On this 3 week solo trip to the state of Himachal Pradesh, India I focused on high altitude mountain flying. Bringing nothing but my Paraglider and camping equipment, I set off to learn and explore these amazing mountains. This was one of the best flights of the trip where I was pushing to complete a 100 mile triangle. (Which I missed by 8km)
The mornings start early in Bir and the first move is an aggressive "Over the back" jump into the big mountains. A mistake back there could be very serious and take multiple days to walk out of...Then after some big scary flying and once you tag 25km behind launch deep in the "5000 meter or 16,000-17,000 foot" peaks you make like a tree and leaf the high terrain and head toward Dharmashala (The home of the Dhali Lama) for your 2nd turn point...fighting low cloud base, I lost some time after turn point 2. Passing back over launch I got to the "Mandi Ridge" a little late. However with good sun I was able to make some time up and fly fast on the last leg. Coming into Bir just after 5pm with no more thermals in the low terrain, I landed 2 Kms short of the Bir LZ, but directly at the base of the mountain we start on closing my biggest FAI-Triangle to date. It was a great day in the air and I learned a lot by going back and watching some footage and reviewing the line. Next time we go bigger, fly faster, and always safer!
Good Lines -EG
1 авг 2024
