Balls. California Solo Flying Expedition 2014: May 11th UPDATE

8+ days of food in his pack, flying alone across the Sierra's in California.

This is something I have wanted to do for a long time.  I have only had 1 accidental XC which is kinda a joke because essentially I got off course down a mountain and had to walk a few miles to the LZ.  To take the step from the training hills and local flying sites to committing to days of flying and hiking to go as far as you possibly can is kinda a big deal.

More than 150 miles of hiking!  A goal of 500+ miles total around 50% flying a Paraglider.  Dave Turner you are an ambitious bad ass!  Cheers to you brother.

His complete article is here
Dave Turner also has a company, Sierra Paragliding, and is probably a great person to learn xc bivak style flying from.

ParaglidingXC a fun game for your IOS device (iphone/ipad/ipod)

It's FUN!  I have wanted a way to satisfy my paragliding urges when I'm away from the hill waiting for the bus for example.  This is actually a great game and well worth the $1.99.  Another great benefit is for kids to get an idea of the geometry and strategies far before they pick up a real wing and start flying.  This will give people an edge really because I 100% believe in pre-visualization as a method to improving your ability in sports.

The following is a blurb from their web site with requirements and details of the game.  Runs great on my IOS 7 iPod Touch 5th generation.  Many thanks to Marc Stachel, we wish you great success.

.: ParaglidingXC

Finally it's here, probably the best paragliding thermal flight simulation on the AppStore!

Start your glider and live the dream of flying! Take full advantage of thermal updrafts or soar on slopes and hillsides to reach your goal! Optimize your
flying skills to get to your destination faster than the others and immortalize yourself on the online highscore!

If you have any problems with it or an idea how to improve this app or if even just want to say thank you - feel free to contact us at: pgxc@ubyte.de

28 challenging tasks on current two different maps time- and sun-dependent thermals windward and leeward effects (dynamic soaring) audible and visual variometer route tracking german and english language support inch or metric units 100% ad-free runs on: iPhone 4/4S/5/5C/5S - iPad 1/2/3/4/Air - iPad Mini 1/2 - iPod Touch 4/5 - iOS 5.x or higher

Amazing PARAGLIDER scratching and thermal mastery

Put this video on full screen and check Stefan Adam do some amazing low scratching and thermaling with a paraglider.  I would be careful flying behind a tree as rotor can end things very quickly.  This is master level piloting, not recommended when you starting out ;)

Paragliding in Colombia - 5 reasons every paraglider pilot should consider visiting.

Beautiful people, relaxing beaches, delicious food, an emerging start-up community and relatively low costs makes Colombia a very desirable destination for any paragliding adventurer.

After looking at some of the photos of Colombian beaches a few months ago, I really had to ask myself, why am I living here in Salt Lake City (at the time) with very poor air quality and rather bland but nice culture.  There are a lot of good reasons to go to Salt Lake City especially for paragliding training and I will cover those in a future post.

These first 2 pictures are from Santa Marta Colombia region and look like a delightful place to swim in the ocean and fly paragliders.  This google map picture to the left looks like an ideal bowl to paraglide although I do not know if it is being used that way today.

The blog "Medellin Living" is a great resource for foreigners wanting to live in Colombia.  This article describes how Colombia is investing heavily in making the country more safe and incentives like start-up seed funding.  More of this article here.

This same blog also wrote an interesting story about the authors new found joy of paragliding and his second tandem flight with DragonFly Paragliding.  The launch in San Felix, Colombia looks well groomed with grass and DragonFly has it's operations very close by.  The complete article can be read here.

More frequent posts coming

Dear readers, I just want to thank you for your visits and comments.  Expect more articles from here on out with at least 1 new post every week with reviews, interviews, travel stories and everything else you want to know about from the world of paragliding.

I am very happy to announce we have purchased http://www.flyingdrifterparagliding.us and no longer need to use the generic blogger address.  This will make it easier for new readers to find us and participate in paragliding related discussions.