Even though I arrived last Wednesday in the midst of a financial collapse and still feeling some jet lag . . . . it's great to be home. Reality's set in, however, as I've been interviewing already and will most likely be working with some company soon that provides SaaS or Web 2.0 technologies. Yeah, I can hear the "ughs", but I'm actually looking forward to getting back to work, believe it or not.
But what a summer I've had, man . . . . too many things to list now but I'll write about them in a future post.
For sure, it was a once in a lifetime experience, as they say, since it's doubtful I'll do it again in 2009.
Thanks to all of you who took the time to read my posts and have encouraged me along the way.
(Don't forget to check the Ozone team blog as I've just put some pics up there, and - yes I know! - I'll put all the good pics on Flickr.)
Special thanks, of course, goes to Ozone for providing the best paragliders on earth, to Coveritallco for giving me THE best travel backpack EVER (http://www.ogio.com/product.php?product=573), and to SFBAPA and Tim Sirianni who both individually contributed to my little trip.
Lastly, I want to thank Ayumi for supporting me and encouraging me to follow my dreams . . . . now it's your turn!
After my last flight in Europe - acro show at Coupe Icare.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Lake Como
Earlier this week, Ayumi and I spent all-day Monday touring all the towns around Lake Como via Ferry, including Bellagio. I've been to a few lakes in Italy and I thought Como would be the same but - I have to say! - there's something definitely special about it. I don't know if it's the history of who used to live there or the present of who lives there now, but it's more beautiful, colorful, and majestic than any lake I've been to.
If you ever come to Northern Italy, you must see Lake Como.
Because I didn't do a great job of arranging a hotel for us (probably b/c they're all ridiculously expensive), we ended up staying in a hostel in Menaggio. Other than the tiny showers and having to share a room with another couple for a night, it was great, cheap, AND had an awesome view.
After dropping off Ayumi at Malpensa the next morning, I headed to Verel/Chambery, France, which is where I am now. I've spent the last 2 days flying w/Lou Marck at Verel - what a great site to train acro. Launch is at 905m and LZ's around 330m - if you can get to 1000-1100m, you'll have enough height to do infinites, which is what these guys do all the time. Then you bench back up using ridge or thermal lift - and this doesn't even include the additional 500 - 600m you'd get off the mountain behind it on the good days!
The lower bench reminds me of Mussel Rock, just 300 m higher . . . . I'll post some pics, along w/a hundred others, when I get home.
I've been at a McDonald's for the last few hours. If there's one good thing about them (at least in France) is that they all have free WiFi, which is great for a loser like me who can't stay disconnected for more than a few days.
Tonight I will head to the Ozone house at St. Hilaire which is where I'll be staying the next 4 nights during Coupe Icare. Even though this is my first time to this most famous flying festival, I'm not entirely excited. While I get to take part (I think) in the acro show they'll have a few hours every day and I'll see the various festivities and manufacturers, l'm NOT looking forward to dealing with so many people for 6 hours/day.
Yeah . . . . I know . . . . what am I crying about, right?
If you ever come to Northern Italy, you must see Lake Como.
Because I didn't do a great job of arranging a hotel for us (probably b/c they're all ridiculously expensive), we ended up staying in a hostel in Menaggio. Other than the tiny showers and having to share a room with another couple for a night, it was great, cheap, AND had an awesome view.
After dropping off Ayumi at Malpensa the next morning, I headed to Verel/Chambery, France, which is where I am now. I've spent the last 2 days flying w/Lou Marck at Verel - what a great site to train acro. Launch is at 905m and LZ's around 330m - if you can get to 1000-1100m, you'll have enough height to do infinites, which is what these guys do all the time. Then you bench back up using ridge or thermal lift - and this doesn't even include the additional 500 - 600m you'd get off the mountain behind it on the good days!
The lower bench reminds me of Mussel Rock, just 300 m higher . . . . I'll post some pics, along w/a hundred others, when I get home.
I've been at a McDonald's for the last few hours. If there's one good thing about them (at least in France) is that they all have free WiFi, which is great for a loser like me who can't stay disconnected for more than a few days.
Tonight I will head to the Ozone house at St. Hilaire which is where I'll be staying the next 4 nights during Coupe Icare. Even though this is my first time to this most famous flying festival, I'm not entirely excited. While I get to take part (I think) in the acro show they'll have a few hours every day and I'll see the various festivities and manufacturers, l'm NOT looking forward to dealing with so many people for 6 hours/day.
Yeah . . . . I know . . . . what am I crying about, right?
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Ciao Interlaken!
Tonight's my last night in my European home-away-from home.
I wish I could say that Interlaken blew me a farewell kiss with great weather the last few days but that definitely wasn't the case. Instead, we got the first "winter storm" of the year with an expected snow level of 1800 meters . . . . that's only 200 meters above Murren where just a few days ago I was launching in a t-shirt and knicker pants!
What the f--k am I still doing here?????
I feel bad for Ayumi. The first part of her vacation here was spectacular and picturesque; however, the second part had her wishing for the warmer weather of northern Pacifica! Yep, it's f--king cold here right now - be thankful you're in 65 degree Bay Area weather.
I wish I could say that Interlaken blew me a farewell kiss with great weather the last few days but that definitely wasn't the case. Instead, we got the first "winter storm" of the year with an expected snow level of 1800 meters . . . . that's only 200 meters above Murren where just a few days ago I was launching in a t-shirt and knicker pants!
What the f--k am I still doing here?????
I feel bad for Ayumi. The first part of her vacation here was spectacular and picturesque; however, the second part had her wishing for the warmer weather of northern Pacifica! Yep, it's f--king cold here right now - be thankful you're in 65 degree Bay Area weather.
We're not even supposed to be in Interlaken right now. We were supposed to be in Monte Generoso, CH for an acro training camp over Lake Lugano, which is right on the border to Italy. This was organized by an FAI judge, Claudio Cattaneo, whose trying to give exposure to his site. I was really looking forward to trying some Infinites from the Rhythmic SAT, but because of the forecast for 1200% chance of rain, he had to postpone it for another 2 weeks.
So, Ayumi and I are heading straight to Lake Como tomorrow for a few days, then she leaves on Tuesday morning for SF. After I drop her off at Malapensa airport, I head to France to hopefully fly Verel for a few days with Lou Marck (Cyrille Marck's brother), before going to Coupe Icare.
My trip is coming to an end, and honestly, I'm glad. In fact, I wish I could leave with Ayumi on Tuesday! I'm really tired of camping and not having the comforts that I have at home. In addition, I really miss flying at Mussel Rock! I know that sounds crazy, but even with all the places I've trained at in Europe - and I've been to almost all of the top places! - "The Dumps" is still my favorite!
While I'll never get the height like in Europe, with the exception of Organya, there's no other place where you can fly for 6 hours straight and get 30 - 40 refills in smooth air!
Actually . . . . I'm full of sh*t.
Mussel Rock sucks.
So, Ayumi and I are heading straight to Lake Como tomorrow for a few days, then she leaves on Tuesday morning for SF. After I drop her off at Malapensa airport, I head to France to hopefully fly Verel for a few days with Lou Marck (Cyrille Marck's brother), before going to Coupe Icare.
My trip is coming to an end, and honestly, I'm glad. In fact, I wish I could leave with Ayumi on Tuesday! I'm really tired of camping and not having the comforts that I have at home. In addition, I really miss flying at Mussel Rock! I know that sounds crazy, but even with all the places I've trained at in Europe - and I've been to almost all of the top places! - "The Dumps" is still my favorite!
While I'll never get the height like in Europe, with the exception of Organya, there's no other place where you can fly for 6 hours straight and get 30 - 40 refills in smooth air!
Actually . . . . I'm full of sh*t.
Mussel Rock sucks.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Tourist Time!
It's been awhile since I posted last because . . . . well . . . . not much has been happening.
But yesterday, I took the train to Milano to meet up with Ayumi whom I couldn't wait to see again after 3 months of being apart. With only 1 day there (which is more than enough), we had time to see the Duomo and DaVinci's "The Last Supper", with the latter being really cool to see. While I was only there for a day and went solely to these places, this was my first time and last time to Milan . . . . I thought it was pretty dirty and unimpressive.
We took a morning train back to Interlaken which arrived in the afternoon, leaving us enough time to see Grindelwald and visit the happy cows with their big-ass cowbells.
Since the forecast is calling for rain later in the week, we're gonna try and cram in a lot of activities tomorrow starting with the Schilthorn in the morning, some acro flights for me off Murren in the afternoon, then ending the day with a tour of Trummelbachfalle.
As I've mentioned before, my focus has solely been on acro training since being here, so I haven't seen anything. But now that Ayumi's visiting, I get to be a dumb-ass tourist for the first time . . . . yay me!
But yesterday, I took the train to Milano to meet up with Ayumi whom I couldn't wait to see again after 3 months of being apart. With only 1 day there (which is more than enough), we had time to see the Duomo and DaVinci's "The Last Supper", with the latter being really cool to see. While I was only there for a day and went solely to these places, this was my first time and last time to Milan . . . . I thought it was pretty dirty and unimpressive.
We took a morning train back to Interlaken which arrived in the afternoon, leaving us enough time to see Grindelwald and visit the happy cows with their big-ass cowbells.
Since the forecast is calling for rain later in the week, we're gonna try and cram in a lot of activities tomorrow starting with the Schilthorn in the morning, some acro flights for me off Murren in the afternoon, then ending the day with a tour of Trummelbachfalle.
As I've mentioned before, my focus has solely been on acro training since being here, so I haven't seen anything. But now that Ayumi's visiting, I get to be a dumb-ass tourist for the first time . . . . yay me!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
New Blog
Peeps -
So here's the deal . . . . from now on, I'll be posting all PG-related stuff on Ozone's team blog site - my page is here. Any personal rantings or stuff PG-13 rated (which means any paragliding gripe that a pilot with less than 13 years of experience should hear) that shouldn't go on the company blog will, of course, be posted here.
Thanks for your patronage.
Please call ahead for availability.
Have your passport and boarding pass ready.
Make sure your seat is in the upright position and tray tables locked.
Kokode hatara kasete kudosai.
So here's the deal . . . . from now on, I'll be posting all PG-related stuff on Ozone's team blog site - my page is here. Any personal rantings or stuff PG-13 rated (which means any paragliding gripe that a pilot with less than 13 years of experience should hear) that shouldn't go on the company blog will, of course, be posted here.
Thanks for your patronage.
Please call ahead for availability.
Have your passport and boarding pass ready.
Make sure your seat is in the upright position and tray tables locked.
Kokode hatara kasete kudosai.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Back home . . . . kinda.
Yeah . . . . I'm back in Interlaken.
I was supposed to go to Gerlitzen for 6 days to train over water, but I'm no longer going to the Red Bull Dolomitenmann (website may be down) in Lienz, Austria which is only an hour and a half away. Unfortunately, the team organizer had to bow out due to injury. Since Gerlitzen is a 6.5 hour drive from Omegna, it made more sense to come back here and train in Murren where I have pass that I already paid 59CHF for, good 'til early September.
Murren was beautiful the other day - blue skies and all. I started at 10 and did a flight/hour until 4. I started work on my left helicos trying to get the feeling back. I also did the rhythmic on the left side, trying to get the timing down. I've decided to learn/re-learn the infinity by way of the rhythmic SAT, which is really the correct way to do it. On my last flight, I did one on the right and after 4 - 5 rotations, I started to go over the glider a bit but stopped before I started to get into full tumbling since I'm just taking it step-by-step. That evening, Hans, the Swiss Ozone dealer, held his evening acro sessions where you get a ride to Axalp (ski resort), you fly about 2 km and practice over the Brienzer See, then he waits for you in his boat in case you go in the water. (If you've seen the great movie "Play Gravity", the scene where Mathias & Raul are doing a Rodeo Infinity is where I flew. If you haven't seen it, you must!)
I did 2 flights and did more rhythmics, each time able to get the FLX to tumble, but stopping after a few since I don't have the timing yet to transition cleanly to Infinite. This will come but for right now, I'm very happy that I'm getting the timing of the rhythmic itself.
Once I perfect this, the Infinite is sure to come!
It's 12:40 a.m so I'm going to bed. I'll write more about the World Air Games test event and my first helico jump next . . . .
I was supposed to go to Gerlitzen for 6 days to train over water, but I'm no longer going to the Red Bull Dolomitenmann (website may be down) in Lienz, Austria which is only an hour and a half away. Unfortunately, the team organizer had to bow out due to injury. Since Gerlitzen is a 6.5 hour drive from Omegna, it made more sense to come back here and train in Murren where I have pass that I already paid 59CHF for, good 'til early September.
