She hasn't shared her shots yet, but I did get a screen grab from my trusty GoPro "shadow-bombing" her with my paraglider. You can't really see but she was laying on the rock right where my glider's shadow is. I flew for an entire hour back and forth in front of that rock at different altitudes trying to get her the perfect shot. It was a whole new style of flying - trying to stay at the same height for an hour was a cool challenge! That's one of my favourite things in this sport that keeps it exciting...you will never, ever know it all.
Paragliding:
a visual journey
Follow along with us as adventurers take to the skies for the first time on a tandem, learn valuable paragliding skills or even catch a glimpse of pilots just goofing around!
Fitting that today is Throwback Thursday, as I'm finally getting around to writing about last Thursday's fly day! As part of this awesome week/month/year I was approached by a girl who works for Red Bull about taking some photos for a special project she was working on. She asked me because Skywalk is a sponsor of the Red Bull X-Alps this year and I just happen to be a local Skywalk Team Pilot. She wanted some sunset shots if possible, which is perfect since the Bridal Falls flying site works best in late afternoon until the sun goes down.
She hasn't shared her shots yet, but I did get a screen grab from my trusty GoPro "shadow-bombing" her with my paraglider. You can't really see but she was laying on the rock right where my glider's shadow is. I flew for an entire hour back and forth in front of that rock at different altitudes trying to get her the perfect shot. It was a whole new style of flying - trying to stay at the same height for an hour was a cool challenge! That's one of my favourite things in this sport that keeps it exciting...you will never, ever know it all.
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Last week was stellar...so stellar in fact that I'm just downloading pictures and writing about it now! Starting Monday after the workday was done, I met with Damian who is on his way to getting his HPAC P2 rating. He's the proud owner of a shiny new kit including a Skywalk Tequila 4 and Skywalk Cult harness, and within an hour he had gone from cautious to confident with his wing handling. I get so proud watching my students progress, and by the looks of Damian seeming determined to run right into the sunset, I think he's having a blast too.
Last weekend we had our instructor recertification course, so I went as a tandem passenger for the first time in a long time with my friend and fellow tandem pilot Andrew. It was a great learning experience as I "re-learned" how it felt and can better empathize with my passengers. Also, I learned that it's important to stick out your tongue to have a flawless launch ;)
The last 2 weekends have been filled with tandems, and with this nice weather May is booking up quickly too!
What happens on a tandem? It's up to each passenger - some ask lots of questions and it's quiet enough up there for us to chat. I talk with my hands a lot...it's no different when flying apparently! Part of the fun of flying (ok, most of the fun) is flying in thermals. The best part of flying with friends is that you don't have to find them all yourself. Here I am in shark mode about to head over and join an established thermal. On a great day of flying (like this was) everyone gets a chance to find them and be "top of the stack"!
Saturday was an epic flying day, but of course I forgot to turn on my GoPro so no pictures. Sunday was forecast to be similar, and it was like a class reunion with over 20 pilots coming out to fly at Bridal Falls (which is a lot for our area!). We heard others on the radio across the valley flying at Woodside too. And even though the conditions weren't as nice as Saturday, it was still fun to fly with friends again and get back to exploring this lovely area.
For some, the Easter long weekend means time off to relax. For me, it's been a non-stop weekend of awesomeness (aka paragliding work). First an exciting tandem job involving flying a stills photographer for an ad campaign (I'll post pics and details as soon as they give the ok when the ads are released in about 6 weeks) and then on Sunday a perfect kiting day for teaching one of my latest students. We went to the "bunny" hill and although we didn't find any chocolate, we did run around and laugh just as much as the kids hunting for goodies from the Easter Bunny!
One of my students this year is an airline pilot, so that means random days off, sometimes just one day off and then back to work. Today was such a day...and luck was on our side! It rained yesterday and rain is predicted for all of next week, and yet we got in this training tandem flight at the end of the day. (ps can you believe this is March? And it stayed this light out til after 7?)
Thanks to Tyler who sent in this clip of yours truly flying the Canadian Flag at Bridal Falls on Canada Day last summer! Who says the papers are only full of bad news? I was lucky enough to be interviewed for the Chilliwack Progress paper's special "Outdoor" section in Friday's (Feb 27th) edition so they could find out why we do what we do out here in the valley.
If you have some time, have a read! The link to the article can be found here |
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