AvonorcA

A year ago this week . . . .

2010-09-16T15:23:00.001-07:00

I smashed into the North Side of Point of the Mountain, Utah after messing up an acro trick, resulting in 2 broken legs, a broken back, and shoulder. The speed with which I hit was great, and if it wasn't for hitting my legs first, I wouldn't have survived. Other acro guys with similar accidents - and even less severe ones! - are no longer here. For a reason I've only figured out recently . . . . I'm still alive.

Really, I should be dead.

Now look, I'm not going to write a survivor's story. It's not like I ran into a burning building, saved an entire family and their dog, and suffered 3rd degree burns all over my body for my efforts. I'm an acro pilot and what happened comes with the territory. While I hope it never happens again, there's a chance it easily could. I'm still doing acro at Mussel Rock and I accept all the risks that come with it. If I have another accident, I only have myself to blame.

That said, no matter what the cause, accidents happen. While it can happen to anyone at any time, not every one will experience it. For those who have, what becomes crucially important is how we choose to react to what's happened. As the platitude goes . . . . it's times like these when we find out what we're made of.

Well, I don't know exactly what I'm made of, but all I know is that I was lucky enough to not experience any brain damage. So, I had the opportunity each and every day to choose how I'd react to what was going on which, most of the time, wasn't very fun. (Won't go into detail, but let's just say that I'm very happy that I can pee on my own!) As I said in a recent interview for Cross Country magazine, the absolute key to my recovery was choosing to be positive every day and doing things to continually improve my situation. I felt this was the only way to hasten my recovery, to appreciate the help from the nurses & rehab staff at Intermountain Health who took daily care of me, and to honor my friends and family who were keeping me in their thoughts.

As I think back to this time last year, what comes up is how my recovery at the hospital was the most difficult experience of my life. What made it easier was knowing that many people in the paragliding community (in the US and from my acro buddies in Europe) were rooting for me, especially some of those in the Bay Area Paragliding Association who had generously donated to help with my medical bills . . . . thank you so much.

The reason I'm writing today isn't to recognize how far I've come; rather, I want to publicly thank a few people who helped me the most at the darkest time of my life. Without them, I wouldn't have made it through as well as I did:

Adam Porcino & Misti Timpson - they were my PTs at IMC and re-taught me how to walk. The most triumphant moments in my life were with them - standing up for the first time, walking 6ft, then 10, then 25, then 50, then 100 . . . . and walking those f*ing stairs! You guys pushed me every day even when I used to drop the f-bomb on you . . . . it's because of your commitment and belief in me back then that I made it and was able to accomplish what I've done in paragliding in 2010. Thank you for giving me my life back.

Irene Smith - she was the nurse in charge of my recovery program. Each morning I asked who was going to be my nurse and was always delighted when Irene was assigned to me. She was always pleasant and one of the main reasons why I remained positive every day - she and her staff deserved nothing less. I hope you enjoyed taking care of me as much as I loved being taken care of by you.

Sabrina Krewin - we started dating about a month before the accident and then broke-up in November. She was there on the mountain right after I crashed and saw my broken body - filleted legs and all. I remember telling her, since we had just started dating, that if she wanted out, it was okay with me as something like this would be too much for ANYONE to deal with. But, she stuck by me and not a day went by that I didn't see her. Even though we didn't work out, Sabrina, I want you to know that I wouldn't have made through without you. In our short time together, I hope you felt loved, cherished, and respected.

Loren Cox - he and I started flying at Mussel Rock right around the same time in 2005, and have been good friends ever since. Even though he had suffered his own accident a few months before me and was still in crunches and a back brace, Loren took care of many things for me, especially in my first week in the hospital. He was not only there for my most painful and most triumphant moments in my recovery, but was also there when I learned to paraglide and got into acro - at my darkest moment (my accident) and my greatest (making the first American Infinite Tumble). I consider you a brother, Loren, and will be always be there for you whenever you need me . . . . always.

Vendie Dasalla - that's my mom. While we're not super close, I learned so much more about her when she came out to stay with me for a month at the Point after I was discharged from the hospital and convalesced at a friend's. It must've been very hard for her to see her son so broken when I was in the hospital, and I can only hope she feels proud of me since I've made my way back. She's never seen me do acro in-person (maybe never will) and will probably never understand exactly what I do up there. But to her credit, she has never discouraged me from doing what I love even though it could easily kill me. Forgive me if I can't say this to your face, but I want you to know, Mom, that I love you very much and you are the greatest woman ever known to me. If I can be half the person you are, I will have lived a life fulfilled.

