A short collage of footage from a pair of flying days at our local hill, Mt.Woodside.
Saturday 26 April 2014
Monday 21 April 2014
Fizzy Easter
Easter Sunday morning and the club LINE chat group was abuzz aplenty.
Despite dire forecasts, including "Paragliding not recommended today in Vancouver, Chilliwack, Whistler, Pemberton, Bellingham or Seattle.", options were being put forth - Blanchard, Whitby, Pemberton and Woodside.
By 1030 a consensus with a group heading for Woodside, expecting little more than sled rides. The weather this season has frustrated many of us to the point that we will take whatever airtime we can get.
A glance out the window hinted there may be more than sled rides in store, with the sky starting to clear. A coin toss of sled rides vs. overdevelopment.
Take a chance, indeed.
Noon. Meeting up with George, Martina, Lee, Andrei + 1 (I wasn't sure of Plus One's name, he was rather quiet), we pile into one vehicle and make our way to launch. It doesn't take long before Norm, Bev, Alex and Nicole appear and round out the days hopeful airborne cohort.
The sun is more or less absent with high cloud. The winds contradict the macro forecasts and are in fact consistent with CanadaRasp and the Phil Ibis windgram -> light W to S/W.
George is first off, as usual, and heads south. He is quickly followed by Lee and Martina and the trio of Skywalk wings scratch their way along the south knob.
And find lift, light lift, but lift nonetheless.
Even with the sun blocked out, the combination of high lapse rate (forecasted by the Ibis wind gram up to 800m) and the ambient light is enough to form thermals. Looks like a textbook example of what Kelly would call a fizzy day with frequent, short lived, wide gradient thermals and a low cloud base.
Now queued up on launch is Tonya, all smiles with her brand new polychromatic Sky Country EN-B 'Scooter' (I suspect a chant of 'Faster! Harder! Scooter!' would be lost on this crowd).
Tonya launches and heads north in opposition to the Skywalk triumvirate. Looking at how quickly she climbs out, I gather north of launch is the place to be.
I follow Tonya, both in queue order and in turning north. The mini ridge separating launch and the north rock face is working, though requires a decent amount of commitment by way of kicking tree tops (see 'short lived' in the description of fizzy conditions). A number of figure eights later and just above launch height, I glide south to line up with the clear cuts and what the Flymaster Nav has guesstimated to be the wind at this altitude.
Lone behold the Flymaster delivers.
It doesn't take long to cross 1100m to the S/E of launch.
In the process of the climbing out, I am joined first by Alex, then by Nicole. The gravity defying duo begin the trek along the mountain towards Agassiz and I entertain the thought of joining them. Noticing how small a gap there is between the top of the mountain and cloud base, this would leave me little margin for error -> either ending up in the white room or cutting the edge of the CTR over Agassiz prison.
I stick with boating around above launch until my stomach and cold get the better of me about an hour later and I head to the ranch to land.
Bev had already landed, packed up, and about to get a ride back up from Derek for another go.
Round two it is.
Launching around 3PM, the cloud cover has cleared to the point that hard edge shadows can be seen.
More lift!
Take a calm fizzy day, add sun and we end up with wings that are both shaken and stirred. While the climbs were not particularly strong (topping out around 3 m/s), the edges were now honed sharp - especially low over the new north clear cut.
A pair of small thwacks dictates a change in gears.
Bank it up and hold on.
My biggest weakness in this sport is my utter lack of patience and there are few things that test that patience more than circling forever in sub 1 m/s bubbles. So when fate smiles and provides me with a decent climb, I am all over it.
Only to have fate frown.
It is 330 and I need to be packed up and on the road by 4 to be able to make it to the in-laws for dinner.
While cut a little short, all in all a great day and not a single sled ride.
Despite dire forecasts, including "Paragliding not recommended today in Vancouver, Chilliwack, Whistler, Pemberton, Bellingham or Seattle.", options were being put forth - Blanchard, Whitby, Pemberton and Woodside.
By 1030 a consensus with a group heading for Woodside, expecting little more than sled rides. The weather this season has frustrated many of us to the point that we will take whatever airtime we can get.
A glance out the window hinted there may be more than sled rides in store, with the sky starting to clear. A coin toss of sled rides vs. overdevelopment.
Take a chance, indeed.
Noon. Meeting up with George, Martina, Lee, Andrei + 1 (I wasn't sure of Plus One's name, he was rather quiet), we pile into one vehicle and make our way to launch. It doesn't take long before Norm, Bev, Alex and Nicole appear and round out the days hopeful airborne cohort.
