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This is my 2007 flying map of the area. You can download (descargar) and print out the full size 4mg version, the following street map of Tenancingo.

Taxis, Transportation, Food, etc. (use "Descargar" to download)

One may arrive to Tenancingo simply, rapidly and inexpensively upon arriving at the Mexico city airport. At the south end of the airport terminal is a long curving ramp that crosses the road and leads directly into the Metro subway. Go to the ticket window and pay four pesos per ticket. Pass the turn-style and follow the signs marked "Pantitlan" and that will put you on the subway heading south. This subway train will terminate in two stops at the terminal called Pantitlan. You will have to get off and Do not leave the terminal, but look for and follow the Red signs for the #1 line. This is it's terminal and the other end is called "Observatorio". You will get on the Red subway line stay on it till its end and cross the street to get to the bus depot. The bus line that goes direct to Tenancingo is called Aguila. The ticket costs $54 pesos. Add the 4 pesos for the subway, and 58 pesos gets you quickly (about 2.5 hr if you do it all quickly) and inexpensively (less than $5usd;) (descargar=download img.)

Hotel Tres Naciones, located near Nipaqui, Daniel Pedraza and Daniel Miller, and the road to launch, is very nicely accomodated and economical. Hotel Tres Naciones +(52)714-142-2375 Sra. Rosa Maria Duarte Gonzalez Calle Cedro 203 Norte

Hotel Nipaqui overlooks Tenancingo from the west and is clean and well managed. It is 1.5km outside of town and is next to the cross-road leading to the La Malinche launch. Tel. (714)142-2812, manager Israel López García.

The El Portón Inn is owned by Peter Stanziale, a native from Maine, now a Mexican citizen, who lives here permantly. The rooms are very well kept and beautiful. It is 3.5 km outside of Tenancingo and is near the base of the Tepoxtepec flying site. Tel (714)142-7281

It has been said that there are more taxis than private cars in this area, and it is practically true. This can be an awesome advantage to the pilot who knows how to use the system of taxis. Were talking instant transportation to and from sites, no waiting or depending on anyone, and real cheap. One should avoid getting chatty with a taxi driver, just know what to pay him in advance without asking (that's where I can help) and give him the correct change after you take your pack from the trunk. They like to pack 5 people in a little sedan.

This is a photo of the launch before it was expanded. La Malinche launch, was opened in December 2006 by Daniel Pedraza, Marco Guillermo, and myself, Daniel Miller. It is perhaps the best suited launch for XC flight in various directions. Conditions can be very strong and turbulent, making it an advanced site. It is a south facing PG/HG launch, is at 2261 meters, with 4WD or strong 2WD access, or it is a 15 minute hike from the road below. Taxi rate from town to the foot of the hill - 6 pesos.

This is why La Malinche has one of the strongest and most regular house-thermals in the region. 1)It is a focal point of thermal energy from the large flat area to the south-west. 2) It receives additional thermal forces from the valley to the north. 3) It receives thermals from the valley to the north-east. 4) It is not very high in elevation, about 200mt, above the valley floor, so the energy builds up more and is not wicking off constantly.

(Aerial Photo A) Diagram of the La Malinche launch, and the location and drift of the typical house thermals, with small circles at lower altitude and larger circles at higher altitude. La Malinche is a low ridgeline at the junction of 2 valleys. It is an especially good launch for XC flight because it is located directly in front of an especially strong house thermal. This thermal is strong because it not only originates in front of launch and the giant valley below but also from the north slope some 30 feet behind launch which receives as much or more sun at this latitude. The site has a relatively low vertical altitude to the "emergency" LZs below launch, but that is not in issue when one is launching into strongly rising air. The usual wind direction is southwest. Once in the air and rising in the thermal the best direction to take is downwind to the northeast where the lift gets even better with altitude, and the cross country options multiply. N 18.55.335 W 099.35.846

(Aerial Photo C) The typical view of Tenancingo upon arriving from La Malinche launch. The Insurgentes/Terminal LZ is shown in red. The common location and drift of the "house thermals" are shown in yellow. Oh yeah, it looks like I screwed up on the compass and east and west are reversed.

