"Please be aware of the increased threat level", the message on the PA repeats every few minutes. "threat level raised to orange." Wow that sounds pretty bad I think to myself, orange is pretty close to red I wonder what it is I'm supposed to be afraid of now? I'm sitting in the Denver Airport terminal waiting for my flight to Pakistan. Doing a little research on the internet I learn a little about the Homeland Security Advisory System, there is a good article on wikipedia here. So is this all just creating unsubstantiated fear? "In an article for CounterPunch, Kurt Nimmo links prolonged states of elevated, high, and severe risk to an increase of anxiety and paranoia in the general American population. He goes on to criticize the Bush Administration and its use of the Advisory System as manipulative and complicit in supporting a culture of fear in the United States." And what happened to the killer bees that were supposed to invade over a decade ago? Or is there something to this, the threat level was raised to orange July 11, 2007, because of "reports that Al Qaeda has rebuilt operating capability, strength to level not seen before the September 11, 2001 attacks; strongest since summer of 2001."
Wait. Could it be true that after years of military action we haven't actually made the world a safer place? Could it be that dropping bombs on people doesn't actually reduce the terrorist threat but creates more terrorists by impoverishing people and giving them a real good reason to hate the US? If you know me you know my position, education and raising the standard of living is the way to eliminate terrorists and make the world safer. In years of travel and living I've seen that all people are the same, we want a basic standard of living, then we want good relations with friends and family and meaningful work or activities. All people are like this, no one actually wants to hurt anyone unless they have been hurt or don't see a way out of a horrible situation.
But I'm losing my train of thought and it's not really easy to sum up briefly here. For those of you who have seen me this summer I have to explain something. Since getting off the plane in California in July I've felt a continual level of unease and awkwardness, I have not felt like myself. I can say that now because I feel who I really am returning right now as I sit and write this. It's the promise of travel and adventure that brings me out of my stupor. I compare it to visiting an animal in a zoo, you see the animal and it's really that animal... but it's not acting like itself and seems out of place. It's simply not in it's natural enviornment and no matter how well fed and cared for it is it's not really living. With that being said you are all invited to come and see me in my natural enviornment! I can help you organize and prepare for the trip and arrange logistics if you do come. I understand the difficulties of getting time off and that for some of you travel is not a natural state so I don't expect it.. but the offer is there.
And it brings me to a point.. who exactly am I writing this blog for? It started as a way to keep my friends and family informed of what I was up to. Unlike mass emailings it's actually only read when people take the time to check up on me. However recently it's been read by a lot of people who don't actually know me, and that's perfectly fine, many of you reading this may soon get to know me and become friends.. But I've been provided a nice opportunity to make a split. As part of my sponsorship by Ozone I've been given a blog to update, and it cracks me up because I'm on the same page as Felix Rodriquez! It's great, that guy's a legend in this sport and I'm a hack! But what the hell I'll go with it. And so it makes sense to write about the paragliding there and my personal life here. But I hope it doesn't make it too difficult for anyone checking in. So, you really have to go over there now because you can't imagine the paragliding trip I have planned for the upcoming fall, so if you've made it this far... click The Ozone Team Blog to see where I'm flying and learn what the other Ozone pilots are up to.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
The Way Back
Ok again condensed version. The 24th of June I flew back to Booni, well not all in one day I camped at a beautiful meadow at 4100 meters near the Ishkomen valley, slept in my glider and it kept me toasty warm, Here is the video and flying with John Silvester then landing in the meadow.
The Way Back from Brad Sander on Vimeo.
So the day after I run out of tape but have a great flight. I land in Mastuj, near Booni, to visit the Ul Mulk family. Kushwaquat Ul Mulk was the last royal governor of upper Chitral, he is an amazing man and at 96 still does everything for himself, speaks flawless english and has an incredible spirit. I figure any chance you can hang out with a 96 year old who is still mentally sharp your bound to learn something, it's his strong spirit that keeps him young and I always look foreward to seeing him. His son Sikander is now the elected governor of the same area and was my host when I first arrived to Booni May 2007, as the captain of the polo team he will be playing in the Shandur festival in July but I'll leave by then. So here's my bed the second night of my return Bivy flight!