The sun is more or less absent with high cloud. The winds contradict the macro forecasts and are in fact consistent with CanadaRasp and the Phil Ibis windgram -> light W to S/W.
George is first off, as usual, and heads south. He is quickly followed by Lee and Martina and the trio of Skywalk wings scratch their way along the south knob.
And find lift, light lift, but lift nonetheless.
Even with the sun blocked out, the combination of high lapse rate (forecasted by the Ibis wind gram up to 800m) and the ambient light is enough to form thermals. Looks like a textbook example of what Kelly would call a fizzy day with frequent, short lived, wide gradient thermals and a low cloud base.
Now queued up on launch is Tonya, all smiles with her brand new polychromatic Sky Country EN-B 'Scooter' (I suspect a chant of 'Faster! Harder! Scooter!' would be lost on this crowd).
Tonya launches and heads north in opposition to the Skywalk triumvirate. Looking at how quickly she climbs out, I gather north of launch is the place to be.
I follow Tonya, both in queue order and in turning north. The mini ridge separating launch and the north rock face is working, though requires a decent amount of commitment by way of kicking tree tops (see 'short lived' in the description of fizzy conditions). A number of figure eights later and just above launch height, I glide south to line up with the clear cuts and what the Flymaster Nav has guesstimated to be the wind at this altitude.
Lone behold the Flymaster delivers.
It doesn't take long to cross 1100m to the S/E of launch.
In the process of the climbing out, I am joined first by Alex, then by Nicole. The gravity defying duo begin the trek along the mountain towards Agassiz and I entertain the thought of joining them. Noticing how small a gap there is between the top of the mountain and cloud base, this would leave me little margin for error -> either ending up in the white room or cutting the edge of the CTR over Agassiz prison.
I stick with boating around above launch until my stomach and cold get the better of me about an hour later and I head to the ranch to land.
Bev had already landed, packed up, and about to get a ride back up from Derek for another go.
Round two it is.
Launching around 3PM, the cloud cover has cleared to the point that hard edge shadows can be seen.
More lift!
Take a calm fizzy day, add sun and we end up with wings that are both shaken and stirred. While the climbs were not particularly strong (topping out around 3 m/s), the edges were now honed sharp - especially low over the new north clear cut.
A pair of small thwacks dictates a change in gears.
Bank it up and hold on.
My biggest weakness in this sport is my utter lack of patience and there are few things that test that patience more than circling forever in sub 1 m/s bubbles. So when fate smiles and provides me with a decent climb, I am all over it.
Only to have fate frown.
It is 330 and I need to be packed up and on the road by 4 to be able to make it to the in-laws for dinner.
While cut a little short, all in all a great day and not a single sled ride.
Friday 18 April 2014
Sports Psychology and Paragliding: Here and Now.
Evolution is not out friend
We are engaging in a activity for which evolution did not equip us and has potentially life threatening consequences. What nature did equip us with was a sense of 'this isn't right' and the thought of dangling below a collection of lines and fabric (especially in less than stellar conditions) is a pretty sure fire way to trigger that instinct.Sports Psychology to the Rescue
There are elements of sports psychology that can be adapted over time to allow a pilot to free up mental energy that would otherwise be wasted on irrational fear (the 'this isn't right' feeling with no identifiable cause). I briefly mention the difference between rational and irrational fear in my blog post 'Fear Factor' along with one way to convert the irrational variant into a rational one and then address. But if the fear still remains irrational, even though we know we are up to the challenge, then we can begin to leverage some psychological tools to help alleviate that fear.
The Reset
I am not much of a tennis fan, but my wife is and especially of Rafael Nadal. One thing I noticed is that he has a routine to how everything is done and where everything is placed. Some may write this off as simply being OCD, but it can also act as a means of mentally hitting the reset button. We see it time and time again with athletes who cannot hit this 'reset', they can't seem to let go of the last point or last play, especially if the outcome was negative. A negative mindset establishes itself and becomes self reinforcing. Any fan (though I suspect there are not many these days) knows this all too well with the Vancouver Canucks hockey team -> an absolute mental train wreck. This was a team that was in the finals a few short seasons ago and now cannot even make the playoffs.
