Flight Number 125
A grin on my face probably means I flew recently, and today, yes! I finally had a noteworthy flight.
Funny, today at the bar I had a really good time. The casino was slow (non-drinking seniors were around) but I had a good time with my coworkers and the customers who were there. Hah, I made almost 5% more in tips than I usually do too - hmmm....mental note - smile more at work. Anyhow, before going to work I found out some of the guys were going to head up Prairie Mtn...although I didn't really envision myself flying today, maybe my happy mood was like a premonition of things to come.
After my shift, I had just over an hour to get to Bragg Creek, so I raced around the casino like mad doing beer counts, cashing out, finding a manager to sign me off, etc. so I could get out of there as quickly as possible. One of the porters knew the method behind my madness and just shook his head and smiled while everyone else shot me odd looks.
I got home asap and ran around like an elephant grabbing the gear I needed and raced towards the car. I ate supper while driving - memories of last summer's rushing and multi-tasking in the car came rushing back. I didn't speed excessively - I just went with the flow of traffic who were conveniently going over the limit.
I got to the meetup spot later than I would've liked to, but Oscar was nice enough to wait for me. We hiked up the mountain at what I thought was a decent pace for the first official hike of the season. Maybe it was good I was on that intensive back-to-work exercise program for the last 5 weeks for my shoulder...otherwise I'd probably be still up there.
Greg and Deryk went ahead and radioed that things looked good. When we were just over half way up Greg was in the air and Deryk launched a bit later. Man, it was wicked to see Deryk fly by! I thought to myself, yeah, that right there is why I'm in this sport. Very cool.
Anyway, Oscar and I got inspired by Deryk's flying and picked up the pace for maybe 5 minutes...okay, I'll admit that I definitely slowed things down but that last bit of Prairie Mtn., although not steep, just seems to drag on and on. You can see the summit, and it's like you walk towards it for an eternity, and it doesn't get any closer.
At this point the sun was low, and flying off the mountain asap was a priority. The guys below radioed up and expressed concern that my underperforming glider wouldn't be able to make it. It was kind of one of those "we'll think you'll be fine, buuuutttt.....".
With paragliding especially, even if it sounds hokey, I try to listen to my gut. I didn't really feel that things would go awry if I launched, and I thought too that if I picked a smart line and simply headed towards the road (aka LZ), I would make it. The guys advised too that I use my speed system if there was no lift - just to be sure I'd make it. So I geared up, and got ready to launch.
Second mental note: make sure lines are not tangled before hiking up mountain. I don't know how the hell I folded my glider last time I used it, but I did a really really shitty job! I don't really understand why things were they way they were, but it was really frustrating to stand on top of launch, with a limited launching window, screwing around unclipping this and that to straighten things...uuuggghhh!
After a bit of agitation, I sorted things out, and got ready to go. Just to be clear: safety checks were not rushed. A reverse turned out to be the way to go after an unsuccessful forward, and I was airborne.
Shortly after taking off, and with a silent vario (sink alarm was off, thankfully!), I thought to myself that the speedbar was a good idea. So I kicked it out, flew basically over the route we walked up (I figured flying a bit off-centre from the spine of the mountain would be the least sinky...not sure if this is 100% correct but I think it was a decent line) and headed towards the road.
I had a good 1000' over the road, so I was happy - I was glad the conditions died down a bit from when the other guys launched and that I didn't have to worry about not making the LZ anymore. I did some kind of lame S turns, and set up for my approach. In retrospect, I should have done some lazy spirals or something - oh well, next time. I landed on the road with basically no wind, REALLY glad I didn't have to walk down.
Oscar wasn't too far behind, and did a nice spiral dive - very cool. To celebrate of course, we went to a pub for a bit and talked about future flying plans and ideas.
I had a really good day today which was a nice change from the last few weeks. I think I could dub today's flight as the "first real flight of the season", and it was a pretty damn good one. Yeah, so what if it was only a sled run! Any flight where you feel totally control is a good one. And nothing beats hanging out with good people and sharing those experiences.
Anyway, off to bed for me - tomorrow during the day I work the bar again. I will apply the grin-test once more - I'm sure I'll do alright. And if anyone asks, I'll just be like, "here's your rye and coke sir, and by the way, if you flew off a fricken mountain last night, you'd be smiling too!"
