McGinnis Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 I'm all about making the best out of a good hike or climb up a mountain or ridge but have a personal vendetta against taking the same route back down. Yes, I'm lazy. Has anyone tried speed flying down a mountain after climbing it? I've done some research into it and it seems like carrying a 5 lb "paraglider" that would allow you to actually fly back to the bottom seems like well worth it! Apparently skiing down is an option as well. From what I found, a company in Portland called The Flystyle sells these. Might have to check them out and see what they have. Anyone done this? What was your experience? Quote
cbcbd Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 Haven't tried, but you could try to get in touch with this guy: Last winter when skiing Colchuck glacier we saw a dude who speedflew from near the top of the glacier to the lake. Looked very cool! Quote
summitchaserCJB Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 sounds so dangerous. but strangely interesting. Quote
ivan Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 little less margin for error than walking off would imagine you'd want to focus on the BASE part first before you try mixing in climbing... Quote
AlpineK Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 I'm thinking a 5 lbs paraglider might not last too long. Try 25 lbs for a high end light weight one. Paragliders Quote
G-spotter Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 You can probably fly down pretty fast with one but you might not get up afterwards Quote
summitchaserCJB Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 You can probably fly down pretty fast with one but you might not get up afterwards Ya that was what I was afraid would happen .. Quote
McGinnis Posted October 25, 2010 Author Posted October 25, 2010 So it doesn't sound like anyone else has done this? These aren't actually paragliders. They're speed flying wings. Feck/G-Spotter- These speed wing systems are much, smaller ranging from 18 to 8 sq meters. So yes, with harness and wing they weight around 2 kilos. http://www.speed-flying.com/gin-yak Ivan-It's not BASE jumping, from the videos I've seen most of them run off. I'll probably call these guys tomorrow and see what they have. This sounds like too much fun to pass. Quote
ColinB Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 There was a great article in one of the AAJs (I'll look up what year) where a team up in the Alaska range used lightweight paragliders to get down to their base camp after a FA. It can be iffy what with wind conditions, but it seems like one hell of a lot of fun regardless. Quote
rocketparrotlet Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 When I summitted Mt. Baring, that was the first thing on my mind. MAN it would be sweet to fly off that mountain! Quote
billcoe Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 Let us know what the upshot of the deal is will you? Looks sweet! (Scary too:-) Quote
G-spotter Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 You might notice in all those speedflying videos, the complete absence of TREES. Now take a look outside your window at the PNW and tell me what you see. Quote
Water Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 just an uneducated guess, but i am thinking this is something you slowly, slowly, slowly build up to. If you decide to buy it off online or just stop in a store to buy it and go to the top of any of the 'mountains or ridges' here and decide to 'fly' or speedfly or whatever it is, you will probably die or be seriously injured in short order. Have you done any sky diving? I imagine there are a plethora of factors involved that would be hard to anticipate from any text book or youtube instruction. The same way people can read water on a river or snow on a slope, there is expertise in all the details. I think like BASE jumping, or anything where you are really upping the ante with your life, you need to find a mentor or go through some professional teaching. A first 'speedflying' would probably be on a sunny day off of a 100 foot grassy hill with a mile of farm field in front of it.. but hey, maybe it's one of those things you can just wing! Quote
McGinnis Posted October 25, 2010 Author Posted October 25, 2010 Watch 00:31-00:52. Seems that trees aren't a huge issue, fly over them or through them! Just got off the phone with Daniel at Flystyle. They sell an assortment of speed flying and paragliding equipment. Apparently just got some special winch in where they can tow you up to a mile high. Hopefully the weather clears up next weekend, they're going to take me out for my first lesson!! They have a group rate if there aren't some more people who want to give it a try with me. $175/day with the group rate and if you buy a wing system after level one they discount the lesson off of the price. I think my girlfriend might disagree on the awesomeness of this Quote
McGinnis Posted October 25, 2010 Author Posted October 25, 2010 Here's the link to the Portland company if anyone is interested. http://theflystyle.com/ Quote
G-spotter Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 Hey McGinnis, just got off the phone with Joe at Hormel. They have this awesome new "meat" you can try. Sure is great for climbing! Quote
summitchaserCJB Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 So I take it that skis a normally employed with this set-up? Guess that rules out the people without AT setups. Quote
McGinnis Posted October 25, 2010 Author Posted October 25, 2010 I ate a lot of spam when I lived in Alaska. Goes well with pilot bread! Quote
ivan Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 [video:youtube] amazing shit - at least i can do that when i'm asleep Quote
glassgowkiss Posted October 25, 2010 Posted October 25, 2010 [video:vimeo] This looks good, but fricking scary. BTW in 2009 there were 9 deaths. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.