Being able to reset brings us into the 'moment' and enables us to get our minds back on task. Preflight presents an opportunity to do this -> I go off to the side, away from everyone, and focus on sorting through every piece of kit in a specific order. I am putting myself in 'flying mode', blocking off any thoughts or concerns that are not involved in a successful flight. Once laid out and ready to launch, I give one last check of leg straps, brakes and A's, reset my mind with one controlled deep breath, and go. I don't give doubt a chance to enter the equation from preflight through launch and it manifests itself with launches that others have described as 'zen-like'.
I am in my zone and doubt has no place here.
I am in my zone and doubt has no place here.
Active Reset: Breath Control
If doubt does enter, the use of breath control as a means of reset can help. Most forms of mediation begin with breath awareness - inhale for a fixed number of counts, hold for a few more, then control the exhale. As an example, I was taught inhale for a slow three count, hold for two and exhale for two. By using a conscious slow count, we are focusing on our breath and bringing our attention to the immediate - away from what has either just happened (regret) or what might happen (fear). This technique can also help bring under control a stress induced climb in heart rate, reducing the chance of going full on 'Condition Black' where rational thought and fine motor skills go out the window (also known as 'Fight or Flight').
Passive Reset: Totem
On a more subconscious level I have a 'totem' (for lack of a better word) on my flight deck. This totem is a Mil-Spec Monkey velcro morale patch, a big red Staples 'Easy' button. It is my reminder that when things get a little challenging (and/or dicey) that paragliding is 'easy'. I envision myself, like an idiot, hitting the big red Easy button and everything becomes as if I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. The point of the 'totem' is to take my mind off of whatever just happened and to get me back in the moment.
Now that the reset has allowed our mind and body to settle, we can begin to plant a positive mindset and refocus our attention to the task at hand.
Now Reboot
The reset has made our mind as calm as a moonlit lake (or at least we'd like to hope). Now it's time to get back on task. If we leave this too long it is quite likely whatever yanked us from our 'zone' previously will do so again, requiring yet another reset. So being passive at this point will not do, it requires active intervention.Enter self talk.
Active Reboot: Self Talk
By using self talk, we are forcing ourselves to focus on the idea we are trying to plant in our mind. The key to this is to focus only on the positive, as any negativity will quickly become self defeating. It also needs to be quick and to the point, as focusing on the reboot is taking time and effort from the actual activity we want to return to.Easy to recall, to the point, and positively focused.
A paragliding flight has four phases: launch, landing, thermalling, and transition. Each phase can have it's own unique self talk.
Again, easy to recall, to the point, positively focused.
Example: Thermalling Self Talk
For thermalling, I compressed the lessons learned from Austrian Arena to, "Smooth and Relaxed. Four for ninety. Open the turn, close the turn.".
"Smooth and Relaxed."
Thermals, by their nature, are turbulent. If we are stiff in our body or jerky in our movements, we will not be able to get in sync with the air and will end up with a less than pleasant experience (likely necessitating yet another reset). Or worse yet, commit the cardinal sin of swinging through and accomplishing nothing more than thermal wingovers - converting altitude into speed.
"Four for Ninety."
Many pilots are guilty (myself more often than I would like) of not banking a wing up sufficiently when working a thermal. This element reminds me to be aggressive and to really get into the core.
"Open the turn, close the turn."
The core of a thermal rarely makes itself immediately known to us. It shifts, slides, and changes shape. By opening and closing the turn at the appropriate time, we can reduce how long we spend outside the core as we try to centre on it. In a subtle way, this self talk is telling me, "yes you have lift, but are you sure this is the core? Keep looking."
Prior Practice Prepends Perfect Performance
In other words, don't expect to read this and have it magically work for you the next time out.Find somewhere quiet and begin to work on your breathing exercises. Focus on your breath count - inhale for 3 (or 4 or 5, whatever works), hold, exhale. The key is to let whatever distractions, internal or external, to come and go by focusing on the breath. Bring yourself into the moment.
Go find a totem for your flight deck. Perhaps a particularly politically incorrect morale patch that cracks you up, a memorable quote to stick to your vario, or a keychain sized stuffed T-Rex. Something visual that can help break a prior train of thought.
Develop your self talk. Pick a positive phase (or phrases) that will get you focusing on what you need to be doing right here, right now.
Put it all together. Visualize which component of flying you are engaged in - the sight, the sounds, the smells, the sensations. Reset with a controlled breath. Visualize glancing at your totem. Mind is clear. Reboot with self talk. Smile, it's amazing day to be in the air.
Notice there is no mention of a negative event triggering the reset/reboot. The reality is, I use this every time I am not on task or I am changing tasks - be it taking a collapse, falling out of a thermal, entering a new thermal, leaving a thermal to go on glide, or setting up an approach with a cold beer waiting in the LZ.