Murren was beautiful the other day - blue skies and all. I started at 10 and did a flight/hour until 4. I started work on my left helicos trying to get the feeling back. I also did the rhythmic on the left side, trying to get the timing down. I've decided to learn/re-learn the infinity by way of the rhythmic SAT, which is really the correct way to do it. On my last flight, I did one on the right and after 4 - 5 rotations, I started to go over the glider a bit but stopped before I started to get into full tumbling since I'm just taking it step-by-step. That evening, Hans, the Swiss Ozone dealer, held his evening acro sessions where you get a ride to Axalp (ski resort), you fly about 2 km and practice over the Brienzer See, then he waits for you in his boat in case you go in the water. (If you've seen the great movie "Play Gravity", the scene where Mathias & Raul are doing a Rodeo Infinity is where I flew. If you haven't seen it, you must!)
I did 2 flights and did more rhythmics, each time able to get the FLX to tumble, but stopping after a few since I don't have the timing yet to transition cleanly to Infinite. This will come but for right now, I'm very happy that I'm getting the timing of the rhythmic itself.
Once I perfect this, the Infinite is sure to come!
It's 12:40 a.m so I'm going to bed. I'll write more about the World Air Games test event and my first helico jump next . . . .
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Acroaria - Run 2
I´m in Torino now and took place in the acro paragliding test event for the World Air Games (WAG) 2009. I´ll post more about this next time.
Regarding Acroaria, I did the same exact routine and did slightly better with another clean run. I don´t know how I did for the day, but I`m happy with my overall results. (We only had 2 runs.) I achieved my goal of making the top 20 by finishing exactly 20th! This is a great improvment over my Paranoia results and will certainly boost my FAI ranking. My APWC ranking is 30th, which isn´t too shabby considering this is my first season.
I don´t have a lot of time to post right now as I´m on someone else's computer using their internet time! I`ll post more soon when I find the next internet spot.
I head back to Omegna to get my car, then go to Gerlitzen, Austria to train, at least that's the plan.
Regarding Acroaria, I did the same exact routine and did slightly better with another clean run. I don´t know how I did for the day, but I`m happy with my overall results. (We only had 2 runs.) I achieved my goal of making the top 20 by finishing exactly 20th! This is a great improvment over my Paranoia results and will certainly boost my FAI ranking. My APWC ranking is 30th, which isn´t too shabby considering this is my first season.
I don´t have a lot of time to post right now as I´m on someone else's computer using their internet time! I`ll post more soon when I find the next internet spot.
I head back to Omegna to get my car, then go to Gerlitzen, Austria to train, at least that's the plan.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Acroaria - Run 1
After 2 days of crappy weather, we finally got to do a solo and synchro run. Besides Vertigo, this is one of most competitive comps of the year as all the best pilots are here, except for a few. Because it's so close to France, all of the best French pilots are here as well as all the Spaniards (i.e., SAT team except for Raul). It's quite impressive to see so many have runs that consist of rhythmic SAT-to-Infinity, helico-to-helico, SAT-to-helico, helico-to-SAT, and then do ground spirals while landing on the raft. These tricks are so difficult to perform under pressure, it's amazing . . . .
As for my run, I was happy with it. I did SAT-helico (yeah - I can do that now), helico, helico-SAT, and misty flip. I scored mid-70s for the first 3 tricks, but got a low score of 66 for the misty. If I made the misty like I usually do, I think I'd be much higher in the standings. One of my goals for this comp is to end up in the top 20 - so far, I'm 20th out of 40 pilots! And if I can do this without ANY dynamic tricks, it'll really be cool!
This season, I haven't practice anything dynamic, like the rhythmic or tumbling. But after this, I go to Gerlitzen, Austria for 6 days to train over the water so - who knows! - I may have the rhythmic to infinity before the summer's over!
Anyways, here's a video of my run:
As for my run, I was happy with it. I did SAT-helico (yeah - I can do that now), helico, helico-SAT, and misty flip. I scored mid-70s for the first 3 tricks, but got a low score of 66 for the misty. If I made the misty like I usually do, I think I'd be much higher in the standings. One of my goals for this comp is to end up in the top 20 - so far, I'm 20th out of 40 pilots! And if I can do this without ANY dynamic tricks, it'll really be cool!
This season, I haven't practice anything dynamic, like the rhythmic or tumbling. But after this, I go to Gerlitzen, Austria for 6 days to train over the water so - who knows! - I may have the rhythmic to infinity before the summer's over!
Anyways, here's a video of my run:
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Leaving for Italy!
The weather was gorgeous today in Interlaken so I got 6 flights at Murren. I got to practice more SAT-to-Helico which I feel I have now since I did 3 in a row. This is important as I abandoned the helico-helico for now and I needed to replace it with another trick with the same difficulty. At Acroaria, we may get to do 5 tricks which means I'll have to one trick on both sides since I'm not doing any dynamic maneuvers in my program. So it looks like I'll just do SAT-to-Helico, Helico-to-SAT, Helico, Misty right, and Misty left - if I do those cleanly and consistently each day, I think I have good chance of placing in the top 20, which is my goal for the comp.
(As a sidenote, since Paranoia, my ranking has gone up to 74th from 97th making me the top-ranked US pilot! WOO-HOO! If I can place in the top 20 in Acroaria, I could break the top 50 in the world - that would be awesome!)
I had a really great practice today. I'm very happy with my helicos since I learned to moderate the rotational speed with the outside break in Organya. While they may be slightly slower, I'm no longer experiencing any oscillations which is typical of helicos that spin too fast. Now I can consistently hold it for 20 - 25 rotations which I was NEVER able to do before. And when they do start to oscillate, I now have the sensitivity on the outside brake to slow the wing down and then speed it up, thus eliminating the problem. (Enleau was teaching me this last year but it wasn't until last week that I REALLY got it.) Now . . . . if I could just get my left helicos back as they've seemed escape me in Organya. Once I start fixing my left side also, I'll be going back to the helico-helico.
On my last run, I did a helico-SAT, then transitioned to SAT-helico, exiting and going to a misty left, then misty-to-helico that was just beautiful - my best one ever - there was no pause, just went right to it. I was super happy with this run so I decided to end practice right there.
I'm back at the Funny Farm now, ready to grab an early dinner at Little Thai, if they're even open this early. I have to say, I've been to many Thai places and this has got to be one of the best EVER. If you come to Interlaken, don't miss this place.
See ya in Italy!
(As a sidenote, since Paranoia, my ranking has gone up to 74th from 97th making me the top-ranked US pilot! WOO-HOO! If I can place in the top 20 in Acroaria, I could break the top 50 in the world - that would be awesome!)
I had a really great practice today. I'm very happy with my helicos since I learned to moderate the rotational speed with the outside break in Organya. While they may be slightly slower, I'm no longer experiencing any oscillations which is typical of helicos that spin too fast. Now I can consistently hold it for 20 - 25 rotations which I was NEVER able to do before. And when they do start to oscillate, I now have the sensitivity on the outside brake to slow the wing down and then speed it up, thus eliminating the problem. (Enleau was teaching me this last year but it wasn't until last week that I REALLY got it.) Now . . . . if I could just get my left helicos back as they've seemed escape me in Organya. Once I start fixing my left side also, I'll be going back to the helico-helico.
On my last run, I did a helico-SAT, then transitioned to SAT-helico, exiting and going to a misty left, then misty-to-helico that was just beautiful - my best one ever - there was no pause, just went right to it. I was super happy with this run so I decided to end practice right there.
I'm back at the Funny Farm now, ready to grab an early dinner at Little Thai, if they're even open this early. I have to say, I've been to many Thai places and this has got to be one of the best EVER. If you come to Interlaken, don't miss this place.
See ya in Italy!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Back at Euro home base
After 17 days in Organya, I'm back to what I consider "home" in Europe . . . . Interlaken. When you've been away from your "real" home for as long as I've been, you need SOME place to call home and I'd say this is it. I know I can easily buy/eat veggie food, where to sleep, where to get on the internet, where to fly, etc.
Seiko and I got back to Annecy after a 10-hour drive from Spain on Saturday night, afterwhich I quickly got my stuff together and took off to meet Arnel, Erik, Antoine, and Arturo in Mens, FR which is southeast from Grenoble. It was REALLY great to see some familiar faces from home, as I've been feeling a bit homesick the last few weeks. While I feel very fortunate to be doing what I'm doing this summer, I'm getting tired of camping - living out of a tent, using communal bathrooms, and sometimes sleeping in my car when putting up the tent isn't practical or possible.
Before leaving for Spain, I spent a night in a friend's room here at the Funny Farm/Mattenhof Resort
where I use the internet all the time. While the room wasn't spectacular, I got to sleep in a bed with a real comforter and a real pillow . . . . it was amazing! Like this, I miss the most basic things from home: laying in my couch, taking a shower in my bathroom, flying at Mussel Rock, driving my car, having toast with margarine, going to King of Thai after flying, sleeping in my bed, holding Ayumi's hand . . . . I've learned to appreciate the most simple things in this trip. While I'm sure upon my return I'll miss Europe, as of today, I'm looking forward to being home.
That said, I plan on doing some training at Murren for the next few days to acclimate myself back to thicker air before heading to Acroaria on Wednesday afternoon. But the weather looks pretty poopy this week here in CH as well as Italy so who knows what will happen. Nevertheless, I will head out there since I have nothing better to do. After Acroaria, I hope to be part of the WAG test event which will be held in Turin, IT. I say "hope" because only a select number of pilots (20 for solo & synchro, I think?) will get to participate based on (order of importance): helico d-bag experience, top 10 finishers in Acroaria, 2008 FAI ranking, fair subdivision among the different countries. Even though I think my chances aren't good, I'm gonna get a d-bag from Pal while I'm here anyways, just in case. Besides, I may have Arnel take me up in a tandem and I'll d-bag at The Dumps which I think would be a first.
You just never know. : )
Seiko and I got back to Annecy after a 10-hour drive from Spain on Saturday night, afterwhich I quickly got my stuff together and took off to meet Arnel, Erik, Antoine, and Arturo in Mens, FR which is southeast from Grenoble. It was REALLY great to see some familiar faces from home, as I've been feeling a bit homesick the last few weeks. While I feel very fortunate to be doing what I'm doing this summer, I'm getting tired of camping - living out of a tent, using communal bathrooms, and sometimes sleeping in my car when putting up the tent isn't practical or possible.
Before leaving for Spain, I spent a night in a friend's room here at the Funny Farm/Mattenhof Resort
where I use the internet all the time. While the room wasn't spectacular, I got to sleep in a bed with a real comforter and a real pillow . . . . it was amazing! Like this, I miss the most basic things from home: laying in my couch, taking a shower in my bathroom, flying at Mussel Rock, driving my car, having toast with margarine, going to King of Thai after flying, sleeping in my bed, holding Ayumi's hand . . . . I've learned to appreciate the most simple things in this trip. While I'm sure upon my return I'll miss Europe, as of today, I'm looking forward to being home.
That said, I plan on doing some training at Murren for the next few days to acclimate myself back to thicker air before heading to Acroaria on Wednesday afternoon. But the weather looks pretty poopy this week here in CH as well as Italy so who knows what will happen. Nevertheless, I will head out there since I have nothing better to do. After Acroaria, I hope to be part of the WAG test event which will be held in Turin, IT. I say "hope" because only a select number of pilots (20 for solo & synchro, I think?) will get to participate based on (order of importance): helico d-bag experience, top 10 finishers in Acroaria, 2008 FAI ranking, fair subdivision among the different countries. Even though I think my chances aren't good, I'm gonna get a d-bag from Pal while I'm here anyways, just in case. Besides, I may have Arnel take me up in a tandem and I'll d-bag at The Dumps which I think would be a first.
You just never know. : )
Friday, August 1, 2008
Organya, Spain
After being here a week and a half, I'd have to say this place hasn't been the most "magical" as advertised. If you're into competitive acro, Organya's is definitely a place to train, but according to other pilots from France and Austria, it's not Shangri-La. One of best French acro pilots is here, and he thinks his site is just as good. Anyways, Organya is located here about 2 hours NW of Barcelona.
Here's my day-to-day:
830 Get up, have breakfast, and go use the internet.
1130 Go back to campsite, hang out with other pilots, read a book, or go to the pool
1500 Lunch
1530 - 1630 Siesta
1645 - 2030 Train acro
2130 - 0030 Go back to campsite, hang out with other pilots, read a book, or party
Repeat
Pretty simple, eh?
Here are the pluses of Organya:
1) about 1000 meters AGL to play with consistently
2) 4 -5 refills an hour
3) the time to fly is always the same
4) many of the best acro pilots to learn from
5) the campsite has free wireless and a swimming pool for 5E/day
And the minuses:
1) training is over the ground, and the ground is hard
2) if you throw your reserve and you aren't far enough away, you'll land in the mountain and that's BAD
2) it's really f-ing hot every day
3) there's NOTHING to do around here other than flying
4) it's a REALLY long drive versus comparable sites in France (10 hours from Annecy, for example)
I haven't been training as hard as I'd like, esp. with the dynamic maneuvers. I was hoping to do more infinity attempts, but I just don't feel comfortable doing it here. So, I'm focusing solely on the SAT/helico, helico/helico, helico/SAT. What I've realized about my acro flying is that I'm a LONG way from where I thought I was, and thinking about doing the Infinite before mastering the above-mentioned tricks is just a joke. Trying the rhythmic is the most I'll be doing.
I think about Seiko, whom I've been camping and hanging out with a lot. She's been flying acro as long as I've been flying, and she's just now learning the rhythmic and tumbling. But, her SAT/helico, helico/helico, helico/SAT are beautiful. In fact, like some of the great pilots here, she can do in 1 continuous run: SAT/helico, helico/helico (3 - 4 times, going back and forth), helico/SAT (other direction).
The 3 other pilots doing this here are all ranked in the top 10. It's simply beautiful to watch.
From what I've seen this summer, we (Americans) aren't even close. IMHO, I'm only the one from the States who's really trying to raise the acro bar and I feel, at times, I'm one of the worst pilots here.
As I sit here in the restaurant, we can see the training box. It's a little too early for most of us to fly (1430 now), but the Spainards, Horatio Llorens and Alejandro Rodriguez, are training. I just watched Horatio, who's the #1 pilot this season, do the following all flawlessly transitioned from one to the next:
Infinite (10 turns)
Helico
SAT
Helico
Helico (left)
Helico (right)
then exited to Misty/Helico.
As I said, we're not even close.
Here's my day-to-day:
830 Get up, have breakfast, and go use the internet.
1130 Go back to campsite, hang out with other pilots, read a book, or go to the pool
1500 Lunch
1530 - 1630 Siesta
1645 - 2030 Train acro
2130 - 0030 Go back to campsite, hang out with other pilots, read a book, or party
Repeat
Pretty simple, eh?
Here are the pluses of Organya:
1) about 1000 meters AGL to play with consistently
2) 4 -5 refills an hour
3) the time to fly is always the same
4) many of the best acro pilots to learn from
5) the campsite has free wireless and a swimming pool for 5E/day
And the minuses:
1) training is over the ground, and the ground is hard
2) if you throw your reserve and you aren't far enough away, you'll land in the mountain and that's BAD
2) it's really f-ing hot every day
3) there's NOTHING to do around here other than flying
4) it's a REALLY long drive versus comparable sites in France (10 hours from Annecy, for example)
I haven't been training as hard as I'd like, esp. with the dynamic maneuvers. I was hoping to do more infinity attempts, but I just don't feel comfortable doing it here. So, I'm focusing solely on the SAT/helico, helico/helico, helico/SAT. What I've realized about my acro flying is that I'm a LONG way from where I thought I was, and thinking about doing the Infinite before mastering the above-mentioned tricks is just a joke. Trying the rhythmic is the most I'll be doing.
I think about Seiko, whom I've been camping and hanging out with a lot. She's been flying acro as long as I've been flying, and she's just now learning the rhythmic and tumbling. But, her SAT/helico, helico/helico, helico/SAT are beautiful. In fact, like some of the great pilots here, she can do in 1 continuous run: SAT/helico, helico/helico (3 - 4 times, going back and forth), helico/SAT (other direction).
The 3 other pilots doing this here are all ranked in the top 10. It's simply beautiful to watch.
From what I've seen this summer, we (Americans) aren't even close. IMHO, I'm only the one from the States who's really trying to raise the acro bar and I feel, at times, I'm one of the worst pilots here.
As I sit here in the restaurant, we can see the training box. It's a little too early for most of us to fly (1430 now), but the Spainards, Horatio Llorens and Alejandro Rodriguez, are training. I just watched Horatio, who's the #1 pilot this season, do the following all flawlessly transitioned from one to the next:
Infinite (10 turns)
Helico
SAT
Helico
Helico (left)
Helico (right)
then exited to Misty/Helico.
As I said, we're not even close.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Paranoia Acrobatixx
I'm back in Interlaken after 5 days in Zell am See and the first time I've had internet since leaving a week ago.
The comp was a great experience despite having done completely shitty in it. I don't even know where I placed but I'm sure it's at the bottom. Really f*cking disappointing but I learned a lot AGAIN about competing.
Atypical for an APWC comp was the fact that we got to announce our program for all 4 runs. Here's what I announced and how I did:
Run 1: helico, helico/helico, helico/SAT
I actually nailed all 3 which was very surprising since it was only the 2nd flight after my accident; in fact, the helico-helico was my first try after I crashed trying it the week before. So, on all levels - physical, psychological, emotional - I did a great run but missed the platform. Good enough for 15th overall out of 35 pilots.
But here's when the wheels come off . . . .
Run 2: same program
I get the helico but miss the helico/helico, do a lackluster helico/SAT, and miss the raft. I now drop to 21st.
Run 3: same program
Not only did I miss each trick, but I lost so much altitude that I couldn't even do the last trick! In addition, when I got pulled up onto the boat, I felt something pop/tear on or near that left gluteal which felt tight all week. Did I mention I missed the platform completely? Not only did I have a crappy run, but I'm really hurting as well. As I'm dripping wet, I contemplate quitting the comp and going home. I just really hated being in that town at that moment. I've now dropped to 28th.
But after a good night of drinks, watching the premiere of "Champions Take Nothing", and hanging out with the other pilots in the campsite, I decide to finish what I started despite the pain.
Run 4: tumble - helico - helico/SAT
So I give up on the helico/helico and decide to do something easier with the tumble, but I didn't get it vertical and the exit wasn't clean so I got a low score for that. Fortunately, after the pendulum from the tumble exit I went right into the helico and nailed it. So, I looked forward to ending it w/a very difficult trick that I actually do well - helico/SAT - but I screwed it up w/a bad helico that lead to no SAT, so I got low points for that. And, oh yeah . . . . I missed the platform.
As I think about the week, here are the good points:
- I got to compete in an APWC event against almost all of the best acro pilots in the world
- Despite the low overall finish, I still get APWC points which will hopefully improve my ranking
- I made some new friends in the world acro community and my name is now recognized among the judges
- The experience sets me up for the worlds in 2010
Here's what I need to work on:
- Forget about the Rhythmic or Infinite until I can perfect the helico and all the combos. Not only is this the right way to learn, but it cannot hurt me for competitions. (In fact, SAT/helico was a trick in the compulsory round at this year's Vertigo. Currently, I can't do this trick.)
As a side note, there are a lot of younger acro pilots who can do the Infinite, but can't helico. In fact, some can't even do asymm spirals to pass a safety selection flight! This isn't right. If there are any aspiring acro pilots reading this, take my advice: don't learn this way! Believe me - you won't get the respect that you think you'll get from real acro pilots 'cause we'll just say, "Oh that's cool . . . . but can you helico? On both sides? You can't? Then why are you doing the Infinite?"
I used to think that if you wanted to finish top 5 in an APWC event, you had to do the Infinite. But after seeing Horatio Llorens win both Vertigo and Paranoia this year w/no infinite (in comps, he just tumbles and does the helico tricks perfect), I no longer believe this. While you definitely need to do some high-coefficient tricks, they need to be completely clean and as close as possible to what the judges want. Being radical and hard core neither garners respect nor points.
Because of this realization, I've decided to take a road trip with my new Japanese friend ('cause I get to speak nihongo w/her), Seiko, to Organya, Spain for 3 weeks train my ass off for Acroaria in mid-August. This is a legendary training spot of the SAT brothers, and the place where the best acro pilots have trained many times in their career. Called the "Magic Mountain", it's too hot and thermic to fly before 4, but after . . . . it's 4 -5 hours of smooth refills with a working altitude of 1000 meters. Even though it's over ground, this is what acro pilots dream of. In addition, the campsite has a swimming pool and free wifi, all for 5E a day!
Despite my injury, I'm so f*cking excited to go. Not only will I learn from all the great pilots who'll be there, but I know I'll be getting to higher levels in my acro flying.
See ya in Espana!
The comp was a great experience despite having done completely shitty in it. I don't even know where I placed but I'm sure it's at the bottom. Really f*cking disappointing but I learned a lot AGAIN about competing.
Atypical for an APWC comp was the fact that we got to announce our program for all 4 runs. Here's what I announced and how I did:
Run 1: helico, helico/helico, helico/SAT
I actually nailed all 3 which was very surprising since it was only the 2nd flight after my accident; in fact, the helico-helico was my first try after I crashed trying it the week before. So, on all levels - physical, psychological, emotional - I did a great run but missed the platform. Good enough for 15th overall out of 35 pilots.
But here's when the wheels come off . . . .
Run 2: same program
I get the helico but miss the helico/helico, do a lackluster helico/SAT, and miss the raft. I now drop to 21st.
Run 3: same program
Not only did I miss each trick, but I lost so much altitude that I couldn't even do the last trick! In addition, when I got pulled up onto the boat, I felt something pop/tear on or near that left gluteal which felt tight all week. Did I mention I missed the platform completely? Not only did I have a crappy run, but I'm really hurting as well. As I'm dripping wet, I contemplate quitting the comp and going home. I just really hated being in that town at that moment. I've now dropped to 28th.
But after a good night of drinks, watching the premiere of "Champions Take Nothing", and hanging out with the other pilots in the campsite, I decide to finish what I started despite the pain.
Run 4: tumble - helico - helico/SAT
So I give up on the helico/helico and decide to do something easier with the tumble, but I didn't get it vertical and the exit wasn't clean so I got a low score for that. Fortunately, after the pendulum from the tumble exit I went right into the helico and nailed it. So, I looked forward to ending it w/a very difficult trick that I actually do well - helico/SAT - but I screwed it up w/a bad helico that lead to no SAT, so I got low points for that. And, oh yeah . . . . I missed the platform.
As I think about the week, here are the good points:
- I got to compete in an APWC event against almost all of the best acro pilots in the world
- Despite the low overall finish, I still get APWC points which will hopefully improve my ranking
- I made some new friends in the world acro community and my name is now recognized among the judges
- The experience sets me up for the worlds in 2010
Here's what I need to work on:
- Forget about the Rhythmic or Infinite until I can perfect the helico and all the combos. Not only is this the right way to learn, but it cannot hurt me for competitions. (In fact, SAT/helico was a trick in the compulsory round at this year's Vertigo. Currently, I can't do this trick.)
As a side note, there are a lot of younger acro pilots who can do the Infinite, but can't helico. In fact, some can't even do asymm spirals to pass a safety selection flight! This isn't right. If there are any aspiring acro pilots reading this, take my advice: don't learn this way! Believe me - you won't get the respect that you think you'll get from real acro pilots 'cause we'll just say, "Oh that's cool . . . . but can you helico? On both sides? You can't? Then why are you doing the Infinite?"
I used to think that if you wanted to finish top 5 in an APWC event, you had to do the Infinite. But after seeing Horatio Llorens win both Vertigo and Paranoia this year w/no infinite (in comps, he just tumbles and does the helico tricks perfect), I no longer believe this. While you definitely need to do some high-coefficient tricks, they need to be completely clean and as close as possible to what the judges want. Being radical and hard core neither garners respect nor points.
Because of this realization, I've decided to take a road trip with my new Japanese friend ('cause I get to speak nihongo w/her), Seiko, to Organya, Spain for 3 weeks train my ass off for Acroaria in mid-August. This is a legendary training spot of the SAT brothers, and the place where the best acro pilots have trained many times in their career. Called the "Magic Mountain", it's too hot and thermic to fly before 4, but after . . . . it's 4 -5 hours of smooth refills with a working altitude of 1000 meters. Even though it's over ground, this is what acro pilots dream of. In addition, the campsite has a swimming pool and free wifi, all for 5E a day!
Despite my injury, I'm so f*cking excited to go. Not only will I learn from all the great pilots who'll be there, but I know I'll be getting to higher levels in my acro flying.
See ya in Espana!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Off to Austria
Tomorrow morning I head to Zell am See for Paranoia Acrobatixx which will be my first Aerobatic Paragliding World Championship (APWC) event. (Vertigo should've been my first . . . . yeah, still pissed about that.)
After 3 straight days of rain, it's finally gonna be clear tomorrow so I hope to get out to Murren early and get some flights before facing the 6-hour drive. This is crucial since it'll be my first flight since the accident as I really didn't want the 1st run in Austria to be it!
Regarding the accident, I'm almost 100% except for some tightness in my left gluteal. After looking at my harness and jacket, and feeling where it hurts on my body, I clearly landed perfectly flat on my leftside, which obviously dissipated the impact energy evenly, making it the only way to avoid breaking anything (except my sunglasses).
