'Parawaiting' game

Paragliding pilots joke their sport is often referred to as ''parawaiting'' - because the weather is often unsuitable for flying.

And in the steady rain in Wanaka yesterday - midway through the national paragliding open - parawaiters were clogging the town's cafes.

One of them was veteran Grant Middendorf, of Lake Hawea, who is among the leading bunch of pilots in the field of 65.

Middendorf, who was brought up in Queenstown, took up paragliding 25 years ago just a year or two after the sport arrived in New Zealand.

''I'd always been quite keen on flying but never really had the funds to do it.''

He took a couple of flights off the Crown Terrace, liked it, bought his own paraglider and taught himself how to fly.

Now, as one of the most experienced paragliding pilots in New Zealand still flying, Middendorf holds the national distance record - 142km from the Waiorau Snow Farm in the Cardrona Valley to just short of Burkes Pass in Canterbury.

''I managed to get into a sea breeze convergence past Omarama that took me up to about 12,500ft [3810m] and I just managed to stay in the convergence and travel for about 30km without having to turn.''

Middendorf says the sport is perceived as one of ''those adrenaline sports'', but he thinks of it more as a three-dimensional chess game in which he is trying to reach a particular goal.

''For me it's the challenge of just using the natural air currents and environment to see how far you can fly.

''It's a real mental and physical challenge to get up there and use nature to travel long distances.''

At 46, and recently married to Lucy, another paragliding pilot, Middendorf is not about to retire - hoping to regain the national title.

This week's competition is a chance for pilots to gain points towards the title. It began at Coronet Peak on Saturday and the task pilots are waiting to attempt, from Treble Cone, is to fly a course of about 70km.

The event is being run by the Southern Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club. Organiser Derek Divers said the frontrunners, besides Middendorf, were Jeff Ripley and Evan Lamberton, of Auckland, and Dongsul Kim, of South Korea.