Simulation of Flight Incidents SIV September 3 & 4, 2011

The iParaglide Paragliding SIV (Simulation of Flight Incidents) Seminar is on September 3 & 4, 2011. SIV DETAILS HERE.

On the weekend prior to our SIV Seminar, we are offering a paragliding reserve deployment and repack clinic. Participants must be current in their knowledge of how to deploy their reserves and have a reserve that has been repacked within 8 months. 

To ensure a great time, iParaglide has booked the first class Greenwood B&B.  We recommend as a minimum the paragliding group stay Friday and Saturday night so we get early starts Saturday and Sunday and maximize paragliding tows for the day. The Greenwood features west coast contemporary post and beam structure, beautiful rooms and a large deck with hot tub and barbecue area. Greenwood B&B Details here.

 

The entire event promises to be a Paragliding Big Escape holiday to the beautiful Pemberton Valley and the spectacular Lillooet Lake.

To book register here.

 

Looking forward to a spectacular long weekend!

Flying Off Into the Sunset

In a high school class, there's at least one: the student who struggled but who worked their butt off. Their graduation is a big deal. Everyone is cheering for them; everyone is so proud of them: their family and friends, their teachers, often even their fellow graduates. I wasn't that student in school; my graduation was taken for granted by everyone, including myself. I am a natural at book learning.

Paragliding cannot be learned from a book. I have no illusions that I am a natural at paragliding. Russ has taken to it a lot more quickly than I have and is already an Apprentice Instructor for iParaglide, assisting at the slope soaring training hill and landing students at the mountain. Our teacher, Dion, was telling Russ about how to make the slope soaring classes run efficiently, emphasizing the need to identify any struggling students early on, so they can get extra help and not slow down the rest of the class. That was definitely me in my first class.

Through the course of the training for my paragliding novice license, I've struggled with no-wind launches, accurate landings, reverse launches, and kiting... almost everything, really. And I've slowly learned each of those things with extra help from Dion and his other teachers, some tutoring from Russ, lots of practice, loads of visualizing, and sheer stubbornness. I still have a lot to learn, but I can now do reliable no-wind launches, fairly accurate and very safe landings, reverse kiting for as long as I want in good wind and forward kiting for short periods, and I've done two reverse launches at the mountain.

At the end of last summer, Dion and I both thought that I was going to need extra paragliding high mountain flights after the minimum twenty to get through all my requirements, but when things started clicking for me, it all came together very quickly. I had my graduation flight last Monday, August 1st. It was my third flight of the day and I launched at about 5 PM, when the wind was just settling down again. I did my best reverse launch yet and glided off into the late afternoon sun.

I will never get tired of the view at 2000 feet. The miracle of being in the air, just me and the wind and all that space on all sides is just so powerful. Even a paragliding "sled run" - a flight where you launch, fly straight to the landing zone (LZ) and land - gives me ten magical minutes of kicking back in my harness and enjoying the view. I needed the launch and landing practice and I was flying in the morning, before there's a lot of lift, so that’s what a lot of my flights ended up being this year.

On my graduation paragliding flight, the evening winds and the ridge lift meant that I didn't have to head straight to the LZ. Instead, I flew back and forth along the ridge, letting the air hold me up, riding over invisible waves of thermals, choosing where to go next. I almost started crying at one point, as I realized that I was in the midst of a dream come true. That was exactly the kind of flying I've always wanted to do.

On the radio, Dion made a point of telling me that it was a good launch and that I was flying well, around supervising a newer student's launch and flight. He is always reassuring and encouraging on the radio, but he sounded especially proud that day.

As of this evening, I'm on the list of members of the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada (HPAC) as a certified Novice Pilot. This video, taken by Russ moments after I landed, pretty much summarizes how I feel:

Tentative Aug.14, 2011: Riverside Paragliding LZ Work Party

Paragliding Pilots, 

Riverside paragliding landing zone has overgrown with blackberry bushes, as is usual this time of year. 

