Christmas Day in Aspen with Sean Groover and David Frank, best flight yet!

Stuck Truck, Snowmass

This trucker got a bit stuck and I had to pull him out. I went to Snowmass did some skiing, I sure like the skiing even though I haven't done it much in recent time. 43 degrees half way up Snowmass this aft. Total Spring time skiing. My mom made me some sausages this AM.

Welcome to my whirled...

Rock Canyon

I took this picture with my camera phone a while back. It's of OJ landing by Rock Canyon just above the BYU University in Provo.

Learning to Fly in Winter/Smart Money

I am happy to report that the POM has been great for students lately. On got six flights this AM; some with soaring. Also, yesterday afternoon was a beautiful N. Side(soarable at the top). I have been doing some skate skiing lately but am going to wait to get some windstopper briefs before I go again. Oh, I went to see the smart money people in Colorado on Thur. If you ever thought you might benefit from good financial advice, I think your are right. I am left with the feeling that we ALL need a good team. Holler if you are interested in advice. My situation is really simple but I was given a longish list of things that I NEED to do if I want to be smart. I do want to be smart.

Oh, the Utah HG and PG club had a great Christmas Party and the Himalayan Kitchen; Indian and Nepalese food for pilots by pilots. State St. and 4th, So SLC. Scott Gressitt was there, a very cool guy in my view.

PS spell check says I don't know how to spell Himalayan or Nepalese: it offers no suggestions.

James Bradley checked in that they are having a ball at Horse Canyon/ San Diego fly-in. Nic is in Vegas doing some towing. He reported a malfunction that prevented him from finishing the day. Such is the refinement of new technology...

I think that the Grinch and Dog The Bounty Hunter might be the same person. They have the same hair style. Anyone ever seen them in the same room together?

I dropped my Nikon Coolpix in a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and Light Vanilla Soy Milk while videoing(on my camera) my bros ground launching sky diving rigs off the top of the N. Side. I should have gone with them instead of doing my chores. Oh ya, it doesn't work: the Coolpix that is. Morals of the story: buy camera insurance, go ground launching with your bros, don't video and eat Honey Bunches of Oats at same time, make silly mistakes not big ones.

Oh and on a similar front; I went to a party where a guy was talking about bad diesel, spending $750.00 on getting it out of his truck, how he has four buddies with the same issue. I asked where they bought the gas: Flying J at 123rd. so. Exactly where I get my diesel(cheapest in town). On the way home, my truck choked on bad gas. Had it towed to the doctor. Jury is still out. I will let you know. BTW, I reccomend AAA. I paid $60 for the tow, it could have been much more. I should have paid that money to AAA in the first place.

This morning, my students went from first training hill flights to as many as four flights off the top of the s. side. One soared, did rear riser turns, big ears, pitch oscillations, and stabilo pulls. Incidentally, this particular student had been teaching himself to kite over a few months and also went tandem with me yestereday. Oh and he was a graduate of the internet school of paragliding( I am not sure if that helps or not). Good talent in any case. Congrats Steve! It was his 35 th. B-day. Yeah, woo, ha ha ha....

I had a dream that I was doing a check out flight with a new tandem pilot. The pilot was: Dog the Bounty Hunter. Don't tell anybody.

wonderwinch.com/ neat

So, wonderwinch.com is up, check it.

Neat, I have to say that I have been running a mac now for a few months and my life is a whole lot better as a result. Here's why/ how.

-sync laptop, web and desktop email automatically
-sync contacts and schedule between laptop, ipod nano and web automatically
-VOIP via ichat at no charge
-send and RECEIVE text messages via ichat
-sling photos to web in like two clicks(from camera to web) no joke
-open web pages using tabs(all my weather pages open at once, all my bitch board photos, all my sites, all my news sites) they all open with one click so I can look at them and be done with it in super short order
-I could go on and on
-drag and drop backup to the web
-my laptop plays to my home stereo wirelessly

It is really, truly ridiculous. I know, you can do all that with a PC but it is FAR from being easy.

Now, I make progress with my MAC while my PC's are constantly doing some maintenance on themselves.

One of the most fortunate people on the planet,

Santa out!

Snow Kiting

We snow kited this afternoon in a zero visibility snow storm. James got his first blasts with a foil kite. He did great. It was so cold that camera batteries and the radios that I was using to coach James just froze up in the first fifteen minutes. There were probably 30-40 people kiting. Brain and Heather had beer and chili and there was plenty of Red Bull. Rob Whittall was there and it was pretty fun. Tonight we stay in Mt. Pleasant, UT. This is my first time to this area. It's nice.

Snow, SUV's and Cravattes

Check it out, two days later, all of the snow is GONE.

Since this is THE place for me to rant:

"SIV's" and "Cravattes" are French things. You don't call a toilet a "cuvette." You don't call a car crash "un accident de voiture" or a UDV. This is America. It's a Maneuvers Session, it's a day at the lake, it's a throw down... The tip get's stuck in the lines, it's a "stuck tip" or a "tip stuck." While we are at it, it ain't "parachutage" no more than Jacques Chirac is the president of the US. It's called "deep stall." German's call it "sack flug." There are beginners runnning around with all three of those words in their heads and they are thinking that they are all different.
As for "clinics":

clin·ic P Pronunciation Key (klnk)
n.

A facility, often associated with a hospital or medical school, that is devoted to the diagnosis and care of outpatients.

Go to the clinic when it hurts to pee. Get some anti-biotics. When you want to learn to fly, take a course or get some coaching.

Repeat after me: "I was throwing down at the lake, and let my glider get into deep stall, it surged forward and the tip stuck. I fixed it and am thankfull that I got some coaching at that session."

Bill Kaelin from Bend calls them SUV courses, I can support that. Law and Order SVU, very American....


I skied for the first time in two years today with Othar, Niki Sue and Pete Mueller and James Bradley. All four are ripping skiers. Alta was great. Super fun.

Tomorrow, snow kiting.

I am spoiled.