(Aug 2025)
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
Failure is not an option.
(Dec 2017)
So close, one could taste the lakeside landing zone (LZ). That was how yesterdays coached paragliding flight with Pete Thompson ended. So close, yet not high enough to make the final transition to the lakeside. Instead I had to settle for landing at the Casa Veijas LZ and cab it back to town with one of the Norwegian contingent.
Today failure (landing short) is not an option, we will make the lake.
After meeting up with Pete, Becky, and Andrew at the Santa Maria church on the south side of town, we ride share a cab up to launch. Pre-negotiating the price is key as the rates can vary significantly - we have seen drivers demand 200 pesos / pilot at the high end down to a car load costing little more than 150 pesos for a group of four. Pushing back a little on the driver can net a median price of about 200 pesos for a full cab.
Up top, the plan is similar to yesterdays - Becky will launch first and thermal about. When things start to spice up, Becky will land and then Pete and I will head out. The winds do not favor a direct over the back approach today, instead we will need to head up and over the Mesa to the northwest of launch. This will require a transition to El Penon and then the Wall. Once over the Wall and onto the Mesa, we can intersect the convergence and ride it to San Agustine and then the lake.
Like yesterday, we choose to wait until the main body of pilots launch and fail to foresee how significant an impact this decision will have.
Pete lends a hand as I set up and launch. While I do find a climb, it is neither as cohesive nor as strong as that which the main gaggle used to climb out and get away. Pete follows me shortly there after and discovers the same. The next hour is filled with a near continuous string of low saves. Failure was not an option.
Tenacity pays off and we finally manage to climb out. A bee-line for El Penon follows. We push past El Penon and proceed to the Wall to find a quick climb out. Once on the Mesa, the flight becomes childs pay and the lake is soon not only within sight but well within glide (with a lot of altitude to spare).
Keeping in mind Petes guidance regarding slotting in between tandem gaggles, I set up to land as Pete touches down. Pete quickly jumps back onto the radio to help ensure that my landing is picture perfect (and dry).
Summary of the day: Ecstatic would be an understatement.
Teamwork is essential when conditions become challenging.
Working the LZ.
Past Penon and onto the Wall.
The Mesa awaits.
On glide to the lake.
Landing Zone (LZ) below.
In the queue.
On base.
... and final.
Pretty stoked.[/caption]
Trial Flight: Paragliding Coaching in Valle de Bravo.
(Dec 2017)
Over the years I've come to realize that there are a quartet of relationship silos that everyone in my life falls into one of.
Romantic, Personal, Professional, and Business.
Each of these is disjoint and once a person is placed into a silo, they almost always remain there. Romantic is my significant other. Personal starts with family at the upper end and close friends at the bottom. Professional are acquaintances and work colleagues. Business is everyone else.
When a person is met and the relationship starts to establish, they are judged based upon a trio of criteria - Chemistry, Compatibility, and Currency. The higher up the relationship ladder, the higher the expectation in each category. Chemistry is attraction and is used exclusively within Romantic. Compatibility includes outlook, values, communication style, self awareness, awareness of others, common courtesy - basically the things that help people get along. Compatibility applies to everyone aside from Business. Currency encompasess what the person brings to the table that is of use to me and, as we look further up the ladder towards Romantic, are they able to maintain a lifestyle similar to mine (if a person cannot afford to do the things you do, you are likely not going to see much of each other).
Coaches. Now coaches occupy a unique position, requiring a pseudo Personal relationship within a Business like arrangement. This means that the Compatibility requirement is uncharacteristically high for what is otherwise a straight forward exchange of money for time.
This unique characteristic requires that I test the waters before going all in when engaging a coach. I like to talk to them, get a sense of how we get along, see how they provide feedback and is the communication two way? In the case of paragliding, that means a test flight.
And today is that day.
I had met Pete Thompson briefly the night before on the van ride back from the Piano LZ after our sunset flight. Listening to him engage with his current client, Becky, gave me the sense that he would be very worthwhile approaching regarding some in air coaching. So the next morning on the ride up, I began to query Pete about his background, teaching style, rates, and outlook. All the boxes were quickly checked and by the time we reached launch a deal to get both of us in the air together that day was reached.
The plan
Pete would have Becky launch after the first handful of gliders have marked a consistent climb. Then while on radio, Becky would be directed through the motions of thermaling and working with other pilots sharing the same climb. Once conditions got too strong, the gaggle too large, or Becky starts to show signs of an out of memory error - Pete would direct her to land and we would head out.
