Free flying at Devil's Dyke

Ben and I took a day off on Monday as the winds were from the north blowing straight onto Devil's Dyke down on the South Downs. My mouth was watering; as we got closer we could see about 3 gliders flying and when we arrived we got the gear out and prepared to launch. It was crisp and cold and I put my salopettes on with a warm pair of climbing gloves, a thick fleece and a goretex jacket. Ben launched before me and then I launched. The lift was scratchy to start with but then as the sun warmed the slopes a little a few thermals appeared which were fun to play in. I went all the way to the power lines but did not have quite enough height to spare to cross over them... next time!!! It was quite busy with about 30 pilots there. If only all Mondays could be like this...

First flight on the 4 stroke!

We spent the morning on the South Downs at the farm just down from Devils Dyke adjusting Ben's new machine and putting it together. The wind was not in the perfect direction so we got used to ground handling with the heavy engines on our backs which felt quite strange considering we were used to free flying carrying no weight whatsoever. The other difference was of course holding the throttle in our left hands. It was only possible to ground handle for about 10 minutes at a time. The machines weigh about 33kgs and it is quite hard work.

The wind swung round and we moved to a different corner of the huge field. Michel asked me if I felt ready to try launching - "you bet" I said... My mouth was dry with nervous energy. I chose to do a reverse launch as there was enough wind. Laura Beaumont (Female British No 1 pilot) helped me lay out my new wing (Reflex Reaction TST Dudek) which rose smoothly upwards. I turned and Michel gave the thumbs up. I ran and increased my throttle. I was soon in the air turning gently to the right due to the torque. I gained height and then reduced speed to allow me to turn left against the torque using weight shift as well. I flew over the A27 and looked down on the cars, horses, joggers and was able to see far down the South Downs. There was even a hot air balloon in the distance too. I was only up for 45 minutes or so. I only had a little fuel in the tank but what an amazing feeling. I did not want to land. The ReAction flies much faster than my usual paragliding wing yet feels so much more stable. Coming in to land was speedier than I was used to. I gently bled off the speed before flaring at the last minute - touching down nicely and under control. I had a big smile on my face! I love this new sport!
Taking off for the first time!
Michel's new toy was a Bailey trike. He has been lent an Ozone Viper wing for record attempts. It looks like a lot of fun and not so taxing on your back because the wheels take the strain. He was demonstrating down wind landings and some spectacular low flying at speed!

Flying at Pandy - South Wales

The forecast promised us sunshine and light East North Easterly winds and so Ben and I got up at 6.30am and drove to Pandy in South Wales. It turned out to be cloudy and overcast! We wondered if it would prove to be a wasted trip! When we arrived, we met another pilot called Robert. He showed us where to park just down from the farm in a field. We were the second car to arrive. We then took our gliders up to the high take off and took off just past the trig point. Ben took off after me and we flew 6kms down the ridge to the quarry. It was delightful. The mist was still in the valleys and we had the entire ridge to ourselves. Robert and Ben were the only other two gliders in the air at this time. We flew for over an hour before heading back to the trig point.

We lost considerable height coming round the corner to the trig point and were forced to land in the bottom field. It was a tiring walk back up and by the time we reached the top, the sky had darkened and was full of gliders.

We had a number of other flights and left having well and truely had our fix!! Next time we shall return in the sunshine and hope to make it all the way to Hay Bluff at the end of the ridge (another 6kms down the ridge).

I took my Nikon D200 up with me with a large lens. It was interesting hanging out of my harness trying to get the best shots of Ben on his red APCO Karma glider. It was a shame that the skies were not a deep blue!

New Bailey 4 stroke paramotor!

I am now the proud owner of a Bailey 4 stroke 175cc. paramotor! Di gave me the day off to go down to go and fly the new machine on Saturday 29th September. Michel Carnet, aka Mitch, (who has just returned from the World PPG Championships in China with a Bronze medal!) was on hand to test fly my shiny engine! He fitted the reserve and we checked everything before going up to the field just below Devil's Dyke on the South Downs. There was nil wind when Michel took off. The air was damp and when Michel landed he advised that I come back another day when the conditions were better. I could hardly contain my disappointment. I am now dreaming of the next available day to actually get into the air myself. Watch this space!

