The Red Helmet

"The Red Helmet". We played this at Mountainfilm In Telluride and I was psyched to see it again... (and love the soundtrack)!

Vision Paragliding

Learn to paraglide in Southern Oregon with Vision Paragliding. We are based in Ashland, Oregon and our local site is Woodrat Mountain. Vision Paragliding is proud to offer the finest instruction and gear available. Our philosophy is that of continuous learning and feedback, while focusing on safety and fun. USHPA Tandem & Advanced Instructor Greg Babush brings his experience of flying and competing in XC paragliding competitions around the globe and shares this vast knowledge base with students. We offer paragliding instruction, advanced paragliding clinics & tandem paragliding flights.


Vision Paragliding is dedicated to providing the highest quality service and instruction to help you grow as a pilot. We offer equipment from many of the top manufactures, and stand behind the gear we sell.

Visit us online at http://visionparagliding.com/ or phone 541.708.1166 to schedule lessons or a tandem flight.

Pre-PWC Ukranian Open - Kruševo

The Pre-PWC Ukranian Open is the last comp on our European tour. Kruševo is a sweet town in the mountains, and the flying here is awesome! We've had 4 tasks in 4 days, and tomorrow is the final day. Day one had only 3 pilots in goal, day 2 also only a few into goal, and Yassen is winning. Yesterday was a super fast day, and i was 6th into goal! Today was a fun 58km FAI triangle, and I also made goal in the top 10.

Kruševo, Macedonia

Крушево

Another country! This is my first time to Macedonia, a small country to the south of Serbia. Kruševo is the highest town in Macedonia, situated at an altitude of 1250 m (over 4000ft) above sea level. We are here for the Ukranian Open Pre-PWC Paragliding Competition. More coming soon.

Pre-PWC Niš, Serbia

We had 4 of 4 tasks in Niš, with lots of sunshine and hot days. The first 2 days were the best for flying, with strong lift and clouds, and then super high pressure arrived. Only 2 pilots in goal on task 1, i finished 4th landing a few km before goal. Day 2 I landed at the first turn point: raced myself to the ground. The next two tasks no pilots in goal, conditions were very challenging with weak climbs not going very high. I placed 10th overall, and Melanie was 13th overall, and 1st ladies!

Niš, Serbia

Град Ниш - City of Niš

Melanie, Jens & I arrive to Serbia after some wonderful beach time in the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. We are excited to fly here and take part in the upcoming Pre-PWC Paragliding Comeptition.

Nordics Podium

The Nordics are over and I placed 3rd! Congrats to Bjorn in 1st and Ronny in 2nd

Nordics Task 1

We drove to launch today around noon after a rainy morning. The skies were clearing and hopes were high of flying a task. Yassen was our wind dummy today, and he reported 3.5m/s lift and great flying.

Wind was cross at launch, and launch conditions were tricky. Once in the air the flying was awesome even though base was low. There were ample thermals and we had a fast 37km task.

I was 1st into goal, and placed 2nd for the day. Bjorn from Norway won the day, arriving to goal 5s behind me but with 4 points more because he had higher departure points.

Results are at: http://www.nordic-open.eu

Slovenian Open

Jens, Melanie, Pete & I are in Železniki for the Slovenian Open. A very humid flow from the Mediterranean continues and the sky over develops daily.

We had one decent task that was unfortunately stopped before many pilots could make goal, myself included, and the other task was worth only 108 points to the winner as it was but a glide contest. We hope for better conditions at the Nordics next week in Preddvor.

Ratitovec Open

Congratulations to 1st Jurij Vidic, 2nd Borut Hafner & 3rd Dušan Durkovič in the open category of the 2009 Ratitovec Open, and to 1st Melnaie Pfister in the women's cagetory.


I ended up 14th in the open category. We have been hanging out with a local pilot, passing the time as rain has bombarded most of Europe. The clouds have just broken and spots of blue sky are visible.... with luck we will fly tomorrow. The Slovenain Open/pre-PWC starts Sunday, more fun flying in the Slovenian Alpes!






Puddle fun: Melanie was a little slow to realize that when we said "don't get hit" we meant by the puddle, not by the car!

Slovenia

Allison has departed for NYC, and my heart is sad. Just in time to cheer things up, Melanie arrived from SLC and we began our travels by fixing our oil leak with a €10 part so that we don't need to spend €30 on another liter of oil. That's about a 10x price difference between Europe and USA for a quart/liter of oil.


We arrived late Wed. to Železniki, Slovenia for the Ratitovec Open. This comp has some serious prize money, with €500, €400, €300 going to the top 3 places. This is my first time to Slovenia besides quickly passing through this tiny country on the train in previous trips en-route to Eastern-Europe. I am so stoked to be here, as the place is amazingly beautiful, the flying is awesome, and the people super friendly.




