Red Bull Adventure has just put up their own edit of the 500 Miles to Nowhere Expedition! And a really fun trailer. Check it out!
And here’s the trailer:
Confessions of an XC Addict- Ushpa Cover and Feature hit the stands!
The January 2014 issue of United States Paragliding and Hangliding magazine just got delivered! Yet another one of Jody MacDonald‘s amazing shots gets the cover, from back in 2010 in Mozambique, and there’s a fun feature article by yours truly in the mag on my little addiction that is human flight. Hope you enjoy!
The 5 most memorable flights of 2013- Red Bull Adventure
Red Bull Adventure just went live with a cool article by Andy Pag about the best flights of 2013. Humbled to be right up there with Chrigel.
Gavin McClurg breaks US record
Flying his Niviuk Peak3, Gavin McClurg battled his way across Idaho from Mt Baldy, 387km into Montana, committing to some of the deepest, remote solo flying and turbulent lee-side conditions, to comprehensively break the US foot launch distance record.
McClurg had landed just short of the Idaho state record the day before, and had only had a few hours’ sleep that night. It came in a week where the cross-country ace clocked up almost 1,000km in the air.
“It was a seven-and-a-half-hour flight. Not particularly long, I would have loved to keep going, but I’m deeply satisfied,” McClurg says modestly.
An amazing year. A look back at 2013
Soaring the Big Lost Mountains, Idaho- photo Jody MacDonald
My mom writes a Christmas letter every year and always asks my sister and I to write a paragraph of what we did. For the last 13 years mine has been a discourse on wherever the boat had gone that year. Caribbean, South Pacific, Melanesia, Australasia, Africa, etc. It’s typically been a jammed-pack paragraph, and has always helped me realize how truly thankful I am as the holidays roll around. As I started writing this years recap I fully expected a somewhat more toned-down account.
Nate Scales banks his Niviuk Icepeak with Mont Blanc in the distance
But as I started writing it became immediately obvious that I must be suffering a mid-life travel crisis. I moved to Sun Valley a year and a half ago for three main purposes: 1) Paraglide, 2) Live in the mountains, and 3) travel less (by choosing to live in paradise, there would be little reason to move around as I have for all of my adult life). My flying buddy and natural wordsmith Nate Scales said something that took me awhile to figure out when we were filming the 500 Miles to Nowhere movie. “I love paragliders for where they TAKE you, and for where THEY take you.” At first I thought why the redundancy? But then he explained it. The first, where they TAKE you is the absolute unknown every time we launch. On all three of my big flights this July, which culminated in the record flight of 240 miles, I had no idea where I was going, and no idea where I would end up. We launch- and then we never know where the wing is going to take us. The second, where THEY take you is where the paragliders bring us in our pursuit of our passion. Like skiers and surfers, pilots chase weather all around the globe seeking their next fix, their next high (for paragliders- literally).
A pretty incredible week of flying- funny graphic created by Tony Lang
In December I took my first trip to Valle de Bravo, in Mexico to compete in the Monarca; a flying site I’d dreamed of for years but was never available during my sailing years as January is a core wind month north of the equator for our kitesurfing expeditions (ie I was working). From Mexico I went further south to compete in the Superfinal in Roldanillo, Colombia. In February I visited my ailing father in Borneo and spent a week surfing in Lombok, Indonesia.
Speed Flying Northern BC
In March I joined my friends Benny Abruzzo, Mike and Stu Belbas who run Verbier Summits Paragliding and their families for the “Small Bus Tour”, a heliskiing trip in Northern BC with Benny’s company, Northern Escape.
Nice place to “Escape” to yes?
From Northern BC I swapped out my gear in the Vancouver airport and flew directly to Panama for “work”, taking over the helm of Discovery for three weeks for two back-to-back trips to Coiba island. I wrote a story about that experience on the Cabrinha Quest kitesurfing expedition website.
Back at the helm in Coiba, Panama
Back to Sun Valley in April for a 22 day punishing rally on the house, where we moved 30 tonnes of Earth and rock, and other generally dull back-breaking work to upgrade the house with solar thermal, refurbished oak floors, new roof; and sadly lost my greatest friend in the world when my Dad died after a horrible battle with Leukemia.