Geezus. If it wasn't for hanging solely on my right carabiner as I fell, I'd be in a body cast for sure.
My FLX didn't go unscathed either; it suffered a tear which I quickly had the Swiss Ozone importer repair. He and his wife have a great business JUST selling Ozone wings and doing repairs. Amazing.
Every night in Interlaken, I come to the Funny Farm which is part of the Mattenhof Resort to use their free wifi and basically hang out since it's warm in here and not-so in my tent. If you didn't already know (I didn't before I got here two weeks ago), Interlaken is the extreme sports capital of Europe where a tourist can try paragliding, hanggliding, canyoning, river rafting, skydiving, and zorbing in the summer. The town is just full of American college students who are traveling throughout Europe in an urban backpacking trip.
It's pretty scary.
But the money you can make off these kids is phenomenal. One of my friends here, Sebastian, has been doing PG tandems since last summer. If he hustles and averages 4 tandems/day (VERY conservative number) during this time (3 -4 month period), he can take the rest of the year off and travel. Can you imagine?
While you won't get rich and receive any stock options, it sure sounds better than a cube job, eh? But before any of you T3s get any funny ideas and quit your day job, go get at least 2500 tandem flights, and maybe - just maybe! - your T3 will be transferable. But I seriously doubt it. The requirements to get a coveted Swiss tandem license make the USHPA ones look like 3rd grade.
That said, there are some major business opportunities in Interlaken if you can create something for them to do when it rains . . . . or anything involving a certain green plant.
See you guys next when I'm in Austria!
After 3 straight days of rain, it's finally gonna be clear tomorrow so I hope to get out to Murren early and get some flights before facing the 6-hour drive. This is crucial since it'll be my first flight since the accident as I really didn't want the 1st run in Austria to be it!
Regarding the accident, I'm almost 100% except for some tightness in my left gluteal. After looking at my harness and jacket, and feeling where it hurts on my body, I clearly landed perfectly flat on my leftside, which obviously dissipated the impact energy evenly, making it the only way to avoid breaking anything (except my sunglasses).
Geezus. If it wasn't for hanging solely on my right carabiner as I fell, I'd be in a body cast for sure.
My FLX didn't go unscathed either; it suffered a tear which I quickly had the Swiss Ozone importer repair. He and his wife have a great business JUST selling Ozone wings and doing repairs. Amazing.
Every night in Interlaken, I come to the Funny Farm which is part of the Mattenhof Resort to use their free wifi and basically hang out since it's warm in here and not-so in my tent. If you didn't already know (I didn't before I got here two weeks ago), Interlaken is the extreme sports capital of Europe where a tourist can try paragliding, hanggliding, canyoning, river rafting, skydiving, and zorbing in the summer. The town is just full of American college students who are traveling throughout Europe in an urban backpacking trip.
It's pretty scary.
But the money you can make off these kids is phenomenal. One of my friends here, Sebastian, has been doing PG tandems since last summer. If he hustles and averages 4 tandems/day (VERY conservative number) during this time (3 -4 month period), he can take the rest of the year off and travel. Can you imagine?
While you won't get rich and receive any stock options, it sure sounds better than a cube job, eh? But before any of you T3s get any funny ideas and quit your day job, go get at least 2500 tandem flights, and maybe - just maybe! - your T3 will be transferable. But I seriously doubt it. The requirements to get a coveted Swiss tandem license make the USHPA ones look like 3rd grade.
That said, there are some major business opportunities in Interlaken if you can create something for them to do when it rains . . . . or anything involving a certain green plant.
See you guys next when I'm in Austria!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
I'm a Luckbox*
*Luckbox - "A person so full of luck in poker that it is disgusting and ridiculous. There is surely some skill involved, but a luckbox will demonstrate more luck mixed in with that skill than any other player.....ever......in the history of the world......even more than Chris Moneymaker, which is just absurd."
- Urban dictionary
The weather was gorgeous today so I got to Murren early to start training before Paranoia Acrobatixx starts in a week. I was really motivated to get a lot of flights so I hustled from the beginning to do 2 flights an hour. (Usually, you'll get a flight an hour as the gondola runs at :25 after the hour, then 30 min. later at :55.) Since the flight lasts about 3 - 4 minutes (like a tow), it's possible to do this.
After practicing some real basic stuff like asym sprials and dynamic full stalls, I decided to practice the run I'd do at Paranoia: tumble, helico - helico, helico - SAT. At this comp, we won't get much height - maybe 500 meters? - so we'll only have room for 3 tricks.
On my fifth flight, I go for a high tumble. Because my entry was either too slow or I didn't pull enough, the wing went limp after the second turn, causing the left side to collapse into the lines causing a line over/bowtie. Having seen this before over the lake, I knew it wasn't correctable so I decided to throw my reserve before things got ugly. The reserve opened just fine as I began to pull the wing in. Although I landed hard, thanks to the PLF, I landed perfectly, dissipating the energy across my body, in one of the grass fields without a scratch. I folded up my wing, stuffed the reserve in the harness, and walked back to my car. Because I was trying out my friend's harness, I simply put his in the car, grabbed my own harness and was on the next gondola 30 minutes later. For me, it's important to get right back "on the horse" so I don't experience "paralysis by analysis". It happened, I learned from it, so move on . . . .
Skip forward 2 flights.
The flight after the reserve toss was pretty eventful, so on the next one, I was gonna try my routine again, sans the tumble. So, it was just gonna be the helico - helico (twister)and helico - SAT. Although I just started nailing the twister earlier in the week, I wanted to get it cleaner and also incorporate it into an actual run.
I start my run around 700 meters or so. The left helico was perfect - going fast, no oscillations, and completely open. I slowed the right side down after 6 - 7 rotations, and held the wing in parachutal, preparing it to go the other way. However, I did this for too long which will make the wing want to re-start VERY hard. (On an acro glider, if you aren't ready for it, this can be very bad.)
Because I gave the wing too much "re-start power", the left side spun super-fast when I let it fly - so much so that my body couldn't follow thereby causing - in 2 seconds! - 2 riser twists. Now this isn't so bad as I'd simply take my hands out of the toggles and get control of the glider using the rear risers (the PG adage "steer then clear" is good to remember) before the wing starts to wind up in a deep spiral dive. But as soon as I started to do this, the wing suddenly shot out in front of me (in a 2nd re-start?) causing a severe collapse on the left wing tip - or should I say the ENTIRE left side! - so severe that as my falling body passed by the wing, I got caught in the lines.
"Oh Shit!" (OS!) #1: I'm now partially covered in lines, leaned entirely on the left side, and starting to spin uncontrollably. (I don't think I was spiraling because the wing was on top of me the whole time - it started spinning to the left faster and faster.)
OS! moment #2: I go for my right reserve but realize that there are lines covering it. Somehow I get the reserve out of the container but it doesn't fully come out. My guess is because of the lines. I never saw it deploy.
OS! moment #3: Not seeing any good results from OS moment #2, I go for my 2nd reserve which is now underneath me. Because that side isn't covered in lines, I'm able to pull the reserve and it comes out of the container, but it doesn't deploy right away! Somehow, even though I'm spinning uncontrollably, I look up and the see the d-bag with my last reserve floating above me. As any reasonable person would do after having experienced 3 consecutive OS moments, I tugged the F*CK out of the lines to get the reserve out and - VOILA! - it began to open up.
WHEW moment #1: The reserve starts to inflate and I'm elated . . . . but this lasts for 2 seconds.
OS! moment #4: Because I'm spinning so fast and didn't have enough time to pull the wing in, it starts wrapping around the reserve which is just starting to inflate.
OS! moment #5: My last reserve can't inflate. Realizing this, I do my best to somehow unwrap the reserve from the wing. While obviously a desperate measure, I needed to do something.
OS! moment #6: Desperate measure doesn't work. I'm now spinning to the ground with only the hope that whatever part of the wing and whatever part of the reserve that are opened will somehow slow my descent.
OS! moment #7: I'm somehow able to make out that I'll be falling close to a house and hoping that the valley wind will somehow push me away from it.
After seven (7) OS! moments, I hit the ground, unsure of whether or not I PLF'ed, thankful that I missed the house . . . . by 3 meters. As I write this, I have no idea how I landed. All I know is that I landed "perfectly", as you'll soon read.
From all this, after having been checked out by a doctor for any back or spinal injury, I walk away with only a concussion, a bruised left eye, some sore back muscles, and a cut on my right pinkie caused by the one of the lines. I'm grateful that all I have to face is 2 days of painful rest.
Consider that a real WHEW moment.
I want to thank some of the local pilots whose names escape me at the moment for their help in folding my wing and gathering the reserves, driving my car to the hospital, then giving me a ride home.
What I've learned from this is simple . . . . I should take all the money I have and play in as many lotteries as possible in as many countries that have them.
Being the luckbox that I am, there's no doubt I will win every one.
- Urban dictionary
The weather was gorgeous today so I got to Murren early to start training before Paranoia Acrobatixx starts in a week. I was really motivated to get a lot of flights so I hustled from the beginning to do 2 flights an hour. (Usually, you'll get a flight an hour as the gondola runs at :25 after the hour, then 30 min. later at :55.) Since the flight lasts about 3 - 4 minutes (like a tow), it's possible to do this.
After practicing some real basic stuff like asym sprials and dynamic full stalls, I decided to practice the run I'd do at Paranoia: tumble, helico - helico, helico - SAT. At this comp, we won't get much height - maybe 500 meters? - so we'll only have room for 3 tricks.
On my fifth flight, I go for a high tumble. Because my entry was either too slow or I didn't pull enough, the wing went limp after the second turn, causing the left side to collapse into the lines causing a line over/bowtie. Having seen this before over the lake, I knew it wasn't correctable so I decided to throw my reserve before things got ugly. The reserve opened just fine as I began to pull the wing in. Although I landed hard, thanks to the PLF, I landed perfectly, dissipating the energy across my body, in one of the grass fields without a scratch. I folded up my wing, stuffed the reserve in the harness, and walked back to my car. Because I was trying out my friend's harness, I simply put his in the car, grabbed my own harness and was on the next gondola 30 minutes later. For me, it's important to get right back "on the horse" so I don't experience "paralysis by analysis". It happened, I learned from it, so move on . . . .
Skip forward 2 flights.
The flight after the reserve toss was pretty eventful, so on the next one, I was gonna try my routine again, sans the tumble. So, it was just gonna be the helico - helico (twister)and helico - SAT. Although I just started nailing the twister earlier in the week, I wanted to get it cleaner and also incorporate it into an actual run.
I start my run around 700 meters or so. The left helico was perfect - going fast, no oscillations, and completely open. I slowed the right side down after 6 - 7 rotations, and held the wing in parachutal, preparing it to go the other way. However, I did this for too long which will make the wing want to re-start VERY hard. (On an acro glider, if you aren't ready for it, this can be very bad.)
Because I gave the wing too much "re-start power", the left side spun super-fast when I let it fly - so much so that my body couldn't follow thereby causing - in 2 seconds! - 2 riser twists. Now this isn't so bad as I'd simply take my hands out of the toggles and get control of the glider using the rear risers (the PG adage "steer then clear" is good to remember) before the wing starts to wind up in a deep spiral dive. But as soon as I started to do this, the wing suddenly shot out in front of me (in a 2nd re-start?) causing a severe collapse on the left wing tip - or should I say the ENTIRE left side! - so severe that as my falling body passed by the wing, I got caught in the lines.
"Oh Shit!" (OS!) #1: I'm now partially covered in lines, leaned entirely on the left side, and starting to spin uncontrollably. (I don't think I was spiraling because the wing was on top of me the whole time - it started spinning to the left faster and faster.)
OS! moment #2: I go for my right reserve but realize that there are lines covering it. Somehow I get the reserve out of the container but it doesn't fully come out. My guess is because of the lines. I never saw it deploy.
OS! moment #3: Not seeing any good results from OS moment #2, I go for my 2nd reserve which is now underneath me. Because that side isn't covered in lines, I'm able to pull the reserve and it comes out of the container, but it doesn't deploy right away! Somehow, even though I'm spinning uncontrollably, I look up and the see the d-bag with my last reserve floating above me. As any reasonable person would do after having experienced 3 consecutive OS moments, I tugged the F*CK out of the lines to get the reserve out and - VOILA! - it began to open up.
WHEW moment #1: The reserve starts to inflate and I'm elated . . . . but this lasts for 2 seconds.
OS! moment #4: Because I'm spinning so fast and didn't have enough time to pull the wing in, it starts wrapping around the reserve which is just starting to inflate.
OS! moment #5: My last reserve can't inflate. Realizing this, I do my best to somehow unwrap the reserve from the wing. While obviously a desperate measure, I needed to do something.