And now I'm back in the US and suddenly the world fades away, for some reason in this country it's easy to believe we are the only the only ones that matter. It's reflected in the news and in conversations and peoples attitudes, to say the least it's hard to convey where I've been and what I've been doing. I am trying to spread the message that my Pakistani friends have given me, "Go back to your country and tell them we are now what they see on TV" I swear that's what people in Pakistan say all the time, that and, "Your from America? Well, we don't like your government but we know you are good people."
Ok so I'm trying to pass that on. I've had a great time visiting friends and going to 2 family reunions. I haven't had a summer in the US in 8 years without being busy working on a fire crew and it's been nice enough to be here but I'm ready to leave now. What else? Oh why did I come back to the US instead of stay in Pakistan which was my plan.. well, my Dad had a paragliding accident here, he broke his back because he messed up a landing. Lucky it wasn't severe, surgery to fuse 3 vertebrae together and a quick recovery, he's in amazing shape for 66, and he's doing everything for himself. We go to the gym most days and he does his usual cardio/weight machine workout, minus lateral twisting motions, which he'll add in a month or two. So he's very lucky and I'm greatful, prognosis is for a full recovery and no limited motion. He's not sure if he'll fly solo again but he doesn't have to decide right now, for sure he'll make more trips to Asia and we'll fly tandem together. So that's why I'm back here.
What else? too much to tell, I was sponsored by Ozone paragliders and recieved a new lightweight Addict 2! It's the glider I would have bought if I had money so that worked out pretty well, I almost bought Luc Armant's light Addict 1 last winter after his epic himalayan bivy flight. For those pilots wanting sponsorship here's my advice, fly a glider you love, buy what you think is the best tandem on the market which also happens to be from the same company (Ozone Magnum). Then do something unique like fly really high and far in some remote far off country. Then write an email asking for a wing. Sweet!!! The world makes sense sometimes!
And the vultures? Well there is progress on that front too. This year there will be a vulture restaurant in Pokhara and we will be working to save the remaining vultures in Asia. There are some hurdles but it will get done... You can all help contact me to find out how, mainly it's money but there are other needs also.
So for that and more stay posted.. just a few more days and I get on that plane to Pakistan!!!
The Way Back from Brad Sander on Vimeo.
So the day after I run out of tape but have a great flight. I land in Mastuj, near Booni, to visit the Ul Mulk family. Kushwaquat Ul Mulk was the last royal governor of upper Chitral, he is an amazing man and at 96 still does everything for himself, speaks flawless english and has an incredible spirit. I figure any chance you can hang out with a 96 year old who is still mentally sharp your bound to learn something, it's his strong spirit that keeps him young and I always look foreward to seeing him. His son Sikander is now the elected governor of the same area and was my host when I first arrived to Booni May 2007, as the captain of the polo team he will be playing in the Shandur festival in July but I'll leave by then. So here's my bed the second night of my return Bivy flight!
And now I'm back in the US and suddenly the world fades away, for some reason in this country it's easy to believe we are the only the only ones that matter. It's reflected in the news and in conversations and peoples attitudes, to say the least it's hard to convey where I've been and what I've been doing. I am trying to spread the message that my Pakistani friends have given me, "Go back to your country and tell them we are now what they see on TV" I swear that's what people in Pakistan say all the time, that and, "Your from America? Well, we don't like your government but we know you are good people."
