Oddball's Totally Awesome Paragliding Thread

[Samson]

Insanely easy lift today.

Got up high enough to see lakes Gregory, Arrowhead and Silverwood.

Safe to say that the myth of Icarus and Daedalus doesn't *ahem* fly, 'cause it gets plenty chilly at that altitude.

How High (literally)?

I once again considered climbing the 14,200 ft Longs Peak this weekend, but had other commitments, and missed seeing the 3rd hiker of the season fall to his death.

Rule of thumb around here is a 5 F temp drop for every 1000 ft, so if it's 90 F in Denver at 5,000 ft, you can count on it being 90 - (14,000-5,000)*5 = 55 F at the summit of Longs Peak.

PLUS you can burn the shit out of your hide exposing your skin to sunlight at that altitude, which is why I have never climbed nekkid.

Was told by the locals that I was between 8,000-8,500 MSL.

I passed between two distinct temp zones....Hot to cool, then cool to plenty chilly.

Was kinda spooked for about 1/2 hour, because I was trying to dump altitude yet still climbing out.

Mr. Science Says:

"When referring to an altitude of an aircraft or airspace MSL (mean sea level) is used."

Therefore, 8,000-8,500 feet MSL was between Oddball and the surface of the ocean.

If he fell from this height, discounting air resistance, and using an acceleration of 32 ft/s per second, how many MINUTES would pass before Oddball hit the surface of the ocean?

 

[jimbetty123]

If just your imagination has been enjoying free flight, it’s time you did too! We are the premier paragliding school in India based at Kamshet since ‘97. Choose a one time solo flying thrill or learn paragliding fundamentals and become a hobby pilot, we have various programs to suit your adrenalin highs.

 

[Oddball]

Awesome, albeit chilly, couple of past days/weekend.

Hung out on the ridge over Crestline yesterday for nearly an hour, before numb fingertips sent me packing for the LZ.

One of these days, I have to get a mini video cam.

 

[Oddball]

My good friends Jeff and Steven (the camera man) having a blast at Elsinore:

 

[Liability]

Back in college, I had a pal who went to a course to learn how to jump out of perfectly good airplanes.

On the Friday before he was to take his Saturday "test" (meaning his first actual jump), his instructor was killed in a fall when neither his professionally packed chute opened nor did his back-up shoot.

My pal did not take that first jump that Saturday.

He was a good guy. He had pet crabs and he regularly staged crab races (with all appropriate and illegal gambling) on Saturday mornings with heavy drinking involved. His crab was named after a high end top shelf gin.

Which is the better way to spend a Saturday morning?

 

[Oddball]

I got to paragliding by taking my first static line skydives.

Turns out I like the canopy ride much better than a mere couple of minutes (tops) of free fall.

 

[Oddball]

My buddy Steven gets chased out of the sky by a hawk, at Marshall.

 

[Trajan]

beautiful.


May, the wife and I will start our season at Hollister, she just doesn't know it yet... I will get her up in chute, but she will never Hang, no way....

 

[Momanohedhunter]

Did the Alternator in Santa Barbara yesterday.

Although just a sled ride, any new site is always a rush.

Met the dude who shot this video, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSlJbiE8AXM

you are nuts.

 

[sophiehod]

Glide for life. Remove your fear. Live your life like a new one. I read the posts, some of them are real funny. And someone give some great post too. I will lot to admin cause it was a real help. No thanks. If you meet me i'll give a hug. Contact me here.....

Sophie Hood............You Shall ...

 

[JoeDirt]

addition to this when it lets me add a link. Hey, newb here.

 

[freedombecki]

My buddy Steven gets chased out of the sky by a hawk, at Marshall.

Red-Tailed Hawk Scares Away Paraglider - YouTube

I know it's been some time now, but thanks, Oddball, for sharing the link. My family lived on the Lake Elsinore when I was very young, and we visited beautiful Lake Arrowhead a few times in the 5 years we lived in So. Cal. Also enjoyed driving from our house on the lake through the Ortega Mountains to San Juan Capistrano, where the migratory swallows used to come every year, seems it was around the first of March, but that long ago, it could have been any time. lol Too long ago!

The sound of the wind on the video of your friends sounded quite spirited.

 

[Oddball]

I'm considering a Lake Elsinore/Marshall/Crestline trip before my next project in February.

Maybe I'll get to add some new video.

 

[freedombecki]

I'm considering a Lake Elsinore/Marshall/Crestline trip before my next project in February.

Maybe I'll get to add some new video.

Hope so, or at least some dazzling pictures.

About the Lake Arrowhead/Big Bear region of the San Berdoo Mountains, I heard there were really bad fires up there 2 or 3 years back. It wasn't as bad as the Yellowstone fires a couple of decades ago (1,000,000 acres) was it? I was worried when I saw peoples' beautiful homes going up in smoke on the tv screen. It was such a beautiful area when I was attending college in Alta Loma. We were always piling in a car and going up there on weekends. What a beautiful place it was back then, and I hope the fires didn't destroy everything. I never heard again about it after the news reports.

 

[Oddball]

I went and took some pix of that mess, a few days after the fires were put out....They're stashed in a box somewhere or I'd scan and post them.

The Marshall/Crestline site is smack in the middle of the burn area.

 

[Truthseeker420]

Did the Alternator in Santa Barbara yesterday.

Although just a sled ride, any new site is always a rush.

Met the dude who shot this video, too.

Schaeffers Paragliding Thanksgiving Day in Santa Barbara 2009 - YouTube

Awsome! Looks fun.

 

[freedombecki]

I went and took some pix of that mess, a few days after the fires were put out....They're stashed in a box somewhere or I'd scan and post them.

The Marshall/Crestline site is smack in the middle of the burn area.

You all had terrible, terrible luck with drought and heat in recent years, plus this was in a Sacramento, California paper today (Dry January raises concern over drought...:

It looks like it's so terribly dry, I hope you take care and know good fire survival skills if you are ever faced with a fire, Mr. Oddball. when out in the wilderness in any of the stricken areas, which will grow if there is no rain and hopefully go away if there is.
​

 

[Oddball]

I'll be down south, where it's not drought stricken.

 

[freedombecki]

Good. Hope you have great flights.

 

[Trajan]

I'll be down south, where it's not drought stricken.

well unless we got some more pics of you HGing, I am downgrading this thread to "Awseome" from "Totally" Awesome.