OS! moment #6: Desperate measure doesn't work. I'm now spinning to the ground with only the hope that whatever part of the wing and whatever part of the reserve that are opened will somehow slow my descent.
OS! moment #7: I'm somehow able to make out that I'll be falling close to a house and hoping that the valley wind will somehow push me away from it.
After seven (7) OS! moments, I hit the ground, unsure of whether or not I PLF'ed, thankful that I missed the house . . . . by 3 meters. As I write this, I have no idea how I landed. All I know is that I landed "perfectly", as you'll soon read.
From all this, after having been checked out by a doctor for any back or spinal injury, I walk away with only a concussion, a bruised left eye, some sore back muscles, and a cut on my right pinkie caused by the one of the lines. I'm grateful that all I have to face is 2 days of painful rest.
Consider that a real WHEW moment.
I want to thank some of the local pilots whose names escape me at the moment for their help in folding my wing and gathering the reserves, driving my car to the hospital, then giving me a ride home.
What I've learned from this is simple . . . . I should take all the money I have and play in as many lotteries as possible in as many countries that have them.
Being the luckbox that I am, there's no doubt I will win every one.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Nissan Outdoor Games
Last night they premiered all the teams' movies and photographs to an audience of around 1500 in Interlaken.
4 movies were shown and I must say, most of them were professionally done and very impressive. I was on Team IBEX and although our film,"The Red Helmet", didn't have the most amazing action sequences for some of the individual sports - paragliding was quite short! - I feel our movie was BY FAR the best . . . . and most emotional as you'll see.
It's been an awesome 5 days and I feel very privileged and proud to have been a part of it. There was a lot of hard work, frustration, respect, elation, fun, and tragedy felt by everyone and I hope that I'll get the chance to do it again in future.
I'll post some pics as well.
Note: When you go to the site and pick "videos", a player will automatically come on your screen and start showing the different teams' films. You'll know which one you're watching by looking on the bottom left.
Please enjoy them!
4 movies were shown and I must say, most of them were professionally done and very impressive. I was on Team IBEX and although our film,"The Red Helmet", didn't have the most amazing action sequences for some of the individual sports - paragliding was quite short! - I feel our movie was BY FAR the best . . . . and most emotional as you'll see.
It's been an awesome 5 days and I feel very privileged and proud to have been a part of it. There was a lot of hard work, frustration, respect, elation, fun, and tragedy felt by everyone and I hope that I'll get the chance to do it again in future.
I'll post some pics as well.
Note: When you go to the site and pick "videos", a player will automatically come on your screen and start showing the different teams' films. You'll know which one you're watching by looking on the bottom left.
Please enjoy them!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Interlaken, CH
Hey all -
Ayumi told me that some of the guys are complaining that I haven't updated my blog, so . . . . sorry!
I've been in Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen valley since Saturday and have been very busy every day shooting and helping the athletes on my team with their shoots for the Nissan Outdoor Games. It's pretty awesome working with such high-level athletes who are absolutely sick in their respective sports. It's not until the end of the night that we get to see the day's footage of a teammate. What's hilarious is that we all say, "Man, that's just crazy . . . . I'd never do something that scary" when some of us wingsuit 50 ft by rocks or climb 10 pitches in a day or tumble over glider 20 times. We all get excited seeing what others do.
The peer respect is amazing.
My paragliding partner is Gabor Kezi from www.justacro.com and today we took some footage of him doing the infinity, while Loren did the camera work on a tandem. Tomorrow they will take footage of me doing some stuff so hopefully I won't f*ck it up! : )
Re Vertigo, I found out from Gabor that I totally could've competed despite the fact that the organizers sent me an email saying the contrary. He had some friends who got the same email and were pissed that they didn't go. All the BS about "we're only taking the top 30" is just that . . . . f*cking BS. This is the biggest comp of the year and they couldn't even get the top guys to show up. Now I know to never believe the hype and just show up. F*cking pisses me off, man, 'cause I was in Chamonix and I EASILY could've gone.
ANYWAYS, I have a ranking now! It's WAY down there (#91), but hey . . . . I'm in the system! It can only get better from here, right?
Hope my boys back at Mussel Rock are having fun without me. I hear that Arnel will be helping Ayumi on the radio . . . . WTF??????
Ayumi told me that some of the guys are complaining that I haven't updated my blog, so . . . . sorry!
I've been in Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen valley since Saturday and have been very busy every day shooting and helping the athletes on my team with their shoots for the Nissan Outdoor Games. It's pretty awesome working with such high-level athletes who are absolutely sick in their respective sports. It's not until the end of the night that we get to see the day's footage of a teammate. What's hilarious is that we all say, "Man, that's just crazy . . . . I'd never do something that scary" when some of us wingsuit 50 ft by rocks or climb 10 pitches in a day or tumble over glider 20 times. We all get excited seeing what others do.
The peer respect is amazing.
My paragliding partner is Gabor Kezi from www.justacro.com and today we took some footage of him doing the infinity, while Loren did the camera work on a tandem. Tomorrow they will take footage of me doing some stuff so hopefully I won't f*ck it up! : )
Re Vertigo, I found out from Gabor that I totally could've competed despite the fact that the organizers sent me an email saying the contrary. He had some friends who got the same email and were pissed that they didn't go. All the BS about "we're only taking the top 30" is just that . . . . f*cking BS. This is the biggest comp of the year and they couldn't even get the top guys to show up. Now I know to never believe the hype and just show up. F*cking pisses me off, man, 'cause I was in Chamonix and I EASILY could've gone.
ANYWAYS, I have a ranking now! It's WAY down there (#91), but hey . . . . I'm in the system! It can only get better from here, right?
Hope my boys back at Mussel Rock are having fun without me. I hear that Arnel will be helping Ayumi on the radio . . . . WTF??????
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Chamonix
After a brief trip back to Pacifica, I'm now in Chamonix for a few days.
Here's what happened in the last few weeks:
- From Norway/Frankfurt, I drove to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland to take part in an Ozone photo shoot. It was non-stop for 2 days from the day I arrived to the day I left, and was more work than fun since I didn't get to free fly much.
- I was asked by Matt to be part of the Nissan Outdoor Games taking place in Interlaken. This is basically 5 teams consisting of BASE jumpers, rock climbers, MTBers, paragliders, and kayakers with their own photographer and videographer who are trying to make the most extreme video they can in 5 days. They also had this during the past winter in Chamonix. I'll be on Team IBEX.
- Driving from CH to FR, Loren and I were stopped at border control and thoroughly searched for any evidence of drugs. (All I can say is that they found no evidence of drug trafficking.) We sat and watched as they went through every pocket and opened any zipper they could find. Not even the engine was spared!
Vertigo in Villeneuve is happening this week but, unfortunately, I don't get to compete since I'm not in the top 30. But, I do get to compete in Paranoia Acrobatixx in Zell Am See, Austria. I was selected along 4 others as a "newcomer acro pilot". Since I'm now ranked, I won't have to do a safety selection flight . . . . I hope!
I've got some new photos up although they're not in chronological order. Enjoy!
Here's what happened in the last few weeks:
- From Norway/Frankfurt, I drove to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland to take part in an Ozone photo shoot. It was non-stop for 2 days from the day I arrived to the day I left, and was more work than fun since I didn't get to free fly much.
- I was asked by Matt to be part of the Nissan Outdoor Games taking place in Interlaken. This is basically 5 teams consisting of BASE jumpers, rock climbers, MTBers, paragliders, and kayakers with their own photographer and videographer who are trying to make the most extreme video they can in 5 days. They also had this during the past winter in Chamonix. I'll be on Team IBEX.
- Driving from CH to FR, Loren and I were stopped at border control and thoroughly searched for any evidence of drugs. (All I can say is that they found no evidence of drug trafficking.) We sat and watched as they went through every pocket and opened any zipper they could find. Not even the engine was spared!
Vertigo in Villeneuve is happening this week but, unfortunately, I don't get to compete since I'm not in the top 30. But, I do get to compete in Paranoia Acrobatixx in Zell Am See, Austria. I was selected along 4 others as a "newcomer acro pilot". Since I'm now ranked, I won't have to do a safety selection flight . . . . I hope!
I've got some new photos up although they're not in chronological order. Enjoy!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Final Run
As I mentioned before, it's very important for us pilots that we get at least 2 runs so that the FAI recognizes it as a valid comp thereby giving us rankings. 4 runs in a comp is ideal as this will give us 100% access to the points available to give us a higher ranking. (With only 2 runs, it's 60%. With 3, it's 90%.)
So, we were all stoked to get this run in the afternoon. I really wanted to make this last one my best as I felt I've underperformed to my potential all week, despite it being my first comp.
My program:
1) Tumble: My entry was perfect, the wing went under me at 180 degrees and fully inflated, so much so that it was ready to do the Infinity if I had let it go. But because it had so much energy after the first tumble, I had to really pull the brakes hard to stop it, which made the wing bend, something the judges don't want to see. Despite the fact that I got completely over the wing, my score was disappointingly lower because of the exit.
2) Helico: Nailed it.
3) Helico - SAT: Nailed it too, although my score wasn't as high as previous runs.
4) Misty Flip (R): Good flow entry from SAT, but the pendulum wasn't that high and the wing wasn't fully inflated. Definitely need to work on this.
5) Misty Flip (L)L Good flow from the right MF, but same issues.
Landing: I could've taken a nice easy glide to the platform because it was the last day and I didn't want to deal with drying anything, but - NOOOOOOO - I had to go for some points with another foot drag. So yeah . . . . it took all night for everything to dry.
Indeed, it was my best run which ended my comp on a high note as I took 3rd for the final run, enabling me to finish 7th out of 14. Not a bad showing for my first comp but I do expect much better next time.
Overall, my trip to Norway was well worth it as I achieved my goal of earning a ranking (getting in the FAI system), while at the same time, making friends with some great Norwegian/Swedish pilots who welcomed me and were genuinely friendly from the day I arrived. While everyone wanted to do their best and be competitive, everyone was supportive of each other and simply having a great time. I know the atmosphere at other acro comps I will attend will not be like this, so I'm glad to have experienced my first one with these guys. Since they always have 4 or so events in their Norwegian Cup every year, I know I'll come again if at all possible.
So, we were all stoked to get this run in the afternoon. I really wanted to make this last one my best as I felt I've underperformed to my potential all week, despite it being my first comp.
My program:
1) Tumble: My entry was perfect, the wing went under me at 180 degrees and fully inflated, so much so that it was ready to do the Infinity if I had let it go. But because it had so much energy after the first tumble, I had to really pull the brakes hard to stop it, which made the wing bend, something the judges don't want to see. Despite the fact that I got completely over the wing, my score was disappointingly lower because of the exit.
2) Helico: Nailed it.
3) Helico - SAT: Nailed it too, although my score wasn't as high as previous runs.
4) Misty Flip (R): Good flow entry from SAT, but the pendulum wasn't that high and the wing wasn't fully inflated. Definitely need to work on this.
5) Misty Flip (L)L Good flow from the right MF, but same issues.
Landing: I could've taken a nice easy glide to the platform because it was the last day and I didn't want to deal with drying anything, but - NOOOOOOO - I had to go for some points with another foot drag. So yeah . . . . it took all night for everything to dry.
Indeed, it was my best run which ended my comp on a high note as I took 3rd for the final run, enabling me to finish 7th out of 14. Not a bad showing for my first comp but I do expect much better next time.
Overall, my trip to Norway was well worth it as I achieved my goal of earning a ranking (getting in the FAI system), while at the same time, making friends with some great Norwegian/Swedish pilots who welcomed me and were genuinely friendly from the day I arrived. While everyone wanted to do their best and be competitive, everyone was supportive of each other and simply having a great time. I know the atmosphere at other acro comps I will attend will not be like this, so I'm glad to have experienced my first one with these guys. Since they always have 4 or so events in their Norwegian Cup every year, I know I'll come again if at all possible.
Run 3
After getting an email in the morning from Ayumi of a family member who was gravely ill, my focus was elsewhere as we began the comp at 10 a.m. to take advantage of the clear weather.
Here was my program:
1) Rhythmic SAT: Definitely got the wing to start tumbling but I don't think I got to 135 degrees,
2) Helico: Unlike the previous runs, couldn't do it. As I've always said, you can't helico w/out a proper parachutal, so this caused the failure.
3) Helico - SAT: Got the wing to helico, but it was super-stable, therefore the SAT wasn't clean.
4) MIsty Flip (R): Not a great one, wing wasn't full open and didn't have good amplitude.
5) Misty Flip (L): Same as above.
Landing: Nice foot drag, but came up short again. WATER!!!!!
All-in-all, it was my worst run. Not sure if it was because the news I received in the morning or what, but I definitely wasn't into it and it showed.
