Some more details...

First of all, thanks for all the well wishes I got locally and via email from Macedonia to Valadares to New York - I can´t tell you how much it all meant to me - especially when I was not sure what exactly was happening. Will Silva showed up on his red buggy, others offered place to stay, help with phone calls and papers, you name it! Amazing really.

Here are some more details on the accident. The day started really late due to stronger than usual winds and an unusual wind direction. Cloud base was very low - so everyone patiently waited. Finally the competition window opened around 1 pm. I was not in the comp so stayed behind and assisted some launches and just stayed out of the way of the competitors. Finally, after about 50 other gliders were safely on their way I set up for launch. Many pilots had a difficult launch because of the side of the mountain that had to be used - somewhat of a cliff launch. I had a smooth and easy take off waiting it out just enough, built up good altitude easily and had about a dozen gliders join me in the air soon after. Getting about 300 meters over and ending up at the cloudbase it was time to move away and take advantage of some XC possibilities. I was working intermittently light lift with mixed in ridge lift in places and in less than an hour made it with relative ease as far as 17 km and then hit, what likely was, a major sink/rotor. My 600 meters of altitude quickly disappeared as I was going about 4.5 meters per second down. Had to use the speed bar to make it over the crest of a near hill to, what appeared, a safe landing zone.

Somewhere in all the excitement I lost some of the perfect clarity to keep myself safe, and instead of choosing to land on a slope that was clearly clear I decided to fly down to the foot of the hill that appeared to a be a fine, albeit a dry landing spot. Now, I did think that amidst the grass the dry spot may be more likely to release a thermal but choose the option because the place looked open, flat and comfortably away from any obstacles. Mind you, there was the 4.5 m/s second to take into account - I was coming down fast! Just about 50 meters off the ground I noticed power lines rimming the field and was as quickly as I could scanning the field for any lines a farmer could have pulled across the field (not at all an unusual occurrence here). I came in with some minor oscillations at good speed to the field that was lifting and was concentrating on not running out of space if the lift was stronger than expected. Still, knowing the safety of speed on landing in turbulence I kept my hands high but, and, this was critically different than my usual landing approach, stayed in my seat. SO, when the wing lurched forward with just a meter or two remaining off the ground I made the decision to skid in on my butt. Only this was a very bad decision indeed. Sitting back in the harness I could not flair hard and when the tuft of grass revealed a hidden ditch in the middle of my flight path I was completely out of options. My legs missed the edge just so and the bottom of my harness that contained my reclining body came in perfect square contact with very hard and immobile ledge of the ditch. From 30 km/h to 0 in 0 seconds. The pain was immediate and so severe that my wind was knocked out of me for about a minute before I was able to take a breath. Local kids immediately surrounded me, and then may be a minute later 2 other PG pilots where on the scene. Franky and Pedro helped to keep me comfortable, immediately radioed to the mountain with the emergency post there, ambulance was there in 15-20 minutes, local EMTs were professional and quickly gave me pain meds - Xray, and CT scan showed initial trauma and the day later MRI revealed the damage to T6, T7 and T10 but all were stable and I was released from the hospital next day. Marko and Joka kept a close eye on me throughout the stay, staying in my room over night bringing food and generally humoring me thru the whole thing. Marko headed home first with all my gear and Joka joined him next day.

The conditions continued to be sketchy for the next 2 days and 2 more pilots ended up with back injuries. It goes to show that no matter how usually forgiving a site is one should never become complacent at assessing the risks and deciding just how much risk to assume for the ultimate joy of free flight.

I will try to settle my hospital bills tomorrow and head back to New York. Till next flying adventure, Sander out.

Hmm, back injuries are NOT fun.

