Arturo on the way back from Potatoe hill

Once again, we woke up early and droveto potatoe. I had A pro design wing in the trunk that wanted to try... Did not like it ... But we had 2 flights and th second one was good. Despite a half collapse very well recovered :-) Nothing to worry ma'am.

After work flight

Yesterday, after a long day at work, started very early. I needed to empty my head. Nothing better than a 1H flight at the dump. After I landed, I shot this video including a pilot I was flying with (no idea who that was) and Hussein, who took off just before I landed. You can also see couple of radio guided planes making acrobatics between the paragliders... Fun and beautiful scenery. Music from the Beautiful South: Perfect 10.

Another day at Potatoe Hill

We tried a new way today : leaving in the morning abd back in the afternoon..
Here is the whole team before take off.


Arturo(Chile), Arnel(Philippines), Shaun(USA), Mike(USA), Erik(Norway) and in the front Dave(USA) and Shiggy(Japan). That was a great day today. The conditions at Potato are becoming more shallow but are still very strong. {probably it will be better and better as the autumn comes. We left at 6am this morning, On site at 9h30. Take off at 11h00 and return in SF at 6pm. Certainly a good formula for thermal flights during one day.


Here is after 1 or 2 flights depending on the pilot :-)

In the back, you can see the take off of Potato Hill.

Shaun was the star of the day.

I took the decision to renew my equipment. I am going to look for another wing and harness. I have now been flying with this one for a while. Time to change. If you are interested to get an Epsilon 4 Advance and a comfortable Airbulle harness with Full Airbag, let me know ... (yes, this is an ad).

Two nice pictures taken by Dave in Hat Creek

It is quite rare to get pictures from the front in paragliding. Fortunately Dave had his camera with him when flying.


This one is the same picture but centered ...

Sonoma wing days: Thermaling at Potatoe Hill

What a great weekend ! Friday was bit hectic to finalize the work of the week, get some laundry done to have some underwear for the weekend and pull myself together after paying the taxes (who said that taxes were lower in US than in Europe ? Not in California Kof Kof ! :-)
So Christophe and I decided that we would leave very early Saturday morning to head to Potato Hill (2h45 north from SF) Timing as exactly right : We met Craig who left the day before to enjoy a quite night of sleep (it would have be if he had not chosen the camp ground with the hunter and their very numerous and noisy dogs :-(

Here we are, the three of us, listening to the briefing for the competition of the annual Sonoma wing event. Mixed paragliders and handgliders... But the conditions are strong so we head to the takeoff as soon as we can. Craig did a real good flight. Both Christophe and I confess that we were not too relax on that 1st day. But there goes the first day in spending the afternoon in the lake and at the great BBQ organized after the competition. We are then back in the campground (another one, with no dog, and very hunter)

We have our comfort :



In the morning, we need a good breakfast and this is the great thing to travel with Craig : he is the best organised camper I know.




The team work to make that omelet was pure art !




Day 2 of flying was much better for Christophe and me. We were getting the rhythm. But as I have been posting way too much paragliding pictures, here are some different views of our activities in the afternoon. Isn't that a great place ?

The method is simple:

1 : test the water:



2 investigate that there are no danger in the neighborhood




3: relax and enjoy even if it is pretty chilly.




On the way back, we decided to take the long way down, back to SF.



The full team


Thanks to the the two twins for the great time, great flying and great plans for the next weekends to come....

Cecile had to do better ...

But Cecile could not let that go ! Higher, better, stronger, She just walked to the path, took her shoes off and started to climb the mountain to follow her companion : Go Cecile ! GO!

Laurent in Yosemite ... attenzione ..attenzione

When the world class rock climber Laurent decided to come to the US for his summer tour, his intention were clear : Only the hardest rocks. Once again, he has kept his promises, delivering amazing picture opportunities to the audience.