El Yelmo

El Yelmo launches at 1,809 m in the Sierra de Segura, in Jaen province, southeastern Spain, and flies with wind from the east, southwest, west and northwest, giving it a genuinely flexible wind window across a full day. It's widely regarded as a site with serious potential: an annual flying festival is held here, and it's hosted numerous competitions over the years, which says a lot about how consistently flyable and how well it rewards good route-finding on cross-country days. Landing is generous too, with multiple usable fields around the site rather than a single tight target, plus a separate landing option set up specifically for hang gliders. Between the altitude, the multi-directional wind and the room to land, it works well for thermalling, cross-country flying, hike-and-fly and flatland-style glides depending on conditions. As with any competition-grade site, check current local knowledge before your first visit, since the best lines and timing here are the kind of thing regulars know.

Check conditions before you fly

A forecast for the valley is not a forecast for the launch. Before heading to El Yelmo, read the wind and thermals for the site itself, confirm the day's rules with the local club, and remember the standing rule — when in doubt, don't launch. In the free OutDare app you can open El Yelmo with a 7-day forecast built from high-resolution weather models, see who else has been flying, and get there with offline maps.