Ok so I'm trying to pass that on. I've had a great time visiting friends and going to 2 family reunions. I haven't had a summer in the US in 8 years without being busy working on a fire crew and it's been nice enough to be here but I'm ready to leave now. What else? Oh why did I come back to the US instead of stay in Pakistan which was my plan.. well, my Dad had a paragliding accident here, he broke his back because he messed up a landing. Lucky it wasn't severe, surgery to fuse 3 vertebrae together and a quick recovery, he's in amazing shape for 66, and he's doing everything for himself. We go to the gym most days and he does his usual cardio/weight machine workout, minus lateral twisting motions, which he'll add in a month or two. So he's very lucky and I'm greatful, prognosis is for a full recovery and no limited motion. He's not sure if he'll fly solo again but he doesn't have to decide right now, for sure he'll make more trips to Asia and we'll fly tandem together. So that's why I'm back here.
What else? too much to tell, I was sponsored by Ozone paragliders and recieved a new lightweight Addict 2! It's the glider I would have bought if I had money so that worked out pretty well, I almost bought Luc Armant's light Addict 1 last winter after his epic himalayan bivy flight. For those pilots wanting sponsorship here's my advice, fly a glider you love, buy what you think is the best tandem on the market which also happens to be from the same company (Ozone Magnum). Then do something unique like fly really high and far in some remote far off country. Then write an email asking for a wing. Sweet!!! The world makes sense sometimes!
And the vultures? Well there is progress on that front too. This year there will be a vulture restaurant in Pokhara and we will be working to save the remaining vultures in Asia. There are some hurdles but it will get done... You can all help contact me to find out how, mainly it's money but there are other needs also.
So for that and more stay posted.. just a few more days and I get on that plane to Pakistan!!!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Records and Number
Blah blah blah guess what I'm going to talk about again? Paragliding!
Its the 23rd of June now and I'm resting for a moment here's a brief recap of the last few days. The 19th my sister and I flew tandem to the Terich Valley after a 2.5 hr flight to 6500m we toured the town with our host Professor Karim Baig. He is very concerned about the lack of health care and is interested for us to learn and to discuss the problem and solutions. On the 20th we hiked 3 hrs to a new launch and flew for 3.5hrs on a tour of Tirich Mir. The 21st I flew tandem with Muzafar who runs a school here in Booni. He's an amazing guy who worked as teacher then decided he could do it better and opened up his own school, 8 years ago he started with his first class of 6 year olds and every year he's added a new class. He's an amazing individual and had been very keen to fly. It was his first flight and we followed the route my sister and I had taken the day before however conditions were much easier and climbs faster. Our max height was 6990 meters possibly a record for tandem flight? He loved the flight often saying, "Thanks be to God" and occassionally singing during the flight. On the 22nd I rode to launch alone with the intention to fly to Hunza expecting it to take 2 days. Conditions were epic and after an early low save I got quite high, 7750 meters high actually. I completed the flight in one long day, 9hrs and 224 km. Landing at the cemetary here in Karimabad I didn't even pack up, just walked to the hotel to see John Silvester and Eddie Colfox and share the experience with them. What an amazing to thing to cover that much ground then be able to take a hot shower and hang out with friends. John and Eddie had just gotten back from China so I got to hear first hand their trip account. The summary? China has so much beauracracy, hassle and paranoia they weren't allowed to explore off the roads and never even got their gliders out of their bags. Pakistan is still the best place to fly and I haven't begun to tap the potential routes as well it's go the supportive friendly locals.
It's been an amazing experience to travel with my sister. In the future I will always try to travel with a woman here in Pakistan because it allows a glimpse into a part of the culture that is off limits to males. Not only have we gotten to share the joy of flying together, 5 long flights all about 3 hrs and all over 6000, one to 6700m, but we've gotten to see a different side of Pakistan as Melissa has been interested in some public health issues here. She has just completed a Master's in Public Health from John Hopkins University and is on her way to do research on a new TB diagnostics technique in Cameroon. This is on top of her PhD in Physical Chemistry. I say this not only to brag but to point out that she asks more interesting questions than I do. So when we visited local Doctors and workers in Health clinics I just stood in the background, took pictures, and learned a lot. One day after a 3 hour flight we were shown around the Hospital in Booni and Melissa was invited to watch a C section being performed. Can you imagine? We've just flown around glaciers at 6400 meters (21,000 feet) and a few hours later Melissa is watching a life being brought into the world while I'm relegated to making small talk eating mulberrys and having tea with a local. What a trip!
