Utah Windriders Association

Is this a growing sport in Utah, or just a handfull out doing this. Is it practical in Utah? Kenny, are you going to do more this winter. Who will be teaching? How many runs per day and how many vertical feet would make an outing worth while?

Hey Les, are you referring to the downhill speed run. What type of equipment is that? Looks like skydiving gear, sign me up.

Jason

Les,

Speedflying has a lot of potential, but I will not be doing more of it this year. I will explain why.

You need a chairlift or snowmobile to get up the mountain for each speedflying run. While on a kite, you can use the power of the kite to motor up the hill and then glide down.

Currently, the Canyons is the resort that has backcountry access that can be used by speedflyers. The beginning slope is short and requires the following for each run - a ride up the chairlift, a 10-15 minute bootpack, unpack the wing, short flight down, repack the wing, ski down to the lift. In the amount of time it takes to do one speedfly flight, I can do 8 - 10 glides at Skyline or Strawberry without packing/unpacking gear.

If we had open slopes and speedflying was allowed like it is at some resorts in Europe, I would be all over the sport. Long runs and open terrain would make the pack/uppack worthwhile. I think that some of the local PG pilots are having a great time at The Canyons flying off of some peaks.

If you want to learn more, talk to Steve Mayer at Cloud Nine. He is friendly, knowledgeable, and has the gear to hook you up.

Kenny

Ow!

I was just at a thing with some paragliders that also speedfly regularly. The good news is they fly at the point of the mountain in the summer also.

The bad news is Steves Partner at cloud nine , Mike Steen just crashed a few days ago while speed flying and broke his back, for the second time. As a multiple back breaker myself, I feel his pain!

Good wishes to Mike and thoose around him while he recovers!

I wish Mike a speedy recovery.

I did see the speedflyers the other day at the Point. A speedflyer works pretty well if you have strong winds, but in light winds you are going to get a fast trip from the top to the bottom with a fast landing. I flew my speedflyer out there one day and I did a crash and roll landing because I was coming in so hot (hence the name "speed" in speedflyer). That risk is mitgated on skis because you can handle a lot more speed landing on skis compared to running on foot.

Hope Mike heals quickly... I'm bummed and mad anytime...no everytime, that a friend gets hurt doing the sports we enjoy so much.

Windzup,
Brian