storming snow in park city right now

launch priority, thats nice.

utah rodeo & cute country girlz

Sun Valley I'm headed your way!

Riv-ination

silly giggling sweet butter moonlight session

jumbo gumbo

work

smells like gumbo!

northside night. its on! @cloud9toys

driving up? wha?

poolside, swimming, weights, steamroom. working my demons out feels good

Thursday starts a new wind trend in Utah. flyable! & Northside is back on! They fixed the wind generater finally

15.23 ^NS before it got too hot.

progress in Predict Alzheimer’s

From The New York Times:

Spinal-Fluid Test Is Found to Predict Alzheimer's

Researchers reported that a test of spinal fluid could identify with
great accuracy patients with memory loss who were on their way to
developing Alzheimer's disease.

http://nyti.ms/bejcDb

measuring the wind. too much!

southside soaring, finally

Tandem Looping - Infinity Tumbling by P. Takat & G. Kezi

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQJsl8WpqqY&feature=youtube_gdata

Dave Hanning
Sun Valley Paragliding &
Ketchum Kites
801.641.7103 cell
208-806-0373
dave.hanning@gmail.com
www.xc-action.com

International Oludeniz AIR GAMES FESTIVAL in Turkey = Epic XC & Acro Flying Vacation

I am going to Turkey to enjoy myself before the winter kicks in. The International Oludeniz AIR GAMES FESTIVAL is on again and this time Cloud 9 asked me to come along. Not only is this place reported to be the best XC site in Turkey and an amazing amount of altitude directly over the most amazing blue lagoon beach. This is paradise for any pilot. Take a vacation you'll never forget & come be a part of the Cloud 9 VIP crew rollin heavy locked & loaded for all the fun you can have. Call Mike to get in on the goods! 801-676-6460 or info@paragliders.com

Like every year, during this year’s AIR GAMES, there will be hundreds of pilots from more than 35 countries and countless non flying participants (families, friends, spectators). The event is getting more and more popular every year as it provides non stop action and fills the expectations of absolutely everyone. It is now the second largest festival of its kind in the world.
Between the 14th and 18th of October you can expect demonstrations of paragliding, skydiving, base-jumping, hangliding, para-motor flights, remote control plane shows, microlites, hard core acrobatic competitions, accuracy landing competitions… Also summer sun, beach and unbelievably turquoise seas are just in front of you… After sunset the action does not stop, chilling out by watching snap-shots from the day in Cloud 9 and parties throughout the whole of Ölüdeniz. Music, drinks, dancers and entertainment are here to enjoy until the crack of dawn..


Check out the festival site
International Air Games http://www.babadag.com/

Images of Oludeniz, Turkey

From Turkey

View Larger Map

DNA :-)

Thunder, lightening, rain & too much wind! sorry southside

maa matta

uncoordinated scheduling chaos = loss of $$.

club vp & her boss headed home from a northside session

wha happen? everything cancel.

This dad i know...

& thunder rolls

its a cool rainey mountain grinder kind of morning

bye bye baby bye bye. All the She-lannigan's were so much fun!

Kansas

Jimmy getting serious @ racing

ripper R10

Greece focus

Russell O

farmer

igor

BZ

doog da man

joshbot

senior

cliffy

chilleano Franciso

game face

tent time on launch

gliding toward brewster turn point

last day pwc sicness

excellent flying day. attacked by perrigren falcon. lost the glider. 1 riser twist. still thermalling facing backwards. another big collapse. shoots below me. fall past it. reopens. remove twist & crevat. keep on trucking. stopped by the rim & no more lift. good day. retrieve has lots of beer