For some reason, the judges scored me for attempting/doing the MIsty-Tumble for the last 2 tricks when I only wrote Misty Flip. This is obviously a harder trick so I got higher coefficients for it and, thus, the score had more weight. After Run 3, I slipped back to 8th overall.
Here was my program:
1) Rhythmic SAT: Definitely got the wing to start tumbling but I don't think I got to 135 degrees,
2) Helico: Unlike the previous runs, couldn't do it. As I've always said, you can't helico w/out a proper parachutal, so this caused the failure.
3) Helico - SAT: Got the wing to helico, but it was super-stable, therefore the SAT wasn't clean.
4) MIsty Flip (R): Not a great one, wing wasn't full open and didn't have good amplitude.
5) Misty Flip (L): Same as above.
Landing: Nice foot drag, but came up short again. WATER!!!!!
All-in-all, it was my worst run. Not sure if it was because the news I received in the morning or what, but I definitely wasn't into it and it showed.
For some reason, the judges scored me for attempting/doing the MIsty-Tumble for the last 2 tricks when I only wrote Misty Flip. This is obviously a harder trick so I got higher coefficients for it and, thus, the score had more weight. After Run 3, I slipped back to 8th overall.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Run 2
I'm back from Norway and in Frankfurt now. Will be heading to Switzerland tomorrow. Here's what happened on Run 2:
Later on the first day, we were able to do the 2nd run. Now this is unusual as acro comps will have only 1 run per day, usually so that wet equipment will have time to dry, but also due to the number of competitors. But since we're in Norway, the sun's still out at 10 p.m., there are only 13 pilots, and we had 2 boats running, it's possible to have multiple runs.
This run is announced by the pilot, so here's what I had planned and how I did:
1) Tumble - bad entry which gave me a collapse right from the start. Had a line slacker when the wing was below me and I fell right past it. (I think the lines whizzed right by my head.) Luckily, the wing re-opened w/a small cravatte that I got undone quickly, allowing me to continue.
2) Infinity - bad entry which only gave me the energy for 2 turns, plus a bad exit. Have to do 3 turns with a fully open wing and a smooth exit for max points.
3) Helico - nailed it again. 3 rotations flat and open.
4) Helico - SAT - nailed this one too. I basically held the helico for 3 more rotations before transitioning to the SAT, which required 3 rotations of its own.
5) Misty Flip - good by normal standards, but not enough for a very high score. I needed to be at 90 degrees before spinning the wing 360 behind me, then exit in the same direction as I entered.
Landing - WATER!
My program was just way too ambitious this early in the comp, particularly going for the Infinity when I've only done a few "FAI" ones previously. What Pal Hammer Rognoy, a respected Swedish acro pilot who has a high world ranking, told me was "practice is practice but a competition is a competition - you want to show the judges what you can do, not what you're working on."
Note to self: Do what he just said.
Because my routine was too aggressive, I received no points for the infinity, low points for the tumble and misty, and good points for the helico and helico-SAT. Guys who did easier tricks, such as the dynamic full stall, SAT, asymm 360, etc., scored better than I did. But because I did tricks with high difficulty coefficients, I think got 6th or 7th for the day even though I only received points for 4 tricks.
Still in 6th overall and more importantly . . . . we have a valid FAI acro comp! Even if the comp ended today, I'd still earn an FAI ranking. Goal #4 . . . . CHECK!
Later on the first day, we were able to do the 2nd run. Now this is unusual as acro comps will have only 1 run per day, usually so that wet equipment will have time to dry, but also due to the number of competitors. But since we're in Norway, the sun's still out at 10 p.m., there are only 13 pilots, and we had 2 boats running, it's possible to have multiple runs.
This run is announced by the pilot, so here's what I had planned and how I did:
1) Tumble - bad entry which gave me a collapse right from the start. Had a line slacker when the wing was below me and I fell right past it. (I think the lines whizzed right by my head.) Luckily, the wing re-opened w/a small cravatte that I got undone quickly, allowing me to continue.
2) Infinity - bad entry which only gave me the energy for 2 turns, plus a bad exit. Have to do 3 turns with a fully open wing and a smooth exit for max points.
3) Helico - nailed it again. 3 rotations flat and open.
4) Helico - SAT - nailed this one too. I basically held the helico for 3 more rotations before transitioning to the SAT, which required 3 rotations of its own.
5) Misty Flip - good by normal standards, but not enough for a very high score. I needed to be at 90 degrees before spinning the wing 360 behind me, then exit in the same direction as I entered.
Landing - WATER!
My program was just way too ambitious this early in the comp, particularly going for the Infinity when I've only done a few "FAI" ones previously. What Pal Hammer Rognoy, a respected Swedish acro pilot who has a high world ranking, told me was "practice is practice but a competition is a competition - you want to show the judges what you can do, not what you're working on."
Note to self: Do what he just said.
Because my routine was too aggressive, I received no points for the infinity, low points for the tumble and misty, and good points for the helico and helico-SAT. Guys who did easier tricks, such as the dynamic full stall, SAT, asymm 360, etc., scored better than I did. But because I did tricks with high difficulty coefficients, I think got 6th or 7th for the day even though I only received points for 4 tricks.
Still in 6th overall and more importantly . . . . we have a valid FAI acro comp! Even if the comp ended today, I'd still earn an FAI ranking. Goal #4 . . . . CHECK!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Run 1
Finally, after the effort and expense it took to get here, I got to compete. From what I'm told, I'm the first foreigner to compete in this particular comp and the first American to compete in ANY Norwegian comp.
WOOHOO!!!!
All of the Norwegian pilots have been really cool and are really happy to have me come out from such a long way. I've learned a lot about what goes in a comp and as well as what you need to do to succeed. As you'll read, I have much to learn. For each run, I'll give you the tricks to be done and a summary of how I did.
Day 1 - Thursday - Run 1
As in most acro comps, the first day is always a compulsory run where the judges decide which maneuvers are performed and in what order. For Run 1, the judges gave us this:
Helico
SAT to the left
Dynamic Full Stall or Super Stall (must not be entered from trim)
Asymmetric 360 to the left
SAT to the right (in acro comps, a trick that can be on either side is considered 2 separate tricks in the same run)
The only thing that concerned me was the helico as the last time I did this in comp conditions was in the safety selection flight at Vertigo last year. Needless to say, I didn't pass mainly because I didn't helico very well.
Helico - nailed it! I got the high score of the day for this, but could've scored better if I had made it faster.
SAT left - no problems here, normal score.
DFS - I did poorly on this one as I didn't have a very good pendulum
Asymm 360 - I also did poorly here. I think they weren't high enough.
SAT right - no problems, normal score.
Landing - hit the raft perfect.
While I was very happy with the helico, I was very disappointed with the other ones which really should've been gimmes. I definitely took those for granted which was reflected in the score.
So, I found myself in 6th out of 13 pilots.
WOOHOO!!!!
All of the Norwegian pilots have been really cool and are really happy to have me come out from such a long way. I've learned a lot about what goes in a comp and as well as what you need to do to succeed. As you'll read, I have much to learn. For each run, I'll give you the tricks to be done and a summary of how I did.
Day 1 - Thursday - Run 1
As in most acro comps, the first day is always a compulsory run where the judges decide which maneuvers are performed and in what order. For Run 1, the judges gave us this:
Helico
SAT to the left
Dynamic Full Stall or Super Stall (must not be entered from trim)
Asymmetric 360 to the left
SAT to the right (in acro comps, a trick that can be on either side is considered 2 separate tricks in the same run)
The only thing that concerned me was the helico as the last time I did this in comp conditions was in the safety selection flight at Vertigo last year. Needless to say, I didn't pass mainly because I didn't helico very well.
Helico - nailed it! I got the high score of the day for this, but could've scored better if I had made it faster.
SAT left - no problems here, normal score.
DFS - I did poorly on this one as I didn't have a very good pendulum
Asymm 360 - I also did poorly here. I think they weren't high enough.
SAT right - no problems, normal score.
Landing - hit the raft perfect.
While I was very happy with the helico, I was very disappointed with the other ones which really should've been gimmes. I definitely took those for granted which was reflected in the score.
So, I found myself in 6th out of 13 pilots.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Am I supposed to be here?
I arrived last night in Gjøvik, Norway with mixed blessings. I say this because while I'm very fortunate to be here and excited to finally compete (knock on wood), it's come at a high price . . . . literally.
While I've already paid for the flight and will pay for the comp (1500NOR or 300USD), I had to pay A LOT for the excess baggage weight on KLM. I was under their "weight concept" which allows me up to 20 kg (44 lbs) on check-in baggage, no matter how many pieces I have. Anything over the allowance is 12 Euros/kg or 8E/kg, if you make arrangements in advance. Considering that I have a wing, harness, clothes, camping gear, and food, I went 30 kg over.
Yeah . . . . ouch. And get this: it only applies one way!
Today we're supposed to do some practice tows but it's windy so it's on hold. Right now, I'm in their public library after having done a small tourist tour of Gjøvik. I may have screwed myself for the next 4 days as I think I saw everything there is to be seen.
If you didn't already know, things are SUPER expensive in Norway. 6 bucks for a bottle of water . . . . yeah, right! I think my main goal this weekend is: DON'T BUY ANYTHING IN NORWAY!!!!
I'd post some pics but I think I forgot my USB cable in Frankfurt. Since I have no electricity at the campsite and no one to talk with, I'm gonna bury myself in Greg Palast's "Armed Madhouse". Then, if I get bored with that, I'll turn this trip into a Vipassana meditation retreat. Maybe I'll achieve some enlightenment?
Man, I sure hope the weather holds up so this comp takes place. I feel I'm meant to be here as something amazing is supposed to happen.
Jump roping my glider 10 times would sure be nice!
While I've already paid for the flight and will pay for the comp (1500NOR or 300USD), I had to pay A LOT for the excess baggage weight on KLM. I was under their "weight concept" which allows me up to 20 kg (44 lbs) on check-in baggage, no matter how many pieces I have. Anything over the allowance is 12 Euros/kg or 8E/kg, if you make arrangements in advance. Considering that I have a wing, harness, clothes, camping gear, and food, I went 30 kg over.
Yeah . . . . ouch. And get this: it only applies one way!
Today we're supposed to do some practice tows but it's windy so it's on hold. Right now, I'm in their public library after having done a small tourist tour of Gjøvik. I may have screwed myself for the next 4 days as I think I saw everything there is to be seen.
If you didn't already know, things are SUPER expensive in Norway. 6 bucks for a bottle of water . . . . yeah, right! I think my main goal this weekend is: DON'T BUY ANYTHING IN NORWAY!!!!
I'd post some pics but I think I forgot my USB cable in Frankfurt. Since I have no electricity at the campsite and no one to talk with, I'm gonna bury myself in Greg Palast's "Armed Madhouse". Then, if I get bored with that, I'll turn this trip into a Vipassana meditation retreat. Maybe I'll achieve some enlightenment?
Man, I sure hope the weather holds up so this comp takes place. I feel I'm meant to be here as something amazing is supposed to happen.
Jump roping my glider 10 times would sure be nice!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Frankfurt, Germany
I've been here since last Friday and it's been great. I'm staying with a couple from Frankfurt (Schwalbach, to be exact) who visited MR in March and joined us for dinner after flying, as we always do. When I told them it was possible I was going there to get a car, they offered a room if I needed it. Hans & Anita are really great and I feel very fortunate to be staying here. Hopefully they'll come out to Pacifica again and I can return the favor.
We have dinner together every night and have fun during the day trying to fly. So far, the weather has been uncooperative - we even tried to go towing and not 10 minutes after we got there, a thunderstorm came!
I leave tomorrow morning for Norway - forecast is calling for some rain which would REALLY suck. But so far, the comp is still on. (On a side note, I found out today that Acrolac has been canceled due to rain! Perhaps something amazing will happen in Norway as it was clearly the right decision to head up there. )
First round of photos are here.
We have dinner together every night and have fun during the day trying to fly. So far, the weather has been uncooperative - we even tried to go towing and not 10 minutes after we got there, a thunderstorm came!
I leave tomorrow morning for Norway - forecast is calling for some rain which would REALLY suck. But so far, the comp is still on. (On a side note, I found out today that Acrolac has been canceled due to rain! Perhaps something amazing will happen in Norway as it was clearly the right decision to head up there. )
First round of photos are here.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
MRAT
The day before I left, I got in the mail something from Loren. When I first started doing acro on the coast in late '05/early '06, we jokingly talked about how we should create an acro team. I came up with the name, he came up with the design, albeit unbeknownst to me until I got the shirt in the mail. I think it's pretty sick.
It got me fired up to represent.
I'm in Frankfurt and will go towing with my friend Hans here. (Because of how the site's written, you'll have to cut-and-paste individual phrases to Google Translate.) They don't tow very high - 0nly 300m! - but it's better than nothing today as there's "too less wind" everywhere else as they say here.
