Brad's Travels

an update from Sikkim and a request for Ghana

2011-04-08T01:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,
I think it's been a long time since you've received an actual email update
from me. In this strange age of communication most of my updates are through
my blog <http://bradsander.blogspot.com/> the himalayan odyssey
webpage<http://himalayanodyssey.org/>or facebook.You are receiving
this message because I have a request for your
help. Let me give you some background.

- Leonardo da Vinci said:

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your
eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long
to return."

What I mean is I haven't found anything more interesting or engaging to do
with my life than fly! I've been paragliding for 8 years now and I am
continually blown away but what is possible. Whatever my expectations were
when I started I can say they were naive and insignificant compared to the
reality of my experiences as I've progressed... How to explain what it's
like to cross the greatest mountain ranges in the world with the simplest of
aircraft? mmm difficult, but I do occasionally try. Whenever I tell stories
of flying they are inextricably linked to the experiences I have with people
in the places I travel through. The hospitality, the warmth and the interest
shown is touching. I continually want to do something more meaningful to
show my appreciation for the peoples I've met.

Currently I'm in Sikkim India. It's a small state between Nepal and Bhutan.
For 3 years every spring I've been flying long distances from west to east
across the Himalayas. This year on March 1rst I started from Pokhara Nepal
with my friend Eric Reed. We were attempting to complete the epic trip from
last year that lasted 48 days and covered almost 1200km but fell short of
our goal to reach Sikkim. The flying conditions were difficult and dangerous
in mid April 2010 and so we had to quit. This year weather conditions were
more favorable and though it wasn't easy we crossed into Sikkim on the 14th
of March. I can't go into all the details of our arrest as our court case is
pending. We have all reason to believe we were in compliance with the law
and were not being reckless or naive. I expect it to be cleared up soon and
it's actually not what I'm writing about but just to give you background of
where I am.

For years I've wanted to do more than just pass through, I'd like to get
involved a give a bit back to the communities who I've gotten to know. Over
the years my interest in vulture conservation efforts have made good
progress in Nepal and specifically in Pokhara where I've spent a lot of
time, but that isn't what this is about. It's about Africa and something
called the Cloudbase Foundation. I've been invited for a paragliding
festival in Ghana during the 22nd-25th of April. There I will donate my time
providing tandem flights for domestic and international tourists. The
festival has successfully run for 6 years and I'm excited to be a part as
well as combining it with a family trip to meet with my sister who works in
Cameroon and my father who's coming from Denver.

The pilots involved with the Ghana festival have been thinking along the
same lines as me but have actually done something productive. They have
partnered with the Cloudbase Foundation, which aims to help children around
the world. It is an American based not for profit, registered as a 501(c)3.
The Cloudbase Foundation was started by a group of hang glider and
paraglider pilots, who want to help disadvantaged children. The Foundation
gathers money; and then any hang-gliding or paragliding pilot, from any
county, can apply for a grant to develop some kind of project that helps
children. Please check out the Cloudbase Foundation website for more
information about the projects they have developed and helped to support:
http://thecloudbasefoundation.org/

So you can help me by donating to the foundation. I see this as just a
start, if I can generate some funds for this years project in Ghana then in
the future I can apply for grants for projects here in the Himalayas and
Pakistan. Either donate online via paypal or by check. click here to go to
the link http://thecbf.net/Donate.asp

Make checks or money orders payable to: "The Cloudbase Foundation" and mail
to:

The Cloudbase Foundation
4066 Willow Lane
Madisonville, LA 70447

All donations can be tracked and since it's an established 501(c)3 it's a
tax deductible donation for Americans.

But label your online or check donations for me, using the following tag
"Ghana - Brad Sander" and if possible send me an email with the amount
and time you donated.

So even if it's just $5 I appreciate your time to help out! And don't worry
about me, this time being arrested in India isn't what you would expect.

Thanks for your interest and time,
Brad

Nothing to say?

2011-01-26T00:18:00.000-08:00

7 months since an update? do I have nothing to say? Well no actually it's so intimidating to try and write something because so much happens, I have too much to say to get it out coherently. If I don't get into details and try to get the basics it's simple and it's nothing I haven't said before.

Life is amazing.

I am really really lucky to be who I am and have the opportunities I do. This comes from being born in the right place with certain characteristics; middle class, of good health in a prosperous free country to loving parents with an incredible extended family. I've made good use of these gifts but every day I realize where I could be without them.

Somehow I have an ability to draw amazing people in my life, these people the experiences I have with them are the most important thing in my life .

People are overwhelming good everywhere. The love their children, they work hard, they smile easily, they help strangers. Turn off your TV, stop watching the news because it distorts reality. Go and experience the world and you'll see as I do.

That is really the basics. As I travel a lot and don't do much "work" I think the most important thing we can do is witness the world, just to see so many places and so many ways of living. I'm good at doing that, I'm not however that good at sharing my experiences because that requires a different set of skills.

For now I'm in Nepal and starting the flying season of my life once again. I am updating on the Himalayan Odyssey webpage and on our facebook page if you have time to take a look.

Himalayan Odyssey 2010 was an epic trip but it was not the first or the final, I was surprised when a friend commented they thought it was over... well it's springtime in the Himalayas and it's far from over!

http://himalayanodyssey.org/

http://www.facebook.com/himalayanodyssey

As for the past and future very condensed what I've missed blogging about and hope to blog in the future is this-

Last summer monsoon spent in Nepal.

Awesome short trip to Bhutan in September as flying guide, would like to do another trip this fall but need to advertise to get more pilots to come.

November to January in Thailand Laos Vietnam. Bicycle touring and kitesurfing and eating good food.

NOW- flying in himalayas, hope to reach Sikkim.

Future- Going to Africa to visit Dad and Sister end of April. Paragliding festival in Ghana, sister lives in Cameroon.

May- China
June July - Pakistan

Great now I've finally updated my blog!

PRK at TRSC Internation Lasik Center

2010-06-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I had an interesting experience with what I suppose could be called medical tourism, I hesitate to say that because I didn't specifically come for that reason, I'm just waiting for my Pakistan visa to come through. Anyway I underwent Laser Eye Surgery in Thailand to correct my vision. I'll try to explain how it all worked. Keep in mind reading this that I spend most of my time in countries where things don't work that smoothly so for me spending time in Thailand is like therapy, everything works, the Thai's are courteous, concientious, and totally "switched on" I'm not going to complain about other countries here I'm just going to say I'm baised because in general I'm really impressed with Thailand. This also isn't a comprehensive explanation of the surgery/benifits/complications, just a brief description of my experience.

I picked the center TRSC by browsing the internet and reading a random account of someones experience here. Maybe you'll do the same. Keep in mind if you do and if you mention my name you'll get a 4,000 bhat discount. I did and I just grabbed a name from the internet! It's one of largest centers and that meant I could call, schedule an appointment for 2 days later and surgery same day of consultation- easy, impulsive.. I like easy and impulsive.