I said earlier in this post that it was only recently that I figured out why I survived when I shouldn't have. In fact, I view my accident as sort of an inflection point, a moment that marked where one life ended and another one began, bringing me to the last person I want to acknowledge . . . .

Jinju Schroy - she and I just met in early August 2010 at, of all places, Mighty - the club I frequent once a month with the guys. I NEVER meet anyone of any significance at a club, but when I learned that she and her best friend went to Mussel Rock that day to "check out a local beach" (they were visiting from Denver), I was obviously floored and knew I had to learn more about her. (For those who don't know . . . . NO ONE goes to Mussel Rock except paragliders, locals walking their dogs, fishermen, or high school kids smoking weed . . . . tourists would NEVER go there!) I believe things happen for a reason and felt it couldn't have been simple coincidence when I turned to her and said, "So . . . . I heard you're from Denver." The Universe was definitely at work. Well, as it turns out, Jinju and I were meant to meet that night and even though we live in different cities, we are now emotionally inseparable.

Before the accident, I never really saw myself being a husband and a father. While in the hospital, realizing how short life is (I know . . . . another platitude), that obviously changed. Friends have told me that when you meet the right one, time doesn't matter, and that "The One" is The One regardless if you met 10 days or 10 years ago. Geez . . . . were they right!

Jinju, you are the greatest love I've ever known. I feel truly lucky to have met you and I can't imagine my life without you. I see my 2nd life with you as husband, father, lover, partner, soulmate, and best friend. You are, without a doubt in my head, heart, or soul . . . . the reason I survived my accident. I love you more than you'll ever know.

Okay, I'm done.

Thanks for taking time to read my post, guys - hope it wasn't too sappy! But, I'm allowed to be emotional once and a while, right? In closing, I've attached a video I took of myself a week after the accident. I meant to send it out back then to thank everyone for their well wishes, but for some reason, didn't. Only 2 people have seen this before so maybe it's right I show it now . . . .

To living life to its fullest with no regrets,
Nova

Little Wins

2009-06-12T13:28:00.001-07:00

Coach Lanier used to tell us at the end of every little league baseball game, "You guys did great! You hustled out there! You ran out every ball! You played hard every inning! You should be proud of yourselves for what you've accomplished! You guys got some little wins today!"

And even though we just got slaughtered 18-0, the game ended in the 4th inning due to the "mercy rule", and poor little Colin Herbert got run over by Billy Burton from Holy Name while trying to protect home plate, there was definitely some wisdom in what Coach Lanier said that day many years ago.

How does this apply to today?

I'll get to that soon - just keep reading. But first, let me re-cap what's happened in the last few days.

On Wednesday, we did the 2nd run for solo. The judges had us do a restricted, free program for the solo which meant we were allowed to chose our maneuvers but they could only appear once. (In an announced program of 5 tricks, pilots will typically put "Tumble left, tumble right, assymetric SAT, helico left, helico right" to garner max points but also to cover for deficiencies in their repertoire.)

My program:

1) Tumble - I've been in a groove with this one, getting 180 over the wing every time - got a bad collapse while the wing was underneath me on the 2nd turn but I exited nicely
2) Rhythmic SAT - took a chance with this one and it didn't pay off as I got a nasty collapse which ended in a cravatte. Felix was also having the same problem.
3) Twister - haven't done this one since Paranoia last summer
4) Helico-to-SAT - a staple in my program that I usually do well, but I missed it this time
5) Helico - I used the energy of the SAT to do a Misty Flip that I changed to helico - got the highest points I've every received for a trick (88)

Because I got a horrible score for the Rhythmic and a low score for the Helico-to-SAT, I finished 16th for the day which put me 13th overall.

On Thursday, we had a day off which was welcomed by all of us. I went to see Chad Bastian compete in microlights but totally missed it. Sorry Chad!

That night, we finally got a proper poker game going other than the heads-up game (one-on-one) Pal and I were playing every other day. I knew there were some pilots who wanted to play but I didn't think actually would, so I was surprised when Antoine quietly asked, "Nova, we play tonight?"

