Episode 49- Honza Rejmanek and Understanding the Invisible

September 7, 2017 by Gavin McClurg

Honza makes goal in Monaco, 2015 Red Bull X-Alps

Honza Rejmanek competed in the Red Bull X-Alps five times. He finished in 3rd place in 2009 and made goal in Monaco in his last campaign in 2015. Many of our listeners will also know Honza from his regular weather column in Cross Country Magazine. Honza makes a living as a meteorologist and in this episode we tap into his vast knowledge of the invisible world we operate in and how to understand how it works and how to use this knowledge to fly farther and fly safer. Honza’s passion for flying and for weather are obvious from the first word of the show- consider this a masters class in understanding the sky! Gust fronts, blue holes, wave, cloud streets, water vapor, energy, thunderstorms, stagnation zones, the difference between desert air and humid air (ie the Rockies vs Europe), catabatic and anabatic winds, the three levels of weather you need to understand before launching, where to potentially land in a super strong wind scenario (this will surprise you!) and a LOT more. This is an important episode- get out your note pads!

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Show Notes:

Honza discusses flying in Wave in the 2015 X-Alps
A full discussion on how air moves and how terrain affects the air- think rivers
Stagnation zones
Thermal strengths, thunder storms, assessing gust fronts, how air moves…
Hail and hoovering- how strong is too strong?
Visibility and humidity of air and how it affects gust fronts- think avalanche or burst dam
Escape Routes and landing options when it goes big
How important is location on the hill- thermal cycles vs wind?
How to assess and deal with Gust Fronts
Weather tools and forecasting tools- the importance of understanding Skew-T
The importance of local knowledge
Water vapor and energy- without water vapor our weather would be very boring!
Catabatic and Anabatic winds- geographical differences to understand
Dew point and temperatures and what it means for energy
Cloudstreets and blue holes
How to develop a mental model of the weather and making good judgements. Using the little things- how to use cloud shadows, etc.
The three kinds of weather and how to think about them- synoptic (ie the forecasts), local (ie geographical), and thermic (short term, heated faces, draws, valley flows, etc.).
Convergence
Safest place to land in a major wind scenario. This will surprise you!
Low saves- where does that energy come from?
Developing intuition
GROUNDHANDLING!

Mentioned in this episode: Ben French, Trey Hackney, Rodrigo Cidad, Cedar Wright, Nick Neynens, Tom De Dorlodot, Berkhard Martens, Chrigel Maurer, Denis Pagen, Will Gadd, Dave Turner

Honza takes to the air near Lake Tahoe, Nevada during the Sierras Expedition, 2012, Photo Jody MacDonald

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:43:59 — 72.2MB)

Episode 47- Max Fanderl and a lifetime of flight

August 22, 2017 by Gavin McClurg

Max Fanderl in the X-Alps

Max Fanderl began flying paragliders and then hang gliders in the late 80’s. A few months after his first flight he quit his job to become an instructor and decided flying would be his new life. In addition to instructing Max became a test pilot in the 90’s in Europe but then he discovered the epic flying in Canada and in Max style- once again never looked back. He opened a school, competed in the Red Bull X-Alps four times, flies sailplanes and ultralights and well- you get the point. This dude digs flying. When Max first moved to Canada he met Willi and Chris Mueller, two legends in the sport- but most people don’t know that Max taught them both to fly paragliders. In this episode we explore how Max learned how to fly into the wind and why all flying should be approached with mindful training; where most new pilots make mistakes; why getting into flying too fast leads to many people getting scared and leaving the sport; how to maintain a solid margin and understanding to know when NOT to go; how to develop respect instead of fear; the importance of SIV and how you should approach it; how learning to fly properly should be focused on all the little pieces- micrometeorogy, understanding the wing, groundhandling, etc. rather than being bold. Get out your note pads, this one is loaded!