The goal for the day is simple, climb out, head out over the back towards the San Agustine turn point (the wind was lining launch and the turn point up perfectly), and make a run for the lake. Direction and commentary would be provided by Pete while in climbs and on glide. Pete points out that he can be very verbose in the air, which I prefer.
The flight
Once airborne, we quickly climb out and begin drifting as expected. The run to San Agustine is a straight forward affair with a low save over La Casa on my part. Along the way Pete provides comments on my thermal technique, use of bar, points out good points to looks for thermals ahead (and why) and macro observations of how the day/conditions are shaping up.
Sadly the lake was not to be as I set down at the last good LZ before town, Casa Veijas. But that is quickly forgotten in my elation as to how the day unfolded. Pete is given a huge thumbs up and booked for every day leading up to the XCSkyRace.
Pete on launch eyeing conditions and climbs.
Climbing out.
Linking up with Pete on the Orange/Red Ozone Zeno.
On glide.
Diving into La Casa, looking for a save.
Climbing again.
Another glide.
Lake off in the distance, likely not going to make it.
Lower right, Casa Veijas LZ.
Paragliding Coaching with Pete Thompson.
(Dec 2017)
The tagline for FlyinOrange.blog includes the search for 'Coaches, Courses, and Comps'.
The latter two are a relatively straight forward affair, simply hit up paraglidingforum and find the latest course/tour listing or comp posting. Locating coaches, proper one on one coaches, is difficult. We have no one offering 1:1 coaching back home in Southern BC and for good reason, it is not worth it given the high cost of living in our region. Instead our local schools focus exclusively on tandems and training unlicensed students - the former due to the quick turn around and the latter since the student is going to buy several thousands of dollars in equipment by the time they graduate (plus several can be trained at once).
Finding a coach normally means looking outside the prime training/tandem months and that translates to travel south.
Enter Pete Thompson.
Pete flies/teaches out of Colorado during the core flying season and has been recently recognized as the first pilot to successfully fly the length of the Colorado Rockies. During the winter months he travels Latin America flying, competing, and most importantly, coaching.
As luck would have it, Pete snagged a ride with our group back to Valle at the end of my first day here and while he was talking to some other pilots, my ears perked right up when he said, "I spend the winter months doing some coaching.".
Pete's current client, Becky, is learning the ropes of thermalling and not yet ready to fly cross country. While under Pete's guidance Becky would launch when the lift was just starting to work, receive instruction via radio while thermalling and working with the gaggle, then land when conditions would start to strengthen near mid day. From there Pete and I could launch and go Cross Country (XC). A perfect arrangement.
I explained to Pete that I was looking for a tune up after a few months of not flying ahead of the XCSkyRace comp the following week. Pete queried about comfort level, general flying ability, wing selection + weight, and any particular goals that I may have. Pete went on to then explain his teaching style and what we can expect to try while working together.
The experience thus far has been everything I could have hoped for and more. Hopefully you will see the results in my flying over the course of subsequent flying posts.
(Re) Familiarization Flight.
(Dec 2017)
Four months.
Four months since the wing has seen the light of day.
Four months of skill atrophy, lost bump tolerance, and unexercised decision making.
Four months looking to be wiped away in a single day, in a single flight.
Ambitious? Yes. Aim for the stars if you hope to land on the moon, so they say.
Day One, Flight One
Huddled together on the El Penon launch is Marco's crew on the last day of their paragliding cross country (XC) course. They are sorting through their homework assignment of planning the route today without assistance from Marco (aside from a final stamp of approval). After twenty arduous minutes a flight plan with turn points coalesces: PEN-CRAZY-MAG-3KINGS-MAG-SERRO-SANAUG-JOBAN. The majority of the transitions between turn points will require an altitude of not less than 3300 meters to allow for some margin of error. Only a few of the group have made it back to Valle during the course, so the lakeside LZ is left as optional.
The odds I will be able to complete this? Slim to none at this point. But if one fails to plan...
The group plus Marco all take off in an attempt to stay ahead of the gaggle that is sure to form over launch due to the arrival of a Scandinavian tour. I follow not long thereafter and slot in with pilots already starting to climb out.
Climbing gaggle. Looking to gain enough height to transition to the rock on the right, El Penon.
Nice contrast in color makes this one easy to keep tabs on.[/caption]
It doesn't take long to realize my skill set has suffered from the long lay off. Centering in the thermal core takes more effort than I remember, stealing attention that would otherwise be used to keep tabs on the climbs of nearby gaggles and plan my next step.