Tow launching - September 07

Ben and I took the day off on Tuesday 4th September as we had booked a tow conversion course up in Derbyshire at Airways Air Sports. We left London at 6am; the forecast was good and we had high hopes to complete the required 10 launches needed for our tow conversion 'ticket'.

We met up with Shelley in the morning who took us through our 20 minute brief about the winch, the call signs (Take up slack, Stand-by and ALL OUT) and the various safety points to be aware of.

Andy met us at the launch at the other end of the field. Before the first launch he told us to RLF... (RUN LIKE F$*K!) We started by just doing a 40ft flight before moving onto high circuits from the top of the winch line. By 2pm we had done about 5 successful launches. On my third launch my Topas did not respond well to some input and Andy became worried that I was going to enter a flat spin before hitting the deck! Luckily Dave on the winch slowed it down and I landed safely but things can happen so quickly near to the ground. I borrowed an Ozone Mojo from the school and continued on that to be safe!

The wind had swung round to become westerly and there were a few novice pilots there also using the winch. Dave moved the winch but of course now we were only using half the field so we could not get the height we needed to continue our 5 remaining circuits. Andy said that we would need one more day and suggested coming back tomorrow. The forecast was again good but when we arrived the following day at 9am it was blowing hard and quite misty. We waited until midday, Andy had a go on the winch but it was sadly too windy for us to be constructive. We drove home and now look forward to the next available day to complete our tow conversion.

Judy Leden and Chris Dawes run the school up there and I cannot rate it highly enough. Everyone is friendly and we shall be back soon for sure!

This bottom photo shows the home made winch - the engine of which was a Citroen 4 stroke beauty complete with parasol and Dave, the operator!

Peak District - Eyam Edge

We have just spent the weekend up in Hathersage in the Peak District. Ben and Mum came up with us and we stayed at Carrhead Farm. It was Ben's birthday on the 12th August and on Saturday we had some glorious flying at Eyam Edge next to Great Hucklow Gliding Club (where Dad took us back in 1980 to go gliding!) Ben and I flew for an hour or so together before landing for a drink at the pub. Some flew to Stanage and beyond. Another top weekend! Ben is on the red APCO on the right and I am on my trusty blue Gradient (Topas). Diana took the photo!

Paragliding in Annecy - July 07

We are staying in a small village called Talloires right by Lake Annecy. The weather has been changable and we had a lot of rain at first but then the sun arrived and the flying became good. Have a look at some of the photos I took today on my way up to base above the 'Dents de Lanfon'. A fantastic day of superb flying and views...

Di drove me up to the take off at Plan Fait (next to the Foret de l'Aventure) and it was 3pm by the time I had done my checks and taken off into the bouyant air. Most of the gliders were slope soaring infront of take-off but I decided to go in search of thermals around the back. I followed another Gradient glider and was losing height above the trees flying towards Les Dents de Lanfon. Suddenly my vario started to scream at me and soon I was flying with the big boys up at cloud base - I was nervous to fly into the cloud as the suck underneath it was quite powerful! I had a couple of large collapses but they popped out as soon as I heard the rustle! It was lovely flying and the air was cool at altitude with lovely views of the lake.

(The first time I took off here, I was with Sam and Dave. Sam did a perfect forward launch take off first when there was nil wind. I then took off but sat back in my harness too early and the glider lost flying speed and I dropped out of the sky and landed in the top of a tree just before the cliff edge. My canopy over took me and I spent the next 2 hours untangling it from the trees with Dave. Thanks Dave! I won't do that again! I was lucky and learnt an important lesson)

I landed a couple of hours later. The wind had picked up on the landing site. As I still had quite a bit of height I flew over the lake and back towards the hotel so I could get an aerial photo of Le Cottage - where we were staying. Our hotel is the one with the pool shown below...