Day 5 begins

Day 4 produced an epic task of 157k with Jack Brown being the only sole who made goal before it closed. He is my HERO. a couple of others flew the course and got speed points or made it as far a McNeil canyon before the end of the day. The rest of us got dirtied by strong into wind legs out past the first turn point, which made for epic retrieves. 4-6&7 hr flights were reported by most with max altitudes of around 4000m. clouds, strong thermals and always into the wind, at least it seemed that way. convergence lines and shade out completed a wonderful day of making war against the winds. a couple of reserve tosses rounded it all out to equal a typically awesome Chelan day of fun. there was no one right direction to go. smoke we north first some to the east. I ran the middle and found myself not alone, but lonely as I cruised towards the first turnpoint. 3.5 hrs later I made it to the first turn point and begun the battle towards the west & brewster's. It was late. I saw several dirtying below me as I constantly tried to stay up around 3000-3500m just to be able to yo-yo long enough to move forward along course line. An impressive convergence line kept me at 2700m for 45 minutes as I made 25k/h headway. In the end I was above and following 3, then 2, then 1 glider towards turnpoint 2. looking behind me all those who had been there had disappeared, only Francisco was tagging along. The big butte shaded out and lift was very lite. too lite. I cruised on into Bridgeport and landed in the football field of the High school. It was a hero's welcome as 8 kids came running full of questions and proudly exclaiming they were my number 1 fans. Francisco flew 2 k more and returned to land with me. A quick pack up and a ride to the chief joesph bar made for classic american flavor of burgers and beers as we waited comfortably for our ride. It was midnight when we got back to HQ, but all were very happy with the day.

A rest day followed, THANK GOD! cause u can only go big so much before you have to go home and rest. Plus it was too windy. Sun bikini watching by the lake, swimming, lawn games and a bbq made for excellent times with great people.

Today the weather is back on line. We will fly again with a lower base of around 10g and light & variable winds. The last day promises to be even better. Needless to say Chelan has been kicking ass and taking names. All those PWC pilots who didn't come must be very bummed out as we have been ruling the sky. Oh, and did ya notice that the USA pilots are still in control of the top place finishes? YEAH!

For best examples of what we are unto everyday I suggest checking out the PWC video's on their site. Very well done and humorous. http://www.paraglidingworldcup.org/

Blue skies!

longest task ever. full on war with wind. 97k of 150+ 7hrs flying course. anyone who made it should be everyone's hero. wholey f'ing cow man! great fun flying. chief joe's bar in bridgeport serves a mean hamburgesa! txs to all the volunteers! epic pwc!

Day 3 PWC

Day 3 had all the qualities of epicness and of course we were going to go BIG. But not to be for me as I landed out due to poor line choice, lack of skills & desire. No, I take that back. I wanted it bad enough to cruise the power lines on the rim for way too long with CK. we both found nada for lift after a great crossing into what was tons of dusts creating nice clouds along the rim. Unfortunately those clouds shaded out the land over which we had chosen to fly to and the east flow off the flats didn't make finding lift any easier. while we survived for longer then I thought we would it was a bit rowdy when I did find a core that might take me higher the 20ft off the ground. 3 crappy turns in shredded thermals & watching CK take several wacks as he tried to lock in too made it an easy choice to run away to play another day, so I ended up landing in the LZ. CK landed in the canyon and when I called him his words echoed my thought, "your alive!" Upon landing I learned that several made it off of launch after the start and several never made it above launch. A reserve toss (he is all good) and many dirtied on the rim. Those who did get to cloudbase had a fine day of flying a 127k course to bridgeport, bump in the road back west of the Butte and LZ in the soccer field. kind of fun to watch the leaders scream across the sky on the way to the final way point. Then I went a did a tandem, which was cool. the kid was way stoked & Dad was psyched to share the experience with his son. That is hard to beat.

