Long before I was a paraglider I was a backpacker. I grew up in the time of external frame packs, lived through the transition to internal frame (an Arc’teryx Bora 40 was my first), got into ultra lightweight packs, and only then found paragliding and temporarily forgot about the principles of carrying a load in […]
Proto-Pack: A Custom Paraglider Backpack Read More »
This was originally written for SAILING Magazine, and is published here with the consent of the Schanen family (owners of the J/145 MAIN STREET on Lake Michigan– http://sailingmagazine.net). Once every 24 hours, for a scant 15 minutes or so, waves break on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. The break is less than 200 yards from the
J/22 Odyssey- California To Jamaica & Beyond! Read More »
I am an edgewalker. I am some strange amphibian in a world of lakes and raised dikes. I cross from one body of water to another, swimming on the surface, perhaps porpoising down, though never to the bottom. The bottom is deeper than I am willing to go. I wander always, restless to see more.
Look, I’m a normal guy trying to do difficult things. The idea is in reaction to the “that guy’s got hollow bones” comment that paragliders will say when they see a really good pilot, especially one doing better than them*. It’s the same kind of thing you’ll hear with climbers talking about Honnold’s amygdala, or
From Normal to Exceptional Read More »
I hit the ground (again) the other day flying, took a 50% collapse (half the wing just faded away) about 75 feet above ground. Managed it well enough to land without injury, but it definitely wasn’t a planned landing and certainly could have been much worse. The 2 other guys who were on site at
Fear & Recovery, Part II Read More »
This is in response to a friend asking me about my recent crash on a paraglider. He talked about his reason for walking away from paragliding as well as asked the questions you’ll see at the bottom.
I’ve been thinking about networks lately, inspired by recently reading Joshua Cooper Ramo’s The Seventh Sense. The driving takeaway is that developing a sense for understanding the networks in any given situation gives an advantage over an understanding based on older frameworks.
Developing The Seventh Sense Read More »
“Sometimes it’s just as valuable knowing what you don’t want to do.” ‑Dr. Amy Kruse, former DARPA program manager Look, excellence doesn’t transfer. It’s a common mistake to think it does, and one that many SOF vets make.
Letter to a Soldier Read More »
The people I like most share two things in common: First, they have open minds. Second, while they appear normal, they are in at least one aspect of their lives, utterly bat shit crazy.
In the vein of continually getting better, I just started sending out a “pre-interview” request for the Paleo Treats podcast. This one went out to Gavin McClurg, a paraglider. They’ll probably change as I go along, but I thought you’d enjoy it.
Pre-Interview Prep Read More »