The understatement of the week. But I am back and will tell the story in detail - will have time, you know. The bottom line - no flying for 2 months. The upside - no foreseeable problems promised at this time - just rest and give time for the spine to heal. Seems like there is minor damage to T6, T7, and a broken but stable T10. All these will get another lookover once I am back in New York - trying to get back there by Thursday. Essentially missed out on 1 week of flying and made lots of new friends at the local hospital! Everyone has been incredibly kind and helpful. If a bad thing had to happen - this was certainly the best case scenario!

Valadares, take two.

Back in Valadares, or take two. 2007 Brazil.

Who could have thought! Valadares seems to be back to it´s well forgotten glory! Today´s flights were long, fun and did I mention long? But here is the funnest part - the results. The estimated distances - pending GPS log uploads - Slave ~55 km, Sander ~40 km, Joka and Marko ~ 37 km. Yep. All these in correct order! Did I mention that this was Slave´s FIRST cross country flight? Oh, well, let me tell you - this was Slave´s FIRST cross country flight. Yep. Not just in Brazil, but altogether! Smiley, you taught him well! David and Ken had shorter flights today.

So, the day started simply enough - with a taxi ride up to the top - but the top is quite different these days - it is the 2007 Brazil Open Championship - check out in pictures - dozens of gliders on launch are just as tightly packed when they are up in the air in a gaggle - luckily today´s task took them around our path but it was quite a site to see about 60 gliders glittering in the distance, pushing out, low and fast to make the elusive goal.

As to our flight - we all were doing quite well. I finally payed attention to my own thinking about shedding some weight off the gear - and getting rid of about 4-5 lbs of non-essential stuff seemingly payed off - I was able to stay in and use the same thermals as Marko and Joka with greater ease. But the real surprise came today with Slave´s flying - he simply would not give up. More than once he was so low that landing was the only option to all observing - yet he persevered - and his insistence payed dividends quite handsomely - of 4 of our little gaggle he has gone the longest, even overflying the competition goal!

I had a little adventure after the landing to lighten up the day - I landed about a half of a kilometer away from the road and was hiking back. Saw a kid with two bicycles that he was struggling to get to the road with one falling over the other. I asked if I can help by riding one of these - shortening my walk in turn! He said ¨sure, but *((&()&¨ - well, I should have looked that up. What *((&()& meant was - ¨but there are no breaks!¨ Let´s just say, I was very happy to see the end of the road going uphill - because I would have continued rolling a very long time with extra 25 kg on my back!

Hitched a ride back and for just extra 10 reals same guy drove me to the top - so I got another flight in, did some acro and landed to join the rest of very happy pilots on the ground! Flying the way it was meant to be! Oh, and check out updated Floripa post - added 38 new photos with comments. Some are quite funny, if I may say so myself!

ooooof

SO. We are back in Valadares. I wish I had the energy to describe this in detail but let´s just summarize our 3,000.00 km forray to Florianopolis and back as this - 5 paraglider pilots, 5 days, 5 busses, 2 Kombi VW van rentals, 2 planes, ~$400, ~46 hours of travel time - do I need to say more? All of that culminating with a 5 and a half hour race to make the track from Bel Horizonte to the top of Ibituruna and fly down - and yet, somehow, it all made sense! I will put pictures and details in the next day or two. I promise.

Florianopolis 5 day forray. Brazil 2007.

And, by the way, Florianopolis is quite beautiful and I can´t wait to be back - according to Fabio the best flying/relaxing season is in January... Will just have to pencil that it, would´t we? Oh, and that reminds me - I still have that not-yet-redeemed ticket for an adventure vacation!

You are not going to believe it...

Yep. We are on the move once again. Sitting and waiting for the weather to clear yielded just one result - complete desperation. After another heroic effort (and a few drinks) the decision became clear. We are going back to GV. Yep. You read it right. We are cutting our losses, abandoning the idea of becoming surfers and fitting in the crowd in Floripa and going to our adopted home in Brazil - Governador Valadares. The weather has not been spectacular in GV either but according to our scattered sources there has been 2 days of moderately good flying for 1 day of rain. Florianopolis turned out to be a beautiful place and I certainly hope to return here with Yuliya in a very near future but this time it is time to go.