Melanie, feeling left out of some of Allison, Jens', and my earlier cow adventures had to befriend a cow herself. Ski lifts climbed to the peaks above launch, and we got to explore a bit before today's 57km task. Yesterday we had a 72km task. I came in below the final turnpoint, and with no lift in the valley I had to glide into goal a little sad for not completing the task but stoked to have had such a fun and amazing first flight in Slovenia. Today both Melanie and I made goal!!!

Interlaken, Switzerland

This is my first time to Interlaken, where the Eiger, Monch, & Jungfrau dominate the eastern skyline. We didn't get any XC during this short visit, but had a number of fun flights and I saw some friends I hadn't seen since I was in Europe two years ago.





We didn't need an alarm clock as we were awoken by dozens of curious cows visiting our camp at 6am, each wearing a large and very loud cow-bell.

Coupe du Monde

This is one of the coolest paragliding competition posters I've seen. I just missed making the selection, so after nearly a week in France we are soon departing for Interlaken, CH.

Talloires

Our last couple nights around Lac Annecy we spent sleeping under the millions of stars twinkling high above the Rhône-Alpes. The forecast perdicts another day of brilliant weather before potential over-development. We are thinking about going to Interlaken in a day or two.

Life around Annecy

We are getting to know the area quite well, and the weather has been great for flying. Camping, flying, cooking, brilliant sunsets and starry nights, with the occasional shower/thunderstorm to keep things exciting... ahhhhh life in the Alps!




We've perfected a provincial lentil stew topped with a tasty regional cheese and of course enjoyed with a fresh baguette. Leftovers fill our bellies at lunch the following day. When we're not flying we invent ways to try and elude gravity.

Lac Annecy

Allison, Jens and I have arrived to Annecy. The Rhône-Alpes have huge flying potential, and we are psyched to be here.

Paragliding Worlds on ABC News

I first saw this right after the worlds in February , and wanted to share it with those who haven't seen it yet. The short clip about the Paragliding Worlds is very well edited and features Jim Orava reflecting on paragliding from it's early days to today.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7432260

BaWü Overall Results!!

Today's task was canceled because of high winds and development, and so after two tasks I remain in 2nd place overall! My UP Edge is such a sweet ship. Congrats to Davide Licini in 1st, Peter Jung in 3rd, Caroll Licini 1st of the ladies and everybody for a fun exciting meet!



Results can be found at http://www.dhv.de/typo/Ergebnisse.5430.0.html

BaWü Task 2

Yesterday we didn't go up to launch because of very strong winds both in the forecast and also observed in the morning. Allison and I went exploring in the forest and had a picnic lunch.

Today we called a 46.6km task, also to Landeplatz Bleibach, which is just 3.5km from Jens' house. It was very difficult to get out of the Oppenau valley today due to high winds and not getting very high. Just when I was almost giving up and heading over the valley I caught a great climb to some dark high clouds which made it easy to run downwind and establish on the high terrain. I flew alone the next 30km, only seeing Markus just before goal. Today there were fewer pilots in goal, as most pilots landed on course.

Deutschland

Allison & I arrived to Kollnau and the summer adventures with Jens have begun. We are off to the Bawü Open in Oppenau asap!

Live Tracking at US Paragliding Nationals, Dunlap, CA

The 2009 US Paragliding Nationals are from 26 April - 2 May in Dunlap, CA

There will be live tracking at:

http://pgnatstracking.appjet.net/files/pgnatstracking.htm

Speed Flying the training hill

The 13m Airwave Skima arrived, so Allison and I visited the training hill to see if we could get our feet off the ground. Not quite steep enough for more than a few seconds of air, we did get to run like a tornado!

Can it get any better?

The forecast for the week looks grim. We will see if Valadares delivers rain or good flights...

PWC Governador Valadares

The PWC begins tomorrow, I'll be SpotCasting again at: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0nUyyiGKzvV6lflJaICdlNxCQiaqnZ6rf

Launching at Pico do Ibituruna

JR Nershi got these great pics of me launching during the Valadares Open. Thanks!

2009 Valadares Open

The Valadares Open begins today. Conditions look great and the 150 pilots competing in the event are psyched to be here.


I am SpotCasting my flights at: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0nUyyiGKzvV6lflJaICdlNxCQiaqnZ6rf Flights will appear for 24hrs before being replace by the following day's flight.

Check out my flights the past week, as well as flights during the Valadares Open and PWC at: http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/pilots/detail:froynglaven

Competition results are posted at: http://www.xcbrasil.org/reg/FVPO2009/?l=en

Brasil

Brasil! I arrived into Rio early Sunday afternoon and had 6 hours to explore the city before catching a night bus to Governador Valadares. I ventured to Ipanema and had fun at the beach, watched some paragliders land, and then relaxed at a cafe, having a quinoa salad and açaí.


Leaving Rio at 9pm, I tossed and turn most of the 8 hr ride and fell into what seemed my only deep sleep right before arriving to GV.