Funny, today at the bar I had a really good time. The casino was slow (non-drinking seniors were around) but I had a good time with my coworkers and the customers who were there. Hah, I made almost 5% more in tips than I usually do too - hmmm....mental note - smile more at work. Anyhow, before going to work I found out some of the guys were going to head up Prairie Mtn...although I didn't really envision myself flying today, maybe my happy mood was like a premonition of things to come.
After my shift, I had just over an hour to get to Bragg Creek, so I raced around the casino like mad doing beer counts, cashing out, finding a manager to sign me off, etc. so I could get out of there as quickly as possible. One of the porters knew the method behind my madness and just shook his head and smiled while everyone else shot me odd looks.
I got home asap and ran around like an elephant grabbing the gear I needed and raced towards the car. I ate supper while driving - memories of last summer's rushing and multi-tasking in the car came rushing back. I didn't speed excessively - I just went with the flow of traffic who were conveniently going over the limit.
I got to the meetup spot later than I would've liked to, but Oscar was nice enough to wait for me. We hiked up the mountain at what I thought was a decent pace for the first official hike of the season. Maybe it was good I was on that intensive back-to-work exercise program for the last 5 weeks for my shoulder...otherwise I'd probably be still up there.
Greg and Deryk went ahead and radioed that things looked good. When we were just over half way up Greg was in the air and Deryk launched a bit later. Man, it was wicked to see Deryk fly by! I thought to myself, yeah, that right there is why I'm in this sport. Very cool.
Anyway, Oscar and I got inspired by Deryk's flying and picked up the pace for maybe 5 minutes...okay, I'll admit that I definitely slowed things down but that last bit of Prairie Mtn., although not steep, just seems to drag on and on. You can see the summit, and it's like you walk towards it for an eternity, and it doesn't get any closer.
At this point the sun was low, and flying off the mountain asap was a priority. The guys below radioed up and expressed concern that my underperforming glider wouldn't be able to make it. It was kind of one of those "we'll think you'll be fine, buuuutttt.....".
With paragliding especially, even if it sounds hokey, I try to listen to my gut. I didn't really feel that things would go awry if I launched, and I thought too that if I picked a smart line and simply headed towards the road (aka LZ), I would make it. The guys advised too that I use my speed system if there was no lift - just to be sure I'd make it. So I geared up, and got ready to launch.
Second mental note: make sure lines are not tangled before hiking up mountain. I don't know how the hell I folded my glider last time I used it, but I did a really really shitty job! I don't really understand why things were they way they were, but it was really frustrating to stand on top of launch, with a limited launching window, screwing around unclipping this and that to straighten things...uuuggghhh!
After a bit of agitation, I sorted things out, and got ready to go. Just to be clear: safety checks were not rushed. A reverse turned out to be the way to go after an unsuccessful forward, and I was airborne.
Shortly after taking off, and with a silent vario (sink alarm was off, thankfully!), I thought to myself that the speedbar was a good idea. So I kicked it out, flew basically over the route we walked up (I figured flying a bit off-centre from the spine of the mountain would be the least sinky...not sure if this is 100% correct but I think it was a decent line) and headed towards the road.
I had a good 1000' over the road, so I was happy - I was glad the conditions died down a bit from when the other guys launched and that I didn't have to worry about not making the LZ anymore. I did some kind of lame S turns, and set up for my approach. In retrospect, I should have done some lazy spirals or something - oh well, next time. I landed on the road with basically no wind, REALLY glad I didn't have to walk down.
Oscar wasn't too far behind, and did a nice spiral dive - very cool. To celebrate of course, we went to a pub for a bit and talked about future flying plans and ideas.
I had a really good day today which was a nice change from the last few weeks. I think I could dub today's flight as the "first real flight of the season", and it was a pretty damn good one. Yeah, so what if it was only a sled run! Any flight where you feel totally control is a good one. And nothing beats hanging out with good people and sharing those experiences.
Anyway, off to bed for me - tomorrow during the day I work the bar again. I will apply the grin-test once more - I'm sure I'll do alright. And if anyone asks, I'll just be like, "here's your rye and coke sir, and by the way, if you flew off a fricken mountain last night, you'd be smiling too!"
posted by Veronica at 1:16 AM
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