Box Springs Paragliding Mar 28

It has been a while since I posted anything about paragliding but since my spring break is rapidly turning into a "staycation" and I happened to play around with my GoPro I figured I might as well. This was my 75th flight at my backyard Box Springs launch, but what made it notable was that it was the first time I have not flown here solo. I had a social hike up the Two Trees Trail with Chad and we met his cousin Jake at the upper carpark. A short jaunt along the Edison Trail and then surprisingly good burro trails led to Chad's launch about 200 ft higher than my standard launch. It was about 2 pm, earlier than I typically launch, and so I was quite happy to take my time learning by watching the other two launch and fly. The launch was slightly awkward between the wind, long weedy grass, bushes and boulders, and slightly cross wind but Chad managed to get up quickly. He gained good height above launch but I could see he had variable conditions with strong lift then equally strong sink. He had a solid 25 minute flight and landed before Jake launched. Jake gained good height right away. 

Thinking this could be a good condition learning opportunity I decided to descend down to my standard launch I am comfortable with. Sure enough I was able to easily ride lift up above the upper launch, which was a good note for future reference. There was a steady west wind such that headward progress was particularly slow. Other than the occasional jolty lift the conditions were smoother than I expected. I worked the bowl to gain height and then ventured over the C and around the corner to the Moreno Valley side with the best patches of poppies. I hit some sink and so fought back headward to over the C then back to the bowl for more lift. I topped out at about 3300 ft, a thousand feet over my launch but could see that Jake was well over 4000 ft further back above the main ridge. I could have worked the bowl further and then gone deeper over the range like Jake but wanted to take the opportunity to fly over Two Trees Canyon, the rock climbing area, and tag my house. I was able to milk a little more lift near the end of Blaine but not quite enough to climb back up to the top of the bowl and so after a few passes came in for a landing on the south field. My flight was a little over a half hour. Jake won the day flying well over an hour and managing to top land near his parked car. All in all it was a nice afternoon out and I learned a lot from flying with others. Psychologically I find it a lot easier too.

Box Springs Paragliding July 1

Check out the video above for a quick 7 minute flight filmed with GoPro Max 360 degree video. If you open it in the YouTube app on a tablet or smartphone it should default to a VR interface where you should be able to change the view by moving the phone. When I play with it I find that it is really similar to the view and sensation I get when flying: look up and see the wing, look down and see the world beneath my dangling feet.

It is not a particularly notable flight other than the epic struggle not shown. I got onto launch at about 7pm but it was very windy and so I waited a while. In a lull I set up. I had four aborted launches including two that gave me very nasty lineover tangles that took a while to clear, especially in the continuing wind. I was feeling particularly defeated, especially since a few days prior the conditions were also windy, did not improve, and I opted to hiked back down the hill for the second time ever. I was really close to packing up but decided to rally for one more attempt. At sunset 7:58pm the wind finally cooperated, I had my moment, and I was off for a smooth dusk light flight. The landing was smooth. I really like this launch but its position high on a ridge makes for challenging wind conditions. I've since started scouting and flying other launches but am sure I will be back to this one before long.

Box Springs Paragliding Nov 3

One of my main motivations for getting into paragliding was to have another way to explore and recreate in my backyard, the Box Springs Mountain Park. I have accumulated 50 flights and so am starting to feel comfortable branching out to where I can evaluate flying sites on my own. I have a great big open field in front of my house that is flat and mowed clear of weeds that makes an excellent and highly convenient landing site for me. The challenge I knew would be finding a good launch site. I needed a large enough space that could be cleared of weeds, not too steep or rocky, and facing the correct way so that I could launch into the wind. I had been scouting all around the hills while out on trail runs over the last several months. I’ve spotted many potential launches but almost all of them had poorly placed boulders in the runout area which I’d be concerned to run into. Also most of these launches were well off trails which meant extra annoyance of wading through sock destroying foxtails. I had a rare weekend day at home with few tasks at hand and so went for a morning run to Table peak. I spotted several potentially good launches along the way but then near the top it appeared, the best launch I had seen yet. It faced the right way, was sizable, would give me 1200’ descent, and seemed to have a good flight path down to the field. As a bonus it had easy trail access. A concern was the abrupt cliff it ended at! I’d need to be committed by the time I got to the edge. Excited, I went about my day with plans to hike up with a rake and gear in the afternoon with the hope that I could clear the launch and the winds would be favorable.

I hiked up to my launch in about 40 minutes. Windy! I killed time taking a nice clearing while I hoped the wind calmed as sunset approached. I raked for a solid hour by which point I thought the wind calmed enough that it was worth attempting a launch. I unfurled and strapped in. I puffed up the wing to create an even wall and then fought the wind a little to keep the wing on the ground. Everything ready, I gave it a slight tug, it leaped overhead, inflated mostly evenly, I turned as the last wing tip cleared, took no more than three steps and was propelled skyward in an abrupt updraft. A smooth launch. Instant joy! After the boost off launch the air was silky smooth. I beelined for the Two Trees trail to make sure I had enough clearance to get to the LZ but ended up maintaining height better than I thought. I followed the trail down it’s ridge to the pointy hill at the end and then switch backed adjacent to the field. On final approach I got a little nervous at my height relative to the low fence separating the two fields and so opted to turn to land in the further field. I had a smooth landing with all smiles. A short walk brought me to my driveway where I could fold my gear back up. It was only about an 8 min flight but was probably the most satisfying flight of the 50 I have logged. And I could certainly see the potential for a longer flight in conditions with more thermals. I’m really hoping to get a local flight in per week. It’s really helped me have a positive outlook knowing I have this in my backyard now.

P2 & Soboba June 16

Since January I've been learning to paraglide at Marshall Peak near San Bernardino and just recently got my P2 certification and logged my 40th flight. It has been an interesting progression from my first short flights on the training hill (think Wright Bros skimming the ground for a few seconds) to a recent 3 hr flight thermalling at Soboba near San Jacinto. I'm excited to explore new sites and have lengthy cross country flights as I continue to build my skills. Paragliding is surprisingly easy and mostly intuitive. Launches are probably the hardest part, requiring good decisions of when to launch, triple checking gear, and adjusting to possible issues on the fly. I find flying to be completely intuitive and landing to be pretty straightforward as long as the wind isn't too complicated. It is relaxing and quiet. I am fortunate to live 20 minutes away from this world class site (think 20min from a Hawaii surf break). I am ultimately working towards confidence in being able to hike up the hills from my front door and land in the field in front. Working on it...

        Waiting for clouds to dissipate at Marshall launch 

        Marshall flying

        Soboba flying