Seeing the underside of another wing ofttimes signals one is not centered in the strongest lift.
Meanwhile, the better pilots on Marco's course, coupled with pilots I suspect will be on his XC team in the upcoming comp have already passed El Penon and are moving towards the Crazy Thermal Place turnpoint. Unless they get stuck at some point along the route due to shading there is little chance I will be able to catch them, even without the rust that I need to shake off.
That said, there is little harm in at least making it over to Crazy as it is an easy glide to the piano shaped landing field (thus named the Piano LZ).
Closer.
Given the slop in my thermaling, I question the wisdom in my diving in behind Penon to the Wall and G-Spot. Both of these are known for both strong and, at times, turbulent climbs. Erring on the side of caution I stick out front and scratch for whatever I can find, eventually making my way to the front of Crazy Thermal Place.
On the right, the Wall. On the left end of the Wall (before the gap), G-Spot. To the left of the gap, Crazy Thermal Place.
At this point I am at a dead end, unless I want to push myself on the first flight of the trip and head up onto the mesa behind the Wall on my own.
That would be a no. Tomorrow, tomorrow we push. Today, today we ease in with the (re) familiarization.
A stranger musing in a strange land.
≈
(Dec 2017)
Daybreak finds the city muted in a blanket of fog. Only the periodic roar of a departing jet betrays the proximity of urbania and in betwixt I could easily forget I am in one of the planet's most heavily populated centers.
Today heralds the only question mark portion of my journey, transitioning to Valle. Using a guide provided by a local on paraglidingforum.com, I was able piece together a guesstimate of the steps while updating to reflect recent improvements (Uber in place of taxi/subway for example).
Regardless, I am under no illusion that this couldn't sideways quickly, especially if I 'dead-end' due to language barrier or incorrect information. My mediocre Spanish (at best) and lack of contacts in the city means I needed to be more meticulous in planning than typical.
Cell phone sim, maps, bus itineraries all sorted out before leaving Vancouver while any digital information was in print form and anything relying on a connection had an offline backup.
Check out at 10, be at the Poniete bus station at 11, locate the Zina bus counter and grab a return ticket for the noon Excellencia Plus. Easy-peasy.
The Uber showed up within 2 minutes of hailing, a well worn Nissan Versa.
For the quoted price (120 pesos for an estimated 30 minute ride), I am not one to complain though I am keen to see how Uber Black compares.
The only confusion was at the ticket counter as it appears not many people try to buy an out and return. Having built the itinerary on the Zina bus website (Canadian credit cards are not accepted for online purchases), screen cap'd and printed proved a life saver as it made it clear what I needed to the sales rep. Showing up an hour early also helped immensely as the ticket counter crowd grew rapidly as noon approached.
Ticket in hand, now just a matter of waiting.
Sitting in the waiting area the first thing I notice is the lack of eye contact.
This is quite the polar opposite to Brazil where social engagement of strangers is considered the norm, the Mexicans appear to purposely avoid acknowledging one another. Maybe a coping mechanism due to crowding, perhaps a way to avoid unnecessary confrontation. Curious nonetheless.
Daybreak finds the city muted in a blanket of fog. Only the periodic roar of a departing jet betrays the proximity of urbania and in betwixt I could easily forget I am in one of the planet's most heavily populated centers.
Today heralds the only question mark portion of my journey, transitioning to Valle. Using a guide provided by a local on paraglidingforum.com, I was able piece together a guesstimate of the steps while updating to reflect recent improvements (Uber in place of taxi/subway for example).
Regardless, I am under no illusion that this couldn't sideways quickly, especially if I 'dead-end' due to language barrier or incorrect information. My mediocre Spanish (at best) and lack of contacts in the city means I needed to be more meticulous in planning than typical.
Cell phone sim, maps, bus itineraries all sorted out before leaving Vancouver while any digital information was in print form and anything relying on a connection had an offline backup.
Check out at 10, be at the Poniete bus station at 11, locate the Zina bus counter and grab a return ticket for the noon Excellencia Plus. Easy-peasy.
The Uber showed up within 2 minutes of hailing, a well worn Nissan Versa.
For the quoted price (120 pesos for an estimated 30 minute ride), I am not one to complain though I am keen to see how Uber Black compares.
