Reflection 2009

What a year. What an amazing, unbelievable, tumultuous, powerful year. I exceeded everything I thought possible. Starting in January doing a 10 day vipassana course in Lumbini Nepal with my dad I realized limitations are something I create myself, nothing more. They are simply in my head, and I realized how powerful the link between mind and matter, how much thought influences life. And often with a great realization comes a test. In Feburary I had such a test- plans changed, death of a new friend, heartbroken by a woman. But it's how we react isn't it? Accept, move forward, choose life... I do.

The winter means predictable tandem flying in Nepal. The spring brings a change in weather and freedom to fly solo and for adventure. I was ready. And then I was overwhelmed, the group flight across Northern India in April was amazing. It's a natural progression of my dreams, every year more and more becomes possible.. 500km in 8 days was just right for me this year. The plan was to stop at the border of nepal and the goal was achieved. To summarize, using a paraglider to travel the Himalayas, through cultures, time and space, imagine it.. then it's more than that..

But there's paragliding and then there's paragliding in Pakistan, theres's simply no other flying in the world that compares. May to September I spent chasing that dream. My endurance was tested as the weather was incredibly reliable in July and August. After a few flights reaching exhaustion I thought I had found my limits, then I pushed beyond, then I found new ones... It was more flying then I've done all the previous years combined in terms of nights camped out, new exploration of routes, and time at altitude... Yeah for me it was big. I lost a few kilos with all the activity and got fit, and then I got burned out.. By the time my Dad came in September I was ready to slow down and rest. We had a great trip visiting old friends and spending some time in the air.

Next it was a short trip to Kerala (South India) to meet some new friends, fly a new site and rekindle the romance that had burned me earlier in the year. Weather wasn't ideal but the hospitality and event organization was. In October I was back to nepal to enjoy some predictable tandem flying in Pokhara. Flying conditions were great and tourists were plentiful, it can be a great way to make money when it goes well. The romance however didn't go well and life presented me another great chance to work on humility and acceptance in the form of a good emotional ass kicking. In a theme for this year limits were tested and pushed beyond what I thought possible. It seems always in a crisis I seem to choose well and choose life, that's a nice thing to know about myself.

Leaving Pokhara after 2 months and 130 flight to go for another meditation course in Lumbini was appropriate. Nothing dramatic during the time there and progress was slower than expected but I get the feeling that this is a natural progression for me. Slowly, gradually. What is learn in meditation with eyes closed is meant to be applied in life and bring improvement in life outside of the retreat. It is not a way to drop out or avoid the world but rather teaches how to strive in this world, in this very life. In it's basic essence vipassana meditation is a battle between wholesome and unwholesome emotions. It teaches how to strengthen the wholesome ones and weaken or eradicate the unwholesome ones. Oh, and it's hard...

Leaving Nepal and going to Thailand in December to rest was even more appropriate. As I write this I've spent a few weeks relaxing, learning to kitesurf and preparing for an even bigger Himalayan odyssey in 2010. My friends Mike, Antoine and Lynn shared a house and some time with me. They've returned to India, we'll meet the end of Febuary to start our adventure. I'm staying a family I met in Kerala who live in Bangkok. A little solace, a little peace I've found. It's been good and it's been nice to relax...

Then talking with my sister and mom recently we realized it's been a while since we've seen each other, and possibly January was the best time to get together in the coming year, so in a quick timely decision my sister will be flying from Cameroon (where she works) and I'll be flying from Thailand to spend 12 days in California with my mom and step dad the beginning of the new year!! Very cool how all this can come together.

So that's a reflection on this year. For 2010 I suspect things will get more interesting. I have some ambitious plans and a big part of that is trying to share my experiences online and in video. There's so much to be inspired by, so much to do, it's an exciting time to be alive.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year 2010!
Love,
Brad

Flights with my Dad

In September my dad came to visit me in Pakistan, you can read about our trip in 2007 here http://davesander.blogspot.com/ He was supposed to come in 2008 but had an accident which delayed his trip till this year. Needless to say he was excited to make it back and in a short time we were able to do everything and more we hoped.
Here's a pic from a flight, and wow does a picture tell a story. Me and my dad looking relaxed and happy which we were, my dad using oxygen (we had been to 5900m and no problem for him where in 2007 he got a little hypoxic at 5400). He's also wearing some really warm clothes which I was sponsored by a Canadian clothing company Westcomb Outerwear. It's fantastic stuff and I hope to get some great use out of it click the link to see a nice picture of me they are using for their webpage. Below us you can see the road we took off, if you look from left to right above us you can see the route we flew. Upper right is a 6000 meter mountain under a cloud, we circled that mountain.. twice. It was cool, Dad loved it.. what more can I say?




