Practice Makes Perfect

Me and Brian throwin down.
Yes this is a girl power page but I have been watching Brian throw down ever since I learned to fly. He has sweet style and I have thought many times to myself that when I grow up I want style like him. He has provided great friendship and lots of encourgament on my quest to throw down. I'm still learning and need practice practice practice. Only way I'm going to own it :)
Enjoy!

Video quality

Um...tried several things to improve the quality of Syd's video with no luck. The version I have at home is crystal clear. If I can ever get the file to a DVD burner I will make copies for the family.
Fun times.

Sydney

Sydney will be coming out again this year in August for practicing and competing in Park City. The camera will be rolling... Your awesome Syd, can't wait to see you!

Tow Fever...

Wow. I went towing today and had four dang exciting tows. No video of today. Chris called our group sketchy because we were all learning new maneuvers. I thought our group was awesome. We were sketchy but...

I worked on a few spirals and wingovers first tow. Second tow I did stalls, spins and some better wingovers. Tow three and four I worked on SATs. Some went well but I had moments of self-doubt and pausing. So those didn't go so well.

This is really a mind over matter, mind over mind, mind over water adventure. It is always interesting to look back at the moments I hesitated and today twice when I plum wussed out. Normally I am on -do what Chris says- mode and today was the first time I let my lack of confidence override his voice. I guess I am writing this for the sole purpose of breaking down what mentally happened to me up there. Not a failure by far and it is imperative to look at it this way. For me, working on inner mental strength is a constant battle.

Luckily I have a super fun way to work on this... I love towing. I love flying. I love learning new stuff. There are never really good enough adjectives to describe flying. My coach is super supportive and sometimes I think he might believe in me a little...

I am starting to believe in me a little.

"In America, every female under fifty calls herself a girl"
H. E. Bates

It should be every female under one hundred...

All women have a girl in them, it's just a matter of finding the medium to wake her up.

The Origin of Girls-Can

A couple of years ago while spending Thanksgiving with Justin's dad we were watching paragliding videos, all of men of course, and Josh (dad) commented "women can't do acro." A little side smile showing through, as if in a dare :) My comeback: what about Ann O'Connor? What about Michelle? There are lots of girls who throw down. He says: show me and hands me the computer. Could I find one video on the internet of a girl doing any tricks? No. I looked for three days. I kept telling Justin "girls can do acro" He suggested I just say girls can and be done. The idea grew in my head and my thought was girls can do acro, girls can go XC, girls can do whatever they want, paragliding or anything else. Girls can. Maybe I needed to tell myself that I can. It's not a battle of strength or who's the best or the most talented but it is all about the attitude. The battle is to overcome fears, realize strength, poise, selfless confidence and the right attitude about your life.
If you can overcome your mind you can overcome anything.

My First SAT

I also did some stalls gone wild but they didn't make it onto film... ask me about em. :)

Gift from Justin for my 27th

...sweet tow day. best birthday present.

First XC to the Point

So today I flew from Mt Olympus to the Point of the Mountain which I think is 13 miles. I've only flown Mt Olympus once and got 341' over launch (watch out people) and then landed there and dropped my wing in scrub-oak. Duh. So today the weather was looking great and it worked in my favor. Justin was also flying and he went to the Point for the first time too! Justin started on glide before me from Olympus and I followed about 15 min behind him. Crossing Little Cottonwood a helicoptor passed at eye level in front of me, don't know how far but I could see the pilots. Max lift today for me was 1100f/m and max altitude was 9115 and that was at the B. I don't have accurate max sink cuz I did some asymetric spirals when I got to the point. Here is us at the Point post flight. Words can't really describe...

AAA Sprints

May 2-5 was the second year for the AAA sprints at the Point. This was the first year I signed up and was stoked to see four other women there! One gal didn't stay because the weather looked terrible for the four days and really it was. We got to fly one task one day and that was just kinda last minute- "oh it looks like we are going to get a window, lets go!"

This is Michelle and she is awesome. She is one of the top female pilots in the US and it's cool to have her as a local to watch, not to mention she is just a rad gal to talk to and hang out with. She got to wear some bright yellow speed sleeves that looked rather like a bumble bee for the comp so we all knew who to follow... I'm still not sure her opinion on the sleeve design.

This is Shawna and she is also awesome. I don't know how long she has been flying but she's got skills. Just the other day she took out a Nano for the first time and kited it up the south side and flew down with the softest speed flying landings I've seen. Twice. She hosted the 16 pilots, organizers and speakers in her house at the point which was really generous and comfortable. Shawna- I think the grass looks great. I have this rad pic of Shawna on her motorcycle with Dolly which I will get up soon.

Brian, Certified Wind Technician. U Rock.



Here are the four ladies from the comp (L to R), Michelle, Hieldagard, Me and Shawna. I'm sorry if I spelled your name wrong Hieldagard! (She is another woman who can and does- I don't know her too well but she's out all the time and just got done with some serious world travels) Our yellow helmets were our trophies and the medals were handmade with Utah stones.



Here is the whole group. We had a lot of fun and it was a really neat group of individuals. I love meeting new people, especially paragliders because they just always seem to be so nice and really stoked on flying. This was a super fun event and I am glad I signed up. It sucks we only got to fly one task but I still learned a lot and had fun hanging out. I had no clue how to use my GPS and now I know a titch more than nada. Props to our speakers-Brad, Mark, Shad, Dale and Dave, you guys are awesome. Big props to my fellow lady pilots, gals like you are hard to come by and you all send it on a daily basis. Girls Can.

Life is just beginning...

This is my realization.

I just turned 27.

Ready

Set

Go