The Alaska Traverse took 37 days to complete. Bashing for days through dense alders, slipping on talus and hurtling down glaciers, and living in the dirt for nearly 800 kilometers put our gear through the test. Here’s what worked, what didn’t, and where we went wrong.
Read More...
Bruce Goldsmith has quite possibly more competition flying under his belt than anyone. One of the few pilots who’s won in both Hangliding and Paragliding Bruce began flying comps in the mid 80’s and capped off over 30 years of success by winning the world championships in 2007 in Australia. He’s started or designed for most of the major brands in paragliding (Ozone, Airwave, Advance, etc.) and now heads up Bruce Goldsmith Designs.
Read More...
Dave Turner and I are ready to go on the planned traverse of the entire Alaska Range by paraglider (and probably some walking!). With only two roads dissecting the entire range and not a single village the whole way, we’ll be covering just shy of 500 miles of one of the more remote and inhospitable places on Earth totally unsupported. You can follow along, thanks to our Delorme InReach trackers!
Read More...
The Rockies Traverse is now LIVE on Red Bull TV! If you’re looking for some pretty thrilling (and at time pretty scary!) inspiration settle in for the full Red Bull Media House film, shot and edited by ReelWaterProductions. Grab it on the big screen, the imagery is stunning. Will Gadd and I were awarded the “National Geographic Adventurers of the Year” for the expedition and it remains the longest connected paragliding expedition that has ever been done. Hope you enjoy!
Read More... Questions include how to become a “professional paraglider”, bivvy and expedition tips, how to develop flatland flying skills, the importance of acro skills and ground handling, how to handle emergency situations, how to develop with limited time, how to break through from an “also ran” to a full fledged comp pilot and much more. Hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!
Read More...
Doing it unsupported was appealing, but daunting. There isn’t a single village or store on the entire route- some 480 miles as the crow flies, from the north end of the Lake Clark National Park across the Kichatna spires, Foraker and Denali and on to Highway 1, which marks the end of the Alaska range and the beginning of the Wrangells. I estimated it would take at least 4- 6 weeks to complete the route (based on nothing but pure optimism), and given I can only carry about 5 days of food (due to space and weight), that meant hunting.
Read More...
And then I pounded. My second reserve didn’t have time to deploy, it was laid out right beside me in a unfolded line. I bounced a bit and thankfully the dirt was really soft. My body made a horrible thudding noise but I was certainly alive. I got up slowly and realized with some amazement that I seemed to be unhurt. I called Cody on the radio and said the same. “NO YOU AREN’T OK, that’s the adrenaline, you are definitely not ok, lay back down!” But I was in fact ok. Soreness would kick in as the adrenaline wore off, but I’d done nothing more than bruises. To both my ego and my body.
Read More...
Will Gadd began his flying career in the early 90’s and quickly became one of the most prominent pilots in the world. A Red Bull original gangster, Will is considered one of the best mixed climbers on Earth. He’s a world class whitewater kayaker, mountain guide, speaker, author, journalist, expedition leader and is highly regarded for his views on risk management; maintaining a safety margin; his model of the “positive power of negative thinking”; his studied ability to appropriately assess weather and terrain; and his amazing knack to keep pushing the limits in a unique and pure style.
Read More...
Cody Mittanck set the unofficial Canadian foot launch record (“unofficial” for a very cool reason- listen to find out) last summer, and he’s one of a small handful (if there’s even a handful) of pilots in North America who’s doing the Infinity- as well as everything else. Cody only started flying in 2009 but he’s as hungry as it gets and his progression into the elite ranks of pilots in the world has been astonishing
Read More...
The February issue of Hangliding and Paragliding just got delivered with a feature about my X-Alps experience (the first of a two-part series) which is actually an excerpt from a book about the race that has been delivered to my editor and we hope to have published by April of this year. I hope you enjoy it!
Read More...