Here's a tracklog made from my GPS and overlaid on Google earth. Now you see the opposite view from the picture above. You can see our start, the circle around the mountain and our landing in Booni. You can even see the glaciers on the mountain but man are they bigger in real life.

I meant this to be a longer post but I'm not that motivated to write, I spent 2 months in Nepal flying commercial tandems and now I'm in Thailand learning to Kitesurf.

More coming soon!
Brad

Waiting for the Peaches to Ripen

I'm sitting here in Booni waiting for the peaches and pears to ripen. The apples are ready and hanging over the garden wall next to my room or I can wander outside and try different varieties. But it's the Peaches I really want, there almost there, I had one just now, it's a bit firm but sweet. Maybe by the time my dad arrives, he's on his way to Islamabad now.

It's flyable today, not great but flyable, and I'm here why? Well an interesting thing occured yesterday. I wasn't really into the flight. Looking around at the familar glaciers and mountains of the Hindukush I thought, "hmm.. glaciers and mountains, that's nice.." in a bored distracted way. Much unlike the usual mode my mind reacts, "OH MY GOD THAT'S INCREDIBLE!!!, WOW LOOK AT ALL THESE AMAZING GLACIERS AND MOUNTAINS!!!" NopeI was flying because I had a goal and I had to move to get there, my computer was in Hunza 250km away and I needed to push hard to make it in a day, limited on time because I want to be back when my Dad arrives to Chitral. Conditions immediately weren't good, half in half out of turbulent thermals, too many clouds and too low in the direction I was heading. I was cold and a bit nauseaus from the broken thermals, something that only has been happening lately, the weakenss is obviously due to my lack of passion to be in the air. So when it was obvious it wasn't possible to fly to Hunza I lost all interest. I just wanted to be back in my garden reading a book. Absoulutely amazing to think about as I write this, what a change from a few weeks ago.

But I guess it means I've had enough this season. I has been a busy 5 months since I quit flying tandems in March and started this amazing flying tour of India and Pakistan. This sport works best of your hungry and right now I'm an overfed hog wollowing in my recent achievements. That's a good thing. It's a lot to process and look back on. 5 months packed with intense experience and adventure...

In between rediscovering the joy of reading books the last week I've also found some interesting projects online. May be of interest to you may not.

Travel insurance. Just signed up for another 3 months with a company called IHI Bhupa. Cost $390 for medivac and health insurance which covers me anywhere but my home country. They have a good reputation and pay 100% (supposedly, haven't had to use it) only limitation is they only pay for treatment 6 months from time of accident, so if there were a case with ongoing treatments costs... I'm still looking for a better option, one limitation is I can only take out this coverage for 15 months unless I return to the US. I have 3 months left and I don't see myself returning in that time. I'd be curious what other people use. I have no health care plan from the US currently.

Second is an interesting project called Kiva a way to make small loans online. Its a very cool website and very interesting idea. Instead of giving money you are loaning it and 98% of loans are repaid. You pick who you want to loan to and loans amounts are $25. The link came from my friend Tyler Quintano from Durango, I originally got the idea to use money that had been paid to me into a Paypal account. I don't really like paypal and especially hate the idea I have money sitting in there they are earning interest on.

Hours of internet time later I've done something. Cool.

Oh and when I had my computer with me and fast internet in Hunza a couple weeks ago I made and posted this video of a recent flight here. http://www.vimeo.com/6241661

Watch it, say "wow" and post a comment!