When Pal & I got the chips out for the 10E minimum buy-in No Limit Hold 'em micro stakes cash game at the table sat me, Gabor, Felix, Antoine, Horacio, Hernan, (first timer), Cyrille, and Pal. This was a lot of fun and if you must know who won the most, let's just say that Kid Nova made an easy 30 euros. (Gabor actually won the most when he bluffed me out of a big pot . . . . I really hate it when he does that.)

Back to the point of this post.

So what did I accomplish today? What little wins did I get?

Well, macrocosmically (love that word), I took 10th for the day which I'm pretty proud of considering the level. Microcosmically (another word on the love list), it gets better.
My Tumble (88) was only one point below Felix's and I think our SAT-to-Helicos were the same (88). My Twister score (84) was higher than Pal's which just absolutely astounds me. For the first time, I scored at least 80 in 3 tricks. (Scoring in the 80s is really good as one judge told me.) I have so much respect for their acro that for me to be at the same level as them - or beat them! - even for just a few tricks in single run, is absolutely HUGE.

Overall, I finished 13th in solo which was short of my goal of being in the top 10, but I accomplished one unexpected milestone . . . . I've broken the belief barrier on what's possible for me in acro and that I can be a threat in these comps especially for the World Championships in 2010.

Thanks, Coach, wherever you are.

Day 5 - June 10, Wednesday morning

2009-06-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

The day started off great as I got a very nice compliment over breakfast from someone whom we all consider the "godfather of acro". Out of nowhere, he said, "I watched your synchro run yesterday and your tumble was beautiful - it looked like how we do it when we make the Infinite." Whoa!

Then, as we watched this tumble on video, he gave me a key tip on how to keep the wing going to infinite which prompted the comp leader to say jokingly, "Man, don't help the enemy!"

Maybe all the practice I make at Mussel Rock, all the money I've spent in towing, and all the time I spend visualizing my tricks is paying off and being noticed by my acro peers?

Lately, my other-than-paragliding-life hasn't been the greatest with many disappointments and heartaches. On this morning, though, I felt absolutely amazing.

Too bad the day didn't end there! : )

WAG 2009 - 1st 4 days

2009-06-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

After arriving late on Friday evening on June 4th, Saturday was a day of catching sleep, reacquainting with friends, and realizing I was actually in Italy. So strange this travel thing, isn't it? 18 hours ago, I was saying good bye to my cat, Tama, back home in Pacifica . . . . and now I'm at the Hotel Ninfa in Avigliana, Italy.

Bizarre.

On Saturday evening, we attended the opening ceremony held at the center square of Torino. At first, I had no idea whom I'd walk with as I couldn't find any Americans nearby, but then my Norwegian friend, Pal, grabbed me and said he was standing behind some. So, I ended up walking with Chad Bastian and the rest of the US Microlight team. Having no idea of WAG's publicity, we expected it to be some little procession of air sport athletes grouped by country with some photographers here and there. Surprisingly, there were a LOT of folks watching this ceremony!

The first day of competition on Sunday was an exciting and stressful one for us. It's exciting because it's the first one of the year, but also stressful because we're doing d-bag helicopter launches. (It's also exciting, too.) If you've never done one, just imagine jumping backwards off a helicopter with your wadded up paraglider, stuffed in a manner it wasn't meant to be stuffed, freefalling and waiting for it to open cleanly in a way that it wasn't meant to be opened, hoping that all the lines that just got stuffed don't get tangled, while trying to ignore the very real existence of prop wash, and - oh yeah! - praying that the one reserve you packed will work if it all goes to shit . . . . this is what we get to experience every day!

SWEET!!!!

And oh, don't forget, after all this, we then have to remember our routine and deal with the pressure of performing perfectly (nice alliteration) in a world-class acro competition.

YEAH!!!! I feel very lucky to be here!

With the first solo task on Sunday, the competitors would get an announced run of 5 maneuvers. Here's what I did and the points out of 100 I received:

1) Tumble (76)
2) Helico - left (71)
3) Helico - right (71)
4) Helico-to-SAT (79)
5) Misty Flip (60)

With this, I finished 12th for the day. While not-so great out of 20, considering that 11 of the world's very best acro pilots are here, I'm not-so disappointed with my placement. I think I will replace the Misty Flip w/the SAT-to-Helico as I have the same chance of making it but with a higher difficulty rating. If I can make cleaner runs from here on out and just do what I do, I think I can make the top 10. It's definitely a stretch, but there's a chance. (For general competition coverage, go here.)