Though, I must say, having a house at our disposal for the last 3 days was fun, David and Ken proved to be invaluable resources each contributing some incredible skills to the affair - David with cooking and sense of direction. Ken with driving and... other things!

Anyway, time to go pack and marvel at the crazy Brazilians driving around the huge carnival floats - the little town in Barra de Lagoa is giving us a unique, unrefined view of the carnival, that´s for sure!

Still bad weather - looking for water sports!

Nothing new. Looking for water sports to occupy our minds.

And we are back!

Ok. First of all - the weather is playing a nasty trick on us! It seems to be following us around the country!!! The next three days here are promising to be rain and thunderstorms - whereas in Valadares... all is good!!! Unbelievable. But what would you expect after being on the bus for 33 hours(!) to get through 1.600,00 km to get to the surfing mekka of Brazil - the island of Florianopolis. I do admit - it is beautiful here. The beaches are all white sand, the towns are very tourist friendly and our VW minibus - well - that's just priceless! We found a house for rent in a town of Barro de Lagoa for all of 150 reals per day - which is not bad at all. All we really need is some flying and all would be perfect.

By the way, the pictures are coming in due time - and we have plenty of them - but I simply forgot the card reader at the hotel... Oops.

Today we also hooked up and were welcomed by some local pilots - of O.V.N.I. - Organizacao de Voadores do Norte da Ilha - we happily hung out on the beach, shared some drinks and played around in a very impressive surf. Great folks to come do some tandem flights with when you are in Brazil!

Week three - Floripa!

Anyhow. As much as Valadares is a very much a town avoided by the usual tourist crowd and the only gringos are the paraglider pilots - Floripa is a very different scene. The sign on the door of the computer room I am using are in Portuguese, English and Hebrew. Surfers are all over. And probably most amusing - I had to spend 5 minutes trying to convince the lady that is renting the house to us that I am NOT in fact a "paulista"- i.e. a native of Sao Paulo - but a real gringo! I guess this country starting to rub off on me too. Well, the other thing is - Brazil is as much a melting pot as US is - but here the racial stratification is a bit different. For one - further North you get - such as GV and Brasilia - the most African descendants you encounter - the further South - where we are right now - the more of German and Italian descent Brazilians you happen to see. SO, being a gringo it is far easier to blend it down South - and my hair is getting just unruly enough!

Another thing Floripa is known for - a great influx of folks for the time of Carnival! So - the atmosphere is extremely festive and loud, crowds are in the streets in force and we are getting and entirely different perspective on Brazil! So, all in all, I am not really complaining!

On that note - it is time to go join the crowds!

Rain leaves us no choice...

We are all hard at work on our exit strategy. The first prize goes to Florianopolis -a beautiful island on the South of Brazil... The bad news - it will take over 26 hours on 3 buses to get there. BUT it is still better than waiting in the rain for things to change... in 2 weeks or so! So, hopefully the next posts will be off the road!

Good news - making new contacts on Fabio´s lead with pilots in Florianopolis - is our first lead - his hotel is full for Carnival - but, Zé Maria the owner of CHALES DO CANTO who is a HG pilot, http://www.voolivre-sc.com.br let me know that flying has been spectacular, new records being set as we speak and overall sounds like a great guy - so off we go!!!

Some pictures of the past 24 hours including Ciao pics for Steve and Carol heading to Rio de Janeiro to join festive crowds for Carnival!!!

Brazil - week two...

Rain, rain, rain again...

Doing pretty much nothing except wondering aimlessly around, watching TV, reading, and eating. I think it is time to start looking for better forecasts around and hop around the country a bit. Will keep you all posted!

Here is some "stock" footage from couple of days ago to keep you entertained.

• justacro.com guys goofing around.
• Joka flying around Ibituruna.

