Back home now, after completing a 32 day vol biv expedition across the Alaska Range with Gavin McClurg- and oh buddy, it was a tough one!

Alaska has proved to be an experience of a lifetime- and oh boy, do we have some stories to tell! Two days ago we popped out at Cantwell, having made a vol biv traverse of most of the Alaska Range by hiking and flying our paragliders. Our route was about 450 kilometers long, and we flew approximately 64% of the distance covered. It was 29 days of pure adventure.

We started out at the SW tip of the Alaska Range, right at the border of Lake Clark National Park. From there we headed up towards the north slope of the range, battling bad weather and brutally rough hiking terrain. Oh yeah, did I mention that we had to post hole for MILES through waist deep snow over Sled Pass? Two days for six miles, hiking 12 hours a day!? Luckily we had a few short flights in these first days as well, which gave us hope that our route would work.

Since no one has really ever flown a paraglider where we traversed through, we were totally unsure of what conditions we would encounter. Would there be enough thermals? Would the terrain allow hiking when weather was bad, or was the forest too dense and the rivers too big to cross? Would the animals attack us? We had a lot of unanswered questions those first few days, and after struggling through the first quarter of the route, we were truly unsure if we were going to be able to pull this one off.

After we made it to the north side of the range after battling through the first 25% of the route, we were nearly starving because of our over estimation of how quick we would travel, and the reality of our slow progress was painfully apparent. So out came the fishing pole and gun to obtain food, it was a good thing I brought them!

We were hoping that on the north side of the range that conditions would improve substantially, but that wasn’t really the case. Yes, the terrain became slightly easier to hike through, but the weather still wasn’t cooperating. So we saved calories at first by posting up on a nice peak and waited 4 days for better weather. It never really came, so we went into full on hungry beast mode and flipped the switch to X Alps style flying- running up mountains on their west sides, and then flying short flights to the east as quickly and numerous as was possible. One day, on 300 calories, we hiked a total of 10K feet vertical with four flights, the last of which was at 12:30 in the morning. We had made well over a dozen flights at this point, but none longer than 28 km.

We had to make some huge efforts to get to our pre placed food caches in order not to starve. Well, we didn’t really anticipate how difficult and slow this would be, and getting to our food caches we basically starved each time.

But conditions slowly improved, and we made it to our second food cache for an epic top landing and way too small of a feast, only to be greeted there by seven days of bad weather. But here was the catch- at food cache two we were right on the border of Denali National Park and the highest peaks of our route, and they are totally illegal to launch or land from since they are in the park. So our strategy was to sit out the bad weather and wait for an appropriate window that we could just maybe get lucky and try and fly the entire flight over the park without landing.

After 4 days of waiting up at high camp and running low on food again, we had a brief window without storm for a few minutes, so I grabbed two thermals and flew a few miles out into the flats in order to return at the end of the day with a stringer of Greyling fish to help stretch the food supplies longer.

Luckily, after 7 days of waiting for better weather, it finally came. Well, kind of.

On our eight day of waiting up in Heart Mountain it started to get sunny again in the early morning. We raced up the ridge and set up to try the big flight. We had to. We were low on food again, and I was running low on time and would need to return home in another week.

The sky went from looking promising while hiking up, to completely improbable once we laid out wings out and clipped in. It was snowing and raining all around us due to over development, but I saw a slim line of dark clouds heading in our desired direction that were not dumping yet. I punched off and Gavin followed.

We nearly bombed out right there, twice. But both times we found a scrap of lift, which eventually got us to to cloud base, and then before we could control it, way above cloud base while encased in ice with wet gliders. It went from nearly bombing out, to extreme cloud suck. But just as the Honey Badger, we didn’t give a shit. We had hiked enough. We were over the national park. We HAD to make this one happen. So we did. The wind was too strong to fly safely, but again, we didn’t care. We came here to send, not hike.

On that flight we flew past Denali, Foraker, Hunter, and the highest peaks of the Alaska Range. We
crossed countless glaciers and raging rivers, both of which would have been nearly impossible on foot. We were making rapid progress, but at somewhere around 50 miles out, we lost communication from each other up in the clouds, and now we had full blown walls of rain, snow, and over development in front of us. We were shut down by the clouds and had to land in the park. Shit.

The next few days passed in a blur of spectacular scenery, epic mountains, and high passes. We crossed the immense Muldrow glacier on the way over Anderson Pass, and eventually made it to Cantwell.