Monday's task was cancelled due to rain. For today, Tuesday, I did my first competitive synchro run with my Norwegian friend, Pal Rognoy. It was a great experience since I'm not-so focused on synchro at the moment, but more importantly, it's always good to get another helico drop and practice more acro. Our run was terrible, but I was SUPER happy with my tumble as the entry AND exit was very nice which is another piece in the puzzle that brings me closer to making more tumbles towards the Infinite very soon.

I'll post a video of one of my runs when I get back home as the upload speed for a video 0f 16 seconds - even at 12:40 a.m. - can take 30 minutes. (A video of my run is about 4 min.)

It's late now and we have an early briefing at 9 a.m. to try and get a solo and a synchro run in.

I'll post again soon!

Home sweet home!

2008-09-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

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.

Lake Como

2008-09-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

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?

Ciao Interlaken!

2008-09-13T11:22:00.001-07:00

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.

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.

Ciao Interlaken!

2008-09-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

Tourist Time!

2008-09-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

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!

New Blog

2008-08-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

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.

Back home . . . . kinda.

2008-08-20T10:27:00.001-07:00

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 . . . .

Acroaria - Run 2

2008-08-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

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.

Acroaria - Run 1

2008-08-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

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:

Leaving for Italy!

2008-08-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

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!

Back at Euro home base

2008-08-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

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. : )

Organya, Spain

2008-08-01T05:51:00.001-07:00

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.

Paranoia Acrobatixx

2008-07-20T12:08:00.001-07:00

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!

Off to Austria

2008-07-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

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!

I'm a Luckbox*

2008-07-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

*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.

Nissan Outdoor Games

2008-07-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

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!

Interlaken, CH

2008-07-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

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??????

Chamonix

2008-06-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

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!

Final Run

2008-06-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

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.

Run 3

2008-06-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

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.

Run 2

2008-06-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

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!

Run 1

2008-06-14T05:17:00.000-07:00

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.

Am I supposed to be here?

2008-06-12T01:55:00.000-07:00

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!

Frankfurt, Germany

2008-06-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

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.

MRAT

2008-06-07T02:27:00.000-07:00

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.

I'm off!

2008-06-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

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!

The Ozone FLX

2008-04-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

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!

Better, Not Perfect

2008-04-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

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.

The Bad . . . .

2008-03-25T11:07:00.001-07:00

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.

The Good . . . .

2008-03-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

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.

Colombia - final thoughts

2008-03-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

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.

Colombia - first thoughts

2008-02-01T05:25:00.000-08:00

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.

Valle

2008-01-31T14:47:00.000-08:00

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!

This is the year

2008-01-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

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!

"C'est domage . . . . "

2007-08-23T10:49:00.001-07:00

So yesterday the organizers had the wanna-bes do their safety selection flight. Of the 9 who tried, only 2 were selected and allowed to compete. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of those selected and will be a "spectator pilot" this year. From what I saw, I'm in good company as some of the pilots who were DQ'ed, IMHO, should've been allowed to compete but I think the judges wanted to see virtually no collapses in our imposed routine: Full stall, tailslide, helico, wingovers, and SAT. To some, this may sound easy, but when you put on the pressure of performing for judges, keeping mindful of your position within the "evolution box" (performance area), being aware of how much height you have left, and being the only person representing your country (OK - that was self-imposed), it really isn't. "Chapeau" for the guys who did make it . . . . I'll see you next year at the Mundials!

Anyways . . . . no excuses - I didn't have my stuff 100% wired and it showed. Therefore, I shouldn't be allowed to compete at a prestigious event like this. Besides, even if I did nail everything, I think I would've been DQ'ed anyways because I got too close to the crowd area on my approach to the landing platform in the middle of the performance area. I figured I didn't do my helicos well but I was totally going to land on the platform and I did, which was really cool by the way! I was so focused on sticking it that I forgot to do a spin landing which would've been REALLY cool but wouldn't have gotten me to qualification.

It's 11 p.m. now and we need to get up early to go catch Mont Blanc in the morning, then I'm going to fly off of Planpranz about 5-6 times. That's the normal launch site here in July - August. It's 2000 meters (LZ's at 1050) - even without hitting any thermals, I'll get enough altitude to practice, practice, practice! Here on out, my focus is for 2008 (the key year) which will include the World Championships held at the Vertigo-Voss in Norway. In additon, I plan on somehow hitting all the acro comps that occur before it.

I'll be posting lots of pics when I get the chance.