As good of a day of flying as it was (safe launch & landing) in the immortal words of Will Gadd it was "NOT a good flight." especially when you know that lady luck ended what would have been epic cloud flying. In the end (after like 30 pilots made goal) they cancelled the race because of OD and drop out that put rain on the ground in the LZ. The gust front kept several people way up at cloudbase and as it dissipated they made it safely down. That's when we went tandem. The bad weather was short lived. the clouds toned down and those still on course landed when told to. everyone was saved by retrieve. it was a great day. Cloudbase was somewhere near 12,000ft. Josh Cohen was out in the lead again with 2 others. WISH I HAD BEEN IN THE SKY WITH THEM! Today is another epic day of clouds and fun. I'll be working hard to make up for my lack of skills yesterday. call it a do over. I did a karmic cleanse last night. I am focused on having fun and flying safe. Today I will have my day.

Cade is my Hero

pwc day 2-120k triangle

today was a 120k triangle. farmers gain towers to leahey to soccer lz. big dusties roamed all over rhe flats max altitude around 3500m, for me. super chelan conditions. clouds that wanted to be there but weren't quite there. 
Josh was 1st. Dean or Russ 2nd & 3rd. those boys sure move fast. loys of speed bar. I opened the trimmers up & stomped speed bar plenty, but not nearly enough. stayed high and moved along well. i just cleared the rim into mcneil canyon and then found a nice climb out to easily cruise into goal after the speed section. the r10.3 does nice wingovers, but not a-sym spirals. nice to land on green grass to pack up. 

hard to get too descriptive about the flying. it was just awesome. best day yet of the 2 weeks here so far & tommorrow looks better with clouds! Russell said Chelan is tops in the world for great flying & all would have to agree.

too much sun today for sure & way knackered from all the hours in the sky. see you in the AM for more fun! sorry no photos, too busy flying. maybe tomorrow...

epico SheeeLaaan day. 120k triangle. 5hrs airtime. GOAL!

Day 1 has come & gone...

The expected awesome weather for the first day didn't turn out to be sooo epic. It was pretty hands on most of the day. BGunn did an SIV course on his 2 line wing over launch. Jimmy might have gotten that on video. it was rowdy in a snotty way and not so much fun over launch. crossing the river to the rim was fine if you went really high cause the rim wasn't working for at least an hour after I got there. So I surveil soared sweeping around hovering and looking for any kind of lift. It eventually got going and out I climbed only to be at least an hour behind the whole field of pilots minus the others who got stuck with me. serves me right for crossing lower then I know I should.

The task was an entry cylinder of 15k around the first turn point at the farmer grain towers, then off to the east to Coulee City & finally onto almira. a solid 94k under challenging thermalling conditions, no clouds and snotty spunky punches until u got past the first turn point. Seems like the leaders were on course for about 2hrs. I made in 3hrs because of getting a solid rim job and stuck several times in slow lift trying to get to 3000m just to be solidly established high in the sky. Coulee City thermals got me in great position to cross the coulee and then again for a long glide into goal in an area that everyone else had to do several climbs before they could punchit. Nick Greece got in first to win the day! Hooray for the USA!

It was good flying, but not the supa Chelan classic epic we are hoping will materialize several times in the course of this next week. It was sporting enough to cause one pilot to throw a reserve which got munched by his sat'ing glider and he ended up slamming into the ground. Luckily the field was freshly plowed and he ended up with separated ribs, later walking out of the hospital. A very lucky man indeed. Needless to say it was a HANDS ON day and there was no time to take pictures. Of course I was so far behind everyone that my pictures would have been boring landscapes and I would be relentlessly chastised for taking them instead of focusing on flying.

results posted here: http://www.fastretrieve.com/PWCA/2010/6.html
live leader board and some tracking here; http://www.paraglidingworldcup.org/
Cheers and blue skies to all!

pre World Cup Hype!