The Paraglider Pilot Assemly Instructions.

Paraglider Pilot Assembly Instructions

Please visit this photo gallery for pictures and the commentary. Today´s topic - ¨Trying to understand what makes a paraglider pilot... a paraglider pilot!¨

Day off. Rain.

Well, not a whole lot going on today except sleeping, eating, working on a blog and running small errands. Uploaded the first week worth of photos with some commentary - enjoy!

The first week...

Apologies!

Sorry about the messed up pictures in the previous 2 posts - I will fix them as soon as I am back from dinner!

Three flights - where quality was a bit lacking - quantaty made it up amply!

But let me retrace this day backwards - somehow it managed to become progressively better culminating by us stuffing our faces at a traditional brazilian grilling place, a churascaria - in this case called Spettus. I don´t remember myself be this ridiculously stuffed in a very long time. Within 2 minutes of us walking in we were virtually assaulted by skewers of deliciously grilled meat - beef, pork, chicken - what have you! Desert - grilled cheese and grilled pineapple. They take this grilling thing quite seriously, I must say. Here is how we looked at the conclusion of our venerable feast - essentially anywhere between ecstatic to comatose.

But preceding this we went flying. The last flight of the day was with Joka and Gabor. Gabor brought a video camera and we flew in wonderfully lifting air of the evening light that followed a day full of overdevelopment, rains and disappointing attempts at distance flying. The fun of flying close by, talking, videotaping, taking pictures and doing a bit of fun maneuvering that included wingtip touching and some inadvertent collapses (on my part) as the wing control was sacrificed to getting the best shot! Then, with a bit of spiraling and a SAT - we were back in the city to enjoy the rest of the evening.

Steve and Carol surprise themselves!

Joka and me gliding to the next thermal.
Joka and me realizing that there is no next thermal and the only thing ahead is the big blue hole...

Steve and Carol surprise themselves! Yes, really. They flew 20 k today - a first real cross country flight for both of them! (Carol may correct me on it later...) Well, anyway, they did incredibly well on this difficult day. Too bad that I watched a good chunk of their flight... from the ground as they flew overhead!!! Ok, so the stats - Marko - 40 k, same spot where he landed yesterday. Joka - still don´t know as he was not back when I left to the computer place, but the estimate of 35 k has been floated around by witnesses of his landing out in the bush... Steve and Carol - 20 k, and me... well, I suck.

Sunk out at the same place as 2 days ago, just about 15 k from take off. Avoided mud this time and fought to the last minute. As a matter of fact spent full 20 minutes scraping by at the altitude of 99-120 meters! At some point of extreme desperation I was trying to figure out if there is anything in my load I don´t absolutely need and a thought of ¨do I really need that flight deck?¨crossed my mind. For those who don´t know - that would have amounted of dropping about a 2 pound bag!... with about $1000 worth of electronics in it... Reason, and gravity, prevailed and I finally landed... to once again witness Marko come to the same spot, same altitude and sky out! Unbelievable. Well, somewhat believable as it is happening with incredible consistency but also - Marko is much lighter on his glider, where as I am flying with some extra weight (comparatively to the weight range of the glider.) Now, in most conditions this difference would be negligible but with the consistently light conditions of Valadares it does add up to some incredible saves.

So the first thing I did once getting back to the hotel was get rid of every single non-essential item in my kit - here and there it added up to about 3-4 lb/2 kg - will see what will happen tomorrow!

Now, to the beginning of our day - this will have to be a photo journal kinda thing...

The day started normally enough, with our usual gathering spot near the landing zone. Except, today was a Saturday, so the local pilots were out in force...

The day in pictures...

The usual gathering spot - just as the bus arrives. Howard presiding.


Look carefully at this gas station. Now look carefully at the cars.


NOW, look really carefully! Only in Brazil...


Pal says - ¨don´t touch those breaks!!!¨ Good thing we are going UP the mountain...


