Believe it or not, I got airborne off this little training hill on Sunday!  As an instructor I joke that "I'm paid not to fly", but I still get to sneak in flights on occasion.  Kiting is so much fun, and the feeling of your feet leaving the ground while running full speed down these little "bumps" is such rush!  

Paragliding skills are not static.  One day you're launching like a pro, the next day it takes you 6 tries to get airborne.  This is especially true when you're learning.  Rob had been having good launches all summer but yesterday he met with the latter half of the phrase "two steps forward…one step back".  So along with Claudia (who has been doing Novice coaching with me), we went back to the training hill to review some basics and find out where the bad habits had snuck in.  By the end of the day, both students had a few "aha!" moments and were back in their wing-handling groove.  

Fall flying is here, and that means some beautiful soaring days mixed in with smooth stable days where we can run up and down the hill racking up the flights.  Soon it will be time to bring out the skywalk spot landing circle and have fun contests at Riverside again.  Maybe even today...

Looking out the window this morning and seeing the fog reminded me of this paragliding flight I had in Ecuador a few years ago.  Flying through fog and misty clouds adds an extra element of magic to this already spectacular sport.

Yesterday's forecast called for a chance of a thunderstorm, and while the storm never materialized we did get treated to some epic cloud watching.  Check out this "thermal" right above launch at Mount Woodside!  

I'm not gonna lie…one of the coolest things about being a team pilot is the free swag!  Three rad new t-shirts arrived yesterday, just in time for this upcoming weekend of flying.  They are made from some kind of magic material that is soft yet stretchy, meaning they'll be very comfortable to wear in the air and won't get all wrinkly at the end of the day.  This is an important feature to help you avoid that ragamuffin look when you go for dinner after a day of flying so they don't kick you out of the restaurant (well…as soon as we figure out how to battle helmet hair of course). 

Thank you Skywalk! 

ps.  If you want one of your own, contact George or Lee at Thermal Addict Airsports, our Western Canada Skywalk importers

The moment your feet leave the ground…there's nothing like it.

Blue skies…puffy clouds.  Was it only a few weeks ago?  Today is the first full day of fall, and with 10-15mm of rain predicted locally it seems like these summer days were so long ago already.  Not to worry though, with BC's motto of "If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes" we're sure to get a burst of sunshine again soon.

Another shot of the paramotor fun, this time I watched as Tyler showed me how it's done.

The weather has been moody lately as we shift into fall…strong winds followed by a flyable window followed by stable air.  Instead of playing the waiting game on launch yesterday, I met up with some paramotor friends who were flying locally.  Note to self…lift some weights before getting into this sport!  Granted, the motor I tried on was a big & heavy one but even running around with just the motor running or practicing forward launches with the wing and motor not running were a lot more strenuous than regular paragliding.  But watching the guys skimming the fields, dragging their feet through the hay as they circled around the fields made me think all the extra effort would be worth it.  Thanks for a fun day!  Can't wait to try it out & get airborne myself.