My thanks to everyone who gave me encouragement for the Vertigo. I had high hopes to do well, but it wasn't to be. I look forward to flying with you guys soon on the coast and at the next NCXC comp.

Au revoir till the next post!

Vertigo Day 1: Safety Selection

2007-08-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday evening, 10:20 p.m. - Ayumi and I just got back from Villeneuve an hour ago from the safety meeting for all pilots.

We've been here in Chamonix since Sunday afternoon and I wish there were lots to share as far as sightseeing and flying are concerned, but the rain has all but eliminated that. We did have a good late Sunday afternoon sipping expressos in Chamonix central (imagine a bigger South Lake Tahoe with more shops), hanging out in our apartment, and enjoying some gambling Monday night. Hopefully, we'll get to see the famous sites like Le Mer de Glace, if there's time.

Anyways, Vertigo was supposed to kick off today with a training day, meaning that you can get some practice runs and get back up to launch since they provide rides to the top. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate so that didn't happen. From 4 - 7 was the registration period and equipment check. I'll post some pics soon but it was pretty strange being in that room with almost all the best acro pilots in the world (like RR who's surprisingly not coming). There were a few times when I looked at Ayumi and said jokingly, "What the f--k am I doing here?????"

While getting to compete was the reason I came, another huge reason was to spend some time with Felix, hang out, and pick his brain. After learning the killer "little things" about how to get from tumbling or rhythmic SAT to Infinity, SAT to helico, helico to helico, helico to SAT, and a smoother Misty Flip, it was worth the trip. Moreover, I showed him my video and he gave more pointers on my Rhythmic and Infinity attempts. Most importantly, he's really cool and humble guy who spoke some Japanese to Ayumi. Guy's a straight-up legend in acro paragliding.

Off to bed for me. We need to leave by 5 a.m. for the 1 1/2 drive so I can get to the pilot's briefing at 7 a.m.! Tomorrow's the safety selection flights - the day I've been working for. In one flight, they'll either let me compete . . . . or not!

Off to Europe

2007-08-17T23:08:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not, I might actually get to bed by midnight. I shouldn't really be proud of this since I had the entire week to pack . . . . oh well.

I haven't experienced much excitement this week regarding the trip, but now that Ayumi and I are leaving tomorrow, it's starting to hit me. I've never been to the "main" Europe - as I like to call it - which to me means Spain, England, France, and Italy. (I played baseball for a few weeks in '91 Holland and Denmark.)

I'm still amazed I'm actually going, especially to compete in an acro comp. Speaking of which, the Vertigo organizers FINALLY put up the list of pilots. Surprisingly absent is my teammate, Felix Rodriguez, who I thought for sure was gonna be there. Also absent are the American "Acro Twins", Timothy and Anthony Green who typically fly the synchro portion of comps. My spider sense tells me that they've all been around enough so perhaps they can just compete as "walk-ons", which isn't exactly fair. Besides, many of the big names are registered so what's their deal? Are they really not competing?

With the twins' absence, I'll be the only American going and the only one flying an Ozone . . . . nice pressure, eh?

It's on!

2007-08-14T21:39:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since my last blog, so I'll try and summarize some of things that have happened:

1) I'm confirmed as a competitor for Vertigo.

The wait is over - I got the pilots' email with the program for each day. The neat thing about it is that they're not having cuts until the 3rd of competition, so it increases my chances of doing better.

2) I'm the only from the U.S. who's going.

I'm trying not to think about this as I can only do my best. Realistically, I'll probably end up in the bottom half of the field, but I'm not too bad having only flown acro for a year in 3 seasons of flying. I have TONS to work on as the bigger picture for me is the Worlds in 2008. So, this year's Vertigo is setting the stage. My main goal is to earn points to get a WAPR which will make next year much easier. But don't get me wrong, I've worked hard at getting where I am today, and if Antoine or Raul get in my way, I'm cutting their lines 'cause I ain't too proud to cheat! : )

3) I'm getting closer to doing the "Infinitron".

