Yomps Paragliding Video

Simon Vacher has just finished this cool video for Yomps. You may notice the signature green helmet sneaked in to shot a couple of times. I cant decide if it is uplifting or somewhat depressing watching this as the british winter is creeping up on us, either way this is a beautiful record of what was a totally epic summer. Simon is pulling out some really cool stuff check out some of his other projects at www.pixelblockmedia.com and www.simonvacherfilm.com

Larger version of the video can be found Here

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Verbier Summits

The blog hasnt had as much attention as planned recently as can be seen from the pics and video far too much fun was being had! Now my epic adventure is over I can actually sit down and post my thoughts on the experience.



I have had far too many amazing expereinces over the last few months to document everything. I have seen some totally stunning things and met some amazing, inspiring people. At the end of the day it is the people that these sports bring together that really transforms these experiences into something amazing, thanks to everyone involved for making it such a fantastic trip.



Over the 6 weeks I have more or less earnt my full pilots licence and am really just short of a few hours in the sky to getting this signed off. In all 20 hrs of flying were clocked up and just shy of 80 flights made. From what I hear gaining this kind of flight expereince in the UK takes years!! Paragliding is such a beutiful feeling. There really isnt much else that gives you this ammount of freedom in the sky. It is silent graceful and serene way to view the environment.



Ridge soaring forces you to fly low searching for lift whilst skimming along the contours of the ground. Thermalling brings a different interaction with the landscape and forces an understanding of what will create and trigger thermals, this search for lift is the challenge and unfortunately requires masses of experience to master. The feeling of the wing being thrusted upwards is both terrifying and exhilerating. Going up is rarely a smooth ride, the finesse and control of birds in turbulent air is just outstanding and something I dont think a paraglider will never be able to trully match. One of the most amazing expereinces I have had flying was thermalling with two falcons. I was flying only 5-10m above them as they circled through the thermal, they didnt seem at all bothered by my presence. Seeing their motion up close was stunning.



The other game is acro and although I havent anywhere near the experience to start playing this one properly I did enough to glimpse what it may be like. Acro pilots turn paragliding into a flat out roller coaster. It is possible to get the glider to pull upto 6 G's, as much as a fighter pilot can expereince. I was playing with gentle spirals and some baby wingovers. The acceleration is such an addictive thing. This for me is where the real buzz of paragliding is. Learning to throw the paraglider arround whilst in full control and whilst the glider is trying to rip you through the harness.



Verbier Summits itself is incredibly well run. The twins, Stu and Mike who run the school are so enthusiastic, full of energy and loads of fun to be arround. They have such amazing knowledge of Verbier and its local weather and really use this to ensure we got the maximum possible time in the air but more importantly that the conditions were always suitable for the ability of the people flying. On average we were getting 4 flights a day with generally only one day getting shut down due to weather each week. The tuition was great and really thourough going well beyond the BHPA syllabus in places.



Its a strange thing for me to come on holiday to have lectures and exams. The lectures themselves were brilliant, again the Twins enthusiasm made it impossible not to want to get stuck in and learn what makes a paraglider fly, what produces the weather and how it develops. We had some really interesting discussions and I learnt a lot that will benefit all my outdoor persuits.



For me the real appeal of paragliding is the possibility of mental adventures hiking up mountains and trying to fly to the next peak. There are some incredibly inspiring stories of people travelling through some remote parts of the world like this, for me this is the ultimate goal. For now I want to fly Rhossilli on the Gower, this beach is spectacular and I have some beautiful memories of kiting and surfing this bay. The hills and prevailing winds make it one of the best ridge soaring sites in the UK. Unfortunately for now paragliding is on the back burner but it is one thing I am certain I will come back to in the future, once my body is finally too beaten up to continue with the bikes!!

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Verbier Summits Alpine Adventure: The Video

Verbier Summer

Simple fun in Verbier from Rob Rickman on Vimeo.

The Dimplespeed was built up with the aim of creating a toy that was nimble, lively and most of all tons of fun for all those situations where the BFe is a tad overkill. The simple shares the same solid reassuring geometry as the rest of the Cotic range. With 120mm adjusted rigid forks it takes mountainbiking back to basics and is incredibly agile. The geometry gives shed loads of confidence allowing the bike to be piloted down terrain where a fully rigid bike traditionally really should not venture.

Modern bikes have masses of features that aid both performance and comfort so why strip them away? Going Singlespeed gives such beautiful drive and confidence when stamping hard on the pedals and forces real commitment in the climbs. The bars look so clean, the controls are simple, no distractions leaving a very pure connection with the bike. Best of all with the Dimplespeed setup the bike becomes 2 bikes in one. The light trials gear gives snappy performance and allows the steepest alpine climbs to be taken on. A quick flick of the chain allows the second gear ratio to be selected that is perfect for charging round the local woods or ragging about through town.

Rigid forks are so much fun, they create a new outlook on riding. To go fast an incredibly active, accurate and supple style is required. Incorrect line choice will either totally kill the bikes momentum or have you picking yourself out of the undergrowth. This makes even mellow terrain technical and challenging. The satisfaction when getting it right is so rewarding as is the bewildered look of fellow riders on their nice cushy rides when they struggle to pull away.

The Simple is so much fun, the stripped back look is so sexy and without any of the extras it is light and screams to be chucked around and played with. Having so little on it to go wrong or gadgets to get distracted by it brings biking back to the fundamentals of just getting out and having a good time.

Verbier has provided an amazing testing ground for the Dimplespeed. I have had an amazing time exploring what is possible on this bike. It has been pedaled up the same climb used in the tour de france, along amazing singletrack, pointed down the DH track, hopped over rocks and walls around town. All the time it has put a massive grin on my face and opened up a totally fresh set of challenges to test my skills as a rider.