A couple of days before we took off at the Col de la Forclaz which was exciting. It was a busy take off and the thing to do was prepare your glider to the side, bundle it up and wait for your turn. When I first came to Annecy nearly nine years ago I was too frightened to take off here as I had only just qualified. I felt much more confident this time. I thermalled up above the trees to the right hand side of take off and flew along the length of the ridge for 3 hours. I landed down by the landing field below Plan Fait near to the paragliding shop. Another wonderful day of flying. I LOVE this sport...

Dave and his son Sam were in Chamonix flying at Plaine Joux for the first 3 days. We went over to join them on the second day and had a lovely flight infront of Mont Blanc. It became very windy in the afternoon so we watched the competition pilots flying at the festival of flight which was inspiring. Their gliders fly so much faster.

Evenings were beautiful as the sun went down - gliders could still be seen in the air thermalling at 7.30pm! Talloires is a peaceful place and we shall definately be coming here again.

We ended the day with a swim in the lake and then we had supper at the hotel as the sun went down. The end to a perfect day!

Di loved the swimming and said that swimming in the Lake was like swimming in Evian! Her 'bump' seemed to grow in the cool waters!

Swimming in Snowdonia 1-7-07

Diana and I went to Snowdonia and stayed at our favourite hotel - the Pen-y-Gwryd. The forecast was for torrential rain but we decided to ignore the forecast. As usual, the car was brimming with climbing gear and of course, the paraglider. None of it left the boot of the car as it did not stop raining!

On Saturday morning, we met our great friend, Ian Wilson-Young (Rock Jock). He works in Hamburg and was over for the weekend. He had slept in his car on the Friday night as he had arrived late. We met him the next day in Pete's Eats and then went and bumbled around the gear shops in Llanberis - it was far too wet for anything else. We then decided to go skinny dipping in the tarn behind the hotel which was hilarious.

That night we all ate and drank far too much and played about 10 games of ping pong. The rain that night was so torrential that our room sprung a leak in the ceiling. Luckily it was not over the bed so we did not bother to move rooms - it just added to the atmosphere of the place.

Paragliding in the Nevada Desert

Ben and I are currently staying in Las Vegas, where we are giving a keynote presentation on 20th June, 2007, with Dave Roberson (Senior Vice President) at a major annual Hewlett Packard conference where there are expected to be 2000 people in the audience. We are also speaking to journalists about the testing we did for HP on Everest back in 2006. Sound like a gruelling schedule? No, not at all; not until we heard that there were some small hills just outside the city!


We decided to take our paragliders out with us in case we got the chance to fly. Local pilot, Carl Appelin, was extremely kind in offering to show us the local site at Jean Ridge (about half an hour from the City). Carl picked us up from the Mandalay Bay Hotel in his HUGE pickup. We reached the site at about 6pm in searingly hot temperatures - about 100 degrees. The winds were SW and it was possible to soar. We had 40 minutes of delightful flying, while the sun set across the desert. We were wearing T-shirts and shorts and the winds were warm and constant giving us smooth rides up and down this mile long ridge!

Thank you Carl, Melonie and Max, for showing us this unique flying site. We loved it. Please come and visit us when you are next in the UK.

XC flying inland (Turkey) 17-5-07

It has always been my dream to fly cross country on a paraglider. On the 17th May, 2007, I flew cross country for my first time ever. It was a wonderful feeling. We met with one of the top local pilots, Semih Sayir, who was a competition pilot. Semih had amassed over 7,000 hours on a paraglider, he was calm and had vast knowledge of the local area. He was the perfect guide for the day. Semih and his driver took us inland to a take off on a dusty track at Geyran near Uzumlu. The peak in the far distance under the cumulus cloud was near to where we flew to...

There were nine pilots and we all took off one after the other. We flew left where we thermalled to the summit of the mountain and before long we were all circling together in strong lift. Semih came on the radio, "ok, lets go... follow me!" So we did and glided off together. It was wonderful to fly in a gaggle because it is easier to spot where the lift is. This was not a competition but just friends flying for fun together.