(Aerial Photo D) These are the two landing zones that are perfered by most visiting pilots, probibly because they are easily seen from launch. Personally I call these locations strictly "emergency", and I do not reccomend that one have landing at these locations as a "flight plan", as such a plan will generally steer one away from where the good lift is at. They carry the disadvantage that there is a long walk out to a sleepy little pueblo where it is at times more difficult to get a taxi ride out. They both have a lot of slope, and for Las Cabanas, it would be better to land uphill even if that means downwind. There are a couple of small really tight house thermals in these areas and with luck and skill one might be able to save a flight and land in a better area. However for the Fly-In on Dec. 8th and 9th it should be easier to get a ride from these LZs.

(Aerial Photo E) These are two landing zones visible from launch. Crazy Horse is good if you get real low and run out of options. The other is real big and easy. The problem with these LZs is the taxi service is poor to San Antonio so you might have to walk, and even if you get a taxi they generally charge 12 pesos to Tenancingo, although they are supposed to charge 10. Estos dos aterrizajes si son visibles del despegue. Caballo Loco es bueno se estés muy bajo y se alcanzan sus optiones. El otro es amplio y facil. El problema con estes aterizajes es que el servico de taxi por San Antonio es pesimo, pues talvez necesitaría andar en pie, y aunque si se puede consiguir un taxi, se cobran $12 pesos aunque deben cobrar $10. Por eso prefiero aterrizar por la carretera Zumpauacan.

Recently a group of pilots came from the nearby Ixtapan de la Sal flying site to try out La Malinche, and they showed us the answer of the route for the long-sought-after way to cross the valley to the southwest towards Ixtapan. The trick is that thermals pop off the marked ridge, and a number of them made the crossing at high altitude following this route.

Daniel Pedraza and his family and myself on the well groomed La Malinche launch, which now has a manicured grass lawn. / Daniel Pedraza y su familia y yo en el despegüe La Malinche, ahora muy bien arreglado, gracias a Daniel, que ya tiene una buena cobretura de cesped.

We have our sacred tree on the La Malinche launch to relax under. Here in May, at the end of the dry season, you see it freshly groomed, thanks to the hard work of Daniel Pedraza and family. / Tenemos un arbol sagrado en el despegüe, abajo de cual uno se puede descansar. Todo el área es sagrado a los Mexicanos y a la gente de Tenancingo. Por favor vamanos a darle respeto por poner la basura en su lugar, y tener el impacto minimo posible en el ambiente. Hay estupuidos que habían desagrado los sitios de poder y antiguidad de vez en cuando. Los cuatro vientos son cuatro diosas poderosas y cambiantes, y me habían avisado que van a darnos un golpetazo si no mantenemos el respeto debido a la herincia.

Monday June 4th, 2007, Daniel Pedraza was busy widening the La Malinche launch to accommodate 3 wings at the same time.

This is a view of the southwest facing ridgeline which adjoins the Malinche launch, known to the locals as The Pyramid. The goddess Matlacuaye is a precolumbian stone carving over a natural spring. The Cama del Rey is a perfect adorned rectangular shape cut into the top of a large rock, of unknown purpose, (perhaps a statue base). The Crocodile rock is about 40 feet tall and looks like the Rugrats dinosaur car from below. There are various limestone caves in the area, also of archiological and cultural importance. This very hilltop was the seat of civilization before the arrival of Cortez and is documented in the accounts of the Aztec empire. It was the seat of a seperate nation and king who paid tribute to Tenochtitlan to the north, and also marked the southern boundry of the nauhuatl speaking peoples. Secret ceremonies of ancient origin are conducted here on significant Aztec days, usually at sunset and sunrise. In terms of the weather the low ridgeline clearly marks a climate boundry.

