Keeping up with iParaglide

Not so much a paragliding related post, as keeping-up-with-paragliding related. If you're like me, every so often you'll find yourself on the iParaglide site (likely at 5am, looking at the weather) and you'll skim through a few articles that have come up over the last few months. Close the browser, walk away, go paragliding, no problem.

You can do better! In my technology life, I find that anything that isn't either on my RSS feed or my Facebook feed gets ignored. So when I find a site, in this case about paragliding,  that I'm interested in following, I do my best to find out how to integrate it with either of those two.

I found this afternoon that if you use Google Reader (you really should), you can just Subscribe to the top-most page of this paragliding blog ("http://www.iparaglide.com/paragliding-blog-vancouver/") and GReader will figure out the rest for you.

So now you have no excuse to have not read about the CF-18 fly-by this weekend, or about Melissa's thoughts about boots or flying sans-instructor.

Happy Interneting!

Top Gun fly-by of Grey Cup

Just heard news that Daniel Walters, a 2010 iP2 paragliding graduate, and CF18 Hornet pilot, is doing a fly-by for the Grey Cup Parade: tomorrow, Saturday November 26, 12:00, in front of Canada place, over the harbour. 

Hoping for some clearer skies for the CF-18 squadron fly-by, as right now there are some weather issues trying to leave Cold Lake and the Vancouver forecast is for rain. 

I'm pretty fired up about the game, I played high school football and love contact sports.

Although the Lions this season had a slow early start: I personally think Lulay was throwing and moving the ball well from the beginning, the receivers just kept dropping balls, and the running game was absent.

But now, hard to find a flaw, with all the angles being covered. Lulay rocks and with McCallum kicking right through the posts consistently from 40 plus yards out, tough to beat!

Apparently a common jab in Dan's squadron is that he flies one of the fastest and loudest aircraft (CF-18) on the planet and also the slowest/lightest/quietest aircraft, a paraglider.

We'll watch for you in the skies on Saturday.  Godspeed,  Dan!

Go Lions!

How Much Does It Cost?

When we go to the park to kite our paragliders, we get a lot of questions. People want to know if we've just landed from somewhere ("we wish"), if we're sky drivers ("nope"), what's in our harness ("mostly air; it serves as an additional layer of protection for our backs"), and why we're doing what we're doing ("practicing ground handling makes us safer on the launch and in the air"). One of the most common questions is how much the equipment costs.

I can give them a rough breakdown of the cost of the paraglider, the reserve system, the harness, and the lessons, which does add up to a bit of an intimating sounding number. But do not cheap out on the equipment or classes; they are keeping you safe.

My partner, Russ, and I bought all our equipment and our P2 course together; doing it all at once for two people made for quite the bill. But, as I always tell those people in the park, paragliding is the least expensive way to become a pilot, and it is an incredible bargain to gain the ability to fly. To get to glide through the air at 3000 feet, just you and your wing and the wind (and sometimes a beautiful bird or two), is worth every penny you will spend and then some.

After Russ and I made our big purchase, we went out to get the other equipment a paragliding pilot needs: a helmet, gloves, and boots with good ankle support. The first two were pretty straight forward: go into a skateboarding store and pick the right size for your head, then go to a hardware store for a couple of leather gloves. Done. The last though... there are a lot of choices out there for boots. And we did a silly thing: we cheaped out. We went to a bargain shoe store. Our only excuse is that we'd spent so much money so quickly, and this was something we felt we could control the budget for. Mistake!

If you've already spent over $4000.00 on lessons alone for two people, plus equipment, saving $100 on boots is silly. Also, it is a waste of money. See, one of the first things we did with our new wings was go to an early morning slope soaring session to practice our launches.

Early morning means dew. The grass on that hill is wet. And within half an hour of being out there, our feet were wet too.

From the training hill, we were off to the mountain. No time to go home and change; we were going paragliding in soaked socks all day.

The next day that we weren't flying, we went to an outdoor specialty store and bought better boots. I highly recommend Gore-Tex; my feet are dry no matter what. And those cheap boots that got worn once sit in the back of my closet.

Another reason to invest in good boots: Once you are comfortable paragliding, you will be almost lying down in your harness, which means a common photo from a helmet camera looks like this:

If your boots are going to be all over FaceBook, they might as well be nice.

Executing the Plan

Hard to believe it was three weeks ago, but we finally got in our first entirely solo paragliding day. On October 14th, the three of us who have been flying together since our first slope soaring class did some evening weather forecasting, and reached the conclusion that the next day may very well be safely flyable for novice paraglider pilots.  Another check in the morning and a quick phone consultation, and we were off. Russ and I picked up Craig in front of his building in the mid-morning (later than we usually go out, as the outflow was expected to linger, perhaps in part due to the time of year), and we were off to the mountain.