That's it for now, I better post this and get to bed because the weather looks good for flying tommorrow and I have to get some sleep. I have to make it back to Booni to say goodbye to everyone before I leave for the US on the 30th of June.
Pictures! Pictures! I'll try to put them up soon don't worry!
Its the 23rd of June now and I'm resting for a moment here's a brief recap of the last few days. The 19th my sister and I flew tandem to the Terich Valley after a 2.5 hr flight to 6500m we toured the town with our host Professor Karim Baig. He is very concerned about the lack of health care and is interested for us to learn and to discuss the problem and solutions. On the 20th we hiked 3 hrs to a new launch and flew for 3.5hrs on a tour of Tirich Mir. The 21st I flew tandem with Muzafar who runs a school here in Booni. He's an amazing guy who worked as teacher then decided he could do it better and opened up his own school, 8 years ago he started with his first class of 6 year olds and every year he's added a new class. He's an amazing individual and had been very keen to fly. It was his first flight and we followed the route my sister and I had taken the day before however conditions were much easier and climbs faster. Our max height was 6990 meters possibly a record for tandem flight? He loved the flight often saying, "Thanks be to God" and occassionally singing during the flight. On the 22nd I rode to launch alone with the intention to fly to Hunza expecting it to take 2 days. Conditions were epic and after an early low save I got quite high, 7750 meters high actually. I completed the flight in one long day, 9hrs and 224 km. Landing at the cemetary here in Karimabad I didn't even pack up, just walked to the hotel to see John Silvester and Eddie Colfox and share the experience with them. What an amazing to thing to cover that much ground then be able to take a hot shower and hang out with friends. John and Eddie had just gotten back from China so I got to hear first hand their trip account. The summary? China has so much beauracracy, hassle and paranoia they weren't allowed to explore off the roads and never even got their gliders out of their bags. Pakistan is still the best place to fly and I haven't begun to tap the potential routes as well it's go the supportive friendly locals.
It's been an amazing experience to travel with my sister. In the future I will always try to travel with a woman here in Pakistan because it allows a glimpse into a part of the culture that is off limits to males. Not only have we gotten to share the joy of flying together, 5 long flights all about 3 hrs and all over 6000, one to 6700m, but we've gotten to see a different side of Pakistan as Melissa has been interested in some public health issues here. She has just completed a Master's in Public Health from John Hopkins University and is on her way to do research on a new TB diagnostics technique in Cameroon. This is on top of her PhD in Physical Chemistry. I say this not only to brag but to point out that she asks more interesting questions than I do. So when we visited local Doctors and workers in Health clinics I just stood in the background, took pictures, and learned a lot. One day after a 3 hour flight we were shown around the Hospital in Booni and Melissa was invited to watch a C section being performed. Can you imagine? We've just flown around glaciers at 6400 meters (21,000 feet) and a few hours later Melissa is watching a life being brought into the world while I'm relegated to making small talk eating mulberrys and having tea with a local. What a trip!
That's it for now, I better post this and get to bed because the weather looks good for flying tommorrow and I have to get some sleep. I have to make it back to Booni to say goodbye to everyone before I leave for the US on the 30th of June.
Pictures! Pictures! I'll try to put them up soon don't worry!
Monday, June 16, 2008
One of those flights
I would like to write about a lot of things that have happened in May and June. I just haven't been able to, I can barely respond to direct emails but it's not for lack of time it's more that I enjoy spending my time in other ways, with the people I'm with now, doing the activities I'm doing or simply relaxing.
