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.

Sunshine, Lolipops and Rainbows

Last night sucked not flying, and must have affected me enough to disturb my sleep; I ended up having a bizarre dream about bartending with a waitress I dislike (who funny enough I had to work with today), bumble bees chasing me (for real, it's stupid, I know, but I'm more scared of bees than I am full stalling my glider), and something about paragliding too, all mixed into one. Crazy.

Right now it's anything but flyable - drizzle accompanied by 60 k gusts of wind would not be a fun experience in a paraglider. But 5 minutes ago there were 2 really bright rainbows - something I haven't seen for quite some time. Nature really does have a neat way of almost forcing us to forget about what's bothering us and just live in the moment.

Grounded

Another day trying to fly, another day grounded.

My third last shift at the casino last night left me tired this morning, but I was still game to fly off Prairie and was happy to receive a text message that said some of the guys were heading out.

So, the four of us headed out to Bragg Creek and noticed there were some pretty strong cycles and the wind was kind of all over the place. Wisely, we decided not to hike up Prairie but instead checked out the base of Moose Mountain flying site. We sat there for a while, and even at that elevation (couple hundred feet up or so) the wind sometimes came in strong, and was coming in from one direction one second, the other the next.

Enjoying where I was, I didn't really mind not flying. Bragg Creek is a really beautiful place, and the more I go to the mountains, the more I realize how lucky we are to have them. They really are spectacular. I always feel at such peace looking at them - so majestic.

After a bit, we figured things wouldn't get better anytime soon, so we headed home. I barely walked through the door when I decided to call the windtalker to see what was happening out in Cochrane. It sounded decent, so I waited a bit and called again later, and the conditions still sounded good.

I drove out there, and just past the 1 kilometre sign to Cochrane my jaw dropped - 3 paragliders high in the sky! I've never EVER seen that in the last 2 years driving out there. I really am going to start making a habit of taking my camera with me everywhere...what a sight it was to see!

So I got to the hill and some of the pilots were sitting around. I was told that the air was somewhat choppy, and to give it some time. The wind was coming in pretty much straight and fairly strong, and I didn't mind waiting for things to settle a bit.

So I waited, watched some of the pilots in the air, and then decided to get my wing out. The pilots who were sitting around were getting ready to launch, and once airborne, either gained a couple hundred feet of height, or at least maintained.

I geared up, got the wing up, turned around and started pushing forward. The wind was pretty strong, so I used my weight to push my glider ahead. I read somewhere it's best to load the harness downward instead of kind of trying to fight it forward, so that's what I did (basic physics apparently). I felt the pressure on my ribs, and just tried to gain some ground. Well, I really don't mean to be negative, but I either just plain suck, or ....yeah, that was it. Basically, I couldn't do it. The wing was all over the place, and when I actually got about 3 feet or so in the air (I got lifted up before getting to the edge of the hill), the wing was still kind of shakey and I started getting pushed back a bit. I quickly realized my lack of control, messily killed the wing, and got the leading edge out of the wind. LOSER!

Ugh, I hate feeling out of control, and that's exactly what it felt like today. It's one thing not to fly when nobody else is, but it's really hard to watch somebody else fly in conditions that you should be able to. I know it was me who messed up today, and yes, maybe trying only once and giving up sounds unreasonable, but it wasn't. I knew that trying again wasn't safe, and frankly, I didn't want to get dragged infront of an audience. I may have my blonde moments, but I'm not stupid.

I sat there for a while, contemplating what happened, and decided to call it a day. I then decided to give it another hour, so I took a break from sitting out there for a bit, and then went back to try groundhandling. The wind just got stronger, and the PG pilots landed, while the hangies got ready. The paragliders seemed pretty happy - who wouldn't be getting above launch out in Cochrane?

Heading out to Bragg Creek and not flying was fine today...it really didn't bother me. With good company, getting out of the house to a really beautiful part of the Rockies is awesome. Moreso with flying, but lovely nonetheless. What makes me mad is having an open flying window, and being grounded. Maybe "mad" isn't the right word..."defeat" probably is.

Did I want to be caught in super-strong winds in the air? No, but I think at one point there was a safe flying window, and damn it, I missed it.

I'm too stubborn to give up - I never do when I want something bad. I always work hard to make things happen, but man, paragliding is hard. I'm not a complainer, nor am I looking for sympathy, but sometimes you wonder why things are the way they are. Maybe I should have tried launching again, but I have my pride - I didn't want a repeat of that charade.

Times like today make me realize how ignorant I really am about this sport and how I have SUCH a long way to go. This sport seems to be teaching me over and over again about patience and sticktoitiveness (yes, that's a word!)

Nothing worthwhile comes easy, right? I'm sure next month will be great - god I want progress.

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY THOUGHTS! I think it's time for some mindless comedy entertainment provided courtesy of YouTube. MadTV, Colbert Report, South Park here I come.

No Flying but Plenty of Thinking

Blog postings 10 days apart are a bad sign - it means I haven't been flying very much lately, and unfortunately that has been the case.

A couple of us headed out to Prairie again during the week on a nice day, but it was totally blown out. Someone pointed out to me that we should have looked at the upper winds forecast for that region before heading out there, and now that I have a better idea what those cryptic numbers mean, hopefully the next time we go we end up flying.