On the way up, the conversation was about cloud formations, Starbucks bakery items, and Russ and I's brand new niece (born at 1 AM the day before), and was carefully not about being nervous about our first fully unsupervised paragliding flights. Maybe I was the only one.

We know the LZ well at this point, so we drove straight up the mountain. We've been flying Mount Woodside all summer, so everything was familiar as we pulled into the parking lot, sorted out water bottles and granola bars, then packed our paragliders up to the launch. Russ volunteered to drive the first round, so Craig and I got our wings laid out, checked our lines rather obsessively, then got in line. There wasn't a lot of wind, but it was a bit cross at times, so the line was slow moving as each paraglider pilot had to carefully wait for the right cycle to come straight up the mountain. Since there wasn't a lot of lift, no one was rushing and the feeling on launch was fairly relaxed and mellow. Lots of pilots were just hanging out, waiting to see how the day was going to develop.

The three of us did paragliding sled runs all day. There was some lift out there, but it was hard to stay in. Those who stayed up were working hard for it and spending a lot of time "scratching" (barely sustaining altitude in micro-lift while searching for a serious thermal). Russ, Craig, and I just focused on good launches and landings, and we got in three flights each.

In the pictures above, I can almost hear myself saying "c'mon, c'mon! Pull!", which is pretty much what I was probably thinking.

We all had good forward launches all day. I had one - my second launch of the day - where a little gust popped me a bit when I stabilized the paraglider, so I unloaded it a bit, but I remembered my training, fully committed to getting my weight down and running hard, and successfully launched despite the brief mis-step. When Craig had a little problem with his wing not coming up evenly, he aborted it cleanly, then shook it off and had a great launch shortly after. We were doing it: making decisions and being responsible for ourselves.

The perfect end for me was my last landing of the day. I came in over the south-west corner, over the "three sisters" - the trees on the Riverside LZ that we use to estimate our elevation - and noticed that I was lower than usual, so I turned on to downwind. As I made my next turn on to base, my feet were level with the tree tops: the absolute perfect height. I turned on to final, lined up with the runway and flared at the perfect height. I felt like I stepped out of the air and on to the ground, and I found myself in the first third of the runway, right where I had wanted to land. I even had time to turn to face my paraglider and bring it down tidily.

I may have ruined the cool factor of such a good landing by turning to my friends who'd already landed and screaming "Did you see that!" across the entire field.

The local flying season is definitely slowing. By the time I am healthy, we will probably be into the rainy time of year. Russ and I hope to get in some travelling with our paragliders during the off-season, and hopefully there will be kiting and slope soaring and maybe a random winter flying day or two at Mount Blanchard, but it was still nice to end on a high note: "Did you see that!"

2011 iP2 Paragliding Pilot Winging Ceremony and Flight Club Oct.28/11

iParaglide Flight Club Friday October 28th was an epic paragliding celebration for all of 2011!

Thanks to all the paraglider pilots and their friends who came down, we were a presence indeed.

The Yaletown Brew Pub has that special energy that really soars on a Friday night. Tough to beat. In this case the World Series baseball game was on Texas VS St. Louis. Had pilots cheering.  

The evening opened with some great food and drinks. 

Dinner was followed by all pilots proclaiming the Paragliding Pilots "Creed": a commitment to a lifetime of safe flying.  

This seasons group of paraglider pilots was a particularly close knit group, offering each other support, spending hours together kiting at Vanier Park, and practicing all the skills necessary to become good pilots.  I had an especially good time coaching them all and I want to thank and commend each of them for their dedication and hard work.  They are all truly worthy of their wings.

Beyond the great student paraglider pilots, we also had some great new Assistant Instructors.  I want to thank Degas Levesque for kicking off the season with a stellar performance radiating positive energy and always keeping pilots enjoying thier paragliding day. While he could not join us at Flight Club, this time, we joined him in spirit, with a heart felt thank you from the team.  We hope to connect soon and celebrate in full.  

Russell Smalley really hit it out of the ballpark this season. With only limited paragliding experience himself, he dug deep and drew on personal strengths, including a great radio voice, and kept the students in a calm centered state of abiding, while orchestrating accurate landings in the Riverside LZ. Thanks Russ! 

The evening switched over to the Paragliding Pilots winging ceremony, with iP2 wings being awarded to graduating pilots who successfully achieved their iP2, HPAC Novice and/or USHPA P2 pilot certifications. Some of the pilots began in 2010 and completed their final requirements early in 2011.

Tom Martinson completed his iP2 paragliding rating and also has done iParaglide SIV and Reserve seminars. Tom has been out to just about every Flight Club since inception, and his enthusiasm for the sport is much appreciated. He flies the Icaro Cyber2 in blue/black/white and an Energy Light harness. 

