" Paragliding may be one of the most environmentally sensitive mountain sports around," says Chris Davenport, organizer of the inaugural Red Bull Wings Over Aspen paragliding and hang-gliding competition, and the 1996 World Extreme Skiing Champion. "No engines, no chairlifts, no snowmaking, no trailers, no stadiums, no arenas, no special playing fields--just mountains, that's it."
Aspen hosted the U.S. National Paragliding Championships in 1992 and 1993, and this past July an international field of 50 pilots competed for $23,000 in prize money from Red Bull Energy Drink at Wings Over Aspen.
Launching from the Aspen Mountain ski area, 50 of the world's best paraglider and hang glider pilots stood out against the blue sky and snowcapped peaks of Colorado's dramatic Elk Mountain Range, suspended by the colorful canopies of their craft, as two bodies suddenly plummeted from a pair of the aircraft. Free-falling almost 2000 feet, top U.S. BASE-jumper Frank Gambalie and Ueli "the Sputnik" Gegenschutz waited until the last second to pull their parachute ripcords, then floated gracefully down into Aspen.
Paraglider pilots casually suspend themselves in mid-air, thousands of feet above the ground, combining the addiction of an adrenaline junkie with the wind dynamics of a bird. The sport's growth is "through the roof," according to one retailer, and after experiencing a tandem flight with an instructor, this reporter can attest to the incredible rush and surprising serenity one finds up there.
The sport is growing by leaps and bounds, with tremendous equipment advances over the past two years. "The technology is so good now, it's almost idiot-proof," said an instructor from Aspen Paragliding. There's 100,000 paraglider pilots in Europe, and a World Cup tour circuit with an enormous following. In the U.S. there's currently 3,000 pilots and counting.
Paraglider pilots claim the sport is easy to learn. The primary skill is knowing when to fly and when not to. Women can fly as easily as men, children as easily as adults. After four days of instruction, most learners are ready for their first solo flight. One newcomer to paragliding is Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz, who recently took his first lesson.
The main paragliding competition at Red Bull Wings Over Aspen was a cross-country event where pilots launched from the top of Aspen Mountain and used wind currents and thermal updrafts to navigate a course which was announced just moments before the race. Strategy is somewhat akin to sailboat racing. Races covered 30 to 70 miles, in two to five hours, with pilots taking photos of landmarks along the way to prove they were on-course. "Aspen is world-renowned for technical high-altitude mountain flying," said Davenport.
He continued, "In Aspen we strive to maintain the image of an environment friendly sport. It's a tough act to follow, as Aspen itself recently won a coveted Golden Eagle award for Overall Environmental Excellence. Yet we have succeeded by strengthening our relationship with the local environmental group--the Aspen Chamber for Environmental Studies (ACES)-- to a level where they let us land our paragliders in one of Aspen's most pristine nature preserves."
Davenport, the 1996 World Extreme Skiing Champion and Aspen Ski Company Ambassador, said paragliding parallels skiing due to the sense of freedom: "In skiing, one of my most rewarding sensations is leaping off a cliff, descending through the air in control. Paragliding takes that to a whole new level--you're not just trying to fly, you're really flying. As a mountain sports specialist I'm all about gravity. Whether I'm using it to rocket down a steep alpine face or resisting it climbing 2000 feet per minute in a thermal, it is always a powerful sensation."
Winning pilots who maximized that powerful sensation to take the major share of the $23,000 prize money were Andy Hediger and Mickey Steinbach, both of Switzerland, who took home $4,000 and $3,000, respectively, as the first and second-place finishers in the cross-country event. Claire Bernier of France won the women's division, while 22-year-old local favorite Othar Lawrence, the 1997 U.S. National Champion, finished seventh among the men. "I feel like I could have placed higher, but given the caliber of pilots involved I'm still happy with top-ten," he said, adding that he looked forward to the opportunity for improvement next year.
Davenport finished 25th of 48 overall, and it was his first paragliding competition. "By going into it with an open mind and a non-competitive attitude, I opened myself up to all sorts of insight and hints from the seasoned competition pilots," he recalled. "As the day's course would be called each morning, I'd gather around the top pilots as they freely discussed route options and strategy. This rarely goes on in the ultra-competitive Paragliding World Cup circuit, yet the atmosphere in Aspen was friendly and relaxed."
On the course, he said he was frequently trailing just behind some of the world's top pilots, and was able to observe and consider their techniques and decisions. "Flying cross country over my home town with fifty other gliders filling the sky around me was an unforgettable sensation," he said.
After a week of competition, during which only three courses, or "tasks," were completed due to high winds, Davenport was "elated to have flown three strong tasks without major errors or accidents, and my confidence soared." He used this newly found wisdom to strengthen his skills, and one month later he won the sport class at the North American Summer Paragliding Championships. |