What needs to be shared is the flight I was able to experience the other day. Launching before 11am from Tirich Ann here in Booni on the 9th of June I knew the day was something special, I was just super relaxed and enjoying myself. It was my first flight finally having my O2 system hooked up and I started using it somewhere above 5000 meters. I was trying to get around Tirich Mir (7708m) using the SE ridge, a tactic I hadn't tried before and I was having to get in close to the mountain to try and soar up. Cloudbase was low, 6000 meters and lower out front with some snow early on, base was to rise over 200 meters an hour until eventually got to 7100m later in the day . I could see a stable airmass moving in from the north and had a good idea there would be no overdevelopment. I gave up on getting around Tirich Mir because it was early in the day, I
needed a higher base and wasn't feeling patient. There is a route I've been looking at all winter and dreaming of trying, today was to be the day. I turned and flew NE through the high mountains of the Hindukush crossing 3 cols all over 6000 getting some amazing views of glaciers and getting the strongest climb I've ever had near Saraghar mountain. But not to get caught up in numbers and names the point is this, I passed through for a moment, I was no longer separate from my wing, I was not in a hostile enviornment, I was right where I was supposed to be. The flight didn't tire me out at all, I was so relaxed so at peace and wanting it never to end. It did end, I called my sister on my cell to let her know I was landing at the polo ground in Booni, she was able to come out and meet me and it's so damn cool to have her share this with me. It was around 7:30pm I had flown for over 8 and a half hours over one of the most beautiful places on this planet. Just one of those flights you could say!
Friday, May 23, 2008
A lot is happening!
Wow. A whole lot is going on in my life. I've been in Pakistan for a few weeks and had some amazing flights... can't even begin to describe. That and my plans for the future are changing quickly. This is a post to say I'll try to post more soon to keep everyone updated!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Something Missing
I've had some amazing flights in Pakistan already this May and so much has happened to write about but I can't until I cover one thing from my travels in Nepal and India.
Riding across the low hills on the edge of the Himalaya in India I saw an amazing site. It was a column of vultures climbing in a wide flatland thermal. I could visualize the thermal because around 60 birds were climbing in all parts of it's 300 meter height, it was easy to see the west drift of the prevailing wind pushing it and how it widened as it climbed higher, at the top as the vultures turned to specks they all glided off in the same direction and were lost to my sight. As the lower vultures soon climbed up and followed I lost sight of all them and now I imagined the thermal to still be there but could no longer see proof of it's existance. For a moment they had helped me understand the world a little better, helped me visualize how and where a thermal exists on a day like this.
How many times have these amazing animals showed me a thermal? Showed me where the core is or how far away from a hill a small bubble is triggering? As I've learned to fly in the Himalayas my instructors have mostly been vultures, in the first few years I can estimate a third of my flights I was saved from bombing out because a bird showed me where the climb was. Now I'm able to stay up on my own because I've learned from my flawless instructors, I understand where the climbs are by studying the terrain and the clouds but I've noticed something other than just how thermals work. I've noticed there are less vultures. And this is the point, in three days of riding across 1400 km of road from Nepal to India I saw one column of vultures and not a lot of individuals either. I'm observing the sky and the clouds all the time, don't worry Mom I pay attention to my driving first! This is an area where millions of birds used to scavenge and now the sitings are becoming rare. Recently a road transect survey was released to confirm my unscientific observations. The numbers are staggering. "Results of a major road transect survey in India reveal the shocking news that numbers of Oriental white-backed vultures have decreased by more than 99.9% in the past 15 years and that this species continues to decline at over 40% each year. The other two threatened species (long-billed and slender-billed vultures) have decreased by close to 97% over the same period." And they are backed up by more than one study please check out the recently updated www.vulturerescue.org to find out more. There are links to recent articles about this problem at www.parahawking.com.