It got me fired up to represent.
I'm in Frankfurt and will go towing with my friend Hans here. (Because of how the site's written, you'll have to cut-and-paste individual phrases to Google Translate.) They don't tow very high - 0nly 300m! - but it's better than nothing today as there's "too less wind" everywhere else as they say here.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
I'm off!
Tomorrow morning I head to Europe . . . . finally! After a month of solid practice on the FLX over the lake and especially at Mussel Rock, it's time to do this shit for real!
First stop is Frankfurt, Germany to buy a car, then a few days of hanging out before my first comp in Norway. While I'm registered for Acrolac (first stop of the APWC), I'm on the waiting list, which means I won't know until 6 p.m. the day before the start if I'll be allowed to compete. You see, in acro comps, ranked pilots get in first. If the number of ranked pilots who show up is under the maximum of pilots the comp will take, THEN the unranked pilots get their shot by first passing a "safety selection" flight (ensures you know what you're doing). Pass the selection flight and you're in. If I went to Acrolac, it would at best 50/50 that I'd compete. By going to the Norway comp, I accomplish 2 crucial things: 1) I'm assured I'll get to compete, and 2) I'll get a ranking since it's categorized as FAI Cat2. Hopefully, this will make things MUCH easier for Austria, Italy, and the test event for the 2009 WAG near Turin.
I'll be putting up more vid on YouTube of my latest exploits at Mussel Rock soon. I've been testing out my "shin cam" on an HD camera I got recently and have some great on-board video of a helico-SAT and a helico-helico.
See you Norway!
First stop is Frankfurt, Germany to buy a car, then a few days of hanging out before my first comp in Norway. While I'm registered for Acrolac (first stop of the APWC), I'm on the waiting list, which means I won't know until 6 p.m. the day before the start if I'll be allowed to compete. You see, in acro comps, ranked pilots get in first. If the number of ranked pilots who show up is under the maximum of pilots the comp will take, THEN the unranked pilots get their shot by first passing a "safety selection" flight (ensures you know what you're doing). Pass the selection flight and you're in. If I went to Acrolac, it would at best 50/50 that I'd compete. By going to the Norway comp, I accomplish 2 crucial things: 1) I'm assured I'll get to compete, and 2) I'll get a ranking since it's categorized as FAI Cat2. Hopefully, this will make things MUCH easier for Austria, Italy, and the test event for the 2009 WAG near Turin.
I'll be putting up more vid on YouTube of my latest exploits at Mussel Rock soon. I've been testing out my "shin cam" on an HD camera I got recently and have some great on-board video of a helico-SAT and a helico-helico.
See you Norway!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The Ozone FLX
I finally got it yesterday. While I kited it a lot, today was the first time I got to fly and test it out.
But things didn't start out so great.
Firstly, the FLX has trimmers which gives it essentially 3 speeds: acro, super acro, and infinity. Secondly, the coast was nuking pretty good and northy. As I flew low close to the cliffs with the trimmers off, I'm sure I caught a bit of rotor which caused the wing to frontal, dropping me about on the cliff about 30 ft. above the beach, and right on my neck and shoulders. Reminded me when I got slammed doing throws in jiu-jitsu.
Luckily, the tide was out (I knew this beforehand) and landed/rolled on the beach. More importantly, the FLX wasn't damaged and it didn't get dirty at all! Nonetheless, I'm going to be fucking sore tomorrow.
Instead of calling it a day, I re-launched from Walker which is important because I didn't want to think about the accident and get intimated by it. But this time, I launched with the trimmers on "acro" which enabled me to penetrate and get up. (I think with the trimmers pulled all the way in, it's slightly slower than the 6907.) After a few wingovers and halfpipes, I decided to try some helicos. It took me a few attempts to find the parachutal point, but once I did, I had them dialed perfect. That thing helis SO fast, but I guess at 15 meters open, it's supposed to!
I'm looking forward to another good day on the coast to take it up and practice more. But even more exciting is that I'm going towing for 3 days this weekend. My plan is to spend the first day making sure I do tailslides, full stalls, misty flips, helicos, and dial in all the combo tricks. Then days 2 & 3 I will focus solely on the rhythmic SAT and if that goes well . . . . on to the Infinitron!
But things didn't start out so great.
Firstly, the FLX has trimmers which gives it essentially 3 speeds: acro, super acro, and infinity. Secondly, the coast was nuking pretty good and northy. As I flew low close to the cliffs with the trimmers off, I'm sure I caught a bit of rotor which caused the wing to frontal, dropping me about on the cliff about 30 ft. above the beach, and right on my neck and shoulders. Reminded me when I got slammed doing throws in jiu-jitsu.
Luckily, the tide was out (I knew this beforehand) and landed/rolled on the beach. More importantly, the FLX wasn't damaged and it didn't get dirty at all! Nonetheless, I'm going to be fucking sore tomorrow.
Instead of calling it a day, I re-launched from Walker which is important because I didn't want to think about the accident and get intimated by it. But this time, I launched with the trimmers on "acro" which enabled me to penetrate and get up. (I think with the trimmers pulled all the way in, it's slightly slower than the 6907.) After a few wingovers and halfpipes, I decided to try some helicos. It took me a few attempts to find the parachutal point, but once I did, I had them dialed perfect. That thing helis SO fast, but I guess at 15 meters open, it's supposed to!
I'm looking forward to another good day on the coast to take it up and practice more. But even more exciting is that I'm going towing for 3 days this weekend. My plan is to spend the first day making sure I do tailslides, full stalls, misty flips, helicos, and dial in all the combo tricks. Then days 2 & 3 I will focus solely on the rhythmic SAT and if that goes well . . . . on to the Infinitron!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Better, Not Perfect
The coast has just been sick lately.
Over the last couple of weeks, we've flown around 7 - 8 days and I've been getting in 4-5 hour practice days with at least 25 - 30 refills each session. While I don't have my left helicos comp-ready yet, thanks to these awesome days I know I'll have it soon. My goal each day is not to get them perfect, but to just get them better. With spring here and the flying simply awesome so far, I'm ahead of schedule as far as nailing my left helicos. Interspersed with the lefties, I'm mixing in some righties and stopping them on a dime, which prepares me for twisters (switch helicos). Once the lefties are solid, the twister comes next. Sometimes I'm able to get high and far enough from the cliff that I can practice some combo moves such as the helico-SAT and even the helico-helico. But one combo trick I haven't tried yet is the SAT-helico which I'll start soon, provided I have the distance.
If I can nail these tricks on the coast in April, then I can focus on the rhythmic and the infinitron when I go towing. If I can put together a rhythmic-infinitron-SAT-twister routine, that would be absolutely sick.
But I need to dial in the leftside helicos first.
Today was hilarious because while I was in the air, the fire department came. I'm sure one of the caring neighbors at Westlake saw me in helico and I thought I was in trouble when I disappeared below the cliff and out-of-sight. Oops.
I think this is #3 for me this season.
Over the last couple of weeks, we've flown around 7 - 8 days and I've been getting in 4-5 hour practice days with at least 25 - 30 refills each session. While I don't have my left helicos comp-ready yet, thanks to these awesome days I know I'll have it soon. My goal each day is not to get them perfect, but to just get them better. With spring here and the flying simply awesome so far, I'm ahead of schedule as far as nailing my left helicos. Interspersed with the lefties, I'm mixing in some righties and stopping them on a dime, which prepares me for twisters (switch helicos). Once the lefties are solid, the twister comes next. Sometimes I'm able to get high and far enough from the cliff that I can practice some combo moves such as the helico-SAT and even the helico-helico. But one combo trick I haven't tried yet is the SAT-helico which I'll start soon, provided I have the distance.
If I can nail these tricks on the coast in April, then I can focus on the rhythmic and the infinitron when I go towing. If I can put together a rhythmic-infinitron-SAT-twister routine, that would be absolutely sick.
But I need to dial in the leftside helicos first.
Today was hilarious because while I was in the air, the fire department came. I'm sure one of the caring neighbors at Westlake saw me in helico and I thought I was in trouble when I disappeared below the cliff and out-of-sight. Oops.
I think this is #3 for me this season.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Bad . . . .
These aren't really THAT bad, but just some minor disappointments:
- I don't get to go FLYPA this year with Team Ozone. Since I'm still a relative unknown in Europe, the organizers didn't want to pay for another US plane ticket to Tenerife. (There are 3 going already.) I saw the list of who's going and one of them is a BASE jumper which would make 2 and 1 paragliding pilot. I guess someone would rather pay to see more BASE jumping than acro paragliding . . . . whatev. Hopefully I'll change their minds after this summer.
- The 2008 World Acro Championships at Vertigo Voss, Norway has been cancelled. The organizers just couldn't get the sponsors together. While it's disappointing that I won't get a chance to get a world ranking this summer, what's more disconcerting is that they couldn't get sponsors in Norway where "extreme" sports are very popular. Thankfully, the other comps are still happening or else my trip would be a bust.
As I mentioned, just setbacks. Other than these, life is just fucking great.
- I don't get to go FLYPA this year with Team Ozone. Since I'm still a relative unknown in Europe, the organizers didn't want to pay for another US plane ticket to Tenerife. (There are 3 going already.) I saw the list of who's going and one of them is a BASE jumper which would make 2 and 1 paragliding pilot. I guess someone would rather pay to see more BASE jumping than acro paragliding . . . . whatev. Hopefully I'll change their minds after this summer.
- The 2008 World Acro Championships at Vertigo Voss, Norway has been cancelled. The organizers just couldn't get the sponsors together. While it's disappointing that I won't get a chance to get a world ranking this summer, what's more disconcerting is that they couldn't get sponsors in Norway where "extreme" sports are very popular. Thankfully, the other comps are still happening or else my trip would be a bust.
As I mentioned, just setbacks. Other than these, life is just fucking great.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Good . . . .
I'm finally making this current. Since my Colombia trip, here's some sh-t that's happened:
The Good
- I'm on the Ozone website now. Check it out here. Since it's not mentioned, I must give action photo credit to Loren Cox.
- I bought my flight to Europe. I'm fully committed. Now I just need to make sure I can get a car!
- After some prodding from friends, I now have some of my acro stuff on YouTube - it's not everything I've done, but most of it. This is from towing I did last weekend where I nailed some transitions - super important for comps. On the first day, I actually did a tumble-helico combination that was just sick, but this PPGer Ryan didn't have his camera set yet - SUCKS! Here's a compilation video of stuff I did last year, with some beautiful music by Thievery Corporation.
- This morning I got an email from Matt Gerdes (Ozone Team manager) with a shipping notice . . . . I'm FINALLY getting the FLX. Should be here by month's end. I'm really glad it's coming as I'll get a few months to train on it before heading to Europe. With enough practice, maybe I'll be doing this in 2008.
- Chris Santacroce and the O'Connors have talked since last year about having a spring acro "comp" in CA, similar to WOBL last year. Most of the acro peeps on the West Coast know about it and hopefully they'll come. Maybe the Point boys will show up but I doubt it. Nothing's set but the weekend of May 3-4 is being penciled in.
- I bought a practically new Aerodyne skydiving rig (3 jumps only) for a great price: Icon Sport container, Pilot 150 main, Smart 135 reserve, and a Cypress 2. Even though it REALLY hurt to fork over the cash for this, I need to remind myself that it'll pay for itself in 5 years or less, depending on how many times I jump per year. By having my own gear, I can buy 50 jumps in bulk, making Lodi cost only $13/jump. By having to rent, I'll pay $35. And plus, there's all that pride of ownership and piece of mind crap.
That's all I can think of flying-related for now.
Expect to see The Bad in my next post.
The Good
- I'm on the Ozone website now. Check it out here. Since it's not mentioned, I must give action photo credit to Loren Cox.
- I bought my flight to Europe. I'm fully committed. Now I just need to make sure I can get a car!
- After some prodding from friends, I now have some of my acro stuff on YouTube - it's not everything I've done, but most of it. This is from towing I did last weekend where I nailed some transitions - super important for comps. On the first day, I actually did a tumble-helico combination that was just sick, but this PPGer Ryan didn't have his camera set yet - SUCKS! Here's a compilation video of stuff I did last year, with some beautiful music by Thievery Corporation.
- This morning I got an email from Matt Gerdes (Ozone Team manager) with a shipping notice . . . . I'm FINALLY getting the FLX. Should be here by month's end. I'm really glad it's coming as I'll get a few months to train on it before heading to Europe. With enough practice, maybe I'll be doing this in 2008.
- Chris Santacroce and the O'Connors have talked since last year about having a spring acro "comp" in CA, similar to WOBL last year. Most of the acro peeps on the West Coast know about it and hopefully they'll come. Maybe the Point boys will show up but I doubt it. Nothing's set but the weekend of May 3-4 is being penciled in.
