Tuesdays menu brings us another east wind day, so... A Costalunga we go, we go... A Costalunga we go. Upon arrival it is quickly obvious that the aggregate thermic and meteo winds are not for the faint in heart nor the low in experience (for the folk back home, think mid-summer on the Mt.Woodside launch …
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Fear Factor
Monday, the routine continues with one slight variation. The east wind from the day before is persisting and requires a relocation in terms of launches. Which brings us to... Costalunga. This south east facing paragliding launch site here in Bassano is maybe five gliders wide and three gliders long with a steep grade, tall uncut …
Paragliding Idiocy.
A day off! Three weeks of patiently waiting for this day, this very day. A day where I can do nothing, absolutely nothing. Laundry? Ahh, laundry. Options are weighed. Day of Nothing or ... laundry. Pondering advice of the sages... Use sunscreen. Check. Never be the last to arrive. Check. Never be the smelliest person …
Feeling the Air
It is Friday and week one of thermal/XC training is drawing to a close. A proper send off flight is planned for Matt, Paul, Bev and Maurice -> meet in the parking lot at 0730 and head up to the high (1500m) launch for a smooth 20+ minute sled ride down to the hotel LZ …
Flying Outside the Risers
Wednesday, it's Wednesday...I think. The days have faded into a blur, where the only reference to a particular day of the week is which night the restaurant at the hotel is closed. Life is evolving into a paragliding equivalent of 'Groundhog Day' - up at 5, bank machine hunt at 5:15*, back by 6:45. Skype …
The Witching Hour while Paragliding in Bassano del Grappa.
The hours and flights are quickly racking up. I am discovering and beginning to work on holes in my thermaling technique, developing my thermal 'sniffing', and even getting comfortable playing in traffic. Skill, confidence and comfort with the Delta 2 are all growing to the point that another stair step up in my learning staircase …
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Lost and Found
Gear, clothing, suitcases torn apart and strewn all over the hotel room. A robbery? No. A missing radio. After having flipped the room twice since pulling everything out to recharge, it becomes quickly apparent that my radio is no longer in my possession. A dreadful certainty fills me on where it is, the hayed field …
Evaluation Day with Kelly Farina and Austrian Arena.
The 3 hour rollercoaster ride through the Alps now complete, our group finds itself waiting in the hotel lobby, occasionally summoned by the desk clerk via a call of 'alora'. The rooms are not quite ready - Kelly's desire for an early start to the day meets the national institution of 'Italian Time'. In 'Italian …
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In Transit
Two weeks of SIV with Jocky Sanderson come to a close as my fellow participants journey forth - some heading home, some sticking around to freefly, others leaving for the Chabre Open taking place a few hours to the southwest. Myself? Hurtling along a windy mountain pass road between Mayrhofen, Austria and Bassano Del Grappa, …
“You overshot the landing field, on a windy day?!”
I can honestly say at this point that I can no longer recall each of the stalls that I have done. But I can say that if one does result in a cravatte (about a third of them have so far), it is a right SoB to get out with this wing. Once the lines …
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FlyinOrange 