Paragliding Barranco del Infierno, Tenerife

I had flown my paraglider over the Barranco del Infierno (Hell's Canyon) during our vist a year ago, but hadn't remembered to bring the camera with me.  I cleared remembered the shock of flying over the deep, narrow valleys in the area, and my goal was to bring the camera with me this time, to record a hopefully amazing flight.

Walk #34 from the Tenerife Rother Walking Guide

But first we took a short hike out from the town of Ifonche to see the top of the Barranco.   Actually we only did a very tiny portion of Walk #34, as the one-way hike continued on the path all the way down the valley into Adeje, whereas we turned around at the overlook and came back to our car.  But the trail we covered wandered through some pine trees, a few cactus, and past some pretty amazing views of the coast and Hell's Canyon.  The barranco was so steep that we couldn't see all the way to the bottom!  The best view of course, would be from the air, that was to come later. 

Then it was back to the car to drive over to launch.  Although there is a high launch very close to where we had parked, there was no one else flying there and I had never flown from that spot before.  So we drove to the lower launch in Adeje, quite a drive around but worth it as when we arrived there were wings in the sky and good conditions just past midday.  I managed to launch with the camera (usually a sure way to jinx my flight) and had a great soaring 2 hour flight over the canyons, around and over the distictive peak of Roque del Conde, and back to a safe landing below Adeje.  There aren't many bailout landing areas that don't require picking your wing out of cactus spines, so when the daylight started to fade I was quick to head out for safe territory.

However the highlight of any flight in the area is flying in, around, and through the rock fingers of Montana del los Brezos, just below the upper launch area.  The only good way to see these massive pillars of rock is from the air, and my wing floated happily through the gaps in the steady lifting air while I snapped shots with my camera. 

Here's a short paragliding video, with amazing views from overhead....

From the ground....

And from the air....

The rock fingers, with Roque del Conde in the background

Tenerife's resort coast

High above Roque del Conde looking back at the Barranco del Infierno



Barranco del Infierno