La Cama del Rey, a rectangular ornamented precolumbian shape of unknown purpose cut into the top of a rock. Perhaps it was in fact a seat, but it looks more to me like a statue base.

This carving of goddess Matlacuaye is one of various carvings hewn by the ancient people of Mexico, near the La Malinche launch. She is a goddess of water and this carving is on top of a natural spring. This low hill marked the southern limit of the Aztec empire, and it also marks a distinct limit of climate changes, wetter and cooler to the north, hotter and dryer to the south.

Arriving at the Insurgentes LZ, with the flags and powerlines highlighted in red.

The main Insurgentes field, almost big enough to land an airplane on, is covered with beautiful wildflowers when this photo was taken in October.

I've been flying every afternoon alone after work, and have found that La Malinche can be an awesomly magical place to fly late in the afternoon. In the day La Malinche booms with massive thermals, and turbulence. An hour or so before sunset, if there are no clouds, it changes to gentle giants of thermals, which you can fly by weight shift only, and still rise to considerable altitudes over the hills, and what I like to do is fly to the Tenancingo city area (shown here), where often there is lift everywhere as well. Today I continued on and crossed the valley to the northeast, past Tepox and landed in Tecomatlán.

Photo from 16,900 msl over Tenancingo on April 6th. I got sucked up to 19,000 in lift that got progressivly stronger, and it was COLD in shorts and without gloves! I had to search for sink to get down before frostbite set in.

April 8th from La Malinche to Malinalco

April 8th from La Malinche to Malinalco, crossing over Tenancingo

April 8th from La Malinche to Malinalco, over the north end of the Malinalco valley.

Nov.22,07 Tandem Flight. Santo Desierto is on the top of the mountian in the foreground, and the south end of the Malinalco valley and the sacred pueblo of Chalma are in the distance.

Most of my daily flights from La Malinche have on my 2001 Boxtair M DHV1 paraglider, and now most recently many flights have been with passengers on my new Cargo 39 tandem wing by Windtech with rainbow colors. With the very strong conditions that I experience at La Malinche I have reservations about personally flying a DHV2 or 3 wing here, but visiting pilots have flown all sorts of wings here without major problems so far.

This is the new Windtech Cargo 39 with custom rainbow colors that I have been flying most recently. http://www.parapentemx.com

Here I am flying over la Malinche on the new Windtech Cargo 39 tandem paraglider. http://www.parapentemx.com

Paraglider pilot wanna-be in the landing zone. His backpack is for his flying equipment.

Two fir trees near the pueblo of Maxtleca that saved me when I had to land in high winds on a 3 hour flight April 22nd. I was decending whether I wanted to or not, and drifting backwards because the wind velocity was greater than my paraglider (with accelerator). I thus had no control, except to look back over my shoulder and direct myself to the few open pieces of land between the pine forest that was thicker and thicker further on. Upon passing just to the left of the pine tree on the left, my wing caught an upper branch. The wing swung around 180 degrees, the branch broke, and I fell some 10 feet but slowed by the branch and the partially inflated wing, and by the grace of God, I hit the soft ground without any damage to me or my wing.

These are the bad lands that one must cross if flying to Malinalco from La Malinche using the southern route.

A view looking back on the bad lands having already crossed towards Malinalco.

May 1st, 2007

June 1st over Cristo Rey. After a month of dismal rainy weather in the afternoons I launched La Malinche at 5:30pm and landed at 8:00 pm flying up to 15,500 feet msl over Tenancingo.

June 1st east towards Teneria. After a month of dismal rainy weather in the afternoons I launched La Malinche at 5:30pm and landed at 8:00 pm flying up to 15,500 feet msl over Tenancingo.

June 1st towards Santo Desierto. After a month of dismal rainy weather in the afternoons I launched La Malinche at 5:30pm and landed at 8:00 pm flying up to 15,500 feet msl over Tenancingo.