The Need for Speed

With no more deck to build I've been savoring the anticipation of getting some air time in Utah with Jeff and Adam next week. The hang gliding in Colorado seems to have shut down for the winter. There will be windows of soaring here, but there is no place like Utah for consistent winter flying. Now that I have a working computer I've been catching up on all the internet hang gliding buzz. The OZ Report (see link to the right) is like USA Today for the Hang Gliding community. On yesterday's OZ Report I stumbled on this link to a base jumping video featuring a wing suit.



Jeff has got a lot of exposure in the OZ Report lately for his photography and video work. The Point of the Mountain is going to be one of the first stops on our trip (as both Jeff and Adam live within 30 minutes of it). I learned to fly at the "Point" and logged many hours of air time there when I lived in Utah. As my flying progressed I eventually started to avoid flying at the Point because of the high volume of paraglider traffic. When I moved to Colorado I realized how much I had taken Utah for granted. My flying success rate (the % of times I actually fly when showing up at flying site) dropped to around 60%. There is no other inland hang gliding site more consistent or convenient to fly than the Point. My friend Lee (who got me into the sport) once described it as a skateboard park for hang gliding. Here's a video Jeff posted on YouTube of his flying there over the past 6 years: