Tree Surfing at Bridal Falls
Yesterday I headed out to Bridal Falls for my first flight of the season in the Fraser Valley. Conditions looked reasonable and as it was a bit early in the day for flying, three of us decided to hike up the mountain as some other pilots who were driving drove up our wings.
At launch, the wind was quite cross from the east at times, but there were also some straighter cycles. A few pilots launched before I did and when a good cycle pushed through, I did a reverse launch and started running.
When I was very close to the edge of launch, I could feel my wing start pulling me back. It was a split second decision I made at that point, and I decided to keep going. As I got airborne, I was quite low and immediately started hitting things. First a tree branch in the face, then I hit my knee on what I think was a tree trunk and then my left wing tip clipped a tree. When I saw my glider hit the tree, I thought I was done for and would be hanging from it the next second. I’d say about 20% of my wing hit but to my surprise, I just kept going and was soon clear of launch and in pain.
With adrenaline pumping, I was at this point hanging fully from my leg straps in a “starfish” position. I tried bending my knees to get into my harness properly but my right knee was in a lot of pain so I stayed in this position for a few minutes while assessing the conditions in the landing zone. I could see that there was very little wind and at that point I decided it be best to do a bum landing instead of landing on my feet and risk further injury to my knee.
With that in mind, I realized I had no choice but to sit in my harness properly. After a series of pull-ups using my harness and many attempts at some modified ab crunches while leaning backwards, I was finally able to pull myself up and sit down. Lift was everywhere, as is always the case when you want to land, but after about 15 minutes, I was able to set up and land safely. It was a stressful approach, but when I came in, I pulled my feet upwards and kept them straight and pointed in front of me, and simply took a wrap, and then another one, and then another, as my glider slowed I came into land with very light winds. With that, I was down on the soft grass in the middle of the LZ. This was the highlight of my flight - a smooth and uneventful landing!
I unclipped myself from my wing and radioed the pilots flying at Bridal for help. Fedja and Rob S. both came into land and helped administer first aid. They put my leg in some bandages and a splint and folded my glider. The pain was tolerable except when my knee was rotated in either direction. I knew I could not stand on it so when my boyfriend landed, he and some other pilots carried me to the car and we then drove to Chilliwack Hospital.
The treatment I received at the hospital was great. A doctor saw me in less than 5 minutes, ordered xrays and then came to tell me the good news: nothing broken, no fractures, just a good smack to the knee! He invited us to look at the xrays for ourselves, so we took a quick peek.
All in all, by the very definition of the word "accident", what happened yesterday was preventable. Had I stopped running when my glider started dipping, I think things would have worked out better. It can be tricky when launching sometimes as it is often better to keep going rather than to abort a launch in a dangerous area, but then again, the second you’re airborne and low, your risks increase as well.
I think I was unfortunate in that Bridal has a lot trees in front of launch and if you’re low, it’s very easy to clip them or in some cases, get stuck in one. However I was very lucky in that I managed to fly away and that my reserve handle wasn’t pulled, my glider wasn’t damaged, my lines didn’t snap, and that I was in good enough shape to manage a safe landing.
Paragliding can be a very humbling experience at times and yesterday was another reminder of that. I’m very thankful to Fedja and Rob S. for cutting their flights short and helping me in the LZ and to the other pilots for carrying me to the car and helping in whatever way they could. Thank you too to my boyfriend Greg, who took me to the hospital and carried me into a restaurant on the drive home! Yesterday’s flight is one for the logbook...
At launch, the wind was quite cross from the east at times, but there were also some straighter cycles. A few pilots launched before I did and when a good cycle pushed through, I did a reverse launch and started running.
When I was very close to the edge of launch, I could feel my wing start pulling me back. It was a split second decision I made at that point, and I decided to keep going. As I got airborne, I was quite low and immediately started hitting things. First a tree branch in the face, then I hit my knee on what I think was a tree trunk and then my left wing tip clipped a tree. When I saw my glider hit the tree, I thought I was done for and would be hanging from it the next second. I’d say about 20% of my wing hit but to my surprise, I just kept going and was soon clear of launch and in pain.
With adrenaline pumping, I was at this point hanging fully from my leg straps in a “starfish” position. I tried bending my knees to get into my harness properly but my right knee was in a lot of pain so I stayed in this position for a few minutes while assessing the conditions in the landing zone. I could see that there was very little wind and at that point I decided it be best to do a bum landing instead of landing on my feet and risk further injury to my knee.
With that in mind, I realized I had no choice but to sit in my harness properly. After a series of pull-ups using my harness and many attempts at some modified ab crunches while leaning backwards, I was finally able to pull myself up and sit down. Lift was everywhere, as is always the case when you want to land, but after about 15 minutes, I was able to set up and land safely. It was a stressful approach, but when I came in, I pulled my feet upwards and kept them straight and pointed in front of me, and simply took a wrap, and then another one, and then another, as my glider slowed I came into land with very light winds. With that, I was down on the soft grass in the middle of the LZ. This was the highlight of my flight - a smooth and uneventful landing!
I unclipped myself from my wing and radioed the pilots flying at Bridal for help. Fedja and Rob S. both came into land and helped administer first aid. They put my leg in some bandages and a splint and folded my glider. The pain was tolerable except when my knee was rotated in either direction. I knew I could not stand on it so when my boyfriend landed, he and some other pilots carried me to the car and we then drove to Chilliwack Hospital.
The treatment I received at the hospital was great. A doctor saw me in less than 5 minutes, ordered xrays and then came to tell me the good news: nothing broken, no fractures, just a good smack to the knee! He invited us to look at the xrays for ourselves, so we took a quick peek.
All in all, by the very definition of the word "accident", what happened yesterday was preventable. Had I stopped running when my glider started dipping, I think things would have worked out better. It can be tricky when launching sometimes as it is often better to keep going rather than to abort a launch in a dangerous area, but then again, the second you’re airborne and low, your risks increase as well.
I think I was unfortunate in that Bridal has a lot trees in front of launch and if you’re low, it’s very easy to clip them or in some cases, get stuck in one. However I was very lucky in that I managed to fly away and that my reserve handle wasn’t pulled, my glider wasn’t damaged, my lines didn’t snap, and that I was in good enough shape to manage a safe landing.
Paragliding can be a very humbling experience at times and yesterday was another reminder of that. I’m very thankful to Fedja and Rob S. for cutting their flights short and helping me in the LZ and to the other pilots for carrying me to the car and helping in whatever way they could. Thank you too to my boyfriend Greg, who took me to the hospital and carried me into a restaurant on the drive home! Yesterday’s flight is one for the logbook...
posted by Veronica at 5:13 PM
2 Comments:
that is an exciting story, glad that it worked out and you are ok.
I love the bit about Greg carrying you into the restaurant! You deserved it after he made you hike up to launch, ha ha.
Get better soon, we need to do some x-c's together!
Martina
p.s. If you're bored one day I'll tell you my own "When Bridal Attacks" story. :)
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