That's Sik Nik Peterson's word for the Infinity. (Nik recently had a terrible accident while doing a ground spiral up in Chelan - get well, bro!) Even though I have a lot of other tricks to master, I'm always pushing myself and going for it. I've become "flying bros" with Brad Gunnuscio and both of us are trying to get to the Infinity via the Rhythmic SAT. A lot of the top acro guys recommend learning it this way as it teaches you to sit flat and build momentum. Well, this past weekend Rob Sporrier of Eagle Paragliding had Brad out for an SIV clinic at Lake Isabella near Kernville - I made the 5-hour drive to get more practice. (Btw - I finally got to met Rob - SUPER cool dude.) On one of my flights, I started doing the Rhythmic - I guess my timing has improved for within 2-3 rotations, I got my wing to start chopping pretty hard into some tumbling. The wing was almost vertical and retaining energy as I kept on pumping the brake and screaming in my head, "Here we go! I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna do it!" Unfortunately, as soon as I started thinking that, my timing got off and the wing started coming out of the tumble. After all that work, my arm was just too tired to keep trying, not to mention I was getting a little dizzy after all those rotations. Even though I didn't get it, it's exciting to see that it's right there and all it'll take is more practice. It also gives me more confidence that the 6907 looks like it CAN go from Rhythmic to the Infinity, unlike other acro wings that say they can, but really can't.

From those who know what's up with acro paragliding in the US, I've been told I may be the only one who's really trying to do the Infinitron - no doubt I'd love to be the first American to consciously do it! *

* I say "consciously" because Enleau's gone over six times which may make him the first to actually do it. But, even he'll tell you that he didn't mean to!

Practice, practice, practice

2007-07-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

So far, so good.

While I haven't gotten the final confirmation email or seen the competitor's list on their website, there's a good chance I'm in:

Vertigo

Geez . . . . ALL of the best acro pilots in the world will be there. Pretty intimidating when I think about it. Luckily, I'll have someone to look out for me as one of my Ozone teammates is Felix Rodriguez, who, with his brother Raul, pretty much created acro paragliding and are still the Godfathers of this sport. If all I get from this experience is the opportunity to fly and compete with other acro pilots around the world, while at the same time, learn a few things from Felix, it'll be well worth the hundreds of thousands I spent with the O'Connors since '06 . . . . kidding.

So, it's just practice, practice, practice any chance I get. Earlier in the week, the wind was perfect for me to fly my 6907 and get refills off the Green Monster (south-facing green cliff above Walkers) for over 2 hours. I must've attempted 30 - 35 helicos in that time to help get me more dialed on that wing. Of the 30 some-odd attempts, I think I did 3-4 perfect helicos, which isn't a great percentage but that's what practice is for. (Just because the wing is spinning overhead doesn't mean it's a helicopter - it must be completely open with no oscillations to be one.)

I love doing helicopters because it's one of the most difficult tricks to master due to the different elements involved (like perfecting the parachutal stall if you helico from trim). While tumbling is more dynamic and scary because of the chance of falling into the glider, it's much "easier" IMO than doing helicopters. While the former tests your timing and outright guts, the latter tests your feel, finesse, and technique.

In paraglding and in life, who wouldn't want to improve on those?

Preparing for Vertigo

2007-07-25T14:35:00.001-07:00

Even if you're not into acro, most paragliding pilots have heard of the Red Bull Vertigo as the premiere acro comp. But this year, since Red Bull didn't renew their sponsorship, it's called the Vertigo Swiss Riviera and will have the same hype and excitement. Of course, all the best acro pilots in the world (who can afford the time and money to go) are competing.

July 15th was the deadline to register and pay fees. I’m just doing the solo comp which has 37 competitors, which I think I’m one of. I say “I think” because I haven’t received the final-final email that confirms it, if there is such a thing. The max they can take is 40 pilots which is a little nerve-racking because if 50 pilots paid and signed up, and 40 of them are WAPR (World Aerobatic Pilot Ranking) pilots, they’ll take them first. The rest are put on a waiting list. Ain't like an XC Comp, eh?

Since I don’t have a world ranking and I’ve planned a vacation around the Vertigo, I’ve been going nuts for the last week trying to find out how many are confirmed. Now, unless they let some squeak in, it looks like 37’s the number.

But it still doesn’t mean I’ll get to compete. (It’s that not-having-a-world-ranking-thing again.) Since they don’t know who I am, I’ll have to do a qualification/safety flight on the first day so they can be sure I won’t kill myself or look like a complete idiot. So, I’ll need to demonstrate that I can do a full stall, tail slide, SAT, wingovers, and helico while exiting safely which I’m sure I’ll have to do in one run. Last time I checked, I can do all these but who knows what will happen when the pressure’s on and the judges are watching.

If I get in, I may be the only one coming from the States.

Weird.