We reached the next hill along the valley where we found more lift and circled up again. Some of the gliders had more height so they went on futher but it took me and 3 others more time to get sufficient height to continue. After much work I had enough height to continue up the valley where I was flying low above the pine trees and rocky ridges. It was exciting and once again, I found lift and was now travelling at a safe height above the forest. I was locked into my own little world - my mouth was dry - I was determined not to be the first one to 'bomb' out. I had caught up with the others who had been waiting. Big Pete was with me and Dave was not far away a little lower down.

We followed the road up the valley. Some gliders were in sink and I soon found myself going down. I pushed out to the middle of the valley, following Pete, desperately hoping to be sucked back up. My vario told me that I was going up... I quickly put some 360's in and found myself in the same thermal as big Pete. It was pure delight.

We climbed up to Semih and Mehmet. Another Aussie pilot was also up there called Phil from Zermatt. All five of us continued to the next waypoint where the lift was very strong. The clouds were huge and over developed - we decided to turn around to go back the way we had come. Dave had been the first to bomb out in a small clearing amongst the trees below - we could see his yellow glider below us. He got on the radio to let us know he was all right.

We were near the town Arpacik and we were low now too. We had been going 2hrs and 27mins. We had travelled about 30kms. Pete landed before me but his glider ended up in a tree which took ages to get out! The farmer came to help us. He spoke no English but was all smiles! I had a huge smile on my face as this is what paragliding is about. It was an awesome day. Who knows how much further we would have flown if the weather had not stopped us!!

The following day, my wife, Diana, and I went into Fethiye to look around the market in the old town near the harbour. We found a local tailor who copied one of Di's dresses for a few lira! Whilst he was at it he mended my glider sack and Di packed me off to one of the many barber shops where I was given full shave finished off with lashings of lemon cologne! Mmmm smells good!

Paragliding in Olu Deniz (Turkey)

I have just returned from a week of flying in Turkey by the sea in Olu Deniz. The scale of this place is breathtaking and the climate is perfect; sunshine, light winds and thermic conditions - not to mention the spectacular views over the sea and surrounding hills! Each morning we would catch the truck up the mountain called Baba Dag ('The Father Mountain') and it would take about 50 minutes.

On the second morning I walked up with Pete from the town. We left at 4.30am and it took a good 4 hours to get to the middle take off where we met with the others. They had taken our gliders up there in the truck - thankfully! There are three take off areas on Baba Dag - a southern lower take off at about 5,400 feet, a middle one at about 5,800 feet and a northern take off at 6,400 feet.

I took the photo below looking down towards the lagoon at Olu Deniz in the distance. One is able to see the dusty track leading up to the top take off. The lower take off is where the road doubles back on itself.

The top take off can be seen to the left of this photo below...

On the day that I walked up with Pete, I took off first. There was very little wind so I did a forward launch off the middle take off and flew towards the top take off where I immediately found strong lift. I soon was at 10,000 feet and I was glad of my warm layers as it was cooler up at this height. I flew right out to the plateau opposite and found sink so I retreated back to the main ridge. I was lower than the top take off but I soon found more lift under a juicy looking cloud and was booted back to base again. I bimbled around up here before heading down to the beach for a beer after a couple of hours in the air. This is the life!

Sunset at the end of the day as seen from the lower take off looking towards the bay at Olu Deniz... Beautiful!

Hathersage Lecture (4-5-07)

When I was asked by Mary and Michael Bailey to come and speak at the Memorial Hall, in aid of the Hathersage Swimming Pool Fund, I accepted at once. I adore Hathersage and have been visiting for years, mainly to rock climb or boulder on the gritstone edges with friends over the years. It was a wonderful chance to give something back to the community by speaking about my recent adventures in the Himalayas. Mary and Michael run one of the finest B&B’s I have ever experienced and since my wife, Diana, and I have been coming here we have often stayed with them at Carr Head Farm where the views are magnificent and their hospitality is second to none. They have become great friends.

