Congratulations to Chip Hildebrand for the breaking the Wyoming state cross-country paragliding distance record. Chip’s flight from Philips Ridge (Teton Pass) to Thermopolis covered over 137 miles and took 6:19. Chip was able to take advantage of a tail wind and primo thermals to steal the old record held by, I think, Josh Riggs for his flight from Jackson to Lander. Click here for other state paragliding distance records.
It's pretty wild to hear about the long distance flights some of these pilots are into. Sometimes you see them flying over the Grand Teton, but it's illegal to land in the park, so they have some logistics to deal with there on the way down to earth. But when they do these cross-country flights, it sure seems like there is another element of survival thrown into the mix. I mean, if Chip lost lift somewhere over the Gros Ventre or the Winds, he'd be hosed and stuck in the middle of nowhere, curling up in his wind to stay warm and wondering how the hell he we gonna get out of there. Pretty intense stuff if you really think about it.
Chip's record flight started on Teton Pass, flew over the Gros Vente Mountains,
then towards Continental Divide and the Wind River Mountains, before ending after
6 hours and 19 minutes in Thermopolis, WY.
Click photo for larger image.
Paragliding is pretty popular here in Jackson and as a non-paraglider/pilot, it's hard not to wonder what it's like to fly around like a bird like you see those guys do all the time near one of the many launch sites around the valley. Most pilots that I talk to say the the sport pretty much takes over your life once you really get into it. Riding the tram and gondola at JHMR make flying pretty convenient and the many weather stations in the area provide enough information for one to really geek out and find good places to fly in a variety of conditions. I always told myself I'd wait until I was 40 years old before I even thought about taking up paragliding. Well, I'm 39 now...so only one more year to go!!!
Cool. He sure seemed happy about his accomplishment. Don’t know much about paragliding but I’m a little surprised the average ground speed was only a little over 20 mph.
yeah tri…but you gotta know that to gain altitude and lift, the pilots circle around in thermals at times. more or less logging a ground speed of zero since they aren’t going really anywhere.
I have always wondered how sweet it would be to fly, the other week I rode the tram with my folks, On our box was a pilot during summer and ski patroller in the winter. I asked, “is it better than skiing powder?”, he replied “given the choice I would fly everyday.” Obvisously this guy likes skiing powder just as much as I do, I bet flying is awesome. Next summer I plan on taking the classes.
yeah bryan…with full access to the lifts at jhmr, being a ski patroller seems to be a prerequisite for many of the pilots around here.
That’a’boy Chip! Sennnnnnnnnding!!!! Super stoked for you brother!!!
Niiiiiiice! Wish I was flying there that day.
ptor…when did you start flying? do they do these cross country trips in cham? do they launch from the agui du midi?
Steve, I started flying in 1991 but really got super into it in 2000 in Pemberton. Cham has unreal flying. The cross country style usually starts from the Brevent mid-station. people fly to Annecy and back. I’ve had a couple great sessions there flying to Switzerland(near Verbier) and back as well as the heatwave of 2003 where cloud base (and the paragliders) went to over 5000m so we could fly way over top of the mountains. I’ll never forget surfing the Aiguille Vert trying touch and gos on the summit with Paul McLeod untill sunset and we had splitting headaches from being so high so long. Another flight over the Verte, house size rocks were constantly breaking off and exploding so the dust filled the monster thermal rising into the cloud above the peak. Unreal. Yes, people launch from the Aiguille du midi but I think that’s more for soaring the north wind and scenic style flying.
Golden, B.C. is still my favourite zone to fly.
Paragliding changed my whole perspective on life and especially on the ski world. Now I really dig flying with the skis to transport myself to untracked zones. la Grave is perfect for that.
Ya Steve, don’t start this stuff unless you wanna end up changing the name of your site to “tetonxc” 😉 Other than that, why wait till 40? You could end up getting gored by a moose in an inflatable kayak in the meantime.;-) 😉
good point ptor…but i figured i would wait until my knees were fully shot before i started taking the easy way down.
so you are flying to new areas…and then skiing? interesting…you don’t see that around here.
Paraglyding is awesome, I tried it twice and I can’t wait to do it again, shame it’s too cold nowadays.
http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/journal/ski/all/bd-athlete-ptor-spricenieks-goes-paraskiing-in-the-alps
ptor…that is pretty interesting stuff. i bet there aren’t many people doing that kind of thing either.
Ptor, I am glad to know you are flying – lets get together and do something fun! Steve, Heed Ptors warning – Don’t touch a paraglider unless you want a new addiction. It is all I think about! I can’t wait for the days that I see Cloudstreets that beckon me to climb in and 3d play chess with the skies. As to Chip – He is a bird and a soul brother in the process of finding his own nirvana. Cheers to him. RA
rick…thanks for the tip. that seems to be what i always hear. i need to save up some funds before i’d pull the trigger anyhow.
Hey Rick, ya mon! Come back to La grave anytime and fun will be had! (and bring your wing)