Aug 4 - Practice Day

Yay for practice days!  They're made for finding out what you need to change before the actual event.

Like when I forgot to ask the owners of my B&B for the wifi password and settled down to write, skype and check emails last night and couldn't get online.  Oops.  So that is why I'm a day off with blogging :)

My test flight was worth it too.  Originally I had planned to take the day off and relax before the week of flying.  But a seat became available for a ride up to launch and I took it, figuring I'd fiddle with my new radio mic arrangement and mini camera boom for my GoPro.  It looked stable, so figured I'd get a 15 minute flight in smooth air to play with my gear.  Wrong!  It was actually kind of rough and I found out pretty quick I'd have to change my radio and camera set up.  

Also found out the brake pressure on my Cayenne 4 is a lot firmer than my Delta in strong thermals, so I got to play with my new flying style for punchy air.  Even though I got a few collapses, I had complete confidence in my wing and soon learned how much brake I needed to keep it happy overhead.  I got about a 40 minute flight around launch which I was happy with, and am excited to fly above these beautiful mountains!

My B&B is wonderful too.  An older couple who used to run a B&B took me in (a pilot joked it was more like billeting).  They take good care of me, including giving me fresh carrots from the garden and filling me full of waffles for breakfast.  Best part is...no mosquitoes!

washing carrots for me fresh from the garden 

Yup!  In the right place!

Mandatory Pilots Meeting, Pemberton Style (yeah, that's hacky-sack)

Ready or not...here I go

Everything is packed.  My wing and harness that I'm selling are sitting by the door, waiting to go to the Nationals and find a new home.  My shiny new Cayenne 4 is eager to get chasing thermals.  Oh, and my snazzy new helmet is all decorated with my sponsors stickers!

Skywalk

Flyte Park

Nothing left to do but finish loading my Jeep and hit the road!  I'm really looking forward to a week "off".  No work, no tandems...just flying for myself and seeing how much I can learn.   

Time to get outta here!

4 days and counting!

Saturday morning I will be waking up bright and early to drive to the Canadian Paragliding Nationals in Pemberton, BC.  After deciding to compete a couple of months ago and waiting for this event it seems the last week has just flown by!

This will be the first time I will be competing with sponsors backing me.  The fact that I have supporters will push me when I feel like giving up and will help me go that extra distance.  Knowing myself, I won't be putting myself in any dangerous situations just because "I have to do well for my sponsors".  At the same time, I know that the better I perform, the more likely they will be to keep supporting me so that could be the extra kick I need if I'm having any moments of self-doubt.

I plan to blog every night after flying, even if it's just a quick note, and hope to have some personal bests to share.  It will be exciting to see old friends and make new ones, and share in the excitement of competition with 100 other pilots!

Wish me luck :)

More supporters!

When I decided I was going to compete at the Canadian National Paragliding Championships this year I wasn't sure how I would be able to do that without going into a whole lot of debt or even if I could get the time off.  Things are all coming together now and looking back at the past month I'm in a bit of disbelief and a feeling a lot of gratitude.

First off the management at my part-time retail job has been incredibly supportive.  They understand that paragliding (instructing, tandems) is actual work and have been so accommodating to my flying schedule.  They gave me the week off to go to this competition even though it's getting close to one of our busiest times (back to school and our end-of-summer sales).

Then of course Skywalk came along with a new wing and the offer to join them as a Team Pilot.  I began thinking about approaching more sponsors and started drafting request letters.  During this process I kept in touch with Flyte Park, the company who produces the Microvario.  I happened to buy a Microvario earlier this year as it was the best-priced one on the market and was so impressed with the quality and the service that I asked if I could be a dealer for them through Jet Set Paragliding here in Western Canada.  The owner and I have been working together ever since and bouncing ideas off each other as we both grow our companies.  When he found out I would be competing at the Nationals and was looking for support he offered to be a sponsor!

It's great to have companies standing behind you that have products you believe in.  As mentioned in previous posts, the flying weather here has been less than stellar, and my Microvario works so well in the light and "scratchy" lift we've been experiencing.  It's helped me to stay up longer and thermal more efficiently, and as this video shows it's a great learning tool for my tandem passengers as it helps them learn about lift and sink:

Thank you Flyte Park for your support!

Sponsors!

I am excited to announce that I am now a sponsored pilot!

Recently I was asked by Skywalk Paragliding if I would consider being a Team Pilot and fly one of their wings in the Canadian Nationals.  Of course they wanted me to try the wing out first so asked what size (and colour) I would like to demo, and I was delighted when it arrived only a few days later from their offices in Germany.

I had to wait to try out "my" new Skywalk Cayenne 4 (EN-C)...the weather was not cooperating, and by the third day I couldn't wait any longer and took it to the park to do some ground handling.  It inflated like a dream, and after kiting for a little while I was even more impatient to fly it!  Finally we had some sun and I was able to sneak in a quick flight before running off to my part-time job.