In early May I returned to Europe and the Niviuk mobile with Nate Scales and Bruce Marks to chase some spring flying. May later became known as “Armageddon” as it must have been the wettest May in history. We did manage a few memorable flights in France, Switzerland and Italy between long bouts in the mobile and big belts of scotch running from the rain.
Nate Scales On Glide to Annecy
As Bruce and I sat in yet more rain in the Dolomites I got an email from river rat Gerry Moffatt who was back home in Sun Valley. He had a permit for the Middle Fork of the Salmon (ie the “River of No Return”), a multi-day trip that I’ve wanted to do since I heard about it back in my paddling days in the 90’s. Back to Sun Valley, down the river for 6 glorious days, then back to Europe where this time around the weather cooperated a bit more, allowing 5 solid flights of 100+ kilometers from Riederalp, Fiesch, Verbier, Spiekboden, and Scuol, including a near-circumnavigation of the Eiger, Jungfrau, and Monch, which was truly extraordinary.
Yikes- pretty yes, but yikes!- en route over the pass to Interlaken
I grabbed a train from Italy and sprinted back once again to the US, this time to compete at Woodrat in Oregon, a seriously fun comp that went incredibly well except for a very Gavin-typical rabbit decision on the second day which killed my overall ranking, but gave me plenty to think about and quite a bit to be happy about given how little competition flying I have done.
And then I had the best week of flying of my life. It started July 9th, with a personal best out over the Continental Divide of 256 kms (156 miles). I hadn’t properly flown my new home except during last years PWC, which had been my second comp and the first time I’d flown a comp wing so this flight really surprised me. I knew it was good here- but holy shit! Matt and Nate’s records of 192 miles and 199 miles in 2012 were the main reasons I moved to Sun Valley in the first place. When I saw those records go up I was in Europe getting my first 100 km flights of my flying career. I couldn’t imaging going that far, couldn’t imagine what flying in mountains that big could be like. I’d never even flown with Oxygen and now suddenly I was flying 50 km farther than I ever had!
Things going pretty well! Into Montana we go…
A few days later, on July 14th Nate and I launched again and made it into Montana (visit “Hypoxic Magic Lines“), across the Pioneers, Big Lost, Lemhi’s, and the Contental Divide onto the Tobacco range. We got separated early in the flight and I had no idea where I was going until I could see Bozeman in the distance. I knew if I got there I’d have the Idaho and National record, but I ran out of day just a few km’s short. Far from being disappointed, I was thrilled at again going more than 50 km farther than I ever had and what I was seeing up there…simply mindblowing. Literally- I was good and hypoxic for a lengthy run there in the last hour, which makes vision a bit interesting!
Our buddy Mike Pfau did us a solid and chased us all day then drove us home. I got a few skimpy hours of sleep and was literally driving back home the next morning when I got a call from Matt Beechinor, who was up on launch. I scrambled to the store for a sandwich, borrowed some O2 from Mike and pinged off launch…and went farther than anyone has in North America by foot launch (Will Gadd still holds the record by towing in Texas). See 240 miles Deep. The record traveled fast, hitting outlets like the Weather Channel, National Geographic Extreme Photo of the week, RedBull.com and many others. Shortly after magazines like Cross Country ran a full feature on the flight, “Confessions of an XC Hound.”
August was a bust. Fires and wind played havoc with our little valley and other than an attempt to fly to Jackson Hole (close, but no cigar) and an evening of soaring as the Beaver Creek fire got underway (which culminated in much of the valley being evacuated about a week later) our usually reliable month of flying went up literally in flames.
Flying the Apocalypse on the Niviuk F-Gravity
Then Nick Greece, Nate Scales, Matt Beechinor and I rocked down to Southern Utah with Jody MacDonald, Mike Jones and Jeremy Cannon shooting video and stills for a short film for Outside Television called “500 Miles to Nowhere“. The plan was to bivvy fly from Hurricane Ridge to Jackson Hole, but the weather was about an uncooperative as it can get and we ended up doing what we paragliders often do- chase weather. But we got what we needed in the can to make a fun movie and HUGE kudos to Mike Jones for his endless hours of editing and incredible eye for perfection.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn9bCQgjFWA#t=19[/youtube]
We got back from the 500 Miles expedition and mother nature had one more treat in mind. For years Matt has wanted to fly out to the Pioneer cabin and top land, spend the night, then fly home the next day. As the more stable fall days came to the Wood River Valley a perfect couple days appeared and we gave it a try. This video was recently released as the GoPro video of the day and got nearly 40,000 views in 24 hours. Pretty damn cool, and easily one of the best flying experiences I have had.
