Mountain Film Fest in Peru

I'm off to Peru after an eventful summer of flying .

It had been a glorious three months of paragliding in Pemberton from April until August. I had gone through a bit of equipment wear and tear as the “ intermediate syndrome “ had certainly struck me with a vengeance . I had been flying on an Airwave Sport 1-2 glider which I was getting quite fond of. My battered SKY Atis glider had been put away since it had a significant amount of damage from tree landings and incomplete repairs from Valle De Bravo in Mexico.

My first disaster struck as I was scratching a little too close to the trees in Pemberton, above “ The Point “ just below McKenzie Launch. I lost my concentration just for a moment while I looked up at Brad who was flying above me, I was suddenly boxed in by trees on all sides. Suddenly, one of my lines caught a branch and next thing I knew I was hanging fifty feet off the ground off a dead tree. I managed to swing back and forth , grab the tree , then spent a good few minutes struggling to pull myself up the branches in order to unclip from my carabiners on the harness which had me still attached to the glider. The problem was it was a DEAD TREE and the branches kept breaking as I tried this repeatedly . Finally, a branch held, I unclipped, slid down the tree and trudged out in the 40+ degree scorching heat. The next day, thanks to friends Denis and Lucas we made the Odyssey back to my glider, cut down two trees which kept the wing captive and brought my glider home. Unfortunately, my Airwave Sport did not fare well through this and needs some major repairs.

The following week , I had gotten hold of an Advance Sigma 5 glider. It was a sporty day of flying and I seemed to get a hang of the new wing which resembled my previous Sport glider a lot in it’s performance. I flew for at least three hours with Kevin a local pilot. I rarely top land but when I saw Kevin go in I felt confident I could pull it off as well. I came in from as far back as the trees would allow and positioned myself for a landing. I must have angled my approach slightly , and then a strong thermal caught the right side of my wing. Next thing I knew I was being pulled downwind towards the bushes on the right side of launch. It all happened rather quickly and before I knew it my both feet hit the ground rather hard. As I clambered out of the bushes I knew something was not great with my left leg. There was not much pain but a funny feeling that something was wrong or broken. I packed up my glider and drove Nicolai’s truck down to the LZ and dropped by the clinic for an X Ray appointment the next day. Sure enough my ugly hunch was right. I had fractured my fibula right below the knee.

The worst thing was that I was to leave for Peru the following Monday to attend a film festival in Huaraz, Lima and Cuzco. I was also hoping to do some flying while there. Now , the flying was out of the question and my trip had to be confined to a regular tourist like graze of the countryside. It would be a good exercise in patience. Since I have such a colorful history with Peru, I’m also hoping to film a little epilog or ending to our ongoing AIRHEAD DIARIES film there. I would also like to thank Ivan the festival director for hosting me there as well as the department of Canadian Foreign Affairs for a travel grant to help in my travels. Stay tuned for reports from www.Inkafest.com on this website as well.