The prayer to the wind gods - ¨please, or please, make me... normal.¨ Sorry Carol, no such luck!



Yep, that´s a Brazilian TV cameraman. Instant notoriety.



Joka and Carol in their full, symbiotic glory!

Another excellent day!

Stats so far - Joka 3h45min triangulation flight (go and come back) of about 20 km, Steve nice thermalling flight in the earlier part of this slow starting day. Carol managed to squeeze out 2 flights doing about 5 km on the first and 10 km on the second flight - ALL on her own! No one pestering her on the radio (which probably helped!). I did better today too - did essentially twice the distance of yesterday, about 30km, 26km on a straight line from take off. Slow going though - good thing Marko was just slightly ahead of me making me slow down just enough to keep going for over 2 hours! Well, and as to Marko - he kept flying!!! We both came in within about 100 m off the ground, he was at most 10-20 meters above... and then, next thing I know - I am landing and he is scraping back up to the cloudbase! All in a ¨blue¨thermal - no cloud overhead to guide his path, always quite unnerving. I had one of those today too - you feel kinda naked with no puffy white thing overhead! Be back with pictures after dinner - we are heading to get some ¨mukeka¨ a very tasty soup concoction - great for after flying rehydration/resaltification of weary paraglider pilots! Oh, and I have to tell you about the Vertigo communication - but once again - gotta run!

Ok, so the update - Marko went nearly 60 km!!! Wow. I am so jealous. Oh, well, had to make up for that by going and eating lots of tasty soup while Marko was half dead asleep from exhaustion. Tomorrow is another day - let´s hope that I´ll stick to doubling my distance!

First XC (Cross Country) flights!

Finally, the real GV day that we have been waiting for! Approximate tally - Marko 45km, Joka 35km, myself - measly 15km. I suck. But there is always another day, hopefully I´d do better next time.

Not to say that 15k was not well earned and fun today either. The day was very light and one had to really work it to stay up and out. The key on a day like today is to stay high and move cautiously. NOT what I did. I have forgotten some of the XC skills given my recent fascination with acro.

At some point I got as low as 200 meters off the ground, radioed to Marko and Joka that I am about to land... only to manage to climb out to the cloudbase of approximately 1,000 meters up. Too bad that I spent so much energy and patience for this safe I did not seem to have much of it left and squandered all that altitude on an impossible glide down to 100m, then back to 450m (after once again announcing that I am landing!) and finally landed in a bog!!! Well, it did not LOOK like a bog, it looked nice and welcoming except when my feet touched the... not so solid ground and sunk to my ankles in mud. You see the picture here - well, the mountain far in the background is where we take off... 15 km away!

Carol had two great flights today, one a bit longer than other but on the second she was all on her own and did great! I am very proud of her. Steve was a bit of a sacrificial lamb today and did not fly - his ankle got a bit bruised yesterday and he stayed on the ground today. He is doing much better already and I am sure he will be happily airborne tomorrow! Will be back after dinner to post some pictures!

Ok, I am back, but the picture is more fun than I expected... it has been some years since I´ve done any Capoeira, but today was the day to remember the old tricks! Marko went to photograph the performance and I was translating - and just ¨happened¨ to mention that I used to do Capoeira - well, picture speaks for itself!

Weather improving...

Well, we are continuing with a warm up program of sorts. Today was the first day in a while the club was able to fill up and send a bus about two thirds full up the mountain. This, of course means that the weather is improving and a bunch of us are dreaming of long distance flights. Too bad these hopes went unrealized... Strong winds at the top kept the thermals from properly building up and flying was either into strong head winds to the foot of the mountain or a few thermal hops and then, the lucky ones, would make it to the city and land close enough to their hotel to grab a beer and hope the better day tomorrow! None-the-less, Pal and Gabor of justacro.com showed off with some ridge soaring tricks and all flew.