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Show Notes:

Max discusses getting into flying in the late 80’s and how the addiction took hold right away
Canada becomes home and we discuss the flying differences between Europe and the Rockies
Max talks about the terrible tragedies of the Chris and Willi Mueller and his own accident and creating his 20% rule
Mistakes most people make when they learn
The importance of learning the small things and taking each of the foundational steps
Why learning fast is the wrong way to learn flying
Knowledge before ratings
Why groundhandling leads to success in the air
How to become one with a wing through learning the “feel” of the flying
We talk the X-Alps and Max’s four campaigns and what is magical about the race- and how it has changed over the years
Max relates his lowest and highest moments in the race and how sharing the adventure with his family and his wife Penny, who was his supporter in all four campaigns is one of his most cherished memories.

Mentioned in this episode: Will Gadd, Chris and Willi Mueller, Tom De Dorlodot, Juergen Kraus, Chrigel Maurer, Tobias Dimmler, Aaron Durogati, Ondrej Prochazka

Max and his family in the 2013 X-Alps

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:27 — 72.1MB)

Episode 48- Bonus Podcast! Gavin McClurg and the 2017 X-Alps

August 19, 2017 by Gavin McClurg

The Red Bull live tracking is great, but it misses out on all the behind-the-scenes and in this talk we dive into what the fans don't get to see. We talk training, supplements, our decision on using the nightpass the first night, mistakes made, good moves, dicey launches, crazy weather and how the 2017 race was the most brutal yet. In 12 days I did 16 1/2 marathons, climbed the height of Everest 4 times (34,000 meters of vertical ascent), flew over 1,000 km- and I was still 308 km from goal! Only two athletes made it, Chrigel Maurer won for his 5th straight time, and rookie Benoit Outers made it in just before the time expired. 5 athletes were eliminated and 7 withdrew due to injury or exhaustion.

This content is only available to Members of the Cloudbase Mayhem. If you have subscribed to our newsletter or have supported us in the past through PayPal, Patreon or another way you should have an account all set up with us and you can login below (username is typically your email). If you aren't a member, all we've ever asked for is a buck a show so please if you can join now! Can't afford a buck a show? We want all our content to be available to the flying community regardless of your financial position, so just send us an email and we'll sort you out.

Episode 46- Reavis Sutphin-Gray and increasing your toolkit

August 9, 2017 by Gavin McClurg

Reavis performs a perfect launch in Southern California. Photo Gavin Fridlund

Last year on big potential day but with definite OD probability in Sun Valley early in the flight out towards the Big Lost Range some big cumulus were getting a little too big for my comfort level. When it started to rain lightly I decided to land. Reavis was just ahead of me and decided he could safely outrun the cell using a combination of in-flight weather tools that I didn’t even know existed, and from the thorough analysis of the day that he’d done before we flew. A couple weeks later we were both involved in a successful rescue of a good friend of ours who crashed in very remote terrain and again I learned some invaluable lessons from what Reavis carries with him every time he flies (see the podcast with Matt Wilkes for a lot more on safety and rescue protocols). Reavis learned to fly a decade ago and to this day has a pretty unusual experience with being in the air- he doesn’t experience fear. But he had a very firm understanding of the risks and wanted to be a safe pilot and took his progression and learning seriously and conservatively. This approach has given Reavis, who is now one of the pilots who regularly sends huge lines in North America a unique flying toolbox to help decipher the weather and more. Reavis is a software engineer and lives on the road chasing flying hours year-round (and BTW he answers the most common question I get from our listeners- how do you change your life so you can fly more?). His analytical mind and passion for flight will help you develop a totally different set of skills that will increase your potential as an XC pilot.

Enjoy!

A buck an episode, that’s all we ask.

Subscribe to the Cloudbase Mayhem Podcast on Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Tune In, or ITunes!

Show Notes:Reavis has given us some awesome resources. Here they are in no particular order:

Thermal hotspots: https://thermal.kk7.ch/ To download waypoints click the download icon in the toolbar on the left. The download will be based on your map view any any filters you have applied.
Weather:

To access the local AFD (Area Forecast Discussion): Go to http://www.weather.gov/, enter a location in the “Local forecast” search box and click “Go.” Click the link below “Your local forecast office is.” Somewhere on the next page, you should find a link to “Forecast discussion.” Often if can be found under “Forecasts” in the navigation, but each local office page is different.

