DESCRIPTION

Site Fee If flying from, or landing at, the normal PG take-off end of Kimmeridge, a daily fee of £2.00 is payable to Jerry Hole at Kimmeridge Farm. This fee must either be collected by a club member or paid to John Welch (Flight Culture paragliding school), if present, and paid to him by the end of the day. If no other club member present is collecting site fees, please take responsibility yourself. THIS FEE MUST BE PAID IF YOU FLY, EVEN IF YOU ONLY DO A SINGLE TOP TO BOTTOM An additional fee of £1.00 is payable to Mr Vearncombe at 'Chaldecotts' if the Kingston bottom landing fields to the east are used. To find the Holes farm: drive down the hill into Kimmeridge village. As you enter the village, a church is on your right. Look straight ahead and to the right. The house offering B&B is the Holes farm. Pay fees here. The Hole family run a small Cafe in Kimmeridge, just round the corner past the turn off for the farm on the left (it’s the only Cafe in Kimmeridge, in fact its probably the only anything in Kimmeridge) When paying your £2 daily site fee please try the Café first as Mrs Hole or her daughter will more likely be here than the farmhouse. To find Mr Vearncombe’s farm, drive down the hill toward Kimmeridge. At the first sharp right hand bend drive straight ahead toward Smedmore House. Pass to the right of Smedmore House and keep going straight ahead. The next house on the left is Chaldecotts. Hazards The more westerly the wind, the more turbulent the conditions. Paragliders, especially, should be aware that this can be one of the Wessex's roughest sites. Beware of sudden & strong venturi, stone walls, scrub and barbed wire fences. Several gliders have been damaged on launching or landing by being dragged onto the fences that bound the top of the site. Look out for quick forming orographic cloud. The westerly end of the ridge is used by aero-modellers Accidents have resulted from pilots catching a foot in animal burrows on the slopes. Launching Launch from the slope beneath the stile. If the wind is off to the South or the west adjust your launch location to best suit the direction. The slope is steep in places, you will be pulling your wing up directly into a strong lift band. Be prepared to be pulled off the ground before you have a chance to turn fully when reverse launching a paraglider. Ensure you are far enough from scrub bushes or fences to avoid harm if you are dragged on launching.

ACTIVITIES

- paragliding
- soaring
- thermals

weather

General Site Info Kimmeridge is a cross between coastal and inland site. It is close enough to the coast to benefit from sea breeze in summer and also far enough inland to develop significant thermic activity. The large ridge is an elongated bowl that gives some versatility of wind directions. The site has been used for many years by schools for training. There are several hazards on this site and when thermic the air can become surprisingly rough. A reasonable top land and adequate bottom landing make it a good site for all levels of ability. Access to the site can be difficult: it is a long hard walk up and the track ranges from impassable to all but 4X4’s in winter to punishing even in summer. There is scope for rewarding flying here with good height gains on thermic days and the possibility of coastal runs. The site was once regularly used by hang-gliders although its use is almost exclusively limited to paragliders now. The Kingston launch was used by hanggliders. However this has been overgrown and forgotten for some time now.