At this point we had covered over 2/3 of our prospective route, but alas, my time was up and with real life waiting for me back home, this was my exit point. But not for Gavin, as he has an unlimited amount of time to try and see this one through, so he’s still out there trying to finish. Bad ass.

We are so happy with how this trip went, it was truly amazing. We had the Reel Water film crew flowing us the entire time, who are making a Red Bull feature documentary about this trip. These guys crushed it as well, and keep an eye out for our film later this year.

I came here to Alaska for adventure, and in the end, it turns out that I truly found what I was looking for and so much more. This land is truly epic, and add on top of that some crazy flying, dangerous animals, raging rivers, man swallowing glaciers, and difficult weather- well, you get Alaska over the last 5 weeks.

Big thanks to Ozone, Patagonia, Reel Water, Red Bull, the Mac Donald Family, Paul Guschlbaurer, Alaska Pete, and everyone else that we have met along the way.

The post Alaska was a huge success!! First ever vol biv traverse of the Alaska Range appeared first on Sierra Paragliding.

I have been posting on Red Bull’s website with updates on our Alps adventure, with photos, videos, and stories. Keep up to date by following this link to my Journal Page on the RB site.

Also, my live tracking page can be found by clicking here. It is from my DeLorme InReach GPS tracker, which I keep on whenever we are on the move. I was without my tracker for the first three days, so our track log from Salzburg (the starting point) is missing. From Salzburg we hiked up the Gaisberg, and made our way to the Dachstein over the following three days. Heavy, deep snow prevented us from tagging the summit- we will return after making it to Monaco in order to complete this 5 km’s that we had to avoid.

From there, we then turned west and are now headed for the third turn point- Aschau Chiemsee. It is just over the border of Germany, in the beautiful Bavarian Alps. Unfortunately, the weather is still absolute crap, and besides flying from the Gaisberg, conditions have been unflyable due to heavy rain and low cloud base. But we are giving it our best and will push on regardless. We are psyched nonetheless.

I am so pumped, it seems like I have the two best supporters possible! Krischa Berlinger is my Swiss Secret Weapon who knows this place inside and out, and Wildman Eric Steinmann has been hiking and cracking jokes with me as K-Man keeps the pace in front with the van full of snacks, meals, and hot beverages. These guys rock!!

Weather still is unfavorable, but we will send…

Huge thanks to the Sponsors again!

The post Follow along on our 70 day adventure of Alps flying, and of course the X Alps Race!! appeared first on Sierra Paragliding.

The airport process went smoothly enough, and me and my equipment made it through security after having to pay some extra baggage fees for the additional equipment. I have anarsenal of flying gear with me, with three wings and virtually two of everything else – lots of toys to play with!

Eric is already waiting for us in Salzburg, while Krischa will be meeting me at the airport in Munich and from there we will head directly for the start of the course in Austria. We have from the 18 May until 29 June to get our prerace crossing finished. From that point on we have to hurry back to the start of the course and meet all of our media and Redbull obligations for the week leading up to the start of the race.

This will be my last post from US soil, and I’m looking forward to reporting back on the adventure for all of you at home to follow up on. Wish us luck, and we promise to be safe!

Dave

LAX Airport

The post Bon Voyage!! appeared first on Sierra Paragliding.

Well, it is time to leave the USA and head to Europe for another summer of hiking and flying across the Alps.

Afters months of preparation, training, and countless hours or researching- it is time to leave California and my beloved Sierra Nevada for another chapter in my book of adventure. But this summer of Alps vol biv has a big twist- I will be competing in the 2015 Red Bull X Alps race in July!

I will be headed to Munich tomorrow morning from LAX, and will be meeting up with Krischa there. Once in Germany, we will immediately head to Salzburg, Austria to start our pre-race adventure. Our plan is to meet up with our third member, Eric Steinmann, and start hiking and flying our way along the 1,038 kilometer course line. This years Red Bull X Alps course is longer and tougher than ever, so we are going to spend about 5-6 weeks hiking and flying the course line before the race even starts. But the pre-race mission is lofty in itself- to hike and fly the entirety of the Alps without assistance, following the July race route and its ten turn points. We have from May 18th to June 28th for this. Then the race starts July 5th.

The route will take us through 6 countries, and will be quite an alpine tour of these amazing mountains. I will be updating my website the entire time, with posts, photos, and videos from the field. Check back for updates! You can also add me on FaceBook ‘Dave Turner, Mammoth Lakes’ for more updates and stories along the way.