I set up my appointment by email, the responses were fast and clear explaining what I needed to do to prepare, basics of Lasik and FAQ's including a map of their location, just opposite Lumpini Park which I'm familar with.

When I got out of the elevator on the 6th floor this man greeted me. Every day after that I came back he was the same, friendly genuine and interested in how I was doing. After the surgery he and my personal counselor escorted me into a taxi below and explained to the driver where I needed to go. His name is Opass tell him I say hello if you come.

Next is the reception, for the entire time I was really "handled" always a clear explanation with a super friendly person showing me what was to happen next. A brief bit of paperwork and then I met my patient counselor who was to insure my well being for the rest of the process.

Patty, shown on the right then walked me through the rest of the process, going into several rooms for testing my vision, cornea thickness, ocular pressure, blah blah blah. Anyway it went really smooth, some of the staft didn't speak perfect english but all spoke enough to inform me of what was happening which was reassuring, "put your chin here" "I going to put a strap on the back of your head" "hold still one moment" ect ect. No surprises just clear reassuring explanations and efficient professional treatment. There were a couple questions to decide- 1 Lasik or PRK and 2 Which laser- 3 choices of different prices.

I went with PRK- it's what my sister did when she researched it years ago and my sister is really smart so that was an easy one. I chose the most expensive laser because they said my night vision would be better, again pretty easy decision. Total cost was 77,000 bhat with consulation fee of 1,500 and discount of 4,000.

There was a consultation with the doctor doing my surgery and I was impressed by her unhurried nature and taking time to answer all my questions. Sukanda Swasdibutra has been working at TRSC for 12 years and done somethign like 10,000 surgery's. Reassuring. AFter PRK I've come in every day since the surgery for a brief checkup to make sure there is no infection. Again all questions have been answered and every effort made to make me comfortable. Patty gave me here card and stressed that I should call her mobile number 24hrs a day should I have a problem or question.

Oh another cool thing during the consultation they dialate your pupils with some eye drops and it takes 20 minutes to take effect, during that time yet another kind, well dressed staff puts you in a massage chair and covers you with a blanket.. Damn I like the way Thai's do things!

Ok so what about the surgery? Well I came in at the scheduled time and found something odd, I was getting nervous! A valium is given which I thought wasn't necessary but in fact it really helped. I had this moment where I was really sympathetic to all my tandem passengers. You've decided your going to do something, it's been explained what's going to happen and you've agreed to do it, but still nervousness and fear comes in because you don't know exactly how it's going to go. Now I'd say I'm pretty good at dealing with fear when it comes to facing bodily harm and having to make fast decisions while flying or climbing but surgery, especially an elective surgery that doesn't actually need to be performed is a very different kind of fear. I could see myself trying to deny what I was feeling and really had to make an effort to be honest with myself about how nervous I was feeling.

I was put in a gown and hair net over my street clothes, instructed to wash my face, sat in a reclining chair while numbing eye drops were repeatedly applied over 20 minutes. Then all I had to do was walk to the OR lie down under the laser and told to look straight ahead.. well there was a little cleaning/scraping of the cornea, and a metal ring put on the eye... but then the laser about to start and you're told it's important not to move your eye, damn if I wasn't super focused on not moving my eye for the 16 seconds the laser is active! It's funny, a crazy laser show with flashing red lights, no pain but the peculiar smell of burning cornea tissue and then its over. By the second eye I was more relaxed and even looking forward to the weird visual effect of the laser reshaping my cornea. In minutes it's over. "Sit up", says the doctor, "Now you can see" I look at her, and the wall behind her and damn if it's not all clearly in focus! what a trip.

Because of this particular surgery I've had to rest a lot the first 3 days and had some discomfort and distortion of vision as the surface of my cornea heals but nothing I would describe as pain. Now it's all feeling quite normal and it's starting to sink in that I've really done it and I won't need to wear glasses again. I'm still a little hesitant because it can take months for the vision to totally stabilize but as it seems now I'll have 20/20 or better corrected vision. Wow, cool. Thanks to all the staff at TRSC they do a phenomenal job!

Oh, as I write this I'm in the waiting area on my laptop using the free wifi and enjoying a hot chocolate while chilled by the AC. My beverage choices were: pineapple or roselle juice, the assortment of cappucinos and coffee from a machine, hot peach or chrysanthemum tea with some really tasty biscuits... what next?

Pakistan!!

2010-06-20T20:05:00.000-07:00

"Pakistan!" I shout in my head from the comfort of an air conditioned room in Bangkok. Why am I here and not there? It's June 21rst, Solstice longest day of the year, Benazir Bhutto's birthday. For the last 3 years I've been in Pakistan this time of year and had great flying conditions. So I'm not there why? Well not to get into too much detail but visa rules have changed this year probably because of stupid people blowing things up or trying to blow things up. A bomb this spring at the German Bakery in Pune and an attempted bombing in NY Times Square I imagine have caused tighter scrutiny on people apply for tourist visas. In the past it's been a simple process of applying at the office in Kathmandu and getting the visa a couple days later. Now the proceess takes 4-6 weeks and since I didn't realize the changes I only applied May 20th. So I wait. But I can watch and right now there are several pilots flying in Chitral (Dutch, Kiwi, Canadian and Russian), Making the most of conditions and doing some great flying so far , for a Pakistan flying fix check out Rob Van De Ham's blog at http://parakiwi.blogspot.com/ And as for why there is no one is Hunza.. well the situation with Lake hasn't resolved and another drama unfolding is presented well here http://daveslandslideblog.blogspot.com/

I did have a nice idea to come to Thailand instead of using all my visa time in Nepal (we only get 5 months a year and I need to return in September October). My friend Graham was kitesurfing in Phuket so I joined him in early June and we had good wind for some days. Then when the wind died I got to work on writing an article about the Himalayan Odyssey trip.. or rather struggled with it for some days.. the final product is not something I'm really proud of but.. it got done. That's not really very interesting but here's a picture of kitesurfing which is
I traveled from Puket to Bangkok to catch my return flight, realizing my visa wasn't ready I changed plans and impulsively scheduled laser eye surgery to correct my near-sightedness. Well not exactly impulsive, I've been considering and doing research for 10 years. But i booked my exam 2 days in advance and had surgery the same day. Damn if things are convenient here in Thailand! Now it's 3 days since the lasering and my eyes are feeling better. Still have to limit my computer time and rest a lot... not a bad thing. More about the process when I take some pictures of the clinic this afternoon and do a better write up.

No water sports for 2 weeks and anyway the visa should be here... shortly I hope!

Oh one last item a nice piece on the potential for paragliding in Bhutan

Most Basic Update

2010-06-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't updated in 6 months! Ok let me think here, what are the essentials?

I had a recent thought, I thought, "I'm so damn lucky to be spending the prime of my life doing exactly what I want to." I'm not limited by health, money or time or commitments. That's really cool.

