GIN Wide Open 2022
Message from Organisers (December 12th 2021)
We are optimistic that the 2022 GIN Wide Open will go ahead as planned.
In January 2022 we will be releasing some additional places to pilots. Stay tuned.
We will be monitoring the evolution of the Covid-19 crisis in the months ahead and will post updates here should there be any change.
GIN Wide Open 2020 Postponed
Message from Organisers (May 29th 2020)
It is with regret that today we are announcing that the GIN Wide Open 2020 is postponed.
Ager has been severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis with more than 10 deaths so far (a lot for such a small village) which is currently also suffering from new cases.
This week is the latest we can reasonably take this decision. Whilst many preparations for this year’s event have already been made, our judgement, in consultation with the local Mayor (who I met with personally yesterday and who we support wholeheartedly), is that it would be impossible to hold the GIN Wide Open this year in any meaningful way.
The GIN Wide Open is above all a FUN event.
Here in Ager, bars and restaurants are now permitted to open and yet all of them have chosen not to. There are many other aspects to our decision including the difficulty of physical distancing in such a small village and the very international nature of the event.
We want this to be a FUN event, so…we’re postponing the fun: the next GIN Wide Open will be at the same venue at the same time of year:
The GIN Wide Open 2021
July 3 – July 10th
“I already accepted my place at this year’s GIN Wide Open. What are my options?”
If you were lucky enough to be offered a place at the GIN Wide Open 2020 AND paid your deposit to secure your place you have two options:
1. Keep your place and fly at the GIN Wide Open 2021.
If this is your preference you have nothing to do. Congratulations, you have already secured a place in the GIN Wide Open 2021. Just check that your “status” is correctly displayed on the GWO Pilot list here.
2. Receive a full refund of your deposit.
If this is your preference please e-mail the organisers by October 31st latest. We will refund you using Paypal (Note: Please do NOT request a refund using Paypal, rather email us and we will issue the refund. That way any Paypal fees will be lower). To request your refund please email us using the same email you applied with and let us know your Paypal email) Note that if you choose this option you will not be offered a place in next year’s GWO. E-mail us at info@flywideopen.com
Whilst we have already suffered some unrecoverable costs for this year, we are not charging these expenses to you (ie we are issuing FULL refunds as opposed to partial). We also expect that, especially given the popularity of the GIN Wide Open, most pilots will choose option 1.
We hope you agree with our approach, but please email us if you have any questions or concerns.
“I would like to be a pilot at the GIN Wide Open in 2021.”
If applied to the GIN Wide Open 2020 and were either offered a place, but did not accept your place by paying a deposit; or you applied but were not offered a place, we will contact you by the end of November this year. Depending on how many pilots choose to receive a full refund (above) we expect to offer some additional places to a few lucky pilots at that time.
Extra Options
The organiser of the GIN Wide Open, Passion Paragliding are offering small group trips to Ager and other great venues in the autumn. You can see details here.
Previous Message from Organisers (April 30th 2020)
We are well aware that pilots who have reserved their place for the GIN Wide Open have been looking forward to this event for some time.
The welfare of our staff and participating pilots is always our primary concern. Things are changing quickly, and we’re constantly monitoring expert advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and official government travel advice both in Spain and elsewhere.
A huge amount of preparation goes into making the GIN Wide Open a success. Whilst much of the preparation for this year’s event has already been made, some aspects of the preparation can only be completed in the days and weeks immediately prior to the event. In addition, many pilots are likely to have considerable difficulty in arranging transport to Ager at short notice. With these challenges in mind, the decision on whether or not to go ahead with this year’s event needs made some weeks before the scheduled start date.
Whilst, at the time of this update, we have not cancelled the GIN Wide Open, unless the situation not only improves but improves rapidly, we will likely be left with no alternative. For now, however, we would like to keep all options open and will therefore refrain from making a final decision until about 5 week prior to the event and in any case, no later than the end of May 2020.
As soon as we have made our decision we will be posting information here on our website and also emailing all GIN Wide Open pilots.
In the meantime, we’d like to thank you for your patience and understanding in what is proving to be a particularly challenging time for our sport.
Here’s hoping that we can fly together again very soon.