Contest for U.S. crown put on hold until today By MARCIA SCHLOTTMAN LAKEVIEW -- As a young boy, Fred Lawley dreamed of flying. He couldn't be an airplane pilot - his vision didn't pass the then 20-20 requirement - but that didn't stop him from exploring the skies. He just rode the wind. Today, he pilots a paraglider - a long rectangular chute that can capture the wind using warm air pockets, called thermals, to rise up to altitudes just under 18,000 feet, the limit placed on them because of airplane traffic paths. Lawley on Saturday afternoon stretched out on top of Black Cap, a mountain just east of Lakeview, with more than 40 other paragliders who will compete for the U.S. championship. The competitors come from throughout the U.S. and represent Japan, New Zealand and other countries around the world. A stiff south wind prevented paragliders from competing Saturday. But the competition will continue today and through the week. Gliders are expected to begin launching sometime around 2pm, depending on wind and weather conditions. Spectators are welcome, but parking is limited. Lawley, a San Diego resident, said he was at the event for fun. He sat on the mountainchanging the string-like cords on his chute. Competition chutes, which are about 26 feet long, have anywhere from 250 to 400 individual cords that attach the pilot to the chute. Pilots use hand-holds to move the cords and control the paraglider. Though uncommon, chutes can suddenly fold. For that, gliders wear emergency parachutes on their backs. Gliders did fly Saturday, testing the wind and looking for thermals. Cross-country paragliding - paragliders can fly for hours if the conditions are right - involves finding thermals and using them to gain altitude, ride the wind and find more thermals. Strong wind breaks the thermals into smaller pockets, making them difficult to find and ride. Thermals are created from heat rising from the ground, and expert gliders know where to find them, the key to beating competitors to a destination. Gliders carry global positioning systems and a device that tells them their speed and altitude. Competition involves various "tasks." A task could be to fly to Adel. But along the way the gliders will be expected to make certain turns at specific spots. How do event directors know if the glider made the turn accurately? By photographs. Each glider must photograph a certain target at the start of the race and then the checkpoints along the way. The film is the proof. None of the gliders Saturday seemed upset at the delay of competition and many said they would rather not compete in poor conditions. Instead, many paraglided from the mountain back to town. "The flying is easy. It's knowing when not to fly that's hard," said Kelly Davis, a veteran glider from Aspen, Colo. Davis, 38, is flying a tandem glider, one that takes another person along for the ride. And the ride, gliders say, is nice, and comfortable. They compare it to sitting in an easy chair. It only took one ride in a tandem glider during a 1990 trip to France, and Dvais was hooked. After he climbed all 54 mountains in Colorado, he needed a new challenge, and riding the wind was it. "Just like a river that goes and hits rocks, air is a fluid-like object," he said, explaining how air hitting an object, like the side of Black Cap mountain, creates a dynamic ridge life, enabling gliders to gain altitude. The best condition for flying is no wind. The gliders generally travel 25 miles per hour without wind. Against a 12-mph wind, for example, the speed would diinish to 13 mph. With a 25 mph (tail) wind, the glider's speed would double. Othar Lawrence, a 23-year-old from Aspen, Colo., is one of a few paragliders in the U.S. who makes a living paragliding. He is the reigning national champion, and he returned Saturday to defend his title. In the winter, he works as a carpenter, but he can travel the worldcompeting in the warmermonths through the help sponsors and some reward money. "It's a very modest living," he admitted, smiling. But it's all he wants to do. "It's all I think about. It certainly consumes a good portion of my thoughts," he said. "When you're 10,000 feet above the ground, the view is spectacular. And the more you fly, the better you get." Rick Higgins, 41, a Hood River resident, has been paragliding in Lakeview for the past two weeks and leads the Chamber of Commerce competition. When he's not gliding, he teaches paragliding, takes people for rides and sells equipment. He has set Oregon's paragliding distance record by flying 75 miles from Lakeview to Wagontire, twice. Over the Fourth of July, he was gliding at 15,000 feet above Alkali Lake. "The thing about this sport is you can never get high enough, go far enough or stay up long enough," Higgins said. "So it's always a challenge." |
