SIV Course Prep

I promised myself that before I leave for the SIV course at Mara Lake on Wednesday afternoon, I would watch Broken Toe Acro, read up on maneouvers, and watch the DVD of Chris Santacroce talking about SIV that I got last year. So far, it hasn’t happened, but I’ve still got 2.5 days left! Last year I found that I wasted a lot of time trying to understand the different maneouvers, and not really “getting” it until I was in the air. This time around I want to know what to do, and what to expect from my wing when I do it, knowing of course that Chris will be at my side guiding me.

I keep thinking about the course and what exactly I want to get out of it. I’m so curious to see what it’ll be like taking the same course one year later as a better pilot and on a newer wing. One moment I’m like, “Yeah! I totally want to full-stall my wing! Burying the brakes, here I come!” The next it’s like “Ummm…maybe some simple b-line stalls are extreme enough for me.” Man can you ever psych yourself out in this sport! I know I want to practice some spirals and maybe go from there with Chris’s advice. I’m so pumped!

I have to laugh at the ridiculousness of the last couple weeks outside of paragliding. I don’t think I’ve ever been so busy clearing up business matters, and not benefiting from them financially at all. How annoying - I totally didn’t sign up for this sort of thing! Not making money is not something I live well with (curse my North American consumer habits!) so when I got a call about a one-day yoghurt promotion at a soccer camp, I happily took the job. Long story short, the girl who was originally supposed to be the mascot couldn’t do it anymore, so I was asked if I would.

So, yes, I am publically announcing that yesterday I had to wear a smelly mascot costume and do my best dancing around in public while being accused of being a fake by snotty kids, and almost getting blown over when the wind picked up! LOL, I always wind up with the weirdest jobs! Ok, maybe prancing around downtown as “Bat Girl” for a corporate game still tops yesterday’s experience, but being a yoghurt mascot is right up there! The things I’ll do in the name of extra paragliding cash make me worry...