The closest thing I've done to fly lately has been think about it. I've somehow managed to squeeze about 4 bartending shifts a week from the casino, and even though the shifts themselves are not great, at least I'm making money and I get to see free concerts! For sure though, they'll be getting my notice next week. The longer I work there, the more I realize how bad that place is for me...the drug abuse, alcohol abuse, stealing and backstabbing are frankly, shameful. Although I really do enjoy the work itself, and even though some people there are great, your working environment truly makes or breaks the job...and for me, it's time to call it quits.

So, back to scratching my head trying to invent new ideas on how to sustain myself financially while running around the world flying. The idea of working with a school somewhere in the fall and being an assistant or something until gaining a proper skillset is an option...there just has to be a better way though. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself anyway - the next 2 months will be jam-packed with flying and it will be interesting to experience that and see if my interest in the sport will wane at all during that time. I doubt it, but hey, as I've recently realized, it's always good to have a "Plan B".

I talked to Will Gadd a bit about the course he and Keith are teaching in July, and it sounds great! I'm really excited to learn more about how to properly read and understand Mt.Seven's topography, as right now, I'm pretty clueless. Everytime I fly out there, I just try to be careful as the valley winds, rotors, etc. can make things dicey pretty quickly...a few people have learned that the hard way and I don't want to be one of them. The course will be really helpful.

19 days before I leave for France - airtime, here I come!

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!"

Unauthorized Pilot Photos

Everytime I need a break from working on my internet stuff, I find myself either looking at random paragliding-related things online, updating this blog, or both.

I was on: http://www.ojovolador.com/ and was going through some of the image galleries, when I found one with photos from the Caribbean challenge. There are quite a few pictures of the Canadians – yes it’s true – we rule. As I was going through them, I kept cringing, praying there wouldn’t be one of me. Well, there was one, but I guess it’s not so bad:


Looking at that picture makes me want a new harness – my ass looks fat! Yeah, my fat-ass harness is kind of funny, and I laugh at it too, but seriously, that harness does not look cool. Ha ha, yeah, so what if I’m shallow? I know it’s a very safe harness, but I don’t envision anyone who’s a serious pilot flying with something so hideous…and I am NOT vain!

Physio is officially done for my arm…jeez, what a ride that was: 3 weeks of physio, 5 weeks of physio/rehab for a little shoulder injury. My hand still goes numb sometimes for whatever reason, and it swelled up while I was bartending the other day so the problem is still there, but to a lesser degree. As long as it doesn’t interfere with flying I’ll be okay. Everyone tells me it just needs more time although 8 weeks seems like plenty to me. I vow right now, that this injury will not be an issue at all a year from now.

I haven’t seen that paramotor pilot for a few weeks now – I’ve been expecting to see him when it’s been nice out. Apparently a hang glider pilot (I think) followed him to where he landed (not flying of course) and informed him about flying in restricted airspace, when the guy whipped out a map and showed him that where he was flying was perfectly legal. I can’t say I’m overly familiar with the airspace designations of the area here in Calgary, but it seems odd that the area wouldn’t be designated as class c airspace. And if he was the same guy flying over Canada Olympic Park, this guy is definitely not out of the red. Besides, either way, I’ve seen him flying less than 1000’ over houses…

One month until my trip – crazy. I’m not in the mindset for it at all right now, but when I think about it, I get giddy – yay, a month of flying will be great. Paragliding is total escapism.

Busy, Busy, and Tired

Amazing I've gone 10 whole days without updating my blog. Must be a record.

I've been really busy lately - too many late nights working juggling a million different things with no real time to relax. It's okay though - a little sacrifice now will pay off in the future.

I registered for the Canadian Nationals last week - I figure now's as good as time as ever to start going to competitions. I'm sure the Dominican XC Challenge will prove to be a good precursor to the Nats...at least now I know how it feels to share launch with 100 other pilots. I'll go into the Nats with an ambitious, but safe attitude. I don't want to have to head out to the Nickelson LZ 5 minutes after launching every time, but I don't exactly want to make any tree landings either. The Canadian Rockies seem a lot more intimidating to "practice" tree landings, then the Dominican...there are vast areas around Golden very, very sparsely populated...

My new wing is still in the works...by the end of this week something concrete should be figured out. It's not like I've had a lot of time lately anyway to fly it even if I had it now, so it's okay that I don't have it right this second. Definitely in the next 2 weeks though, I want it to be here.

My trip to France and the UK seems to be looming - so little time to get all this crap done. Most things haven't been going my way lately, so that's just added to my frustration. Things are starting to sort themselves out though, so that's good. I hope I can get some more shifts at the casino in before my trip too - I hate worrying about money while on holidays (actually, make that anytime).

Going to San Francisco was nice last week, even though it was only for 2 days. I can't say that I secured some absolutely incredible business deals or anything, but it was nice to talk to people in the same field. Good experience for sure. I stayed downtown, encircled by high end shops like Louis Vuitton, Juicy Couture, Neimen Marcus, etc. Funny, 3 years ago these stores interested me - I thought looking at overpriced designer merchandise was interesting. Now I could give a shit - why the hell would I pay for a new pair of shoes what I would a new glider? All about priorities I guess.

The wind out at Cochrane doesn't really seem to be cooperating as of late, and although I pay close attention to wind forecasts and weather, the idea of spending 4 hours at the hill to get in a 2 minute sled run hasn't really been appealing to me. For sure when I get my new wing, I'll try to get out there to groundhandle at the very least, but right now, meh, call me lazy. Whatever - next month I'll be the flying plenty.

Ha ha, the other day my sister Andrea was like "um, paragliding is just hang gliding in a chair". ???? This is coming from someone who's never seen a hang glider in her life - man, those fixed-wing pilots have everyone on their side!