Episode 189- Flying the Himalaya with Debu Choudhury

February 24, 2023 by Gavin McClurg

Debu Choudhury hails from the small village of Manali, India, a gateway to Ladakh and the infamous Karakoram pass. Pilots the world over know the region because of nearby Bir, one of the most reliable big-mountain flying sites in the world. Debu began flying there 29 years ago and chases it just as hard today as he ever has. In the world of paragliding he’s done and continues to do it all. Acro, high-level comps, tandems, guiding, instruction, vol biv and flying huge lines in the Himalaya.

Episode 39- Antoine Laurens and a Lifetime of Life Lessons

April 12, 2017 by Gavin McClurg

Antoine Laurens began flying in 1992 when he was just seventeen years old. He’s lived a life of adventure and flying has been a way of life for the last two and half decades. One of the world’s great vol-biv pilots Antoine crossed over a 1,000 km route of the Himalayas (the film trailer of the “Himalayan Odyssey” can be seen here) and was part of the small team I joined in 2012 when we flew from the south end of the Sierra range to the Oregon border. Antoine has done some of the longest, most wild vol-biv trips that have ever been accomplished.

Surfing the Sierras in Sidetracked Magazine

November 13, 2015 by Gavin McClurg

I’m really digging Sidetracked Magazine, an image-heavy publication dedicated to adventure. True Adventure. Our vol-biv expedition up the Sierra range in 2012 was certainly the epitome of epic. We began with 6 people and 18 days later at the Oregon border we ended with 3. All of it was shot by Jody MacDonald. It was my first experience with vol biv and frankly I was scared shitless to do a trip with so many legends. Here is our story.