[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/74426637[/vimeo]
Riding Polynesia
I returned to Europe for the 3rd time in a year to practice a bit of acro and wander around the incredible Coupe Icare flying festival for a few days in France, then did a major haul to the other side of the world in French Polynesia to take over the boat for a trip around the Leeward Society islands of Raiatea, Tahaa and Huahine for a tiny bit of flying, and a good bit of kiting, diving, surfing and plenty of poker!
Taking a break from kiting
Gavin, Matt, and Benny enjoying a little slice of paradise
And finally, Jody and I headed to Patagonia, Chile just before Christmas to once again run the boat for a trip, this time with some of the boys from Patagonia (the company). Fletcher Chouinard, Jason McCaffrey, Tim Davis, Reo Stevens and Jason Slezak. We sailed, kited, surfed, and oggled snow capped peaks that run to the sea.
There’s only one way to describe this year. Ridiculous. I couldn’t be more thankful. And I can’t imagine what’s next.
Fjords of Chile
Confessions of an XC Hound- Cross Country Feature
This summer I flew what we thought was a North American Record, but turns out it was a world record for a foot launch off a mountain. 240 miles from Bald Mountain, Sun Valley to Canyon Ferry Lake, Montana across the Continental Divide. Here is the story of the road that led to how it all went down.
500 Miles to Nowhere goes LIVE on Outside Television!
Well it has finally arrived! After much anticipation, the Cloudbase Collective’s first masterpiece “500 Miles to Nowhere” is live on Outside Television’s website and their syndicate partners as well as playing on their national cable channel program “Outside Today”. Watch and dream!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn9bCQgjFWA[/youtube]
The Higher You Get makes the GoPro video of the Day!
The Higher You Get, The Higher You Get
Matt Beechinor soaring the Pioneers
I’ve been really fortunate in the last couple decades to explore many of the farthest corners of the globe. 13 straight years of sailing, chasing wind and waves on a series of kitesurfing expeditions (www.offshoreodysseys.com), which included nearly two full circumnavigations and the last couple years paragliding all over the Alps, South America, Central America, Africa and the Himalayas. Just like surfers chase swell, pilots chase seasons and weather. Reggie Crist, an Olympic skier and friend of mine who lives here in Sun Valley who I used to ski race with is even making a movie about how athletes are like migratory animals, hopping on planes or jumping in cars chasing what they “need“; be it adrenaline, or escape, or just pure fun. Animals of course are just seeking food and shelter, which is of course all we really need as well. But for some people this other “need” is as urgent as the next hit is for a junky. Without it we find life marginalized, gray and drab.
Nick Greece, Nate Scales, Matt Beechinor and I got home from the 500 miles to Nowhere expedition
after chasing weather at a ridiculous pace, driving up and down the Wasatch Range in Utah and Wyoming running from the unseasonal monsoonal weather. The chase wasn’t fruitless, we got some great flying but the vol biv trip we had planned never materialized. Instead of launching, flying, camping and then carrying on the next day we were launching (sometimes), landing and sprinting by truck to a place that might have survivable weather. It was not a simple flying trip. We had a film crew chasing us, we had a contract with OutsideTV to get the goods. It was fun, but it was intense, and none of us got to really scratch our incessant flying itch. Once we got the filming done it was time to go home. Time to get back to work. Time to dream and plan the next trip.
