Video Competition

Just a short post today!

Skywalk holds a video competition each year for pilots to share their flying experiences.  I entered this year, and would love if you would take a look on Vimeo or YouTube and give it a like or thumbs up if you enjoy it.  There are some great prizes like harnesses (!) and winners will be announced in the 2015 edition of Skywalk's "magalog".  Fingers crossed!

It's all about the camera angles

Why I love being a Team Pilot.

Being a Team Pilot can mean a lot of different things depending on what "Team" you're flying for.  As a Skywalk Team Pilot, my role consists mainly of educating pilots about the brand (as Skywalk is relatively new in Canada & the US, despite being a top brand in Europe).  Of course, promoting them goes along with that, but it's not a difficult job since I am thrilled with the performance of all my Skywalk gear.  My first top-landing at Woodside with my Cayenne 4 (solo wing) was the easiest I'd ever done, and my new tandem wing (the Join't 3) flies and lands like a dream.

Granted, they also love when I get a chance to compete and fly well (winning the trophy for top Canadian Female in 2013 was a good one!) but there is never a threat of their support being pulled if I don't bring home the gold.  They are just as happy to hear that I stood on the hill for an hour helping other pilots launch (regardless of what brand of paraglider they fly) as they would be with any competition I'm a part of.  It's one of the main reasons I accepted Skywalk's offer to fly for them, besides the fact that their products are so impressive of course.

If I lived in Europe I would get a chance to hang out with other Team Pilots, both on the hill and at the twice-annual Skywalk Team Pilots meeting.  As the only Canadian Team Pilot I mainly connect with my Team online, so when something special arrives in the mail it reinforces the fact that they find value in working with me just as I do with them.  Yesterday a goodie bag arrived with the new Skywalk T-shirts, along with some windsocks I'd requested to bring to my friends in Keremeos who have been supporting me all summer long (and for some local spots too).

Windsocks for various friends, tshirts for me!

The parcel also contained the brand new Range Air, Skywalk's hike-and-fly pod harness that only weighs in at about 2 kg!  Since it was raining yesterday George only got to try out the new backpack, but it easily fit the new harness with his "normal" Tequila 4 paraglider.  A dedicated hike and fly wing would result in an even smaller pack size!

Skywalk's new Pod Harness with "normal" sized paraglider packed inside.
Beer not included.

If the forecast holds out and it's sunny this weekend, be sure to look for George trying out the Range Air while I rock the new team colours.  To order your own (harness or tshirts) just let me know, or contact George or Lee direct at Thermal Addict Airsports, Skywalk's Western Canada importer.

Thank you Skywalk for your continued support and for making such great products!

Stop Posting…Start Living!

By now we've all seen pictures like this going around the Internet.  Whether on Facebook, Pinterest or any other number of social media sites, we love posting these inspiring and motivational quotes.  And while you may get a rush when you read them, how often do you actually follow through and

Do. Something. Amazing.?

I'm lucky enough to experience adventure almost every day through my passion of paragliding and by taking others along as we run together off perfectly good mountains.  People come for a tandem flight for so many reasons - it's on the bucket list, to get over a fear of heights, to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, to shake up a life of sitting at a desk all day while hearing co-workers talk about the incredible things they did over the weekend while you watched whole seasons of who-knows-what on Netflix.  One of my favourites is when people share that they have had flying dreams ever since they were a kid and want to capture that feeling in real life.  And they do!

Whatever the reason, paragliding can be the catalyst for change that people are looking for.  "If I can run off a mountain, then I can definitely ask my boss for a raise!".  The lesson learned is that anxiousness is all in the anticipation, and once you've (literally) taken the first step and gone all in, the rest becomes an incredible and beautiful ride.

The time is now - stop talking and start doing!  Then you can post your own pictures of the moment you found that magic again, somewhere between 2000 feet up and the point your feet touched ground.

www.jetsetparagliding.com