Mark Carter completed his iP2 rating and has done two SIV seminars and a reserve seminar with iParaglide. Mark was out at many of the morning slope soaring sessions at Diefenbaker Park, always willing to lend a hand fixing students paragliders and offering support. Thanks so much Mark! His conservative approach to flying and attention to ongoing pilot education should serve him well in the future. His paraglider is an Icaro Wildcat in orange/black/green/white combined with an Energy Cross harness.

Jeff Neale earned his iParaglide iP2 wings including a spectacular SIV performance in 2010, consistently the highest on tow, and some well executed maneuvers. He was second in a close race for iParaglide's 2011 Top Gun Paragliding Pilot Award. His wing is an Icaro Wildcat in black/red/white combined with an Energy Cross convertible harness.

Craig Fleming graduated with iP2 wings including an SIV seminar, in which he learned first hand the dynamics of the spiral! Nice to overcome adversity with some real progression. He soars on the classic Icaro Force in turquoise color combined with the light weight convertible Energy Cross paragliding harness. 

Melissa Hope achieved her flying dreams with her iP2 pilot certification and has done two Reserve Seminars. She wins 2011's Most Improved Paragliding Pilot Award. She had to overcome the significant challenge of learning to fly when she did not even have a drivers license yet!  Piloting is like driving in three dimensions: speed judgement, closing distances, turning, vehicle clearance: so you can imagine the level of difficulty. Through hard work spending significant time kiting, at training hills, and landing field approaches, she has really stepped up and earned her wings, after a slow start. Congratulations! She flies an Icaro Instinct in blue/silver/white with an Energy Light harness.

Russ Smalley was smooth and consistent in his flying, getting his iP2 wings.  He has also attended two SIV seminars and a Reserve seminar. His relaxed nature, positive outlook, and ability to give precise directions has allowed him to step up as an Assistant Instructor in record time. He flies an Icaro Cyber 2 in blue/black/white and the Energy Light harness.

Jim DeLaHunt comes from a fixed wing background and has now learned to soar on the lightest aircraft on the planet, achieving his paragliding iP2 wings.  He attended the 2011 Reserve and SIV Seminars, where he got to practice the C-Stall, a Cyber 4 innovation. His paraglider is the Icaro Cyber 4 in black/red/silver and this is complemented with the Energy Cross harness.

Kaitlin "Ducky" Sherwood got her husband Jim trying the silent flying alternative, as something they could do together.  She overcame an upset stomach from the adrenaline dump of her first paragliding experiences and spent countless hours honing her launch skills at Vanier.  She earns her iP2 wings including a Reserve Seminar and a SIV Seminar.  Flying a bright red/black/yellow Icaro Cyber 4 paraglider and a Energy Cross harness, she will be hard to miss in the sky!

Mike Bobick is a close contender for Most Improved Pilot of 2011, working hard to get his iP2 wings.  A triathelete, it came as a surprise that he had some difficulty with launches, early on in his paragliding.  After we grounded a number of iParaglide pilots from mountain flying until they had spent more time kiting, he really took the issue to heart. He may have the most kiting hours of any student ever at iP2 graduation. Congratulations Mike, for going beyond the required homework: your launch is now solid. An orange/black/white Icaro Instinct and Energy Cross harness has him zipping around the sky.

Simon Beaumont displayed a natural aptitude for the sport early on, so we placed him on an Icaro Wildcat. He has acheived his iP2 wings as well as having successfully completed Reserve and SIV seminars.  Simon gets 2011's Top Gun Paragliding Pilot Award. Beautiful forward and reverse launches, accurate landings and smooth coordinated flying have been with him throughout the season. At Simulation of Flight Incidents (SIV) training, he consistently towed the highest. His quick and precise responses to radio commands meant we could work a more aggressive training progression, especially on spirals and wing-overs. His spot landings were intially coached at the SIV, but through a gradual transfer of responsibility, by the end, he was pinning landing on the narrow beach strip on his own. Congratulations! Simon flies an Icaro Wildcat black/red/white and the Energy Cross harness.

Guy Herrigton is an iP2 grad of 2008.  It was great to catch up and issue his wings. He has completed Reserve and SIV seminars. Currently he is working on his iP3 Intermediate Paragliding Certification and flies an Icaro Maverick 2 high performance ENC paraglider in a stunning two-tone green/black/white with the Energy Light harness. 

Stephen Brownsett is an iP2 grad of 2008.  It was great to catch up with him and issue him his wings. 

Kris Klimek is a 2003 iP2 graduate. Great to catch up and issue his wings. 

Lukas Ircha is a 2002 iP2 graduate.  It was fun catching up and issuing his wings. 

Wishing all iParaglide 2011 iP2, HPAC Novice and USHPA P2 graduates a lifetime of adventure, flying paragliders.  

Fly high, fly far, but above all, fly safe, and enjoy the flights!