You can follow along on my adventures this summer across Europe, as I will have live tracking the entire time. During the X Alps race all Athletes will have up to date live tracking on Red Bull’s website- http://www.redbullxalps.com

But before the X Alps race, you can still follow along on my personal trips. I have a live tracking page set up with the DeLorme InReach GPS Tracker that I am using. Here is the shared map page which will be updating every 10 minutes whenever I am moving- https://share.delorme.com/DaveTurner2 I will also be updating my website continually with updates.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to get another summer of Alps action in. If there was ever a place virtually made for hiking and flying for weeks on end, the Alps is it. All paraglider pilots need to visit this famous mountain range at some point in their flying career; I feel lucky to have a third summer out there. And this time I get the privilege of helping represent the USA in the 2015 X Alps, how cool is that!?

Whether is is glorious XC flights at cloudbase, top landings high above tree line, and long distance flights; or bad weather, hiking in the valleys, and struggling- no worries, we are psyched and going to give it our best! Just last week a few friends and I (including Eric) flew a 5 day 200+ mile vol biv route across the Sierra in preperation of this summers adventures. We are hungry for it, and will make the most of it.

A huge thanks goes out to all of the sponsors who have helped out to make this summer a reality: Maximal Concepts, vteams, Torrey Pines Gliderport, Foundation For Free Flight, Ozone, Patagonia, Black Diamond, Flytec, and High Adventure. If you yourself would like to help get me get to the X Alps to help represent the US in this magnificent adventure race, you can donate on the website’s homepage.

Dave Turner

Mammoth Lakes, CA

The post It’s Go-Time!! Leaving for the Alps tomorrow, here are the details and how to follow along appeared first on Sierra Paragliding.

My flight departs Sunday and I will be arriving in Munich to meet up with Krischa, my official supporter for the race. We are then heading to Salzburg to meet up with Eric Steinmann to begin our pre-race lap of the ten turn point course line. Starting from Salzburg, we are going to head along the 1,038 kilometer route through 6 countries on our way to Monaco.

Once in Monaco, we will head back to Salzburg to prepare for and participate in the X Alps race.

Here is the new LM5 wing that I will be using for this year’s flying adventures, and hopefully they will be some good ones again!!-

The post Leaving for the Alps in two days from now- Getting everything ready! appeared first on Sierra Paragliding.

A huge thanks goes out to all of my sponsors for helping support my quest for the 2015 Red Bull X-Alps race and my upcoming season of flying adventures. I couldn’t do it without them.

Maximal Concepts Restaurant Group

vteams Software Developers

Torrey Pines Gliderport San Diego

Foundation For Free Flight

 Ozone Paragliders

 Patagonia Apparel 

Black Diamond Equipment

High Adventure Reserves

Flytec Flight Instruments 

The post 2015 Sponsors Announced appeared first on Sierra Paragliding.

Our first day saw us at Paiute for two flights, and the second flight was quite good. Ryan Nelson took the longest flight of our group, making it to Benton. Chris Heckman was right behind him, after one of the lowest low saves I have seen! 

The post Owens Valley April XC Clinic A Huge Success- Personal Bests All Around For Our Group! appeared first on Sierra Paragliding.

Red Bull has released this nice video about how the Athletes have been training for the upcoming X Alps race in July. Take a look and get a closer view of who is flying where, and get to know some of the Athletes a little more-

The post How And Where Have The X-Alps Athletes Been Training? This Video From Red Bull Explains Just That appeared first on Sierra Paragliding.

From their site:

The Eastern Sierra is one of the top areas in the world for flying. The adventurous nature of the mountains surrounding Mammoth Lakes, CA, coupled with the extreme sport of paragliding mean that a paraglider has to take into account many factors to remain safe. 

Join record-breaking paraglider pilot, Dave Turner as he talks about misconceptions about, what it’s like paragliding in the Eastern Sierra, and the real reason paraglider pilots run and take off off the sides of mountains.

The post Beautiful Video On What It’s Like To Fly The High Sierra From VisitMammoth Tourism Board appeared first on Sierra Paragliding.

Days like today remind me just how good life can really be. Flying deep over the Sierra all alone makes me feel alive, and today was brilliant.

This is why we have paragliders. To take us to another world. Perfect flying conditions over the Sierra crest today-

The post Beautiful XC Conditions Today Again- Flying Deep And High Over The Sierra Crest appeared first on Sierra Paragliding.