- I bought a practically new Aerodyne skydiving rig (3 jumps only) for a great price: Icon Sport container, Pilot 150 main, Smart 135 reserve, and a Cypress 2. Even though it REALLY hurt to fork over the cash for this, I need to remind myself that it'll pay for itself in 5 years or less, depending on how many times I jump per year. By having my own gear, I can buy 50 jumps in bulk, making Lodi cost only $13/jump. By having to rent, I'll pay $35. And plus, there's all that pride of ownership and piece of mind crap.
That's all I can think of flying-related for now.
Expect to see The Bad in my next post.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Colombia - final thoughts
I'm way behind on blogging but I'll pick up where I left while keeping it brief.
Ruitoque in Colombia is a great place to practice thermals, kiting, and top-loading. I specifically went there to check out its acro potential. While the site where Richi has his hostel is great, and you'll almost always fly every day, don't expect to go XC often and get high to practice heavy acro. There were only a few times where I got high enough to really throw down - the refills are few and the only time to get altitude with an acro glider is when it's nuking and rough. Not a great combo that we acro pilots like.
So, if you're looking for a PG vacation where flying's a daily occurrence but you don't need to go XC or practice acro (and don't mind paying a lot), then Richi's got the place. But, anything more than that, and you'll be disappointed. It was great hanging out with Richi - his positive energy is infectious! - but I doubt I'll be going back just for the flying.
Ruitoque in Colombia is a great place to practice thermals, kiting, and top-loading. I specifically went there to check out its acro potential. While the site where Richi has his hostel is great, and you'll almost always fly every day, don't expect to go XC often and get high to practice heavy acro. There were only a few times where I got high enough to really throw down - the refills are few and the only time to get altitude with an acro glider is when it's nuking and rough. Not a great combo that we acro pilots like.
So, if you're looking for a PG vacation where flying's a daily occurrence but you don't need to go XC or practice acro (and don't mind paying a lot), then Richi's got the place. But, anything more than that, and you'll be disappointed. It was great hanging out with Richi - his positive energy is infectious! - but I doubt I'll be going back just for the flying.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Colombia - first thoughts
Colombia is pretty cool to live that "paragliding lifestyle" - Richi's got this hostel thing set up pretty sweet. While I'm only camping, I still get to use the kitchen and bathroom - great practice for Europe. And there's wireless! In fact, the whole city of Bucaramanga, which we overlook, is entirely wireless. WTF is up, SF?
The flying's great for those who don't get smooth stuff like we do on the coast but who also want to learn some thermalling. There are some easy thermals in front of launch and marked often by the "chulos", or vultures. Everyone flies before 12 and then after 4. Btwn 12-4 is way too windy and turbulent for almost everyone, but this is the time I fly since it's the only way I can stay up and get refills. It's the most turbulent air I've ever had to practice acro in so it makes trying new stuff pretty difficult.
(Did I forget to mention the weather? It's so warm here that I've been flying with just shorts, a t-shirt, and no gloves. Last time I did that was in '05 in Bali.)
Anyways, I only got really high a few times enough to feel comfortable doing tumbles and combo tricks. But one of the things I'm getting LOTS of practice in are ground sprials . . . . lots. Since I'm the only flying from 12-4 (dnk about the weekends, we'll see), I get the entire grass launch/LZ to myself. While I've found many ways NOT to do it (as evidenced by my harness and leg scrapings), I've almost got it dialed to where I'm probably 6 inches short of getting the stabilo touch, which is one of my goals for the trip. Today I've got to turn the 6907 tighter and I'm sure I'll nail it. Then it's to the left side . . . . wax on, wax off.
One thing I'm regretting is not bringing my Addict. I sank out 2x today on the 6907, and since no one had a small Ozone wing I could fly all the time, I had to borrow one of the local's Niviuk Artik R. Of course, I had to heli it and nailed a perfect one my first try. WOW . . . . that thing helis good. Reminded me of the Aspen.
I finally tried the Oregon Scientific ATC2K camera on my foot mod'ed with a super wide angle lens. Not only was it difficult to keep it centered and still, but when I did do it, the framing wasn't very good. I definitely need to see how the Parateam guys did it with the knee brace. The only good vid I got was a pretty sweet ground spiral I did, but then I broke the mount when I landed later.
A not-so good ATC2K video of that ground spiral.
Yesterday, I went w/some locals to a place called Chicamocha which is the "Colombian Grand Canyon" - they were taking a videographer and a photographer up on tandems. Launch is about 3000 ft above the river and you can obviously get above that by thermalling. I was able to throw down several times and had a rhythmic chopping pretty good. Then, I had an awesome low save which enabled me to top land with everyone else.
Weekend's coming and it should be a zoo as the locals do lots of tandems. Hopefully I can squeeze more practice in the afternoon.
The flying's great for those who don't get smooth stuff like we do on the coast but who also want to learn some thermalling. There are some easy thermals in front of launch and marked often by the "chulos", or vultures. Everyone flies before 12 and then after 4. Btwn 12-4 is way too windy and turbulent for almost everyone, but this is the time I fly since it's the only way I can stay up and get refills. It's the most turbulent air I've ever had to practice acro in so it makes trying new stuff pretty difficult.
(Did I forget to mention the weather? It's so warm here that I've been flying with just shorts, a t-shirt, and no gloves. Last time I did that was in '05 in Bali.)
Anyways, I only got really high a few times enough to feel comfortable doing tumbles and combo tricks. But one of the things I'm getting LOTS of practice in are ground sprials . . . . lots. Since I'm the only flying from 12-4 (dnk about the weekends, we'll see), I get the entire grass launch/LZ to myself. While I've found many ways NOT to do it (as evidenced by my harness and leg scrapings), I've almost got it dialed to where I'm probably 6 inches short of getting the stabilo touch, which is one of my goals for the trip. Today I've got to turn the 6907 tighter and I'm sure I'll nail it. Then it's to the left side . . . . wax on, wax off.
One thing I'm regretting is not bringing my Addict. I sank out 2x today on the 6907, and since no one had a small Ozone wing I could fly all the time, I had to borrow one of the local's Niviuk Artik R. Of course, I had to heli it and nailed a perfect one my first try. WOW . . . . that thing helis good. Reminded me of the Aspen.
I finally tried the Oregon Scientific ATC2K camera on my foot mod'ed with a super wide angle lens. Not only was it difficult to keep it centered and still, but when I did do it, the framing wasn't very good. I definitely need to see how the Parateam guys did it with the knee brace. The only good vid I got was a pretty sweet ground spiral I did, but then I broke the mount when I landed later.
A not-so good ATC2K video of that ground spiral.
Yesterday, I went w/some locals to a place called Chicamocha which is the "Colombian Grand Canyon" - they were taking a videographer and a photographer up on tandems. Launch is about 3000 ft above the river and you can obviously get above that by thermalling. I was able to throw down several times and had a rhythmic chopping pretty good. Then, I had an awesome low save which enabled me to top land with everyone else.
Weekend's coming and it should be a zoo as the locals do lots of tandems. Hopefully I can squeeze more practice in the afternoon.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Valle
I learned a lot while in Valle since I was there during Monarca. Even though I didn't compete I did fly the course for 2 days. Because Josh Cohn organized the condo, I got to sit in on nightly meetings he had set-up for the Americans trying to make the world team. I guess there's an effort to improve American XC comp flying because he brought the German champion and UP pilot Oliver Rossel to coach. Cool guy and awesome pilot. I asked him one night, "How far's your longest flight?"
He replied, "You mean for myself?"
"Um . . . . yeah."
"Well, I don't remember. That was fifteen years ago."
"You mean you've only competed the last fifteen years???"
"Ya."
Now that's some fucking experience.
Listening to the nightly de-briefs of the day's flights raised my XC game a bunch. While my focus is on acro, I might pay more attention to comp flying next year. Especially with the M2 . . . . that wing is just sick. Amazing glide. I mean, I can count on one hand the times I pushed bar.
I remember on glide I had a guy on a Trango 2-3 and Ram Race harness next to me (I had my Acro 2 all week). I was amazed and simply stoked on how much I out-glided him. I can compete on that wing, man.
Since Oliver and I weren't competing, we had to fly after the window which wasn't until 12:45. (That's really late.) In the two times I flew the course, I may have gotten my longest flights ever - one about 60km and the other 55km with one of those into goal. (Well - because of the late start, I missed a turnpoint and rejoined the gaggle later on.)
On the last day, I flew my 6907 and got some practice. On several occasions, I flew in the gaggle over launch (not supposed to be flying in the "big" gaggles at all on the course). One of them was pretty big, no less than 70 pilots flying wide circles. I was so tempted to helico in the middle of it but the 3-4 pilots flying tight circles below me made it a tad dangerous. Sorry Eric B.!
I'm in Colombia now and will post an update soon. What I can say for now is - DAMN! - it's hard to get that 6907's stabilo to touch the ground!
He replied, "You mean for myself?"
"Um . . . . yeah."
"Well, I don't remember. That was fifteen years ago."
"You mean you've only competed the last fifteen years???"
"Ya."
Now that's some fucking experience.
Listening to the nightly de-briefs of the day's flights raised my XC game a bunch. While my focus is on acro, I might pay more attention to comp flying next year. Especially with the M2 . . . . that wing is just sick. Amazing glide. I mean, I can count on one hand the times I pushed bar.
I remember on glide I had a guy on a Trango 2-3 and Ram Race harness next to me (I had my Acro 2 all week). I was amazed and simply stoked on how much I out-glided him. I can compete on that wing, man.
Since Oliver and I weren't competing, we had to fly after the window which wasn't until 12:45. (That's really late.) In the two times I flew the course, I may have gotten my longest flights ever - one about 60km and the other 55km with one of those into goal. (Well - because of the late start, I missed a turnpoint and rejoined the gaggle later on.)
On the last day, I flew my 6907 and got some practice. On several occasions, I flew in the gaggle over launch (not supposed to be flying in the "big" gaggles at all on the course). One of them was pretty big, no less than 70 pilots flying wide circles. I was so tempted to helico in the middle of it but the 3-4 pilots flying tight circles below me made it a tad dangerous. Sorry Eric B.!
I'm in Colombia now and will post an update soon. What I can say for now is - DAMN! - it's hard to get that 6907's stabilo to touch the ground!
Monday, January 14, 2008
This is the year
So the last time I blogged I was in Europe reflecting on how I didn't qualify for the Vertigo. Well, it's a new year and I've made some huge decisions.
The biggest one is that I'll be moving to Europe for the entire summer to compete in the acro circuit. The big event this year is the Mundials taking place in Norway this August.
To get back in form, this past weekend I did my first tow session of the year. I specifically worked on my left side helico, switch helico (twister), helico to SAT, and SAT to helico. While I was able to do many left helicos, 1 solid twister, and 1 solid SAT to helico, I found the helico to SAT a little more challenging. With my recent brakeline shortening (3-4 in. at least), I need to be more subtle and pull less on tricks. Plus, the shorter travel will get me ready for the FLX, which almost has no travel whatsoever.
I have 4 major yet simple goals for my acro flying for 2008:
1) Be the first American to do the Infinitron. (And everything else before it.)
2) Achieve a world-ranking in the first Cat2 event in June.
3) Compete in the Mundials and be the highest U.S. finisher.
4) Be the best acro pilot in the U.S.
To achieve all 4 goals will be very difficult but not unreachable. By March, I'll have the FLX which will allow me to do all the tricks and no excuses.
I'm f-ing going for it, man.
I'll be heading to Valle this week to get some XC flying during Monarca (not competing though) and, since I'm bringing the 6907 . . . . it's more acro practice!
The biggest one is that I'll be moving to Europe for the entire summer to compete in the acro circuit. The big event this year is the Mundials taking place in Norway this August.
To get back in form, this past weekend I did my first tow session of the year. I specifically worked on my left side helico, switch helico (twister), helico to SAT, and SAT to helico. While I was able to do many left helicos, 1 solid twister, and 1 solid SAT to helico, I found the helico to SAT a little more challenging. With my recent brakeline shortening (3-4 in. at least), I need to be more subtle and pull less on tricks. Plus, the shorter travel will get me ready for the FLX, which almost has no travel whatsoever.
I have 4 major yet simple goals for my acro flying for 2008:
1) Be the first American to do the Infinitron. (And everything else before it.)
2) Achieve a world-ranking in the first Cat2 event in June.
3) Compete in the Mundials and be the highest U.S. finisher.
4) Be the best acro pilot in the U.S.
To achieve all 4 goals will be very difficult but not unreachable. By March, I'll have the FLX which will allow me to do all the tricks and no excuses.
I'm f-ing going for it, man.
I'll be heading to Valle this week to get some XC flying during Monarca (not competing though) and, since I'm bringing the 6907 . . . . it's more acro practice!
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