Colombia - first thoughts

Colombia is pretty cool to live that "paragliding lifestyle" - Richi's got this hostel thing set up pretty sweet. While I'm only camping, I still get to use the kitchen and bathroom - great practice for Europe. And there's wireless! In fact, the whole city of Bucaramanga, which we overlook, is entirely wireless. WTF is up, SF?

The flying's great for those who don't get smooth stuff like we do on the coast but who also want to learn some thermalling. There are some easy thermals in front of launch and marked often by the "chulos", or vultures. Everyone flies before 12 and then after 4. Btwn 12-4 is way too windy and turbulent for almost everyone, but this is the time I fly since it's the only way I can stay up and get refills. It's the most turbulent air I've ever had to practice acro in so it makes trying new stuff pretty difficult.

(Did I forget to mention the weather? It's so warm here that I've been flying with just shorts, a t-shirt, and no gloves. Last time I did that was in '05 in Bali.)

Anyways, I only got really high a few times enough to feel comfortable doing tumbles and combo tricks. But one of the things I'm getting LOTS of practice in are ground sprials . . . . lots. Since I'm the only flying from 12-4 (dnk about the weekends, we'll see), I get the entire grass launch/LZ to myself. While I've found many ways NOT to do it (as evidenced by my harness and leg scrapings), I've almost got it dialed to where I'm probably 6 inches short of getting the stabilo touch, which is one of my goals for the trip. Today I've got to turn the 6907 tighter and I'm sure I'll nail it. Then it's to the left side . . . . wax on, wax off.

One thing I'm regretting is not bringing my Addict. I sank out 2x today on the 6907, and since no one had a small Ozone wing I could fly all the time, I had to borrow one of the local's Niviuk Artik R. Of course, I had to heli it and nailed a perfect one my first try. WOW . . . . that thing helis good. Reminded me of the Aspen.

I finally tried the Oregon Scientific ATC2K camera on my foot mod'ed with a super wide angle lens. Not only was it difficult to keep it centered and still, but when I did do it, the framing wasn't very good. I definitely need to see how the Parateam guys did it with the knee brace. The only good vid I got was a pretty sweet ground spiral I did, but then I broke the mount when I landed later.


A not-so good ATC2K video of that ground spiral.

Yesterday, I went w/some locals to a place called Chicamocha which is the "Colombian Grand Canyon" - they were taking a videographer and a photographer up on tandems. Launch is about 3000 ft above the river and you can obviously get above that by thermalling. I was able to throw down several times and had a rhythmic chopping pretty good. Then, I had an awesome low save which enabled me to top land with everyone else.

Weekend's coming and it should be a zoo as the locals do lots of tandems. Hopefully I can squeeze more practice in the afternoon.

Valle

I learned a lot while in Valle since I was there during Monarca. Even though I didn't compete I did fly the course for 2 days. Because Josh Cohn organized the condo, I got to sit in on nightly meetings he had set-up for the Americans trying to make the world team. I guess there's an effort to improve American XC comp flying because he brought the German champion and UP pilot Oliver Rossel to coach. Cool guy and awesome pilot. I asked him one night, "How far's your longest flight?"
He replied, "You mean for myself?"
"Um . . . . yeah."
"Well, I don't remember. That was fifteen years ago."
"You mean you've only competed the last fifteen years???"
"Ya."

Now that's some fucking experience.

Listening to the nightly de-briefs of the day's flights raised my XC game a bunch. While my focus is on acro, I might pay more attention to comp flying next year. Especially with the M2 . . . . that wing is just sick. Amazing glide. I mean, I can count on one hand the times I pushed bar.

I remember on glide I had a guy on a Trango 2-3 and Ram Race harness next to me (I had my Acro 2 all week). I was amazed and simply stoked on how much I out-glided him. I can compete on that wing, man.

Since Oliver and I weren't competing, we had to fly after the window which wasn't until 12:45. (That's really late.) In the two times I flew the course, I may have gotten my longest flights ever - one about 60km and the other 55km with one of those into goal. (Well - because of the late start, I missed a turnpoint and rejoined the gaggle later on.)

On the last day, I flew my 6907 and got some practice. On several occasions, I flew in the gaggle over launch (not supposed to be flying in the "big" gaggles at all on the course). One of them was pretty big, no less than 70 pilots flying wide circles. I was so tempted to helico in the middle of it but the 3-4 pilots flying tight circles below me made it a tad dangerous. Sorry Eric B.!

I'm in Colombia now and will post an update soon. What I can say for now is - DAMN! - it's hard to get that 6907's stabilo to touch the ground!

This is the year

So the last time I blogged I was in Europe reflecting on how I didn't qualify for the Vertigo. Well, it's a new year and I've made some huge decisions.

The biggest one is that I'll be moving to Europe for the entire summer to compete in the acro circuit. The big event this year is the Mundials taking place in Norway this August.

To get back in form, this past weekend I did my first tow session of the year. I specifically worked on my left side helico, switch helico (twister), helico to SAT, and SAT to helico. While I was able to do many left helicos, 1 solid twister, and 1 solid SAT to helico, I found the helico to SAT a little more challenging. With my recent brakeline shortening (3-4 in. at least), I need to be more subtle and pull less on tricks. Plus, the shorter travel will get me ready for the FLX, which almost has no travel whatsoever.

I have 4 major yet simple goals for my acro flying for 2008:

1) Be the first American to do the Infinitron. (And everything else before it.)
2) Achieve a world-ranking in the first Cat2 event in June.
3) Compete in the Mundials and be the highest U.S. finisher.
4) Be the best acro pilot in the U.S.

To achieve all 4 goals will be very difficult but not unreachable. By March, I'll have the FLX which will allow me to do all the tricks and no excuses.

I'm f-ing going for it, man.

I'll be heading to Valle this week to get some XC flying during Monarca (not competing though) and, since I'm bringing the 6907 . . . . it's more acro practice!

"C'est domage . . . . "

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

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

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!

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!