The other thought is that you can totally live your dreams and still be unhappy. Why is finding inner peace so elusive? Ok well let's not try to address that here.

Recently myself and some friends completed the greatest Bivouac flight of all time. I can say this because that's an emotional opinion so it can't be wrong. Also since I haven't been on other flights that may claim to be the greatest I can't really compare.

So if somehow you missed, possibly because I didn't post anything here.. then have a look at our website and blog entry's about the trip.

http://himalayanodyssey.org/

And for now I'm Thailand and on my way to Pakistan..

Reflection 2009

2009-12-31T01:12:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-19T02:47:00.000-08:00

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

2009-09-05T23:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-26T04:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-02T03:09:00.000-07:00

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?

Spring is Here

2009-03-22T07:17:00.000-07:00

It's almost April and with that some great flying and conditions improving. Here in Pokhara Nepal I'm flying tandems and Parahawking, as well as getting in a few solo flights. Recently I flew with some fellow Americans who are researching a book on education in Asia. Tadahshi and Katrina took some lovely photos. You can see them at-
http://tadashiphotography.blogspot.com/

My Pakistan visa is completed so I'm ready to go the first week of May. Every day that passes I get more excited as anticipation builds. My confidence and goals for the year are... big.. to say the least.

Since Pakistan is in the news so much these days I've included a bit of background to the current situation, have a look at http://watandost.blogspot.com/ for more info, this is a recent article included on the blog

How we helped create the Afghan crisis By Stephen Kinzer

How we helped create the Afghan crisis
By Stephen Kinzer, New York Times, March 20, 2009

WITH THE United States facing a terrifying set of challenges in Pakistan and Afghanistan, this is an opportune moment to look back at how the United States itself helped create the crisis. It is an all-too-familiar tale of the behemoth lashing out in ways that seem emotionally satisfying and even successful at first, but that in the end decisively weaken its own security.

The tale begins in 1979, when Americans were caught in a sense of defeat and malaise. They were still recovering from the shock of losing the Vietnam War, only to absorb another one with the stunning overthrow of the Shah of Iran and the seizure of American diplomats in Tehran.

On Christmas Eve, however, something happened that seemed to open a new horizon for the United States. Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan and installed a pro-Moscow regime. Here, suddenly, was a chance for the United States to fight a war against the Red Army.

In order to forge an Afghan force that would wage this war, the United States needed camps in Pakistan. Pakistan was ruled by General Zia al-Huq, who had proclaimed two transcendent goals: imposing a "true Islamic order" in his country and building a nuclear bomb. He had also just hanged the elected leader he deposed, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. This was the man the United States would have to embrace if it wanted Pakistan to support the anti-Soviet rebellion it hoped to foment in Afghanistan. It eagerly did so.

The United States also accepted Zia's demand that all aid sent to Afghan warlords be channeled through his intelligence agency, the ISI, and that the ISI be given the exclusive right to decide which warlords to support. It chose seven, all of them in varying degrees fundamentalist and anti-Western.

The ISI also came up with the idea of recruiting Islamic militants from other countries to come to Pakistan and join the anti-Soviet force. Its director, Hamid Gul, later said his agency recruited 50,000 of these militants from 28 countries. One was Osama bin Laden. Most of the others - brought to the region as part of a US-sponsored project, then armed and trained with US funds - shared bin Laden's radical anti-Americanism and fundamentalist religious beliefs.

During the 1980s, the CIA waged its most expensive and largest-scale campaign ever, pouring a staggering $6 billion into its anti-Soviet guerrilla force. Saudi Arabia, at Washington's request, contributed another $4 billion. Finally, in 1989, the insurgency succeeded and the Red Army withdrew from Afghanistan in defeat. One million Afghans died in the decade-long war. Five million fled to refugee camps in neighboring countries. Many found food and shelter at religious schools sponsored by Saudi Arabia, where they were taught the radical Wahhabi brand of Islam. Those schools were the cradle of the Taliban.

After the last Soviet unit withdrew from Afghanistan, the overseer of the CIA project there, Milt Bearden, sent a two-word message to his superiors at Langley: "WE WON." For a while, that seemed true. In 1998, Zbigniew Brzezinski, who had helped conceive the project, dismissed those who worried about its long-term effects.

"That secret operation was an excellent idea," he said. "What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Muslims or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the Cold War?"

Those "stirred-up Muslims" are now the enemy that the US faces in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They threaten America's national security far more profoundly than the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan ever did.

Jimmy Carter approved the idea of sponsoring anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan. Ronald Reagan poured billions of dollars into it. George H. W. Bush turned his back on Afghanistan, allowing it to degenerate into the chaos from which the Taliban emerged. Bill Clinton refused to confront the looming threat with anything more than an ineffective cruise missile raid on one of bin Laden's camps. George W. Bush invaded Afghanistan, succeeded in toppling the Taliban regime, and then, rather than staying engaged, immediately turned his attention to Iraq. Their policies showed the short-sightedness that has for more than a century been a hallmark of American foreign policy.

These American policies, more than any other factor, created the daunting crisis President Barack Obama now faces.

Stephen Kinzer is a longtime foreign correspondent and author of "Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq.

The Ups and Downs (Part 1)

2009-02-12T02:22:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while but it doesn't mean a lot hasn't happened. In fact how do I cover what has happened and not miss all the important bits? September I was flying in Pakistan with 2 friends Oriol (Spanish) and Paul (English) it was great to be back enjoying the people and the flying in Booni. Then it all changed, I was preparing my wing to launch, Oriol had climbed out high above, Paul was working a thermal close to the hill. Paul lost control of his glider and crashed. As I made my way across the steep rocky slope to him I wasn't sure if he was alive or dead, when he talked calmly and I knew he wasn't going to die everything was ok. Well, his L-2 vertebrae was crushed and the bone splinters pushing against his spinal cord had paralysed him from the waist down, he was in a lot of pain. But you see he was alive, and everything was ok. I remember thinking at one point during the rescue, when this is over I'm going to drop out for a while, do a vipassana course and get my head together. 7 days later he was on an air ambulance back home to the UK, Oriol and I never left his side and Oriol accompanied him on the flight to england. Those 7 days require a story of their own. I cannot begin to thank all the people who helped, especially the amazing people in Pakistan who made rescue, treatment, and repatriation a reality. Without their help it couldn't have been done. My heart is filled with love every time I think about the difficult journey and all those who helped in our time of need. I am humbled.

Immediately after I went to Bhutan where I met my Mom and Ken (my step dad) for whom was their first visit to the Himalaya's and my first visit to a country I've been dreaming of for years. Doing a 12 day all inclusive paragliding trip with Adam Hill and Frontiers paragliding was just what I needed. No hassle, no decisions to be made and an unspoiled paradise with unique flying was the right prescription after the stress of the Pakistan trip. My Mom and Ken loved it as much as I did. Flying is in my family's blood because my mom, who's afraid of heights, loved her first experience from the moment we left the ground. Getting to share my love of flight with all my family has been so amazing, no longer trying to explain why I do it, once in the air it makes sense and they can understand why I choose this life.