Chelan is a great place! yesterday resting and avoiding flying we had no shortage of things to keep us entertained. Swimming in the river, bikini scoping, tennis doubles match (G.B & I schooled Len & P.S.) Apple scavenger hunt (unsuccessful) and awesome pizza from mystic pizza. The frog had a techno beat that spilled out into main street. The weekend here is going off. Today we had a practice day and I made a quick flight getting to 2000m and crossing the river to rim it for a bit before landing in the soccer field and watching others follow in. Gin flew a 2 line boom that had excellent custom colors. it will be great to see it go during the race. Today had great wx for flying far. tomorrow and then next day look even better. it is going to be a burly week of racing with many excellent pilots. BeBee has been problematic with their "perfect" nazi rules, but the people of Chelan have stepped up to help us all find great places to camp. check in has just begun and I must put a sticker on my glider (#'s) which I am not psyched about. But my R10.3 is going great and I am supa happy with it's stability and performance. out here in the big boy air of SHEEE-LANNN everyone is having an epic or two. Bullet thermals ripping you out of the sky often can lead to reserve tosses if your not ready to fight to keep it open. close to the ground gets scary, especially if you go chasing snakes in wheat fields. The WX is looking epic. the psych is up among comp pilots. we are all friends ready to chase each other across the sky. It is gonna be a long week of awesome fun. blue skies (w/ puffy cotton ball clouds)to everyone! I'll try to be regular posting here about the worlds!

Chelan recap

So the lady of the lake produced another excellent fun time for all us f'in pilots. All of us are thinking of the two who left us early with injuries. The last task was a tough one, until you got on the flats then it was easy fast to goal, but I wouldn't know cause I got stuck on the rim checking out a reserve thrower, who ended up all good. After we launched everyone was low and circling the Butte hoping some lift might come thru. It did, but not as much as we would have liked. At 2000m I went across to the rim 15mins before the start. It was an entry start out on the flats, then a run past Mansfield to sims corner. Several people did not get away from the rim and ended up in the soccer field and of course went swimming and bridge diving and beer drinking before the final party and awards ceremony. Russel won it all. it was clear he would (such a talent pilot and genuine nice guy) Jack Brown was second, Andre Rainsford 3rd. I think I remember that right. Melanie got 1st for the women, then Cherri and Chrissi! Yeah for everyone.

Chelan was sporting with plenty of snotty punchy lift. everyone had a lil epic tale of the wing going away. a few reserve tosses too many & some windy days. The first day was the best with epico flying. we should have set spokane as the goal. if only we had know. All the days after that paled in comparison, but were no less fun. Conditions just never got that good again. The windy day was dangerous and we will not do that again. and it was very sporting to be landing out on the flats around 3:30pm. I've always called it the witching hour and it most definitely is here! It just GOES OFF! The retrieves were awesome w/ Joy being the best driver (sports car racing past helped) beer was easy to get once in a vehicle. Hitching a ride was very fast way to get home too. Launch was always exciting with several snaky wings taking several tries to get off the hill, but once in the air they fly soooo good.

It is definitely the year of OZONE. That R10 is the game changer w/ everyone else scrambling to catch up on design. the R10.3 goes better then all the wings save the R10.2. I think half the field was on a R10. it sure does make a difference when gliding into the wind or just gliding in general. climbs like a banshee too and is VERY stable. I'm lovin mine! The town of Chelan is generous and accommodating with many good looking girls around town. all us dirtbag pilots have been made to feel very welcome. one of the many reasons to love Chelan.

Many thanks to Doug and Denise for all their hard work. Kari castle too! great seeing you! and to all the volunteers - your awesome! can't say thank you enough.

& sooo we take a day off before we begin the PWC. it will be an awesome, exciting time for us all here in the USA. many of the top guns have already arrived and joined us in the celebration last night. everyone is very excited, but a bit tired from the whole first week of flying. the next week is gonna be tough. 2 weeks of flying is gonna fry me brains. I'd love to go to Golden for the Canadian fun, but I doubt I could muster the gas and I know that I'm already broke as a joke because of the 3 comps I've entered already. I should be back working teaching flying at the POM for cloud 9 now! BUT, I'm not and so I am gonna enjoy each minute in the air. I am sure to be burnt by the 24th. We wish everyone could be here and fly with us, but the sky is already tooo crowded. several "close encounters" lend themselves to conversations in thermals. everyone is cordial and looking out for each other, but its alotta gliders in the sky bunched together. I am hoping the PWC is safer and more fun then this past week. Thanks to all the racers for showing up and making it all fun!