I took the day off on Friday and started off by speaking to the children at the local school at 2pm. Michael and I then went for a walk with the dogs (Barney, Percy and Boston) The evening lecture started at 7.30pm with a packed house. There were questions at the end; the best one came from a little boy in the front row when he asked, “why do you wear those spiky things on your feet?”

The evening was a roaring success and at the end I was honoured to be presented with ‘Life Membership’ to the Hathersage Swimming Pool! Thank you and thank you to all those involved including Mary & Michael Bailey, Kim & Boris Mathews and to all the other individuals and shops who helped and contributed with the raffle prizes from the village. A total of £1,200 was raised for the Swimming Pool Fund. A fantastic result!

Saturday 21st April - White Horse

On Saturday 21st April, I flew for just under 3 hours over the White Horse behind Milk Hill in Wiltshire. When I arrived it was quite windy so I sat and had a sandwich. I then laid out my gear and checked it before deciding to give it a go. I pulled on the brakes and was lifted straight up. It was a beautiful afternoon and I managed to fly all the way along to the road and thought of crossing it when I was high. The lift was not quite good enough so I decided not to. Also, my car was parked by the barn at the opposite end and I didn't feel like the long walk back. At one point there were about 14 gliders in the air including one hang glider. I was the second last person to land as the sun was setting. I flew as far as I could back to the car before landing and packing up. I was smiling! I think I have a paragliding problem - I can't stop thinking about the weather or where to fly next. I am dreaming about flying cross country from thermal to thermal...

Paragliding - Easter weekend, 2007

Diana and I spent Easter in Devon and on the way down we stopped for some flying at Westbury. It was a beautiful day but the winds were light. The flying was very 'scratchy' and I probably managed about an hour of flying in total that day (Easter Friday). Met up with Jim Mallinson, Mark Russell and Eddie Colfox who were all flying 'hot ships'! I was flying my old Gradient Topas (1-2 glider).

On the way home we stopped in Dorset to see the parents-in-law. After lunch, I dragged Di up to Batcombe where the skies looked epic. Very light winds again, however, and persevered ending up with four top-to-bottoms. Mark Russell was there with his tandem and so was Tony Farthing from the Devon and Somerset Condors. I returned home dreaming of flying more this summer!

On May 11th Olu Deniz bekons in Turkey where we shall be flying with friends for a whole week! Bring it on...

Lunar Eclipse - 3rd March, 2007

We were in the Lakes this weekend planning on doing a little rock climbing or even some flying if the winds were right. We met up with some buddies from a previous 2004 Everest expedition in Tibet. (Ray Smith, Mike Brennan, Rick Taylor and Baz Roberts) The rain held off more or less on the Saturday but the rock was wet and it was way too windy to fly. I went for a walk with Di and then we met up in Ambleside for a curry that evening. The air was crisp and clear when we approached the tents; perfect conditions to view the lunar eclipse. It was orangey in color.

My great friend Huw Griffiths, who lives in Hampshire, took this.

(2.5s @ F5.6 / 300mm / ISO400 Canon 350D). What a great photo. Thanks Huw!

Frostbite update - 12th February

On Wednesday 7th February, my brother, Ben, had to have a further operation on his toes. They were not healing as they should and so the surgeon was forced to take a little more off three of the damaged toes. He used a device called a 'nibbler' which quite literally nibbled the bone back more so as to allow more skin to grow around the stumps. Ben asked to see the device after the operation. Mmmmm nice...

Ben is a brave man - much braver than myself! He is in better spirits now the pain has subsided a little with the help of some strong pain killers.

"It was like being back at Camp 2," Ben told me today, "painful!"

Ashdown House School Lecture

On Wednesday 24th January, I was invited to speak at Ashdown House School with Ben. It was nearly 25 years since we were there ourselves and it was wonderful to see all the changes and to meet a handful of teachers who taught us when we were there!

After the lecture some of the pupils tried on the oxygen masks and down suits and then climbed into the tent we had put up on the stage!

The whole school were present at the lecture, together with about 50 parents. There were lots of wonderful questions at the end including, "did you brush your teeth?"