I've known about the problem for a few years but in this recent trip to Bir I can say I've really seen a difference, though I often shared the sky with Himalayan Griffin Vultures (HGV's) I never saw large groups as I have in the past and I saw no White Backed vultures.
More needs to be done toward conserving these animals before they are gone. And I'll get to a solution that could be implemented by us selfish paragliders soon!
Riding across the low hills on the edge of the Himalaya in India I saw an amazing site. It was a column of vultures climbing in a wide flatland thermal. I could visualize the thermal because around 60 birds were climbing in all parts of it's 300 meter height, it was easy to see the west drift of the prevailing wind pushing it and how it widened as it climbed higher, at the top as the vultures turned to specks they all glided off in the same direction and were lost to my sight. As the lower vultures soon climbed up and followed I lost sight of all them and now I imagined the thermal to still be there but could no longer see proof of it's existance. For a moment they had helped me understand the world a little better, helped me visualize how and where a thermal exists on a day like this.
How many times have these amazing animals showed me a thermal? Showed me where the core is or how far away from a hill a small bubble is triggering? As I've learned to fly in the Himalayas my instructors have mostly been vultures, in the first few years I can estimate a third of my flights I was saved from bombing out because a bird showed me where the climb was. Now I'm able to stay up on my own because I've learned from my flawless instructors, I understand where the climbs are by studying the terrain and the clouds but I've noticed something other than just how thermals work. I've noticed there are less vultures. And this is the point, in three days of riding across 1400 km of road from Nepal to India I saw one column of vultures and not a lot of individuals either. I'm observing the sky and the clouds all the time, don't worry Mom I pay attention to my driving first! This is an area where millions of birds used to scavenge and now the sitings are becoming rare. Recently a road transect survey was released to confirm my unscientific observations. The numbers are staggering. "Results of a major road transect survey in India reveal the shocking news that numbers of Oriental white-backed vultures have decreased by more than 99.9% in the past 15 years and that this species continues to decline at over 40% each year. The other two threatened species (long-billed and slender-billed vultures) have decreased by close to 97% over the same period." And they are backed up by more than one study please check out the recently updated www.vulturerescue.org to find out more. There are links to recent articles about this problem at www.parahawking.com.
I've known about the problem for a few years but in this recent trip to Bir I can say I've really seen a difference, though I often shared the sky with Himalayan Griffin Vultures (HGV's) I never saw large groups as I have in the past and I saw no White Backed vultures.
More needs to be done toward conserving these animals before they are gone. And I'll get to a solution that could be implemented by us selfish paragliders soon!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
To Be a Pilot
The trip to Bir India from Pokhara Nepal took 3 days, fastest I've ever done it. Saving time I would pull off the road and find an undisturbed place to sleep by my Enfield, this way I didn't have to pay for hotels or unpack the heavily loaded bike. One night I even pulled out my laptop and watched a few episodes of "Extras" a british comedy before going to sleep.
Arriving in Manali just before 2 days of rain I relaxed in the hot springs of Vashist before it cleared and I was able to go to Solang valley and sell my Tandem glider with the help of Ajay, Thanks Ajay your more help than you admit to! Knowing the weather had changed I raced to Bir the next morning and started flying. And here's where it hit me... What a fucking joy it is to be a pilot! Now I loved doing tandems and instruction in Pokhara this winter, and flying with the birds.. wow what to say? An amazing and unique experience that I'm already looking foreward to going back and working with the parahawking team again. But.. to be in big air on a solo glider that feels like an extension of my body.. it was like coming alive after a winter's hibernation. And my fears about losing skills weren't justified, being a tandem monkey for months didn't ruin my XC head, it all came back rather quick. Good thing too because I happened to arrive at the best part of the XC season in one of the best flying sites in the world.