Without a stop I was back to Bir India for my first serious paragliding competition. The comp was a learning experience, just a little advice for anyone in their first comp, "Don't leave low and in front of the lead gaggle!" I'll look forward to another experience in the future, it's a great opportunity to work on building patience and humility.
The more interesting story was that 5 friends from Pakistan were invited as special guests. The camaraderie of the flying community extends beyond borders and nationalism. To see Pakistanis in India shaking hands and being welcomed by Indian military personnel was... well it was just awesome! It gives hope and reassurance in the inherent goodness of humans and our ability to get along and get past differences when we find common ground.

From there I went to Bangalore where I fell in love, an amazing girl I met last year, finally the time was right to spend some time together. Only staying for a week because I needed to get back to Pokhara Nepal and start making some money. November the tandem business was in full swing and so were Parahawking flights. It was a great time to catch up with friends and share the love of flying with tourists from many countries. Kevin, the Egyptian vulture, has learned and matured over the last year, how lucky am I to have him as a flying partner! 5 weeks later without a day off I was ready to leave Nepal and take a break from flying. I was excited to return to Bangalore to see where this new romance would lead. And for that another post.. soon!

a threat, a goodbye and a new blog

2008-09-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

"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.

The Way Back

2008-08-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

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!!!

Records and Number

2008-06-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

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!

One of those flights

2008-06-16T05:42:00.000-07:00

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!

A lot is happening!

2008-05-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

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!

Something Missing

2008-05-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

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!

To Be a Pilot

2008-05-06T00:21:00.000-07:00

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!

the reality of Pakistan

2008-03-21T04:39:00.000-07:00

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!

The $$ Equation

2008-02-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-12-28T05:12:00.000-08:00

12-27-07
Happy Holidays from Pokhara Nepal
Here's what I've been up to since Pakistan. Overland to India with 4 gliders (2 being carried for other people) to arrive in India and see if I still could enjoy flying at conditions somewhat less spectacular than Pakistan! The result, flying does it for me, still turns me on even in areas that I'm familar with, have flown before and the thermals are slower and cloudbase lower. As always the other pilots can be a big part of the flying experience and I shared some great flights with others, doing a birthday Bivy flight with some new friends on the way to Dharmasala (Brad birthday boy from Australia was living in Canada along with Jim from Canada, Morgan from US, running into a friend from 2 years ago in Dharmsala (Dave Weber from WEMT course in CA) then to return a couple days later and share a tandem with him, meeting John Silvester and sharing our mutual love and respect for the people and flying in Pakistan, catching up with friends and hearing about their summers while proclaiming myself the ambassador for flying in Pakistan and getting a lot of people interested (I hope!) These are just a few highlights from the top of my head as I write this.

The fall season was pretty good for flying this year in Bir and although October sounded like it was better I managed to snag one good day in November and pop over the back to Manali. A day similar to others I've had in during autumn conditions with very few clouds a weak inversion and high base. Realized how much the time in Pakistan has taught me as I stayed warm and very relaxed getting to 5500 meters and taking the high road to Manali. Actually didn't go all the way to Manali as I had an errand to run in Naggar, at the home of Ajay and Vinay. Remember the Honda I bought for Michael when we did our motorcyle trip around Ladakh in August? Well turns out my plan of keeping that and selling my Enfield wasn't going to work due to it's shorter wheelbase and lack of luggage rack for carrying a ton of gear so I asked Ajay to help me sell it. If anyones been pissed off traveling through India and getting cheated by the local well I hope you've also had the pleasure to experience some of the really great Indians that are all over as well. I picked up my money enjoyed the hospitality on Ajays family and a very refreshing visit with a sober Vinay then made a run to Manali to look for a used Enfield for Brad (from the birthday bivy flight from here on to be known as Dingo), with the money I now had I found a suitable bike for Dingo and returned to Bir. you see Dingo has just taken a year holiday from the restaurant business and upon finding out I was traveling with glider on motorcycle was immediately hooked by the idea. So now the story is 2 Brad's on Enfields both traveling with tandem and solo gliders on their way to Pokhara, oh and get this we just happen to have matching gloves. 5 days later we've arrived, haha if only it were that simple, getting separated a couple times, Dingos bike having the top end off 3 times, Dingo getting charged by wild elephant, I was actually pretty suprised we did make it. For anyone who hasn't done it traveling by bike is amazing frusterating, fucking scary and absolutely memorable, do it and you won't forget it.

So that's it for now, look for my next post to hear about my experience teaching and getting involved in Parahawking, I've been having some amazing flights with birds recently..

9 day push

2007-10-24T04:39:00.000-07:00

I know I've said this before and so you might get tired of hearing it or you might not believe me but I've just had the most incredible flying of my life. I think some senses might have been permanently overloaded I may not be able to experience the world the same again. I do know that I still have the ability to appreciate how lucky I am, how fortunate to have these opportunities and to have such an incredible Father. I really feel blessed and so fortunate to be alive, to be here in Pakistan, and to be a pilot.

So first the numbers, 9 consecutive days flown from October 11th to 19th. 5 tandems with my Dad for 8 hrs added to 4 solo flights makes 25 hrs airtime. During the tandems I worked on my high wind launch technique while my Dad worked on protecting himself as we were dragged around the hill! No, he has a great attitude and our launches have gotten much smoother. We treated them as instructional tandems and covered a good flight briefing before each flight considering weather and flight hazards. During the flight I was able to explain some theory of flight, how to control the wing, how to thermal and how to make cross country decisions. It was nice to have him fly part of the time so I could warm my hands up, I would fold my hands under my arms and just occasionally shout, "Control the pitch, Damn it!" He was able to experience the sensation I am so enthralled with of hooking a strong thermal and watching the ground fall away below us as the mountains and glaciers reveal themselves when we climb above the ridge line. And quite a view we had as one flight we reached 5400 meters and another 5650! That higher flight he experienced some hypoxia and we had to end the flight early but once we were coming in to land he recovered with no problems. We also covered frontal and assemetric collapse recovery and spiral entry and exit. More than a learning experience it was an incredible time that we shared, one day he commented, "I am beginning to understand why you like it here so much" and now he knows that no matter how much we can try to explain to other people what this is like it just cannot be understood until it is experienced.

And as for my experience? Well like so many times in the past few months I feel I have had something happen that is just absolutely unreal and beyond description.
On the 16th of October I flew around the Tirich Mir mountain. This is a 7708 meter mountain and at my highest during the flight I was 7300 (Almost 24,000 feet). What was interesting was to be well over 6000 but having so much rock and ice around me that I felt like I needed another thermal in a hurry! I was able to pick a day with very little wind, 4 previous attempts I was turned back before being able to work around to the west side due to strong wind or cloud development, because of the nature of the flight and the light wind that day I don't actually think it was that technically challenging but for a couple hours it was quite commiting. The photo on this post is from the East side of Tirich mir after completing the circuit, I flew from left to right around the opposite side finishing above launch to take the picture then glide back to town. I am the first pilot to complete this circuit but that has more to do with the fact I've the only pilot who's flown here in good conditions rather than my skills. Now I've been joined by 2 very experienced Swiss pilots who are both completely impressed with this site and Pakistan in general. Flying with other pilots and having something other than myself or the mountains to take pictures of has been great.