To access point forecasts: Go to http://www.weather.gov/, enter an approximate location in the “Local forecast” search box and click “Go.” Choose the exact location by clicking on the map. For a detailed forecast chart, click “Hourly Weather Forecast” under “Additional Forecasts and Information.”

XCSkies: https://www.xcskies.com

GOES-16 satellite imagery: http://weather.cod.edu/satrad/exper/

Windy: https://www.windy.com/

Balloon soundings: http://weather.unisys.com/upper_air/skew/

Forecast skew-t: https://rucsoundings.noaa.gov/

Aviation winds aloft: https://aviationweather.gov/windtemp
Airband Radio:

Information about airband licensing: https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/aviation-radio-services/aircraft-stations

Information about AWOS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_airport_weather_station

A good tool for looking up airband frequencies TFRs etc: https://skyvector.com/
Amateur Radio:

http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed

US League:

https://www.ushpa.org/page/us-league

https://www.xcontest.org/usa/

XContest:

Worldwide flight search: https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights-search/

Mentioned in this episode: Southern California League, Jugdeep Aggarwal, Gavin Fridlund, XCSkies,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:42 — 52.0MB)

The Outdoor Journal- 2015 X-Alps

August 7, 2017 by Gavin McClurg

As the 2017 X-Alps just came to a close I found it pretty fun to go back and read about how the 2015 X-Alps went down, as seen in this just-published feature article in the Outdoor Journal:

Episode 45- Chrigel Maurer and becoming an Eagle

July 26, 2017 by Gavin McClurg

Chrigel launches during the 2017 Red Bull X-Alps

Chrigel Maurer is the undisputed king of paragliding and after his 5th straight X-Alps win I get the feeling that he’s just getting started. Chrigel was the World Cup champion 3 times, is an acro champion, test pilot for Advance, two times winner of the X-Pyr, regularly dominates the Swiss League and just simply wins- over, and over and over again. Everyone has heard of Chrigel’s famous training (ground handling in VERY strong wind, flying in the lee of cornices…) but most don’t know the extent of how hard and specifically he trains. How much is talent versus persistence? How does Chrigel justify the risk? How does he approach safety? How is getting older affecting his decisions? How important is physical fitness to good flying? Is the X-Alps even risky for Chrigel? His sons, aged 6 and 9 are beginning to fly- does this make him nervous? Where does he get his motivation from? In this episode we dive into what makes Chrigel…an Eagle. How does he fly so straight? What mistakes do other pilots make? What separates him from the rest of the pilots in the race? How does he make his decisions? How does planning and calculated decision making happen in the air and how much is intuition? Does he have weaknesses and if so how does he resolve them? How Chrigel reduces risk and how other pilots can be much safer. The power of optimism and the need for gambling (safely).

For me this was an opportunity of a lifetime, to sit down with someone who consistently shows us what is possible with a glider and makes us dream of the possibilities.

Stay tuned for bonus material we recorded for our Patreon supporters!

Enjoy!

A buck an episode, that’s all we ask.

Subscribe to the Cloudbase Mayhem Podcast on Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Tune In, or ITunes!

Show Notes:

Chrigel talks about his training, what goes into the lead-up to the X-Alps and other adventure races?
Mental vs physical training and what sets him apart from the others
Is there more pressure on Chrigel now?
How does Chrigel make his amazing route decisions in the race?
How he trains mentally and visualizes winning.
Finding magic lines
Using the lee
Analyzing mistakes
How he eliminates or reduces risk and how pilots can be much safer
Balancing the risk and reward and how you need to gamble…but smartly
The power of optimism
How to fly more efficiently and how to gauge the day- planning in flight
How to fly straight instead of thermalling and gliding
How hard to push?
What would Chrigel do differently if he could rewind the clock?
What is the most important thing to improve? How to optimize what you do to achieve your personal goals?
Mentioned in this episode: Ben French, Pal Takats, Skywalk, Advance, Gaspard Petiot, Sebastien Huber, Benoit Outters, Michael Maurer,

The dominator

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:24:03 — 77.0MB)

North of Known on Red Bull TV!