Absent Blogger

You know, I write a lot in my head, it just never gets to where you can see it. I'm having an amazing summer and if you know me then it's no surprise it revolves around paragliding in Pakistan. Consecutively for the last 6 years my dreams and the adventures that come with them seem to just keep getting bigger. I really love this life. I've either created it or fallen into it and it's a good fit. I think I'll keep it up for a bit longer. Check my Ozone Blog for recent updates.

Post comments, it makes me more motivated to blog.

I put some pictures on facebook, click here for the link

Did It!

Well Debu completed a new Indian record 211km! Click to see his tracklog.

And I completed my adventure, check out my Ozone Blog here

Or the Across Himalaya webpage here with a more detailed trip and pilot description.

Now I'm in Bir India with a few rest days before leaving around the first of May for Pakistan and the Hunza Valley. Pakistan will be interesting this year so I'll be posting regularly. For those of you soaking in the news from CNN and the like try this blog for some perspective on the situation there
http://watandost.blogspot.com/

Across Himalaya Update

Congratulations to Debu Choudhury for recently setting the max distance record from Bir/Billing. 176km out and return, check it out at http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:drdebu/31.3.2009/05:25

Debu has his sites set on the 200km mark and if he gets the right weather I'm sure he'll get it, recently Ajay Kumar and Matt Senior have joined him in Bir so that will definately give him the motivation to go big on the right day! As well the usual cast of characters is in Bir. I arrived in the night to a party at Sian's. A couple days flying and now I've started something really interesting.

Currently I'm in Jammu 160km NW of Bir with a group of 6 other pilots whose aim is to fly to the border of Nepal, 600 km in 10 days. Check out
http://acrosshimalaya.org/home.html

If the weather is good I will be away from email for a couple weeks and hope to have an interesting update by the end of April!

On The Road Spring 2009

The day is April 2nd. I'm in Rishikesh, India. It's a rest day. I've ridden from Pokhara Nepal and tomorrow I will ride to Bir. Starting with facts is easy. I've just finished "working" as a tandem pilot and will spend the summer living out my dreams flying across the most amazing mountains in the world. My freedom and joy is palpable.


Here is a picture of what I look like after riding for 2 days. It's the last day I'll wear this Pink Floyd concert shirt because it's threadbare and ripped, "nothing lasts forever" goes the lyrics of a PF song. I got it in 1994 when I saw them with my friend Bill in Denver.

About the ride: Day 1 I left at noon, rode 9 hrs and slept under the stars. Day 2 I started before dawn crossed the border and 16 hours later made my destination to be rewarded with a hot shower. Riding is easy, I am focused and alert. The world plays out before me like a movie. Beautiful mountains and agricultural scenes, a cast of characters to big to list. Children, lots of children, some in uniform going to school, others working in fields, they will never go to school. And scenes like this-





Start from the bottom, it is my motorcycle and all my worldly possessions, I have a tandem and solo glider with harnesses, both new modern gliders in excellent condition. I have a computer, 2 camera's, 2 GPSs, 2 Varios, 2 Radios, clothes, books, food, sleeping bag and pad ect., ect. Higher in the picture is a large pile of burning trash, next to the pile of burning trash is a small boy, apparently his life consists of looking through this pile of burning trash for something of value.

Here he is, working the smoky edge and finding what is revealed when the plastic burns away. Is he finding something valuable or just playing with the fire? Can we even contemplate his life? The wind shifts and I'm now in the smoke, its acrid and within a moment makes me nauseous. For seven years I worked in smokey dusty conditions as a forest firefighter but wood smoke doesn't compare to this, I'm afraid if I stay even a moment I'll do permanent harm to my health. I get on my bike and start to leave.


As I do I see the scale of the trash heap, it's the size of an American football field, there's maybe a dozen kids scattered around, beside is a shanty town where they live. A kite catches my eye, the kids have fashioned a kite and are playing with it in the middle of the field. The wind changes, the forms are obscured by smoke. I ride on.



To summarize, I've never been able to summarize my experience here. Riding across India is like a reset button for life, whatever personal problems I'm caught up in take on a different perspective. I am shocked, I am in awe. I struggle not to judge, to keep my eyes open, keep trying to observe. What problems did I think I had a minute ago? How is it that I am this lucky, that I have so much, and others live a life I can't comprehend?