From reading this you could get the impression that paragliding in big mountains is my life and defines me, for me it is still just a great way to live, I do focus on some goals like getting up and going flying but all that happens on the way, who I meet and spend time with, what I've learned about the culture here and what I've learned about myself is really the true benefit of the experience. And here in Pakistan the interactions with locals and travel in the country is as interesting as the flying.

As my Dad was leaving yesterday he was already planning a return trip, so am I for next Spring/Summer. I'm curious how much interest I can generate between now and then and I have wonderful visions of sharing these flights with other pilots and seeing what really good pilots can do with this place! So... Who's coming??

Past Present and Future

2007-09-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well, what to even say? I spent August in Ladakh with a great friend (Michael) who I hadn't done anything with in almost 4 years. We motorcyled around some unreal scenery and spent some time on foot as well. With barely a pause after he left I returned on my own to Pakistan sharing the joy of flight with my tandem glider (locals and foreigners). Now I'm traveling with my Dad and a French friend (Freddy) who I met here in July. Weather is crap and fall is fast approaching but for sure some good days are coming and you know what that means. For the future I will return through India and to Nepal to continue flying and try to take it to the next level. Desire to return to the US is non-existant so I'll be using my paragliding skills to try and earn some money.

Thank you all for your support and interest in my stories, pictures and videos, it's just a matter of getting some time and energy into posting more because there is still much to show and tell!

Big Time Fun in Booni

2007-07-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

July 28th 2007
Currently in Islamabad writing a summary of flying in late June and July. This is going to be hard, what highlights do I choose and what stories do I try to tell? It has been, to say the least, epic and transformative. I realize that my lack of practice with the written word does not serve me very well for this grand task!

Here goes- After a few great flights in the Hunza valley the weather warmed up and flying slowed down. Fernando returned to Spain to work for the summer and in a last minute decision I bought his Ozone Vulcan from him. For a week I was looking at a gorgeous sky, little high puffy clouds, not much wind and great potential. So I was a little confused by the fact that I was on the ground after 10 minutes sweating and cursing in all my warm clothes! I moved on to Nanga Parbat and the Fairy Meadows flying site. My timing was a little off as cloudbase was low and again in 2 flights I didn't find much lift, I had added up 9 flights in a row all bombing out! I was a little confused by the conditions and disappointed in my flying ability with weak conditions. I made the long jeep trip crossing back over Shandur Pass to check out the flying site Fernando and I had found in June near the town of Booni. At the time we both knew the site had potential but maybe not how much. My first day flying I then realized, the site is on a 30km long ridge at 3800 meters between a 7000+ meter range and a 6000+ meter range. The ridge catches morning sun and starts working early so taking off at 11am it wasn't a question of finding lift but rather where to go with all the options! The first day was a 3 hour exploratory flight crossing the 15km valley easily and landing near my hotel in the town of Booni. After a little study using Google Earth I made a plan to try to fly the following day to Shandur Pass. It would be July 7th and the first day of the famous Shandur Polo Festival, 3 days of intense competion at the highest polo ground in the world. The flight was.. epic. And I think I have to leave it at that, often in trying to capture an amazing experience the words distort it and I rather leave in my memory truer to the experience. I arrived over the pass at 6800 meters and even explored a little to the south before landing near the field between a TV camera van and an anti aircraft gun to the cheers from some surprised Pakistani military. The polo started an hour later about the same time a gust front arrived. The action is fast and furious, in the north of Pakistan they play a no rules style of polo. What exactly does no rules mean? Well if if the ball goes through the goal posts that’s a point. Beyond that anything goes; a player could say, use their polo club to hit the ball, or if he felt so inclined use it instead to hit another player in the head. There is no referee and no time outs or stoppage of play other than halftime. In the first 15 minutes of play I saw one horse and rider crash over a baracade, the horse was able to stand but was removed from play, the rider and later a second rider were removed from the field on stretchers. I was surprised to note that there seemed to be no stoppage of play. Later the wind was blowing over 40 miles an hour and a light rain was falling, most of the spectactors were leaving to seek shelter and I thought for sure the game would be postponed or canceled but it continued to the end. And this was day one of the tournament!
The second day I met a dozen Pakistani paragliders from Islamabad and as well a crazy French pilot named Freddy. On the third day the program was for all the paragliders to fly early and land in or near the field before the final match was to start. The assignment I was given at the last moment was to land in the center of the field first and hold up a polo ball to show the crowd, kind of symbolically bringing it from the moutain. Well good enough I thought, it managed to come off really smoothly with time for a few wingovers and spirals and several of us pilots landing about the same time to a cheering crowd.
After the tournament Freddy and I spent a week in Booni each having some of the best flights of our lives. This site is fucking amazing, it should be rated one of the top 10 best sites in the world! Ok bold statement but come out and have a look for yourself! I am looking foreward to returning with more pilots, it’s going to be cool to see what a good group of pilots can do from this site. I have no doubt so long as the weather is flyable no one who comes to Booni will not be disappointed. I guess the big surprise was that the best flying of the trip was in mid July. Consistant days, not much wind and very little overdevelopment. I made a personal best having a 5hr 15 minute flight then a couple days later flying for 6hrs 40 minutes. Out of 7 flights from Booni I would say 6 rate in my top 10 all time most memorable flights! I just can’t say enough about the flying here. I was able to explore the flying over high mountains and glaciers while most of the time being an easy glide out to a safe area. Several times I soared up close to some impressive mountains at 6000 meters with very smooth air. Also the area itself if really interesting with super friendly locals and a very untouristed, relaxed vibe.
Freddy and I gave back a little flying advice to two novice locals in the Chitral area, it gave us a great way to get to know the culture a little better. Now I’m getting to know some of the locals in Islamabad a little better as I wait to get the visa I’ll need for re-entry in September. I need a little time off flying but am already looking foreward to the fall trip here.

Here is an inflight site guide to Booni- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibgKpLlNBPY

And here is a little bit of soaring above town-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRby_foAZ9s

I’ve added a few pictures to my Fliker site and also made a google group for foreign pilots interested to share information about Pakistan flying. I’ve put some Google Earth track logs of my flights up on the google group click here(remember to use the date feature to show different days because these are all my flights from these areas) compare Hunza and Booni and see what you like better!