Highlights for the flying- 1)Getting stuck on the high route to Manali for an hour and having to
backtrack to get out before it overdeveloped, woops. 2)Making the first ever flight from Bir to Dharmsala and then on to Manali in a day with Wolfgang, landing to get a hug from a jealous Debu! 3) 45 km straight glide along the stunning Dhula Dar range soaring with vultures and eagles.The joy of being a pilot is not just about my flying but it was great to share others experiences. Alex and Finn got a taste and became comfortable with Bir Spring conditions, both had been in Pokhara for the winter season and rode their Enfields over a couple weeks before me. Finn started flying on a course with Adam (Frontiers Paragliding) in November and now has close to 150hrs flying time, he made the flight to Manali on his DHV-1 Nivuk Nk1 glider! Good on you Finn! way to go but realize the risks we are taking flying in these mountains without rescue services and understand the conditions totally before you fly a new area. Speaking of which, a word about decision making a understanding the flying conditions.. Another pilot made an interesting decision to explore high in the mountains and got nailed but what could be described as an obvious rotor. Collapse and riser twists ended in a late reserve deployment that didn't open, hitting a high angled snow slope and sliding cushioned the impact, stopping before a cliff he lucked out with no injury. 2 nights sleeping in his glider without food or water, one take off and forced landing, one morning waking to Brown bear 10 meters away, then being able to fly down and return to civilization is the short version of the story. No suprise this happened and I think the lesson has been learned this time, feel free to comment here friend I'm glad your still in the world with us and wish you safe journey and success in all you do, but be careful. What's the quote? The goal is not to be a good pilot but to be and old pilot. Most of us have made mistakes and gotten lucky, sanity is learning from them and not making the same ones again.
On a lighter note it was great to see Angus start flying again after his accident in the fall and great to see Jessica progressing, next year you'll figure out that big face transition! Gurpreet a recommended instructor in Bir had an XC student make her first ever 100km flight check out Gurpreet if you coming to north india and need some site knowledge or high quality basic to advanced instruction.Then next step for me? A friend told me her father said in life there are two things to keep in mind. Where you are going and who's going with you. And very important not to mess up the order!
So, I'm going to my favorite place in the world to do the most amazing thing I can think of. And I'm going with whoever will come with me, currently it's Flo a French tandem pilot I've known for years.
It begins, Paragliding in Pakistan 2008!
Friday, March 21, 2008
the reality of Pakistan
Hard to know what to think of a place like Pakistan if you haven't been there isn't it? So many different views and such a negative perspective from the Media. Well my advice, listen to another travelers opinion and give that more weight to that than to what you see on Television. Over and over we tell children that what they see on TV isn't real, well I'm telling you the same, if you go to Pakistan, your experience like mine will be an entirely different world than your expectation, but if your like most people you'll believe the headlines first so here are some fun ones I've found.
For a more interesting look at Pakistan try reading "3 Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson
And my reality is I've been trying to leave Nepal for weeks but the promise of just one more flight with Kevin and the huge increase in tandem business has made it hard. That and I haven't packed. Kevin's had his last flight for the season, he's starting to molt. I'm getting very close but now the elections happen on the 10th of April and the borders will be closed for a couple days. Soon, soon, I'll be on the road to Bir and big fun solo flying getting ready for Pakistan in May!
For a more interesting look at Pakistan try reading "3 Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson
And my reality is I've been trying to leave Nepal for weeks but the promise of just one more flight with Kevin and the huge increase in tandem business has made it hard. That and I haven't packed. Kevin's had his last flight for the season, he's starting to molt. I'm getting very close but now the elections happen on the 10th of April and the borders will be closed for a couple days. Soon, soon, I'll be on the road to Bir and big fun solo flying getting ready for Pakistan in May!
Monday, February 4, 2008
The $$ Equation
Well here I am and it's been over 16 months since I made any real money. How do I do it? Living economically is a big part, I haven't had to cut out anything that I really want to do and I have a good quality of life. A key part is not having any big expenses that tie me to the US, also eliminating international plane tickets has saved a lot.
Over the past 3 months I've started earning a minimal income through paragliding (instruction, tandems and parahawking).