It's all in your mind
Paragliding is easily a 90% mental activity. Knowing this, it would be foolish to ignore the wealth of sports psychology tools that have already helped countless athletes attain the top of their mental game. No one solution works for everyone, and frankly half the fun is discovering what will work for you.
Friday 4 April 2014
It has begun...
Slow starting.
Under normal circumstances, this would not be of much concern - the flying season will start when it is good and ready. But these are not normal circumstances. The Chabre Open and the 100km XC course are just around the corner and I admit at the beginning of this week I was not feeling particularly optimistic about being prepared given the trend.
Strange how an opinion can change so much in a single day.
Tuesday's forecast? Promising. Lapse rate is unstable to launch height at 600m followed by varying degrees of conditional instability up to 2000m. Winds from the S/W @ 6 knots changing to W @ 14 kts late afternoon. All in all, a little rock and roll down low through out the day with climbs becoming wind torn as the day progresses - nothing I hadn't dealt with before.
There is little doubt that it will be flyable, so at the crack of dawn I email into the office and let folk know I will be taking a half and half. Half day of work from home (from 6 till 11) followed by a half day of vacation (11 onwards).
Fast forward to noon, the passing of logging trucks punctuate the serenity I enjoy while sitting at the base of Mt. Woodside. A SUV eventually pulls in and the driver, Gary, suggests sticking around as Kevin was on the radio and not more than five minutes out.
When we clear the final rise, Woodside launch unfolds to a flurry of activity. A dozen plus paragliding pilots in varying states of readiness mill about, soon joined by a quartet of hangglider pilots. An apparent hive mind, realizing with the weather as of late that today is an opportunity not to be wasted.
The first half score of pilots are quickly off and heading west towards Sasquatch while the remainder of us pause, an unexpected wind now blowing over the back.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Wonder if we will end up sitting here till nightfall, destined to become grue bait in the fading light.
The battle between wind and thermal continues for what feels like an hour before a victor is declared. The victor grants me a launch window and I waste no time getting up and away.
I quickly head north towards the rock face house thermal only to find it churned up and climbs demanding an increasing active flying payment. I can climb here, but wonder if the gap between launch and the south knoll might provide more consistent (and comfortable) lift.
Venturing south to find smoother lift, I climb and bump against what appears to be an inversion at 1330m. This would certainly help explain the lack of cumulus formation over Woodside while many of the higher mountains are already popping off clouds.
The patience battle begins, playing out with the ebb and flow of sink and lift. In due course I am joined by both a blue Niviuk (Claudia) and an orange one (Paddy). Guy on the green Maverick makes a brief appearance and begins to work back towards the peak of Woodside. Having not been much above 1400m at this site and zero experience working the back ridge towards Harrison, I wait rather than follow Guy - convinced the inversion will break.
Patience is eventually rewarded as stair stepping higher with the terrain behind launch, a 3 to 4 m/s climb breaks through and takes our mobile of gliders up and back towards a newly forming cloud.
At 1800 m an eagle joins my climb, but quickly flies off to the N/E. Continuing my circle, I keep an eye on the eagles progress as it flies to about one third of the distance between Woodside and Agassiz mountain.
And begins to circle.
A quote from a far too short lived sci-fi series of the 90's comes to mind: Take a chance.
Leaving everyone else behind, I hoof it to my new thermal marker to find a climb waiting.
Claudia and Paddy soon follow suit.
Eventually we glide our way to Agassiz Mountain, locate another climb and cross the valley book ended by Harrison and Agassiz to arrive at Bear Mountain.
Bear Mountain. The stepping off point for the big Fraser Valley crossing that links our two main flying sites - Woodside and Bridal Falls. Flying to Bear is akin putting your toe in the deep end of the pool. Once you fly there, you know at some point you are going to have to go on faith and dive in.
Take another chance?
The increasing wind has other ideas and turns Bear into a bit of a rock concert. Out of our trio, Paddy fares the best and is able to land on the windward side of Green Hill. Claudia ends up low, but through sheer tenacity manages to eek out enough of a climb to make the open fields to the south of Bear. I am in the wind shadow of Green and chance upon a potential low save about 50 m over what is a good LZ. Mind you working low, small, sharp edged thermals when one should be setting up to land is a sure fire way to spin a wing. Common sense invades my plan for flying glory and I set down.
A call on the radio from Paddy indicates that James is on his way with the truck if anyone needs a retrieve. Score!