Hunza Valley

2007-06-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

Well it got a bit windy, then it got rainy, then it got better. Fernando and I came to Karimabad in the Hunza Valley. We were dumbstruck by the enormity of the mountains here. The last week it's been flyable. It seems unreal to me what can be done with some fabric and strings, sometimes when flying I can't believe what I'm doing. Just in case anyone is concerned I feel I am making good decisions, flying with a margin of safety especially in new areas. So that being said have a look at the pictures on my photo site under Hunza. There seems to be a difference between my pressure sensitive altimiter and GPS elevation, because the difference gets bigger the higher I get I tend to trust my GPS more, that being said my GPS read over 7000 meters yesterday! My technique to deal with the lack of oxygen is to hyperventilate and hold my breath at about 5000 meters then hop into a 7 meter per second thermal, pop up to cloudbase, take a few photos and go on glide, I recover quite well after a few minutes at 5000 again. Enjoy the photos!

Chitral Pakistan

2007-05-27T23:08:00.001-07:00

Some of you have been waiting to hear about Pakistan, wait no more. And I say this not to be dramatic or romantic, though if it comes out sounding romantic or dramatic I don't mind because I mean to be factual and at the same time move you. I feel as everything that has happened in my life has prepared me to reach and react to this point and time in my life. Here- Chitral Pakistan, Now- no other moment but this. I could not have handled it before, that is why I hadn't come, It had to be now, any year earlier I wouldn't have had the flying skills to deal safely with this area, any year earlier I would have been preoccupied with thoughts of work or relationships in my life. One year ago I looked through a guidebook for Pakistan and had seen a track log someone posted on the internet of a flight near Nanga Parbat, this sparked my interest. Looking back I can see how everything since then prepared me to be here, now. Thank god I missed comming to India in the fall because it was a wash. Lucky I didn't decide to get into smokejumping this year because I would have missed this. Anyway enough enough enough, Fuck expecations, and realize that because this is going to create some for you; this is the most amazing place I've ever been. And now the words come hard because how do I back up a statement like that? The people, the history, the diversity, the godamn mountains! The experiences are a bit hard to describe, everything sounds so much cheaper when it comes out in words, in my head the feelings are.. intense.

Good, anyway now I've built it up a little too much for you, perhaps I've peaked your interest? I had a very clear idea the other day during a flight, well two really, one was that I have forgiven all who I have have perceived to have wronged me, I wish them success and happiness in life. The second is that I will bring more people to fly here, either directly on a tour or by sharing information about it so you can travel independently. Yesterday I made a website, it took only a couple hours so it is not by any means professional, but I need to get the word out now while there is time to plan for September October. I think getting people to come on a tour will require word of mouth from you my friends who I've met over the years and traveled with. The logistics are very easy and I've made some helpful well connected local contacts. I'm sure I can provide I good product, that is to provide logistical support to get to an amazing place and connect travelers to the local culture for an amazing experience beyond just the flying. What I'm not sure about is if I can get anyone to sign up! Please help by sharing this with anyone who may be interested. Check out the webpage at http://paraglidepak.blogspot.com/

I guess I haven't talked about the flying at all, I've put some more pictures on my fliker site under Chitral that should give an idea. In 2 midday flights I found the flying to require a lot of attention, because it's so dry thermals are strong but multiple cores and turbulence require a lot of attention to stay with. There is more sink around compared to recent flying in Bir, as well I found different winds at altitude. Getting over 5000 meters was pretty straightforward on both flights, one flight I gained over 6000, the valley floor is 1500 meters. The biggest XC I managed was a 40km out and back. Fernando and I found a new launch two hours up valley from Chitral near a village called Booni. It is at 3800 meters and has a lot of potential however bad weather made for just a top to bottom flight for us. In 3 weeks we've flown only 5 days with several others being flyable but the last 2 weeks unstable weather has meant unflyable days. Many locals say the weather is unusual this year, more rain and clouds than normal. I expect the fall to be a bit more stable than the spring and hopefully less turbulance but still high cloudbase. People have flown over 7000 in late October from the Hunza Valley so Chitral should be the same.

So who's going to be here in the Fall!?

My Video

2007-05-05T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well here I am going all high tech, I found a program to stitch photos together and also put a video together to show on youtube. Enjoy...

A Season to Remember- Bir, India Spring 2007

2007-05-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

I write this as the cloud cover has given a little relief to the heat and given a break to the epic flying conditions. A moment to catch my breath and catch up before the next phase of this incredible trip begins. I can easily say the last 2 and a half weeks I've had the best flying of my life. This has also been the most enjoyable of my 4 visits to this flying site. I'm staying at a new guesthouse just outside of the Tibetian colony, far enough away that for once barking dogs don't wake me every night but close enough that the Emaho cafe or landing field are a 5 min walk. A great location with tea gardens on one side and a Tibetian monastary on the other. As always in the spring there are fewer pilots here than in the Fall the eagles are migrating west in groups up to 50 and the vultures are friendly as ever. About 22 pilots this season and oddly enough 5 have shaved heads and gotees, I trimmed my beard to a goatee but didn't have the courage to shave my head! Most of the Pilots I actually know from previous trips here. But about the flying!- a little summary of the highlights in April the 17th I flew my biggest distance making Dharmsala and back in under 4 hrs, 20th climbed 1000 meters in a cloud for a unique experience getting to see my silloutte with rainbow around it(called a glory), 21st made a bigger distance and better time to Dharmsala (90km), 24th flying high and close to the main spine of the Dhaula Dhar range(4400 meters). 26th Bir to Manali in less than 4hrs taking the low route(5275 meters). 27th local bus back to Bir 7hrs. 28th Bir to Manali taking the High route! (5282 meters) 30th Dharmsala and back in 3hrs 30min. I have track logs and can send them if any pilots are interested, it's a .kml file that can be opened with google earth. The high route flight to Manali is the highest most technical flight I've done, it's interesting to be over 5100 meters thinking I might not be high enough to make the glide I was on! Needless to say there is no where I'd rather be than here doing what I'm doing. Kind of a funny story, the same day I went to Manali I had crossed to the back with another pilot, thinking we might make the flight together, however he decided to go west and stayed close to the main ridge as base was high. Flying 20km west of Dharamsala to the end of Dhaula Dhar ridge he turned and was returning to the East when he took a collapse at 3700 meters, upon reopening he had a cravate and started to spiral, the ground was very close so he threw his reserve and landed on a snowfield at 3600 meters! He put his reserve back in the container, scraped out a platform to stand on, set up his glider and took off after an hour and half of working. Continuing the flight back to Bir he completed his best distance of 130 km averaging 25km/hr including pit stop!! Not to be outdone a new american pilot with very little experience got caught in some unfamilar conditions and decided his best option was to fly to the valley behind takeoff and land near Bharot, local transport and hiking back to Bir was an all night ordeal arriving at 5am! My friends were happy for my great flight but it just goes to show this has not only been a memorable season for me. And now I'll try to post some pictures to my photo site then I get packed and leave to Pakistan with my Spanish friend Fernando. More updates to come but I don't know when.