The instruction was interesting and a lot of fun. Two friends I knew from my previous life as a wildland firefighter came to Nepal the end of Feburary to learn with me. It was a great dynamic as they were both eager and humble to learn and I was cautious but excited to teach them. Dan Clatt and John Freemont are both Alaskan Smokejumpers, which means they are familar with being in air and picking out a suitable LZ but only knew how to go down. Paragliders are very different than parachutes and we were attentivee to address the differences but the guys were quick natural pilots and when let loose for their first real thermaling attempts Dan managed 1 hour 40 minutes and John 1:30. Though they have a interesting/"macho" job neither pretended they knew everything and thus learned well. The final test question was 1)Who's responsible? 2)Why do people have accidents paraglding? 3)How are you going to stay safe? By the end of December they both returned to their lives and families in the US. I'm excited to see how they both progress in the future.
For me I stayed on in Pokhara and was able to do some commercial tandems for Frontiers, one of 3 companies here in Pokhara. Adam Hill is a friend who brought commercial paragliding to Nepal over 11 years ago, he was my first contact when I came here 5 years and has supported and encouraged me since then.
I've also gotten the incredibly unique opportunity to work with Scott Mason, who has pioneered Parahawking, the art of Paraglding with trained birds. Scott's worked hard for 7 years to get to this point and because of our friendship I've been able to jump in at just the right moment and reap the rewards of his and his teams hard work. This year the dream is becoming a reality and we are progressing to new levels every week.
Check out the Parahawking site and specifically our Parahawking blog for the latest news. Your not going to believe it, I don't and I'm doing it!
One of the passengers has posted a youtube video showing some in flight action. Thanks Anto, it was great flying with you and Kay, glad you did it.
So what's the money equation? well basically I'm barely making enough to cover living expenses and when you factor in new equipment it doesn't add up, but as a way to keep this lifestyle going and do what I love then it works and I'm loving it!
Over the past 3 months I've started earning a minimal income through paragliding (instruction, tandems and parahawking).
The instruction was interesting and a lot of fun. Two friends I knew from my previous life as a wildland firefighter came to Nepal the end of Feburary to learn with me. It was a great dynamic as they were both eager and humble to learn and I was cautious but excited to teach them. Dan Clatt and John Freemont are both Alaskan Smokejumpers, which means they are familar with being in air and picking out a suitable LZ but only knew how to go down. Paragliders are very different than parachutes and we were attentivee to address the differences but the guys were quick natural pilots and when let loose for their first real thermaling attempts Dan managed 1 hour 40 minutes and John 1:30. Though they have a interesting/"macho" job neither pretended they knew everything and thus learned well. The final test question was 1)Who's responsible? 2)Why do people have accidents paraglding? 3)How are you going to stay safe? By the end of December they both returned to their lives and families in the US. I'm excited to see how they both progress in the future.
For me I stayed on in Pokhara and was able to do some commercial tandems for Frontiers, one of 3 companies here in Pokhara. Adam Hill is a friend who brought commercial paragliding to Nepal over 11 years ago, he was my first contact when I came here 5 years and has supported and encouraged me since then.
I've also gotten the incredibly unique opportunity to work with Scott Mason, who has pioneered Parahawking, the art of Paraglding with trained birds. Scott's worked hard for 7 years to get to this point and because of our friendship I've been able to jump in at just the right moment and reap the rewards of his and his teams hard work. This year the dream is becoming a reality and we are progressing to new levels every week.
Check out the Parahawking site and specifically our Parahawking blog for the latest news. Your not going to believe it, I don't and I'm doing it!
One of the passengers has posted a youtube video showing some in flight action. Thanks Anto, it was great flying with you and Kay, glad you did it.
So what's the money equation? well basically I'm barely making enough to cover living expenses and when you factor in new equipment it doesn't add up, but as a way to keep this lifestyle going and do what I love then it works and I'm loving it!
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