Episode 148: Red Bull X-Alps 2021, Gavin answers your questions!

July 15, 2021 by Gavin McClurg

This year’s Red Bull X-Alps, if you could put it in a word- scary. We didn’t have a single “standard” day of flying with light wind, nice cumulus, and good base, unless you count the Prologue! We had incredible heat the first three days, low base, wind and stable conditions, then the thunderstorms started, strong Fohn from the South and North, window-breaking hail, severe lightning and really, really strong wind for the remainder of the race. Every athlete I spoke with at the awards at the end had a look of just going to battle. For the first time in my four races, the bad weather got everyone, regardless of where you were on the course, and it didn’t let up. There were times when all 12 pairs of my shoes were soaked. After a good showing in the Prologue and going into the race pretty beat up from a crash at the end of May, and carrying the remainder of a flu into the race, which later turned into some kind of pneumonia (we’re not sure, but it was ugly!) and having a terrifically bad start, Team USA 1 started clawing back.

Episode 141- Robbie Whittall- Creating Connections and Changing Perceptions

March 26, 2021 by Gavin McClurg

Where do you start with Robbie Whittall? He’s one of only three…

Episode 135 – Tim Pentreath and Vol Biv

January 1, 2021 by Gavin McClurg

Tim Pentreath has been flying paragliders for over 30 years. The new frontier for Tim’s flying the last few years has been multi-day bivvy trips in the Alps and this episode is dedicated to that art form in flying. The gear; the skills; setting appropriate objectives; how to prepare; where to go on your first bivvy; how to keep it simple; what you need to know; comfort vs going light; food tips; safety tips; what to know before you go; weather resources; where to camp; tips for flying near wind turbines, communication tips and team tracking, when to go; and a lot more.

Episode 116- Chasing Hang Gliding for 47 years with Charlie Baughman

April 9, 2020 by Gavin McClurg

Charlie Baughman has been flying hang gliders since 1973. That’s 47 years…and he’s still going strong. In 2011 at the age of 64 Charlie broke the Oregon state record (which still holds) when he flew 218 miles into Idaho, and then did a very styly self retrieve. We have it on good authority that Charlie was the first person in North American to figure out how to thermal, and possibly the world. Charlie started sky diving in the 60’s at the age of 22, then began hang gliding on Lookout Mountain in Colorado when the very first hang gliders were built.

Bonus Episode! Weather Series Episode 1 with Emi Carvalho

February 26, 2020 by Gavin McClurg

This is the first of three shows in a bonus series for our subscribers dedicated to building an understanding of the weather and forecasting. Emi Carvalho studied physics in school, but it wasn’t until he began paragliding that applied physics interested him. He talks about the basics of weather, focusing on island weather and the possibilities inherent in an island with mountains over 2,000m. Emi talks about where he turns to first for weather (Windy and any local knowledge), and what he usually looks for (wind intensity, direction, and temps at different altitudes.).

Episode 108- Deniz Burnham and flying EVERYTHING

December 26, 2019 by Gavin McClurg

Deniz Burnham is an Alaskan resident who just happens to RUN an oil rig. Not work on an oil rig, she runs the show. She’s the only female on the rig and has worked in some of the most remote places on Earth, which would be more than enough to fill an entire podcast on its own, but this is a free-flight podcast so we reached out to Deniz to talk about her rather adventurous relationship with free flight and her passion for flying just about everything that flies. Deniz pilots seaplanes, helicopters, paramotors, hang gliders, paragliders, sailplanes and from time to time- jumps out of them (or walks on them!)!

Episode 107- Larry Bunner, the X-Flight and flying in the moment

December 11, 2019 by Gavin McClurg

We’ve had a LOT of amazing talks on the Mayhem over the past bunch of years but this one is in a category of its own. Last summer Larry Bunner and three other very experienced Hang Gliding pilots (Glen Volk, Robin Hamilton, and Pete Lehmann) flew from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border in a series of tow and mountain launch flights over 21 days (1884 miles) and 11 States. This is their story…and a LOT more.

Episode 106- Your Questions answered (Bruce Goldsmith, Max Jeanpierre, Reavis Sutphin-Gray…)

November 28, 2019 by Gavin McClurg

This is another Ask Me Anything show that we typically release as bonus content but we got so many great questions that cover such a wide range of topics we’ve decided to release it as a regular show and for this one I went out to the experts to get the answers. Max Jeanpierre, Bruce Goldsmith, and Reavis Sutphin-Gray take on a wide range of questions, and their answers are gold. Enjoy!

Episode 105- Tyler G and the critical Phases of Flight

November 15, 2019 by Gavin McClurg

Tyler G is on the board of the Canadian Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association and he’s taken on trying to solve a tough problem in our sport right now: To create a syllabus and model for learning to speed fly safely. Speed flying, especially in North America is still totally cowboy and there’s a vacuum for information. And it’s taking its toll. Accidents, often serious are plentiful and the YouTube culture is driving the desire for the thrill but pilots are skipping the necessary steps.

Episode 104- Maxime Bellemin and Performance and Preparation

November 1, 2019 by Gavin McClurg

Maxime Bellemin is a name all veteran competition pilots know well. Not just because of his decades of experience and multiple wins at the national and international level but because of his performance coaching with the French team and his two incredible books dedicated to flying “Performance Paragliding.”