Prairie Flying - Rants Included!
I was pretty impressed with myself last night - I ended up flying and afterwards didn't stay up until 3:00 am updating my blog - amazing!
Last night a whole bunch of us (8 in total!) ended up flying off Prairie Mountain - such a large group was really cool and I think quite unusual for Prairie, considering you have to hike up.
The hike up sucked, but that's nothing new. I think I did better yesterday time-wise than I did a few weeks ago, but it still takes me at least 1.5 hours to get up there. But hey, I've never had to walk down with my glider, and that's really what counts.
The wind up there was pretty light with a few cycles here and there - nothing too crazy. I didn't have the most graceful launch, but I managed to pull it off anyway. At one point I was the launch queen, but lately I've lost my title - I will wear my crown again proudly after my trip.
Anyway, Prairie is kind of an interesting site because you're in the middle of freaking nowhere; there are no houses, no buildings, no nothing to see when you fly - just mountains, trees, and a couple gas wells here and there. I always worry a bit about my glide and encountering some strong valley winds and landing in the middle of this uninhabited bear country, but so far, hitting a whack of sink hasn't been an issue.
The air was pretty tame last night - other than one small thermal I hit on a knob by the spine of the mountain where the sun was still shining, there really wasn't much out there. It was one of those flights where you could just relax, and look around. I sort of realized too last night how sitting 1000 feet up really doesn't concern me anymore. It's like "oh yeah, so I'm 300 metres above the ground, so?" I realize that for most paragliding pilots, this feeling soon becomes the norm, but when you think about it it almost doesn't seem right that mentally you can be at ease so high up. Especially in an open aircraft that resembles a giant kite...I must be a newbie - the novelty of the sport still hasn't worn off, and ok, I'll stop with the over analyzing.
No pictures from last night - damn! But never fear, I bought a new camera (no more mooching off my teenage sister for me!) and the paragliding photo dry spell is about to end. And a with a 4 Gig memory card (technology is awesome), I have no excuse!
So yeah, good flight, a pretty damn good landing, and just a fun night in general (minus the hike, but let's not talk about that). Afterwards half of us went to the pub, and talked about more future flying plans and trips. Half way through I began to realize that you could devote your life to flying paragliders and travelling around the world, and you'll never see it all. Obvious, I know, but it just puts into perspective how many thousands (if not millions!) of places around the world there are to fly, and most of us only experience a tiny sliver of that. So many places to fly, not nearly enough time.
Speaking of travelling, I'm leaving in 8 days - weird. I never really envisioned myself going to France, and now here I am a week before ready to embark upon a new journey to the land of wine, fashion, and love. Oooh la la! Should be fun.
In terms of my wing, ahem, I GIVE UP! Yes, that's right, I'm tired of fighting - I concede defeat to whatever force is preventing me from getting a new glider before my trip. It's one of those situations where you try, and try, and try, and things just don't work out. According to the tracking number, it's been 'en route' to Canada (from the UK) since the 24th, and no news since. I'm guessing it ended up on a fricken boat.
So fuck it, there's nothing I can do but take my current piece of shit glider, and make do with what I have. And I'm not apologizing for my unlady-like manner of speech - dammit I wanted my new wing! But it's okay - at least this way at the Dune I can avoid feeling guilty about damaging my current glider, because at this point, I really don't care about the wing I have.So...I will go to France, feel guiltless about throwing my wing around, go to the UK, fly some more, and then when I get back, my new baby will be waiting for me. By then, I will be a super-fantastic pilot who will be able to fly my new glider without any difficulties and life will be perfect.
Anyway, enough BS for me - the weather is absolutely gorgeous, and I'm sure it'll be flyable this weekend but the casino can't seem to get enough of me, so I agreed to work Friday and Saturday - potentially sacrificing any last minute flying before my trip. It's all good though - mow money for me, coupled with bartending at another concert and a televised martial arts 'fight for supremacy'. Probably no flying, but at least this weekend someone else will be the source of entertainment.
Last night a whole bunch of us (8 in total!) ended up flying off Prairie Mountain - such a large group was really cool and I think quite unusual for Prairie, considering you have to hike up.
The hike up sucked, but that's nothing new. I think I did better yesterday time-wise than I did a few weeks ago, but it still takes me at least 1.5 hours to get up there. But hey, I've never had to walk down with my glider, and that's really what counts.
The wind up there was pretty light with a few cycles here and there - nothing too crazy. I didn't have the most graceful launch, but I managed to pull it off anyway. At one point I was the launch queen, but lately I've lost my title - I will wear my crown again proudly after my trip.
Anyway, Prairie is kind of an interesting site because you're in the middle of freaking nowhere; there are no houses, no buildings, no nothing to see when you fly - just mountains, trees, and a couple gas wells here and there. I always worry a bit about my glide and encountering some strong valley winds and landing in the middle of this uninhabited bear country, but so far, hitting a whack of sink hasn't been an issue.
The air was pretty tame last night - other than one small thermal I hit on a knob by the spine of the mountain where the sun was still shining, there really wasn't much out there. It was one of those flights where you could just relax, and look around. I sort of realized too last night how sitting 1000 feet up really doesn't concern me anymore. It's like "oh yeah, so I'm 300 metres above the ground, so?" I realize that for most paragliding pilots, this feeling soon becomes the norm, but when you think about it it almost doesn't seem right that mentally you can be at ease so high up. Especially in an open aircraft that resembles a giant kite...I must be a newbie - the novelty of the sport still hasn't worn off, and ok, I'll stop with the over analyzing.
No pictures from last night - damn! But never fear, I bought a new camera (no more mooching off my teenage sister for me!) and the paragliding photo dry spell is about to end. And a with a 4 Gig memory card (technology is awesome), I have no excuse!
So yeah, good flight, a pretty damn good landing, and just a fun night in general (minus the hike, but let's not talk about that). Afterwards half of us went to the pub, and talked about more future flying plans and trips. Half way through I began to realize that you could devote your life to flying paragliders and travelling around the world, and you'll never see it all. Obvious, I know, but it just puts into perspective how many thousands (if not millions!) of places around the world there are to fly, and most of us only experience a tiny sliver of that. So many places to fly, not nearly enough time.
Speaking of travelling, I'm leaving in 8 days - weird. I never really envisioned myself going to France, and now here I am a week before ready to embark upon a new journey to the land of wine, fashion, and love. Oooh la la! Should be fun.
In terms of my wing, ahem, I GIVE UP! Yes, that's right, I'm tired of fighting - I concede defeat to whatever force is preventing me from getting a new glider before my trip. It's one of those situations where you try, and try, and try, and things just don't work out. According to the tracking number, it's been 'en route' to Canada (from the UK) since the 24th, and no news since. I'm guessing it ended up on a fricken boat.
So fuck it, there's nothing I can do but take my current piece of shit glider, and make do with what I have. And I'm not apologizing for my unlady-like manner of speech - dammit I wanted my new wing! But it's okay - at least this way at the Dune I can avoid feeling guilty about damaging my current glider, because at this point, I really don't care about the wing I have.
Anyway, enough BS for me - the weather is absolutely gorgeous, and I'm sure it'll be flyable this weekend but the casino can't seem to get enough of me, so I agreed to work Friday and Saturday - potentially sacrificing any last minute flying before my trip. It's all good though - mow money for me, coupled with bartending at another concert and a televised martial arts 'fight for supremacy'. Probably no flying, but at least this weekend someone else will be the source of entertainment.
posted by Veronica at 11:31 PM
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