Lanzarote's Open de Canarias de Ala Delta hang gliding competition took place between the 6th and 12th December this year.

The volcanic landscape of Lanzarote is one of the spectacular sights that awaited the hang gliders who came to the island in early December to take part in this annual event. Pilots from Spain, Austria, Germany and Italy descended on Lanzarote to join local hang gliders for some late season flying. The island has perfect conditions for hang gliding, with high altitude grassy slopes for taking off and flatter landing areas nearer to the coast. Some of the more experienced pilots were be able to use thermals to gain height and make the challenging landings back at their take-off points, but this requires skill and experience to combat the tricky thermals that affect the flight of the hang gliders.

One of the best competitors who took part was Austrian Michael Friesenbichler, who was European Champion in 2006 and is a regular member of the Austrian National Team. Another Austrian competitor was Thomas Weissenberger, who currently ranks among the best in Europe. So the competition was of a very high standard.

Spectators could see the hang gliders taking off near Teguise, approximately 7 miles north west of Arrecife. Pilots were marked on the distances they achieve and last year the average flight distance was 17 kilometres with the best pilots flying distances of over 30 kilometres.

Flights to Lanzarote are offered by flythomascook.com, departing from 14 UK airports during the winter period.