On The Road

2007-05-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

Early April
To experience Western Nepal and Northern India by motorcycle is beyond description, the facts are this; 6 days riding one day 2 hrs the rest between 10 and 12. Lots of breaks and traveling at speeds around 20 to 70km/h usually about 50 that's 30mph, pretty slow. 2 days I spent in Bardia National Park in nepal where I saw tons of tiger tracks lots of deer monkey and several Rhino, totally uncrowded park and great experience.

I should really try to describe how it felt to drive those roads and see how the world lives. Most of the land I passed through was Agricultural, in Western nepal all the work is done by hand, currently it is the wheat harvest so everywhere the fields were active with people cutting threshing and carrying. Sometimes the threshing is done by ox trampling and sometimes by an old woman with a stick, can you imagine? It's like vistiting a museum "And the Taru people of Nepal used to build there houses with sticks, grass and mud, they plowed their fields with Ox and..." no wait, they still do! Crossing into India 2 obvious changes, people don't smile as easily as in Nepal and modernization exists along side with the primitive. It is possible to see a harvester in one field and people cutting crops by hand in the next. The disparities of wealth are much more apparent, in Western Nepal everyone seems to equally have nothing where in India some people have and others don't. It was hard to keep my eyes open and keep seeing without judging, so much is mind blowing mind boggling, so much suffering so much hardship. Everything seems to be overloaded and overworked. Well I stop there it is just beyond my powers of description, I would reccomend it to anyone, highly memorable and thought provoking. I was not able to take many pictures for fear of creating the illusion that I could capture the experience!

http://www.parahawking.com/main/gallery.html

2007-04-06T03:27:00.000-07:00

4-5-07
Escape From Lakeside
There are now only a handful of pilots here in Pokhara, weather has gone for flying XC and I've heard reports of good flying conditions in India so quick better make a blog entry pack up and get moving! Last week I needed to return to Katmandu to get my visa for Pakistan, decided to put in a new cylinder and piston in the Bullet while I was at it, actually that was decided for me. I stayed a little longer because an impromtue SIV was organized by friends here, 5 of us threw our reserves over the lake and only paid $3 for it as we had the local kids do the retrieve! And oh yeah I bought a tandem! Scott was daring enough to be my passenger for 2 flights, the second landing a little short (see pictures). Now I've progressed to giving Nepali's who can't afford to pay a chance to fly for free, a really cool experience for me. Speaking of Scott Mason check out what he's doing with the birds this year on his Parahawking website. He's working with an Egyptian Vulture for the first time who he has just trained to land on his head, you gotta see the pictures! click here. Maybe he'll get a little video on YouTube, it's priceless. For anyone who I haven't told my great claim to fame is that there is a raptor named after me and this year it continues to be the star performer in Scott's Parahawking courses. As for social going's on Nadine and Lopsong just got married! This provided an excuse for everyone to get together during which time I kept reflecting on how many amazing people this sport has allowed me to meet. That night at Maya Devi and the next at the Moondance restaurant I kept thinking that whatever mistakes I have made in life the one thing beyond reproach is the company I keep and how lucky I feel to be surround by such a good group of people. Until we meet again you will all be in my heart, cheers my friends, to us!

2007-03-28T23:56:00.000-07:00

What to say about Pokhara? Full of characters, there are some amazing stories just getting to know the people who paraglide and travel the world to do it. Coming back here is always a time warp, so much has happened in my life since I last left here yet it feels like I haven't been gone. Time is most pronounced with the kids, friends baby's now walking and talking makes me admit some time must have passed somewhere! And really so much has changed in my life the last year. Flying familar cross country routes makes me realize the transformation I've made as a pilot the last 4 years. Some ways I feel I've learned so much and other times I feel I've stagnated and not challenged myself. Getting back on my 350 Enfield motorcyle feels great, I am looking foreward to more time on the road. I've added more photos and have even figured out a way to put my GPS track logs on Google Earth, but haven't found a place to put that file so you can open it.

Meditation

2007-03-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

3-14-2007
I'm sitting in my room in Pokhara Nepal trying to figure out what to say about the last 2 weeks, I think pages could be written without my experience and what I've learned, instead how bout I try to sum in up in a paragraph in my concise hit the main points way? OK, so I spent 10 days in a Vipassana meditation course in Kathmandu, 9 days I didn't speak or make eye contact with the other 70 participants (half men half women, 15 westerners the rest Nepalis). The day started at 4am and ended at 9:30 with over 10 hours of sitting meditation broken by eating and rest periods. Difficult? Yes. Valuable? Yes. What did I learn? Simply the nature of all the problems in my life, but not in an abstract philosophical way but in a very real this is true for me because I can observe it kind of way. First and foremost this technique is not associated with any organized religion, it is the way the Buddha became enlightened but does not promote or disallow any other beliefs. The basic idea is this, 1-Don't Sin 2- Do Good Things 3- Examine Yourself. And in examining myself what did I learn? That my unhappiness is self imposed by either being attached to impermanent pleasant things or having aversion to the same impermanent unpleasant ones. Unwanted things happen in life and wanted things do not happen but by not understanding this reality of life I expect the opposite, I want things to go my way and when they don't I create suffering where it didn't exist before. I hope this is clear. This basic idea is something I believed to be true before but through sitting with eyes closed and using the tools of breath and sensation coupled with observation I came to understand this reality is a much more clear way. If your interested check more about Vipassana at www.dhamma.org

South America to Asia

2007-02-27T01:06:00.000-08:00

2-24-07
Sitting in the San Francisco airport I realize a lot has happened that I could write about. I also realize that if I haven't written about it yet I probably won't get time in the near future either! So here is the condensed version. Tania met me in El Bolson the end of December, the end of January we left together and traveled by bus to Colombia. On the way we stopped for a couple nights in Santiago Chile and visited friends of hers from Colombia. Then we hung out for a week on a beach in the north of Peru with Cari Freemont, a friend of mine from work. I finished my South America trip by visiting Cali Colombia for 10 days. A brief history here, I met Tania more than 10 years ago in Denver, we didn't get to know each other until the fall of 2002 when we started dating, we separated in the spring of 2003 and did not see each other until December 2005 when she came to Nepal and we lived together for 6 weeks. Again we separated until she came to Patagonia this December! Tania grew up in Cali Colombia and it was amazing to have her as a guide and get to meet her family. My spanish is really not very good so to have someone who was fluent in Spanish and English was very insightful, so much I wouldn't have understood or misinterpreted she opened my eyes to. Another really cool connection was meeting my friend Ryan K. in Cali. He is a friend from the first year I was in Durango, Colorado in 1998. I met him in Lima Peru just days after arriving in South America last Fall. He's been traveling around Peru and Colombia since I've been in Argentina and it was really cool to connect with him as I left the continent.

