Sailplanes and Glider Flying

Sbob said:
I could see Ripitz pulling this off!
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Haha, yeah, no.

I watched that video recently and it blew me away. Those guys are next level. It’s amazing to see the progression of different mountain disciplines. The ability to master and combine them in remote locations like that is wild.

Back in the day in Chamonix some of the guys would fly kites up the mountain and then ski down. They would fly up and ski down Aguille d’Argentierre twice before the skinners made it to the top once. They were using small packable kites like the ones kite boarders use. I saw some wild shit there. Lots of crazy BASE jumping and paragliding. They jump and fly off everything. Trams, tram towers, dams, bridges, rocks, snow, whatever. Even watched a passenger jump off a tandem glider directly above town. I left the scene there when speedflying and wing suits were just taking off.

I barely scratched the surface of flying but I think I did enough of it to scratch the itch. The loss of two close friends definitely makes it less appealing. I don’t have a wing anymore and that might be for the best. If I went back I’d like to fly Mont Blanc and then give up the sport once and for all.

 
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Ripitz said:
Back in the day in Chamonix some of the guys would fly kites up the mountain and then ski down. They would fly up and ski down Aguille d’Argentierre twice before the skinners made it to the top once. They were using small packable kites like the ones kite boarders use. I saw some wild shit there. Lots of crazy BASE jumping and paragliding. They jump and fly off everything. Trams, tram towers, dams, bridges, rocks, snow, whatever. Even watched a passenger jump off a tandem glider directly above town. I left the scene there when speedflying and wing suits were just taking off.
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When I went to Milan a couple decades for work ago my aunt had given me some info regarding where her father (my grandfather) was from. Took a drive one day up into the Dolomites looking for the place. Found a little family run, hotel-bar-restaurant in “town" and nobody spoke English much but the son of the owner who’s Mom had the same last name as mine. I talked with the son for quite awhile.

He said he jumped off mountains with a sail and skied a lot. Said he could make more money working down in the cities but wanted to raise his two boys in the mountains. When I was leaving the two little rascals were eating gelato cones. Probably homemade.
I wanna go back.
 
Here is some kiting;

This guy likes it extra spicy.


And this guy gets boosted.

 
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Never give up!


“I will go hang gliding again as I did not get to enjoy my first flight.”
 
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Maybe this is the place to ask this question. Is there a product out there that works like a kite-surfing rig but smaller and able to be rolled up small but still big enough to pull a kayak? Doesn't need to be high speed. It would be stowed in the cockpit or between your feet until you’re out on open water and then pulled out and deployed
 
Brownski said:
Maybe this is the place to ask this question. Is there a product out there that works like a kite-surfing rig but smaller and able to be rolled up small but still big enough to pull a kayak? Doesn't need to be high speed. It would be stowed in the cockpit or between your feet until you’re out on open water and then pulled out and deployed
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Got one of these for the Hobie Revolution.
The Mirage drive fins act like a center board to try to help it from tipping over..
 
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