chairlift in a northerly direction to a small knoll with a steep NW face called Sgur Finisg-aig. In high pressure or light conditions, pilots may prefer to walk uphill and then to the right (in a general SW direction) to reach a spur with a good west-facing aspect. Both takeoffs are shown as viewpoints here: [Viewpoints Map](http://streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=218885&y=776230&z=120&sv=218885,776230&st=4&ar=Y&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&lm=0).
Landing: As this is a big cross-country site, landings away from the site are most common. Landing at the bottom is okay but can be challenging for inexperienced pilots despite the large area of the ski car park under certain conditions. Strong sea breezes (westerly or south-westerly) may develop in mid to late afternoon and be in a different direction to the high-level met wind, causing wind shear. Large trees surround the car park and can cause mechanical turbulence in these conditions. World Cup Mountain Bike events and other large mountain bike events sometimes fill the car park, making it impossible to land safely. In this case, you should go elsewhere to take off.
Going there: Aonach Mor Gondola car park is located about 5 km northeast of Fort William and is 2 km up a side road off the A82. Fort William is about a 3.5-hour drive from Edinburgh and Glasgow or about 1.5 hours from Inverness.
Comments: Some very long paragliding cross-country flights have been done from here in NW post-cold frontal conditions. Make sure you take air map info for when you get close to Edinburgh or Glasgow.
People to contact: [Scottish Hang Gliding and Paragliding Federation](http://www.shpf.co.uk), [LLSC Google Group](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/LLSC), [AHPC](http://www.ahpc.org.uk).
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