The only confusion was at the ticket counter as it appears not many people try to buy an out and return. Having built the itinerary on the Zina bus website (Canadian credit cards are not accepted for online purchases), screen cap'd and printed proved a life saver as it made it clear what I needed to the sales rep. Showing up an hour early also helped immensely as the ticket counter crowd grew rapidly as noon approached.
The other thing that stands out is the relationship of age/affluence vs height. I tower over all but the best dressed and those in their early twenties. I ponder how much of this is due to genetics vs. childhood nutrition. Curious.
The musings of an outsider, a stranger is this strange land.
The beautiful oddity of the cherry blossom friendship.
(Dec 2017)
Humans are a curious species. When living out their day to day repetitive existence,they become rather attached to their place in relation to others. The desire to maintain the Jung-esque persona that they have built to show those in familiar circles can be rather inhibiting and prevent them from, for lack of a better phrase, just letting go.
But remove them from the fear of consequence and being judged and they will show sides and reveal tales many of their friends and family are only briefly aware.
Couple this with a time pressure of a pending parting and the incentive to share can become compulsive.
The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge nowhere near resembles the bustle and energy it held a mere twenty minutes earlier. A boarding flight to Tokyo made sure of that, pulling the majority of the Lounge's temporary inhabitants either from tan leather bound chairs or the vulture circle over the small food buffet island. My flight to MEX is delayed at least an hour and I have little desire to prematurely join the flesh freeway filing along the terminal.
Camera in hand, I take the opportunity to capture the silent sentinels and bar denizens that bear witness to the passing of travelers such as I.
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Whilst engaged in my slow photo tour of the lounge I catch the attention of the bar tender who comments how the light is not making for the best photo opportunities today.
'Aye, but at least with digital the mistakes are cost free', I retort.
A nod and a smile implies the invitation to come chat about cameras, life, and yarns of one's past.
For the next half hour, Luca regails me of life growing up near the Swiss-French-Italian border, of places to see if I happen to return, of a curiosity in 'parapendio', and of course, photography. A breadth and depth of conversation one would never have so readily in their day to day life.
But with departure approaching, I am forced to leave Luca to the solitude of the near empty lounge.
Fast forward one hour, thirty thousand feet and a few hundred miles south. Seated next to me is Gordon from Edmonton on his way to Mexico for the first time. It is not often one meets a country virgin so I press with queries about his preconceptions given the diet fed us by the news and Hollywood. His response is greeted with a chuckle and a lack of surprise - we could well have the makings for the next Netflix series given Gordon's visions of a narco driven state rifle with corruption, kidnappings, and targeted killings by both sides of the conflict. Then again ...
Over the course of the flight our conversation flows through the challenges he and his spouse now face trying to travel with a newborn (his spouse is an airline employee and benefits from discounted travel plus companion passes), being bumped from many a flight last minute in tiny airports where no one spoke a lick of English (only to be saved on one occasion by a philanthropic fellow Canuck who surrendered her seat so he and his wife could make it home), and thoughts on the latest entry in the Star Wars trilogy of trilogies (we agreed to disagree by the end of it but made peace in whole heatedly agreeing that Tarentino needs a stab at Star Trek).
The beauty of travel is that it creates the precondition for bonds to form that would otherwise be impossible in the daily grind. These bonds while brief in life are rich in depth and texture - much akin to a falling cherry blossom.
Paragliding in Valle de Bravo: Make This One Count.
(Dec 2017)
"You have a lot of scars on your head" quips the hairdresser amongst the continuous stream of snips cast by her scissors.
"Scars would imply stories and while I have many a tale, scars those are not."
Nary a tale of the past do those small bald spots tell, but a warning of what may lay ahead.
"Are you sure those are not mistakes you are trying to cover up?" I teasingly accuse her, looking to change the topic of conversation.
The bait is taken and she returns to queries about my destination. Leaving me to half listen and answer while my mind returns to the phone call a few weeks ago...
"I need you to see a rheumatologist so we can rule out vasculitis."
The terseness in the specialists voice on the phone betrays his thoughts - this isn't ruling out, this is to confirm and determine which form. An open ended scrip for prednisone is issued at 25 mg/day and I get ready to be pushed back onto the classic Canadian medical queue.
"Don't worry. There are 40 in Vancouver alone."
I wonder if he is trying to reassure me or himself?
But the drug manages to suppress the slow growing collection of symptoms, enabling me to sit here in the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge and await the subsonic airborne tube back to Valle de Bravo. Medical concerns await my return two plus weeks away, near an eternity from where I sit now.
The plan is simple - Make this one count.
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