My new Skywalk Cayenne 4 

I couldn't have asked for a better day.  As I stood on the take off, the wind was blowing perfectly straight up the launch, small clouds were starting to form and I was going to have the whole sky to myself.  3-2-1...the wing came up smoothly overhead and I ran into the sky.  A thermal was waiting in front of take-off and I turned in circles until I was looking down on launch, waving thanks to my driver.  Some clouds were forming to the east, so I flew under them and soon found my view getting hazy.  A step on my speed bar and I was soon out of the mist from the cloud, giddy over the instant bond I felt with the Cayenne 4!  Sadly I had to go land and head to work, but a perfect touchdown in the landing circle made it easier to bear :)

Between work and the weather, I squeezed in a few more flights over the week.  To represent a brand fairly I wanted to make sure I had a good feel for my wing.  Other pilots flying with me those days must have wondered what I was doing!  I was flying in and out of thermals, turning sharp then flat, and letting wing tips collapse just to see what happened.  It reacted so smoothly - no scary moments at all - and the feedback from the wing was easy to understand and use.  I loved every moment of it and wrote to Skywalk telling them I'd be happy to join their Team.

I may not be a hard-core "comp pilot" (not yet anyway!) but I think that's part of the philosophy of Skywalk.  Not everyone wants to be a competition level pilot - but everyone wants to have fun, be safe and enjoy their time in the sky.  That's one of the reasons that Skywalk and I are a good fit for each other and why I'm happy to help promote Skywalk in Canada.  Let the new adventure begin!

Inspiration

Inspiration is one of those things in life that is as wonderful to give as to receive.  It seems I've been surrounded by inspiration lately and would like to share some of these stories.

Our flying community is still a small one...you can show up anywhere there are pilots, announce that you are one of them and like magic you are instant friends.  This happens online too, and I now have flying friends around the world I haven't met in person (yet!).  One of these paragliding girls has been reading my blog and supporting my efforts to develop and grow my business.  She has impeccable timing, sending along a message that she "tweeted" about me or posted a link on Facebook just when I'm having a moment of self-doubt.  She recently wrote and said that through my blog postings I inspired her to follow her own big paragliding dream...to just go for it!  I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it felt to be the one inspiring someone, when I have so many people I look up to myself, including her.

I've also begun paragliding coaching, which is where I work with pilots who are newly signed off that would like some one-on-one lessons on developing their skills.  Unfortunately in our little flying community there tends to be animosity between the different instructors, and just like in high school people end up in little 'cliques' hanging out only with the school they learned with.  One reason I decided to coach signed off pilots is so I can help break that barrier and encourage everyone to fly together.  When I taught my first course on how competitions work, I was really happy to see pilots from different schools and surrounding cities too.  I had 3 pilots who learned from separate instructors approach me afterwards about coaching, and am working with one of them now.

This particular student's goals were to improve on a variety of skills and be able to fly confidently in the Canadian Nationals in August.  We've been working together for 4 or 5 sessions and last month he went to his first small competition...and finished second!  I was so excited when I heard about it, more excited than if I had won myself!  We had a session shortly after that and he met another of his goals (a small xc at our local site) and when I went to pick him up I was bursting with pride again.  I see why people get into instructing, and hope to keep doing it for a long time.

My list of people who inspire me grows daily, and through their support I feel I can accomplish anything!  I'm incredibly lucky that my boss at my part-time job totally supports me and calls me on rainy days if they need someone to cover a shift (she knows me so well already!).  I have mentors in my everyday life who have skills in sales, marketing and design who help me with the business side of things.

Each and every pilot has something they can teach others, no matter if it's their first flight or they have been flying for twenty years.  You all rock :)

Dream big!

It feels like forever since I've posted any flying pictures.  It also feels like I haven't flown in a very long time...although honestly it was just last week.  We've had so much rain and wind and general gloominess this spring that it still feels like the flying season hasn't really started.

But that means more time to work on my business (yay!).  Luckily I came in a "close second" when applying for the full-time position at my part-time retail job.  Looking at my finances I had decided a full-time job was necessary (especially with no tandem money coming in) so applied and was really hoping to get the position.  It went to a girl with more experience, and after getting over the ego deflation of coming in 2nd, things started looking brighter.  Especially when I flew 5 tandems the weekend after I found out.  Then I was flat-out *relieved* I didn't get the job.

Then my first order of t-shirts and varios came in!  I was so excited I took a bunch of pictures.  Here's everything sorted with invoices:

Excited how the t-shirts turned out:

I still have to take proper pictures of both sides of the shirts and also product shots of the Microvario in action for my website but like I said...it's been so yucky outside!

Even Bob misses paragliding

My mom lives about an hour away, so I drove in to see her and ended up visiting with 3 different friends who live in the area.  All of them were immensely supportive of what I'm doing and gave me great advice...so although I'm technically alone running my business there is such an amazing group of people surrounding me that I know I'll succeed.  It's hard sometimes to ask for help as I'm an only child who likes  doing things myself.  But you really can't do it alone!  I've met some fantastic new friends that I'm doing business with and it's wonderful being able to talk about our dreams of how we want our companies to grow.  Competition does exist in the paragliding world of course, just like anywhere else, but I'm lucky to have avoided that so far and just seen the other side, full of support and encouragement.  I think I'm going to like it here.