Arrested by the border police, cared for by shepherds and cruelly swept earthwards by the wind: Robert Blum and Andi Egger found out how rugged, lonely and challenging a vol-biv adventure in the Caucasus can be. More than once the two Germans reached their limits in Georgia when wind and weather tore up their original plans. And this, despite the fact that the two were old hands at vol-biv who had already pioneered a number of completely new routes in exotic countries.
On foot, with glider and tent: from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, 1,500 kilometres along the Caucasus. That had been Robert’s dream for ten years. Political instability had prevented such a project from happening or a long time, so in the meantime Robert came up with a vol-biv challenge with Andi. The pair had opened spectacular routes in the high Atlas in Morocco, and flown in the Himalayas. Now the time had come to put the Caucasus plan into action.
No flying in Russia
Robert and Andi had tried to arrange some sort of authorisation in advance for the Russian part – without success. The original plan, to fly from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, was not allowed on the Russian side. They had to replan and decided for a shorter, 800-kilometre trip through Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Plan, replan, start again
Over and over Robert and Andi were thwarted by the weather. More than once they returned by bus to the capital, Tiflis. Their dream of a west-to-east crossing of the Caucasus had to be abandoned, so they replanned their trip, and decided to cover as much of Georgia as they could by vol-biv in the time remaining. A zig-zag route through the country emerged. They hitch-hiked to the Kakheti region in the east of the country, and managed to get from the low hills to the high mountains by foot and glider.
Alone in the wilderness
The pair were permanently and totally isolated as they travelled. They had their food and water – up to 5 litres per person per day – with them. They mostly slept in the tent, sometimes in caves. Now and again they met shepherds, and once again experienced the overwhelming hospitality of the wild. Here they were given cheese, vegetables, stew and firewater; even though the nomads have little for themselves. They flew whenever possible. Sometimes they were on foot for days on end, because of the constant rain.
A point of honour
Wind and weather cannot be planned. Robert and Andi could not complete the planned route from west to east in one trip, but the adventure factor on their zig-zag trip through Georgia was all the greater. It‘s a matter of honour that the two passed on their experiences to another German expedition who wanted to tackle the same project practically at the same time. They were finally able to realize part of Robert‘s dream, having better luck with the weather. But – thanks to the information from Robert and Andi – in the opposite direction.
The Equipment
The Team
Andi Egger
Andi is mostly to be found with his hike & fly / vol-biv equipment. Paragliding has been his regular lifestyle for 20 years.
Robert Blum
Robert was one of the first German pilots. He won the German XC championship in 2013 and holdsthe German FAI triangle record at287km. He loves to travel to foreign parts with his paraglider in search of uncharted territory.