over launch task 5

task 4

big triangle today. 105k! winds kicked in late and made it really hard. i found dirt after 4+hrs. many made it & many didn't. slow going all day with a lower base then previous days. light lift or bullets, depended on your position. nice day of flying all around. goal looked great. the beer tasted so good! many logged 6 hrs of flying. chelan sucks!

chelan task 3

we launched to the northwest with the expectation of increasing winds.
the exit cylinder was 10k which ='d the rim across the river. 20 or so
went across 30+ mins before the start and got established on the
flats. in the end it was a smart start, but there was a struggle over
the power lines to regain cloudbase after an into wind push to regain
the start. heading off towards couliee city made for decent cloud
flying, thermals could be weak or ripping bullets following shade line
and cloud line paid off for staying high. Blue hole north of couliee
city as we made for the airport at wilbure. some made a dash north to
gain the north cloud line gaining withthe wind track line. I went
south knowing i would be charging into the wind to regain the course
line & make goal. by doing so I stayed with the clouds. soo cold. 2000
- 3000m is where I stayed for most of the task. the into wind tac i
took worked well. i came into goal high. I could have used more bar,
but my brains couldn't deal with it. as I arrived it was boosting out.
soooo hard to come down safely. again we should have flown to spokane!
many peeps into goal from 3hours flying to 4.5hrs. another epic chelan
sky day! tomorrow looks to be the best EVER!

Dave Hanning
Sun Valley Paragliding &
Ketchum Kites
801.641.7103 cell
208-806-0373
dave.hanning@gmail.com
www.xc-action.com

goooaaalllll! so good.

windy day office

Chelan Day 2

Day two was full of wind. The smoke from the nearby fire of the day before hazed the sky out and the wind was soarable at the beginning of the launch window. eventual the inversion broke and thermals ripped thru with wild rodeo style and strength. launch was, to say the least, entertaining. the flying was full wind and parkage. Len recorded several flights because he was so parked the gps stopped recording and started a new track record. going backwards was the name of the game for several people. once back on the ground many were happy to be off for a swim. Those who jumped the river and gained the flats reported good flying with less wind. but it all feels great going down wind. once turned into the wind it was not much forward movement. Day 3 looks to be blown out with 50+mph winds. cooler temps have helped the whole event. I'm sure we will be back to 100 some in a couple of days...

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/354329

Chelan Fun Day 1

Day 1 in Chelan was an epic one. Right off of launch everyone climbed out to close to 4,000m. Cloudbase rolled across the flats. lift was abundant, but only easy if you established yourself up high early and stayed there. Launch continues to produce exciting and hands on launching. With so many snakey comp wings and such strong conditions the intensity on launch ramps up everyday as the heated crowd of pilots focus on letting loose in the sky. Many people made it to goal and the day was still full on. I heard several comments about pushing on for a 100miler, but I am sure retrieve would have been the most epic part of that journey.

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/354323

Chelan HQ view

you look around the sky & all ya see is ozone R10's

goodgoal

lake side ready to fly

she-lan!

cranking north already! inro.

Clare, my niece

lillian, my niece

onto SLC!

oooo chelan!

on to hotlanta

that was fun.

meat stick guy on shakedown street. phish

made it! 15+ hrs o driving. arrived a day early. parents delivered to new home safely. whew. moving truck arrives in 2 days, I hope.

North Carolina!

Tenn Tree Topper territory!

waffle house for pre-dawn breakfast

mason dixie line dance. we eatin gritz for breakie now!

shift driving in convoy into KY.

Indiana staties are cool. pulled over & let off with a joke. Best damn cops in the USofA!

Indiana

I love chicago traffic

bye bye miltown