July 26, 2017 by Gavin McClurg

North of Known is now available on Red Bull TV for free! Do yourself a favor and load this up on the big screen and strap in for a wild ride!

https://www.redbull.tv/video/AP-1NC8539251W11/north-of-known

2017 Red Bull X-Alps: A Race of Extremes

July 24, 2017 by Gavin McClurg

2017Xalps- A race of Extremes from Offshore Odysseys on Vimeo.

The 2017 Red Bull X-Alps was the hardest yet- a very difficult course and extremely poor flying weather. 5 athletes were eliminated and 7 withdrew due to exhaustion or injury and only two made it to Monaco. The race ended after 11 days and 23 hours. Here are some clips from Day 8, 9, and 10 that highlight how amazing the journey can be, and some of the crazy situations you find yourself dealing with (like landing in a tree!). On Day 8 I launched early near Merano heading towards the Brenta Dolomites and Turnpoint 5 at Lake Garda. A lot of low cloud and high cirrus made for tricky flying but I pieced together 5 or 6 short flights, top landing repeatedly to wait for more sun, finishing the day with a long climb up to Madonna Campiglio, waiting out a strong storm and then gliding down to Pinzolo. Day 9 began with a 1700 meter, 17 km climb to launch above Tione Di Trento, then a short and very technical flight to a slope land above Malcesine near Garda lake. Then a 1300 meter climb to the turnpoint on Mount Baldo, then a glide across the lake in strong wind, landing in the trees; then a 20 km walk and further 1600 meter (nearly 17,000 feet of climbing this day!) climb to a final launch and glide. Day 10 was the 2nd day of the race that had good flying conditions and I tried to make the most of it by flying from a lake below Adamello peak across to Bellinzona, Switzerland in three magnificent flights (130 km), ending just in front of Rick Brezina (Team Canada 1) to secure 14th place, but only after running 3.5 hours that night, and a full marathon the next day to stay in front! While we didn’t finish as well as we’d hoped, it was an incredible journey filled with laughter and smiles and an experience to be relished. If I decide to do it again, please someone put me in touch with a psychotherapist!

Red Bull X-Alps 2017

July 1, 2017 by Gavin McClurg

Here we go! Less than 24 hours until the race starts. I don’t have time for a proper blog post but just wanted to share the stoke from TEAM USA 1. When all the training is going down for months on end you never think the day will arrive. But now it finally has. The weather for day 1 looks pretty terrible but then things look to greatly improve. It’s the longest and by far the hardest course yet and I think this one is going to break some of the athletes and we’re going to see a lot of different and interesting routes and a lot of lead changes. SUPER, SUPER exciting! Follow along on my Facebook page and Instagram as we’ve got my good friend Olga handling all our media and she’ll be posting some super fun content.

Let’s do this!

Red Bull X-Alps Route

Episode 44- Caroline Paul and Overcoming Fear

June 21, 2017 by Gavin McClurg

Caroline Paul presenting at TED- listen to her talk here.

“Gutsy girls skateboard, climb trees, clamber around, fall down, scrape their knees, get right back up — and grow up to be brave women. Learn how to spark a little productive risk-taking and raise confident girls with stories and advice from firefighter, luger, author, paraglider and all-around adventurer Caroline Paul.”- TED

I first found out about Caroline (@carowriter) after listening to her TedTalk as well as her podcast on the Tim Ferriss show. Caroline is the author of four books, including the NY Times Bestseller The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for your life of Epic Adventure. When I learned among many of her big adventure exploits Caroline was also a paraglider we had to get her on the show. In this episode we explore fear and developing bravery, specifically in women. Once a young scaredy-cat, Caroline decided that fear got in the way of the life she wanted–of excitement, confidence, and self-reliance. She has since flown planes, rafted big rivers, luged Olympic courses, climbed tall mountains, and fought fires as one of the first female firefighters in San Francisco. Like Helen Keller said “life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” and Caroline has developed the tools to help us all lead more adventurous lives.

Enjoy!

A buck an episode, that’s all we ask.

Subscribe to the Cloudbase Mayhem Podcast on Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Tune In, or ITunes!

Show Notes:

Mentioned in this episode: Anneka Herndon, Chris Ballmer, Thomas Fey, Bill Belcourt, Caroline Paul

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:07:41 — 77.6MB)