The flying conditions here have been great. I flew a 48km out and return for my first flight. Each day I've been able to fly farther, and today I landed just before Caratinga, flying nearly 90km. I am excited there are a few days left to free fly before the Valadares Open begins. Flights are logged at XContest, view them here: http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/pilots/detail:froynglaven

Mexico

Thanks JR for the great shots in Valle de Bravo!

Flying near Freiburg

Allison, Jens, & David on launch. Super smooth light conditions, it was just barely soarable.

15,000+ Above Telluride

Telluride showed it's love tonight with smooth evening thermals lifting us to over 15,000ft.


Josh flying his Airwave Mustang above the San Juan Mountains.

Rat Race 2008

3rd place (me, L), 2nd place (Brad Gunnuscio, center) & 1st place (Marty DeVietti, R) after getting dunked in the pool

West Coast Paragliding Championships

The West Coast Paragliding Championships took place at Woodrat Mountain in Oregon last week. Two days before the competition I had my first flight on the UP Edge, my new glider, and fell in love immediately. This wing is so awesome!

We flew 6 of 7 tasks, and had numerous tasks over 60km long. Oregon was much colder then previous years and toward the end of the competition we didn't have any clouds but the flying was still amazing: Woodrat!

This event was incredible, because in addition to flying and hanging with my friends, I won my first task & my first competiton! Congratulations to Marty DeVietti who took 2nd and Jack Brown in 3rd, and everybody else for an awesome week of competing and hanging out.

Results are at: http://flyxc.org/wcpc.html

Thanks to Eagle Paragliding & Flytec for their support!

Bassano del Grappa

Josh Waldrop Pics

Josh Waldrop took these two shots that I really dig, one of me and my UP Targa 3 :) and one of the monarcas. Awesome!

2008 Pre-Worlds, Valle de Bravo

Above Team USA discusses the days task. As usual the weather was awesome in Valle and we flew every day of both competitions. Below, Martin and Andy unload their wings from a ride they caught on the last task.

Monarca Paragliding Open, Valle de Bravo, Mexico

I just departed SFO en-route to MEX for the Monarca Paragliding Open and the Pre-Worlds, both taking place at El Peñon, Valle de Bravo.



Alas, the local paragliding school in Valle, acquired two Pinzgauers. Ken from Chelan showed the staff how to operate these amazing vehicles and also drove for the competition. Huge inflatable Corona bottles stood guard outside of HQ... ahhh, Mexico.



Congrats to Michael Von Wachter, Venezuela: 1st; Eric Reed, USA: 2nd; Matt Beechinor, USA: 3rd for the 2008 Monarca.

Venezia

We've had 2 tasks and then the weather made a turn for the worse. Now every evening rain socks in and in the early AM powerful thunderstorms roll through the village, thunder and lightening rattling our existence.






A group of us, including our team, 'The Loose Association of Pan Pacific Pilots', venture to Venezia for an exploration on the first weather day. The team consists of James and Che from Oz, Harmony from New Zealand, and myself. Wooters from Oz and Glen from NZ also joined us for the adventure, and as we departed the train we joined up with Regula and Connie from Switzerland.









Rafael from Brasil and myself on a hike above launch. Below, Thomas Brauner speaks about the day's task.

Oregon....California....Europe

The US Paragliding Nationals in Lakeview, Oregon are over. Due to high winds we ended up flying just 3 tasks, but this allowed exploration of the area which was surprisingly beautiful. One trip took us to the wonderful Indian Springs hot springs. Below are some lakes that surround Hart Mountain, near a massive national antelope reserve.



Frank Brown from Brasil placed first, and Dean Stratton placed 2nd and is the new US Champion. After the awards and dinner we danced into the night to the awesome bluegrass of the Blue Mountain Ramblers. Cheers to whoever started the massage train...


It's fantastically interesting how the past repeats itself. My first night in Lakeview I exploded an egg in the microwave trying to boil it in a glass of water. Arriving home hungry late after the closing party I had the brilliant idea of trying it again. This time I had a strategy strategy; I would cycle the microwave off, with the idea that any excess pressure building up inside the egg would dissipate during the off cycle, never rising above boiling. After a couple cycles of 30s on 30s off I thought everything was golden, but then as I was reaching for the microwave to cycle it off there was a gigantic explosion, as both eggs now coated every possible surface within the microwave.


I depart for Europe in a few hours, next update from Italy!

2007 US Nats in Lakeview

Today is day 6 of the US Paragliding Nationals in Lakeview, OR. We've had 3 tasks so far, one being the longest paragliding task in US history, 145km (90 miles). Today is blown out, as was yesterday, but we are hopeful for tomorrow, as the forecast looks good. Below is Cottonwood Lake, a beautiful place to swim, hike and picnic.

2007 Rat Race

Rat Race 2007 was awesome! We flew 6 tasks and except for one I made goal everyday, finishing 14th overall. Pilots from around the country and a few from abroad gathered in Ruch this week for some amazing flying.


Check out the results at www.mphsports.com