Gavin lands a few feet from the Pioneer Hut at sunset
We got home to Sun Valley exhausted but in good spirits. Cool fall nights and shorter days had already set in, the Aspens were already going golden, the tourists had left town. In my opinion Sun Valley has the best big air flying on Earth. A number of recent distance records, including my own world mountain record this summer of 240 miles confirms this opinion, but what we don’t often get to do is fly here in the absence of fear. Flying in Sun Valley is usually a pretty full-on affair. Crazy strong thermals and nail biting wind. It’s always kind of an edge-of-your-seat experience, or in this case- edge of your harness experience. But in the fall we often get days with very little wind and everything, including the thermals have mellowed out. We can’t go huge distances as the days are shorter, but we can experience some stunning flying.
Matt (aka “Farmer”) has had a dream for many years to launch in town, fly out to the Pioneers, our closest range of radical mountains (about 15 miles as the crow flies) and top land at the Pioneer Cabin, which was built in 1937 and spend the night. The icing on the cake would be to launch the next day near the cabin and fly home. A proper bivvy trip in maximum style, but a very tall order, one he’d tried before but never pulled off. I had never even seen the Pioneer cabin, and I couldn’t imagine flying around in the Pioneers. They are huge mountains and usually they are something we like to go over the top of with plenty of height. Not a place to hang around. But a day arrived that looked like perfect conditions to make the attempt.
Packing up, about 20 seconds from the cabin with the Pio’s in the distance
Nate, Matt and another local pilot named Donnie and I met at Sun Peak at 3 pm, right across the street from the historic Sun Valley lodge. We were up at launch an hour later, legs and lungs burning but we were all smiles- the conditions looked perfect. In no time we were all off the hill and heading up the ridge towards Otto Peak, at the top of trail creek. Cloudbase was nearly 15,000 feet and there was almost no wind. The thermals were gentle, the sky more clear and blue than I’d ever seen in the Wood River Valley. After a horrific fire season and being evacuated from our home just a few weeks earlier, I couldn’t believe everything now could be so pristine. The flying was ridiculous. The light was perfect and just getting better and better.
We made the jump from Ottos, at the south end of the Boulder range over to the Pioneers and eventually all grouped up and flew right down the range. I discovered Matt had a GoPro with him and we spiraled down, deep into the range, tight into the terrain, something that would be suicidal in summer. We must have flown 40 kilometers out and back and then back out from one end to the other. Donnie and Nate decided to fly back to town after a flight that both would later describe as one of the best they’d ever had and Matt and I carried on until sunset, wondering if someone had snuck some acid into our lunch. This just wasn’t possible. Don’t trust me? Watch this:
[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/74426637[/vimeo]
We landed about 50 feet away from the Pioneer cabin at 9500 feet. After laughing, and hugging, and laughing some more we watched the sun fade over the horizon, packed up and moved into the cabin. Dinner, star gazing, a lot more laughing and a lot of discussion about this shared addiction of flight. And the irony of how we spend so much time and money and effort chasing what we love around the world and the best there is is right here in our own backyard. I’ve traveled and moved more than I’ve stayed put in my 41 years on this very cool planet we call home. Adding my own considerable carbon footprint to the abundance that we humans are doing our best to destroy. Maybe it’s time to slow down, to enjoy the horizon that is right here every day.
The next day we fired up the stove, had a coffee and walked no more than 5 minutes to a slope above the cabin and launched, hoping we could find a place to land in the canyon below us which we couldn’t see. But the sun was already baking the east-facing slopes and as we pilots like to say, “it was ON.” We circled like birds up and up to 12,000 feet and pointed our wings home. A place I think I’ll stay awhile.
500 Miles to Nowhere
Matt Beechinor (Farmer) soars Hurricane Ridge
Some of you probably followed the Sierra Safari, our bivvy flying expedition from the southern end of the Sierras to Lakeview, Oregon last year. We got some of the team back together this year, but amended the personnel a bit, opting for less people who all have a similar approach to big distance flying. We were four pilots in total: Nick Greece, myself, Nate Scales and Matt Beechinor; each of whom have held the foot launch record in North America for some period over the last 13 months, all but Nick’s set from Bald Mountain, Sun Valley. The route chosen was once again an incredibly aesthetic line of about 500 miles, and we’d learn quite a bit more technical and difficult than what we did in the Sierras, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Nick, Gavin and Matt soar outside Zion. Photo Jody MacDonald
The plan was to start at Hurricane Ridge, south of Cedar City, Utah and follow the Wasatch range north, across Star Valley to Jackson Hole. The route would be magnificent if we could pull it off. Skirting Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon; flying over some of the most impressive and committing ranges in North America; camping thousands of feet over the city lights of Salt Lake… We felt confident that with good weather we could pull it off.