Most of all it was brilliant fun going out with Simon Vacher exploring, searching and building new lines. I think we found some absolutely stunning shots that gives a bit of a peek of the amazing scenery that Verbier has to offer. All credit to him for putting together an awesome video.

VIDEO : pixelblockmedia.com
MUSIC : hopeandsocial.com
BIKE : cotic.co.uk/product/simple

This report was emailed in by Rob from Verbier and

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Verbier Summits Alpine Adventure: Part 1

Being half way between an Undergrad and that shuffle towards (or at least a slight step around) the real world when I start a PhD I thought now was a good opportunity of taking a gap month. I am signed up for an intensive 4 week paragliding course with Verbier-Summits out in Verbier in the Swiss Alpes, I also have the Cotic Simple with me to explore the fantastic trials potential the Alpes always has on offer.



Day 1:

First off the accommodation here is total luxury, not the usual 10 sweaty men shoe horned into a single room that I have come to expect from alpine adventures. The Chalet is fantastic it has great views loads of room to sit around and chill out and an amazing chef Nat who has been conjuring up some outstanding food.



Day 1 was ground school, Marcus and Reeve were instructing us out on the baby slope to explain the basics of the kit and get us momentarily off the ground. This turned out to be a solid day of lumping gear up a hill as we made small runs inflating the glider legging it and pulling in some brake to generate the lift required to leave our legs momentarily dangling uselessly in mid air. I ended up with a couple of nice moments properly off the ground. Martin and Aiden also started the course with me, me and Aiden have had no previous experience on a glider, luckily we all got to grips with it pretty quickly as the first serious flight was planned for day 2.

The bike came out in the evening, Verbier has so much potential. Here are a few shots of some lines right outside the chalet. Having not done trials or really much street riding in about 5 years my timing and precision are disgustingly out but the raw power and concepts have not deteriorated too badly. The next few weeks should be a sharp re-learning curve as my ability catches up with the ideas and lines I know I used to be able to hit!



Day 2:

Leaving the chalet early we were driven to the top of the mountain for a brutal initiation into the world of paragliding. The launch site was Les Ruinettes at an altitude of 2170m, the proposed landing site was at Champsec at the bottom of the valley and at an altitude of just 930m. Serious nerves were building on the way up and whilst setting up the canopy.

The first experience of real flight was remarkably fast and graceful, my first flight was with Mike on the tandem. A paraglider smoothly lifts you into the air in a far more sedate fashion than with a kite. Kites rip you from the ground with brutal acceleration, this was a far more relaxing experience that is until the ground drops rapidly away and all that is left is to trust the laws of physics keeping the canopy in the air and Mikes skills as a pilot. The tandem initiation was both good and bad, with nothing to do on the take off there was nothing to distract the mind and I really did feel very exposed and scared by the situation. Once given the controls I was more relaxed, it was a totally amazing experience. As Mike said at the bottom "oh god we have a giggler!" Mike put me through a few semi stalls and some dives, the forces going through your body are phenomenal, it is like a roller coaster, super intense but completely dependent on the will of the pilot.





The afternoon took me to my first solo flight, again from Les Ruinettes. This was a totally different build up. The experience was much like the start of a race there was all the anticipation and fear that comes before the clock counts down but once the call was made to go all fears were suppressed and moved to the back of my mind as I got on my race face. The launch and flight were all carried out with that blind focus and complete concentration that blocks all other thoughts. It was actually a very relaxing experience and in some ways a bit of an anticlimax. I was expecting a massive buzz but as a first initiation goes it was far tamer than my initial experiences kiting and maybe even surfing. The landing itself was stunning, I landed on the valley floor with the sun going down and have to say was very mellowed out by the experience. In a similar way to surfing there was none of the crazy over energetic buzz that you get from a nuts day on the bike instead this really subdued chilled out and relaxed mindset was created by the flight.

Day 3:

We managed two top to bottoms. The first was from the highest take off used by the boys at an altitude 2400m. The views from here are absolutely epic. The launch looks straight down the valley and tapers off really quickly requiring full commitment to leave the ground safely. A set of high tension power lines lie below the take off so getting it right really did feel very critical. The launch went well and we were starting to really explore how to control the glider. The gliders are incredibly responsive just by leaning. Hanging out the side of the harness despite being incredibly unnerving produced some really nice turns. 2nd flight of the day we were exploring stalling the glider and letting it surge in front accelerating us forward in the process. This felt amazing and as the tasks were becoming more dynamic the whole flying experience was surprisingly becoming far less daunting.

We went up the hill to watch Mike take a young kid for a tandem flight and it was amazing, he took off and flew straight into lift shooting up above us and cruising the ridge for ages, the sky was really hazy and the blurred peaks in the distance was totally stunning. The evening was finished off with Raclette, a traditional Swiss dish of melted cheese potatoes meat and gherkins. The cheese was melted by an open fire, by far the best Raclette I have had.

Day 4:

Flying from Croix de Coer in the morning we had to pull "Big-Ears" which requires deliberately collapsing the tips of the glider to increase the sink rate if you need to get out of the sky in a hurry. Apparently this also increases the pressure in the cells of the glider making it more stable but it felt decidedly dodgy!! The afternoon was spent with a few lectures on meteorology and a quick blast on the bike. Pedaling out of the garage as the guys loaded up the van my chain fell off sending me over the bars, a typical totally embarrassing crash! Found some cool rocks though and got a nice touch hop line nailed, confidence in my slow bike handling skills is slowly starting to get back towards where it should be.

Photos by Simon Vacher

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