As a matter of fact, some flew more than once and Steve and Carol got to fly in pretty strong conditions successfully demonstrating what they are made of! (we are still not quite sure, but it was something squishy). Joka and me, both made it to the city LZ with some room to spare, Marko was trying to milk the uncertain thermals and ended up across the river. No worries, still got a decent flight and was in time to meet us for late lunch in town!

After a shower and a little while reading the book I headed to my usual evening digs at the computer library where Carol and Steve joined me for a little while, to work on the blog and doing what I can from here to help the wedding preparations along. Just wish Yulka could take time off and hang out here with me... Next trip!

First day of flying - Valadares, Brazil trip.

So, today we are finally airborne. Not that this was the most spectacular flying any of us have ever done but given the simple fact that we are flying in our shorts... well, can´t beat that, can you? My last flight in New York a month ago the cold was so bad that each appendage required at least a mitten and a heating pack!

Marko and Carol flew. Marcus also joined us in the air. My flight was one of the longer ones today but only added up to 35 minutes - for those of you who know Valadares it is not a whole lot - and still - whole lot better than sitting on the ground!

And what good flying day could pass without some friendly local contact - after landing we got treated for some coffee and was followed up by some EXTRA fresh milk - i.e. still warm after milking. Marko passed on that but I simply HAD to indulge. Last time I tried that I was about ten years old in the Carpathian mountains in Russia, hanging out with my grandfather! Funny, what a vivid memory that was - I even remember going for a hike and trying to figure out bird calls with him...

The forecast for tomorrow is promising - so still hope to brag about the great distances not just time in the air. Having some computer problems, so hope to add more images to this post later...

Rio De Janeiro

So, after the usually painful 9 hour flight we have arrived. The transfer in Sao Paulo was shockingly easy... and that had it´s very expected consequences. Our luggage has fallen behind. Initial dismay was substituted by a general comatose state and before we knew it (just an hour and a half!) our luggage decided to join us for the rest of the trip! Unfortunately the damage was done and that resulted in us thinking that it is a good idea to ¨pump¨ some music through intricately connected portable speakers... Don´t ask.

Anyhow, after getting some coffee and cheese bread (¨pão de queijo¨) we were off to the bus station. After handing in our giant paragliding bags and getting ticket for that same evening´s overnight bus to Governador Valadares, in the state of Minas Gerais it was time to explore Rio!

Absolutely exhausted we hopped onto a city bus and headed to the place that no self-respecting tourist can stay away from - Copacabana beach! (¨Praia de Copacabana¨). The cool part was seeing the less than spectacular parts of the city, hanging out with the locals and all that for about a $1 a piece! The only problem - no where to change (see Carol´s heroic efforts at changing her swim suit she bought right on the beach - the rest of us... well, we improvised!)

Now, here is the weird thing about Brazil - anyone can find the place they feel at home at. Just check out what Marko and Joka found 5 minutes into being in the city...

Then, a few coconuts later, a cold Skol and a quick swim in the Atlantic ocean - we felt a whole lot better! Almost ready for an even more painful then the 9 hour flight, 8 hour bus ride to Valadares! But before that we managed a walk from Copacabana to Lagoa, enjoying spectacular cityscape and getting ourselves properly tired to sleep thru the ride!

But before, as usual, the first contact to make in Rio was getting in touch with my cousins - the Unikowsky family - Debbie, Zilmar and Jessica were in Rio, and Liz, as per usual was exploring the world. The view of the city from their window was just the icing on the cake of a spectacular day!

Brazil, Brazil...

We are on our way!!! Despite our best efforts we all managed to make it to the airport on time. Steve and Carol gave it a go by train, Marko and myself settled for the old fashioned car and cab hopping. In all fairness, Carol´s and Steve´s trip was faster and $8 cheaper but our trip included a meal cooked by Yuliya and then followed by my mom´s borsch and a shot of Rakija. SO, we win!