We began as always months before the start and the big decision we had to make was not on what gear to bring; to have a chase vehicle or not; or how to modify our kit from the lessons of the Sierra trip; but on whether or not to just do it sans sponsorship and fund the expedition out-of-pocket or to take on sponsors which helps with costs but also radically increases the work load- and can often change the trip entirely.
Not an easy decision. One I’ve made many times in the past, but still it doesn’t get any easier. There is no doubt that the decision we made did effect the trip, although in my humble opinion while it seriously increased the work load it didn’t detract from the flying. But I know this opinion probably isn’t shared with everyone on the team.
Mike Jones, Prepping for the day’s shoot
A few weeks before we set off we landed a deal with Outside TV to shoot a short piece about the expedition. This put us into serious scramble mode. With a TV deal, we could get more sponsors. And this would no longer be a strap on some GoPro cameras and do some filming and hope for the best. We needed a proper crew. Nick and I hit the pavement hard, beginning with the OR show in Salt Lake. Pretty soon we had some awesome companies lined up to help the mission come to life. Niviuk, Black Diamond Equipment, GoPro, Patagonia, KAVU, KEEN, Goal Zero, Pocketfuel, Klymit, Sharkies, First Ascent, Cayman Jack, and Beyond Coastal. Then I contacted my good friend Mike Jones, who is one of the best DP’s (Director of Photography) in the business. He’d just wrapped a shoot with Travis Rice in Jackson for Toyota and was available, and the dude is like a gazelle with a RED camera- there isn’t anyone better in remote environments with serious gear. His friend Jeremy Cannon was shooting a big Hollywood feature, but he’d prefer to roam around in the desert with a 35 pound RED camera and his skateboard (dude is TALENTED!) as well, and suddenly we didn’t just have a crew, we had cameras and talent that paragliding has never seen. For a long time I’ve thought that no one has ever captured what it’s like to go deep, to fly big committing lines. If we could capture this on film, we could share why it is we like to go high.
Gavin preps equipment for the millionth time, day one
Just as we were walking out the door, after a number of false starts that first the weather caused, and then the realization that my truck wasn’t nearly large enough to hold all the kit, which transpired in a midnight construction of a huge box on the roof before heading south from Sun Valley Gerry Moffatt, our roommate and production expert said a few words that for me at least, changed everything. “Gavin, remember you’re going to shoot a film, you’re not going on a flying trip.” In the biz they call it “getting it in the can”. We had a job to do. Ideally, the two things were not mutually exclusive. Time would tell.
The US version of the “Niviuk Mobile” finds some trouble
The team convened in Salt Lake and the mad dash was truly on. A visit to Black Diamond / Bill Belcourts to get our bivvy sacs and walking poles and a mountain of gear we’d shipped there from Amazon- a pile of GoPro Cameras, mounts, shoes. Off to the store to fill the cooler with food. REI for last-minute gear. And then what would become the theme of the trip- DRIVE. And drive some more.
Lights, Camera, …ACTION! Jody MacDonald Photo
We posted up at the very cool Summit Mountain Lodge and Resort for night #1 outside of Cedar City and hit the road again the next morning for Hurricane Ridge, where we were joined by Uncle Tony who would graciously make himself our driving slave for the next two days. And that’s when the “plan” went to hell.
For the next 8 days the entire crew got very, very little sleep. We put nearly 3,000 miles on the truck and we chased it old school style. And by that I mean we did what paragliders normally do- chase the good weather. Instead of flying the route in a sexy line of linked flights with our very slimmed down kits and bivvying every night we ran from weather and hid in motels. The monsoon was too big, and too fast, driving in with force from the south. We couldn’t outrun it even on the ground, and trust me- we gave it our very best. We had some nice flights, but none of them of a required distance to get to nicer weather up north. In every sense of the word we were having an adventure, it just wasn’t the one we thought we would have. Yvon Chouinard famously said “It’s not an Adventure until something goes wrong.” Well we were having ours! But the mood of the trip couldn’t have been better. We were all having a blast and we did eventually make it to Jackson Hole, but unfortunately not under wing. I for one had never even flown Jackson, and we arrived on a perfect day. Nate Scales, who’s been flying for over 20 years and has flown Jackson many times had never flown to the Grand and back and I knew that if the filming got in the way that day, he’d happily just escape the circus and punch it out.