Over the years, we have recommended to the West Coast Soaring Club (WCSC) that in the interest of paragliding pilot safety and enjoyment, this landing site should be maintained with regular scheduled routine brush removal three times per season.  Doing this will reduce the magnitude of job that occurs when the field is left idle too long.

WCSC members with Riverside landing passes are paying $50 yearly dues to the landowner, to provide a safe paragliding landing site.  We believe it is reasonable and in everyones best interest to ensure it is maintained to allow for a high level of passive safety. Ideally that would entail cutting back the blackberry bushes clear to the property line, to make full use of the inherent safety provided by such a large paragliding landing field. 

We are calling on all iParaglide students and graduates to volunteer to help clear the landing field of blackberry bushes and make other improvements to the paragliding landing field.  The tentative date is Sunday August 14, with the intent that work is done while waiting for rides up to launch, so that all can still paraglide. Depending on the availaiblity of iParaglide pilots, we may reschedule, although we would prefer to do it this Sunday if at all possible. 

Work essentials:

• work gloves
• steel toed work boots 
• coveralls (save you skin from prickles and bug bites)
• bug dope
• water: lots and lots of it

 We encourage all paragliding pilots that have regular landscaping tools to bring them including:

• scythes
• picks
• rakes
• shovels
• wheelbarrows
• chain saws
• hedge trimmers
• brush saws

Please confirm in comments section if you have these and how many you can bring them along. We want to have a count of what tools will be available before we begin clearing up this great paragliding landing field. 

Chain saws, brush cutters, hedge trimmers are less common, so we are also proposing to rent three or more of these as needed, so paragliding volunteers can be well equipped to tackle the job more quickly and effectively. Daily rental for each of these items are $50/day plus gas.  We will keep receipts and request the WCSC for re-imbursement for these expenses, however, we should be prepared to just share the cost amongst ourselves if the the Club's budget does not allow for reimbursement.

There is a plan in place to mow the major field, with a tractor.

These tools will be necessary to do detailed work in areas not accessible to a tractor to make the paragliding LZ field more like a "park". 

Please confirm your attendance by reply to this blog below. 

We look forward to doing some good handy work with you so that we can enjoy Riverside paragliding landing field at its best! :)

Swiss Paraglider Christian Maurer victorious in Red Bull X-Alps

Red Bull X-Alps Update July 28/11, 14:00: crossing the alps in the ultimate paragliding and mountaineering adventure race. Swiss paragliding pilot Christian Maurer finished first today in an outstanding 11 days 4 hours and 22 minutes! Watch the video of Christian earn victory here. 

Paraglider pilot Toma Coconea of Romania is still climbing mountains in the dark, in second, 171 km out. Meanwhile, Austrian paraglider Paul Guschlbauer sleeps only 8 km behind.

Europe is 9 hours ahead, so most of the paragliding athletes are sleeping now, while some climb through the night, vying for position. Tommorrow should be an epic battle with paragliding weather forecast to improve for those that have passed Mont Blanc and are on the last 225 km of the race course.

The race will officially close 16:22 Sat. July 30, so the remaining athletes have only 48 hours to improve their paragliding position, make it to Monaco, or not! Follow the paragliding competition action, live with realtime GPS tracking here.          

iParaglide Flight Club Invite - August 5, 2011,18:00

The Paragliding Flight Club has been growing steadily with a great mix of free flyers, free spirits and their friends getting together on the first Friday of every second month.

We invite all down to this upcoming paragliding social evening Friday August 5, 2011 18:00 onward.  

To  ensure maximum enjoyment, convenience and above all, safety, Flight Club Paragliding pilots social has been selected to be walking distance from Skytrain and in the heart of Yaletown's high energy venues.

Yaletown Brew Pub is at 1111 Mainland Street (Mainland@ Helmcken per blue location marker) one block north of Skytrain Roundhouse Station:

 

Street view of Yaletown Brew Pub. 

At the hostess stand ask for the paragliding "Flight Club" and we have a section reserved on the Pub side. 

A great venue with good tunes, big screens, pool tables, good beer and great nooks to hang out and talk paragliding.

We encourage all paraglider pilots to utilize public transit, and look forward to a flying Friday night!