A small step towards the rite of passage that is the Fraser Valley crossing, but as they say...
Apt understatement of the year when used to describe how the season is shaping up.
A particularly long and dry autumn of yesteryear found itself offset by an equally wet and long late winter/spring. The result: Three months giving up a grand total of two flights.
Under normal circumstances, this would not be of much concern - the flying season will start when it is good and ready. But these are not normal circumstances. The Chabre Open and the 100km XC course are just around the corner and I admit at the beginning of this week I was not feeling particularly optimistic about being prepared given the trend.
Strange how an opinion can change so much in a single day.
Tuesday's forecast? Promising. Lapse rate is unstable to launch height at 600m followed by varying degrees of conditional instability up to 2000m. Winds from the S/W @ 6 knots changing to W @ 14 kts late afternoon. All in all, a little rock and roll down low through out the day with climbs becoming wind torn as the day progresses - nothing I hadn't dealt with before.
There is little doubt that it will be flyable, so at the crack of dawn I email into the office and let folk know I will be taking a half and half. Half day of work from home (from 6 till 11) followed by a half day of vacation (11 onwards).
Fast forward to noon, the passing of logging trucks punctuate the serenity I enjoy while sitting at the base of Mt. Woodside. A SUV eventually pulls in and the driver, Gary, suggests sticking around as Kevin was on the radio and not more than five minutes out.
When we clear the final rise, Woodside launch unfolds to a flurry of activity. A dozen plus paragliding pilots in varying states of readiness mill about, soon joined by a quartet of hangglider pilots. An apparent hive mind, realizing with the weather as of late that today is an opportunity not to be wasted.
The first half score of pilots are quickly off and heading west towards Sasquatch while the remainder of us pause, an unexpected wind now blowing over the back.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Wonder if we will end up sitting here till nightfall, destined to become grue bait in the fading light.
The battle between wind and thermal continues for what feels like an hour before a victor is declared. The victor grants me a launch window and I waste no time getting up and away.
I quickly head north towards the rock face house thermal only to find it churned up and climbs demanding an increasing active flying payment. I can climb here, but wonder if the gap between launch and the south knoll might provide more consistent (and comfortable) lift.
Venturing south to find smoother lift, I climb and bump against what appears to be an inversion at 1330m. This would certainly help explain the lack of cumulus formation over Woodside while many of the higher mountains are already popping off clouds.
The patience battle begins, playing out with the ebb and flow of sink and lift. In due course I am joined by both a blue Niviuk (Claudia) and an orange one (Paddy). Guy on the green Maverick makes a brief appearance and begins to work back towards the peak of Woodside. Having not been much above 1400m at this site and zero experience working the back ridge towards Harrison, I wait rather than follow Guy - convinced the inversion will break.
Patience is eventually rewarded as stair stepping higher with the terrain behind launch, a 3 to 4 m/s climb breaks through and takes our mobile of gliders up and back towards a newly forming cloud.
At 1800 m an eagle joins my climb, but quickly flies off to the N/E. Continuing my circle, I keep an eye on the eagles progress as it flies to about one third of the distance between Woodside and Agassiz mountain.
And begins to circle.
A quote from a far too short lived sci-fi series of the 90's comes to mind: Take a chance.
Leaving everyone else behind, I hoof it to my new thermal marker to find a climb waiting.
Claudia and Paddy soon follow suit.
Eventually we glide our way to Agassiz Mountain, locate another climb and cross the valley book ended by Harrison and Agassiz to arrive at Bear Mountain.
Bear Mountain. The stepping off point for the big Fraser Valley crossing that links our two main flying sites - Woodside and Bridal Falls. Flying to Bear is akin putting your toe in the deep end of the pool. Once you fly there, you know at some point you are going to have to go on faith and dive in.
Take another chance?
The increasing wind has other ideas and turns Bear into a bit of a rock concert. Out of our trio, Paddy fares the best and is able to land on the windward side of Green Hill. Claudia ends up low, but through sheer tenacity manages to eek out enough of a climb to make the open fields to the south of Bear. I am in the wind shadow of Green and chance upon a potential low save about 50 m over what is a good LZ. Mind you working low, small, sharp edged thermals when one should be setting up to land is a sure fire way to spin a wing. Common sense invades my plan for flying glory and I set down.
A call on the radio from Paddy indicates that James is on his way with the truck if anyone needs a retrieve. Score!
A small step towards the rite of passage that is the Fraser Valley crossing, but as they say...
Sic parvis magna.
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