Nate in the foreground, Gavin over the peak. Photo Jody MacDonald
Meanwhile though, the shooting was going way better than planned. The two RED cameras had been humming nearly non-stop. Mike and Jeremy never stopped working and their endless fire kept us motivated to keep chasing. Personally even though were weren’t getting what we came to get, it was still exactly where I wanted to be. To have an opportunity to fly with these guys, to see how a proper shoot takes place, to wander through such amazing country…everything was just fine by me.
Farmer and Mike prep for launch with the RED. Oxygen ready.
Our flight in Jackson was frustrating and phenomenal at the same time. Both Mike and Jody would be going up tandem so they could shoot from the sky. We made a plan that the rest of us, on much sportier wings would do everything we could to help the tandems get up. Mark the thermals, then get out of the way and stay below. But with the RED camera adding 35 pounds Farmer’s already heavy load he couldn’t make the climbs for the planned flight out to the Grand and back, something that had never been shot. Jody’s pilot, Josh Riggs had a little more luck as she’s lighter and her gear weighs less, but eventually Josh got pretty tired of working so hard and our shooters were on the deck. Nate decided the flying was more important than the shooting and headed off, and I followed shortly after. He was right- imagine soaring up the west side of Grand Teton, waving at the climbers on top, and returning to land in the village with plenty of height for some fun acro. A day to remember!
The next day the rain caught up to us yet again and the mood took a big swing to negative. Nate decided he’d had enough and needed to return to Sun Valley to get back to work. Jeremy needed to get back to LA to his movie shoot. Our team was taking some hits. But Jody, Nick, Farmer, Mike and I were still on board. The adventure hadn’t quite run it’s course. Our first days down at Hurricane hadn’t worked out and Zion was beckoning. Jody and Mike, with their love for the lens and getting the shot were keen to give it another try, and none of us really wanted to go home, so we jumped back in the truck and drove right back to where it all started.
And then we nailed it.
Nick on launch
Nick banks towards the Heli
That helicopter you see there has Jody, Jeremy and Mike hanging out of it. They shot this scene of the perfect glass off at Hurricane ridge at sunset on the last day of the shoot. The piece will air in mid October on Outside Television. Stay tuned! Thanks so much to the sponsors and everyone who supported us on the expedition. We’re already planning the next!
Flying the Apocalypse
Gavin McClurg soars the bowls on Baldy as the fires break out
The Firest Commence
Panorama of the fires off the top of Baldy
Matt Beechinor. Mad Skills
Incredible night of flying
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Flying the Apocalypse on the Niviuk F-Gravity
Nate gets out his brand new Peak 3
Radical
On the 8th of August a little lightning caused fire took off near Beaver Creek, sw of Hailey just a few miles; and just north of two much larger fires that had already torn through over 200,000 acres of scrub and pine forests. At that stage there were just over 100 crew on the Beaver Creek fire and the TFR (temporary flight restriction) was just inside our launch on Baldy, so we headed up the hill for what would end up being one of the last flying days of August. Of course the rest you all probably know- the Beaver Creek fire was upgraded to the nation’s top priority. It quickly grew into a fire nightmare, eventually nearly 2,000 fire fighters from around the country and dizzying number of aircraft descended on our little valley to try to save it. Jody and I and over 2500 others were evacuated on the 16th. Most people have been allowed to return home, but a few areas, including ours are still on mandatory evacuation, but the fire, now at over 110,000 acres is nearly 100% contained.
It was one of the most memorable soaring sessions I’ve ever had. Nate got to take his new Niviuk Peak 3 for a spin, I got to deepen my love affair for my new F-Gravity, and most of the flying crew in Sun Valley got to fly the bowls, something that happens very rarely. Many thanks to Chuck Smith for grabbing these shots!