I just spent 3 days in San Francisco, my dad came out for a day on his way to a friends wedding in New York, well I guess that's a little out of the way! My mom and Ken made it back early from a month work/vacation trip to Australia so we could connect. 2 nights I talked with my sister using Skype with video, once with my Dad and once with my Mom. What a cool experience as I learned a little about her current work in a hospital for the treatment and prevention of HIV in Cameron Africa.

Allright well that and looking at my pictures on Flicker should get you up to date with what I've done up to now. And so what about the present? Well right now I'm in the Los Angeles airport waiting for my flight to Delhi!

And for the future? From Delhi I'll make my way to Nepal and begin a paragliding trip working west through the Himalayas. I plan to travel by motorcycle and fly familiar sites and find new ones as I work my way west, eventually flying in Pakistan sometime in May and June. All is subject to change but that is the idea now!

Still Here

2007-01-18T16:01:00.000-08:00

Still in El Bolson, short summary- not one flyable day from December 8th to the 25th! Lots of rain and wind. The best place I could be to just chill out, which is what I wanted. Learned of a movie that a local pilot here is trying to make about the Andean Condor and what a paraglider pilot can learn from them. The condors can live 60 years and fly the same routes learned from their parents in search of food, often 200km per day! A couple good XC days came in January and as always I was ready, flew in a group 2 days, once making it quite close to getting the epic El Bolson to Bariloche flight. Martin was the only pilot to make it that day and said it was the most technical flight he´s ever had. Very memorable flight for me. I´ve considered buying land here but have not done the work to look around, also the market has gone up considerably in last few years and summer is not the time to get the best price. I guess I´ll be around for a little longer as I seem not to be able to leave!

I return to El Bolson 1st of December 2006

2006-12-16T15:12:00.000-08:00

Felt pretty good to get back here, Victor and Martin picked me up from the bus station and we drove to the new house. Marilla was there but otherwise I was the only visitor besides Victor who has been spending his summers here for 4 years. There was some rain and a full rainbow in the field behind the house, which serves as a landing field, just what I needed. We caught up about what I had been doing and the building of the house. To give a quick history Martin and Mariella run a small paragliding school do tandem flights and have a house that serves as a hostel for paragliders, mostly Argentinian. I spent 3 weeks in their old house in Feburary of 2005. Turns out my timing was pretty good last year they were in transition, had sold the old house but not built the new one, so last year everyone was living in tents on the land while the house was built! Also last year was a bit unusual with the weather and not very many cross country flyable days. Well so here I am untill middle of January, hoping to get in some good flying but also looking foreward to long summer days and the relaxed atmosphere here.

Mendoza 11-29

2006-12-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

2 days on a buses brought me to Mendoza. I had considered going through northern argentina but was actually not feeling like exploring new sites, meeting new people and then leaving, I was itching to return to El Bolson where could invest my time with friends from 2005 and hang it in one area to get to know it better. So I figured one stop to break up the journey and here begins the story of a fateful day. I arrived 4:30am into Mendoza, a decent sized city popular on the tourist route through Argentina. Turns out it was so popular 3 hostels I looked at had no open beds! I of course had not made reservations in advance. That's a sign I thought I'll return to the bus station and continue on to El Bolson today. At the bus station I ran into a tout promoting his hostel, turns out his father and brother were tandem pilots and there would be a jeep going up to launch that afternoon leaving from the hostel. Decision made for me I walked over chatted with his father over tea made arangements to meet up at 2:30 for the ride to launch then crashed out in the last available bunk bed in a room full of sleeping travelers. Napping for a few hours I woke to hang out and watch the movie Edward Scissorhands with a group of Israelis, no big deal but typical of the traveling that doesn't hold much interest for me these days. The jeep left at 4pm for launch, on the ride up I got to know a swiss couple going up for their first tandem flight. We shared typical traveler conversation they were eager to learn about paragliding and how it was to travel around flying different areas. An hour drive, 30 mins rough 4x4 climb brought us to launch. Ready to get out to vehicle I realize I thing immediately, it is windy. Desert

Iquique 11-21 to 11-26

2006-12-16T14:53:00.000-08:00

For those pilots reading this here is my advice about Iquique. It's a big city, you can stay in town or on the south side of town is the Altazor flight park. For $11 a night you get free internet, kitchen, a place to land and fold your glider. They sell stuff and have a repair center, also you can rent vehicles for the day and probably even a driver which is needed for cross country flights. When I arrived there were 32 pilots staying there. However many pilots were in groups so getting to know people wasn't easy. Cheap and easy to take local bus up to launch. Usually pilots fly the site called Alto Hospicio above Iquique in the morning, then land on the beach or back at Altazor and hang out for the middle of the day, in the evening you can return to Alto Hospicio or share a truck and drive 15km to Palo Buque where when conditions are good you take off at sea level and soar up 800 meters over desert to practice manuevers and repeat, that or practice sand skiing, which is a good way to scoop a lot of sand in your glider. And for XC? Wish I would have known this earlier. From Iquique you can really only fly 10k to the north and 5 to the south. So for a day you can do laps but this gets boring quick. For longer flights you need to start out in the morning and drive to the south however far you want to fly back- possible for 30-50-100-200 km flights but!! for anything over 30 you need permission to cross the airport with requires dropping off a copy of flying license and passport and calling before entering airspace, which requires having someone on the ground to call in by cellphone as you pass. So this works fine if you have 5 people to share the cost and hire a driver for retrieve and make the call. For me this was all to much planning and networking.. and money. I kind of like to take off and see where my mood and the conditions take me, not possible in Iquique. That and the dynamic/thermic conditions and scenery were not all that interesting to me. Great place to practice but for me 6 days was enough I would return with friends to practice acro or do some XC together. Oh as near as I can tell November is the best month for XC I think conditions slow down during the summer.

Not Much Happens. Lima Peru

2006-11-22T15:53:00.001-08:00

Well it seems I've spent more time in Lima than anticipated. I arrived the 23rd of October and even got to fly that first day. Costa Verde is a basic costal soaring site with consistant weather but the addition of city buildings to use for dynamic life. A comfortable life here as well as my friend Ryan have made it easy for time to pass while not much happens, with the flying or with my motivation. Ryan, who I met in Durango in 98 is one of those people I've had a good relationship with and stayed in touch with, even if it's only once every year or two, because I knew if we were ever in the same place again the friendship would pick where it left off; and it has. I broke up my time here with a trip to the moutains to try and get in some big flights. My original intent was to spend the bulk of my time in the Peruvian Andes. However a week and a half in between the Cordillera Negra and Cordillera Blanca yielded only 2 ten minute flights, it was either rainy or high pressure and the one good looking day I wasn't able to utilize. Amazing country as you can see from a 3 day treking trip; I know I will return here again. During my trip to the mountains Ryan decided to learn paragliding here in Lima and it's been cool to see his quick progress. We made a short trip to a costal site south of Lima, here Ryan met a slight accident and I got a cold. All's well and now I'm off to Iquique Chile to get serious about the flying business of this trip. With that said here are some pictures- http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradismyfriend/