Jonathan Dietch & Moria Fainberg <<res007jc>>
writes:

I don't recall seeing much HD video footage from hang gliders
soaring above the Sierra Nevada mountain range and so I jumped at the chance
when my cross country partner, Alex told me that conditions looked good last
Wednesday. Alex flies an Axis Venus paraglider and has been doing very well in
the North California Cross Country League, while I took my T2C 144 and Covert
harness with my Mountain High O2 system. This was my chance to get some high
definition video of the snow up in the Sierra as well as test the fit of Jeff
Shapiro's custom mod to my Covert cross country prototype that I've been flying
since early last October.

There were two hang gliders and four paragliders at Walt's Point on Horseshoe
Meadows Rd. I was the last to launch having stopped for a large breakfast to
fuel up for what I thought would be a five hour flight. Conditions turned out to
be good but not up to the forecast. I stayed low along the mountain faces in
order to capture video of the spectacular rock formations and eventually climbed
above the spine farther North in order to get a good look at the snow-capped
peaks. I met up with Alex near Whitney Portal Rd and we climbed together briefly
before I pressed on ahead.

I turned east at the lava fields and headed for the valley in order to flee the
increasing turbulence from the West push. It got so bad that Alex wouldn't touch
his speedbar for fear of a frontal collapse or release a brake to reach his
camera. I also needed both hands on the control bar most of the flight and
couldn't always aim my own camera. We each got up around 14,000' which made for
some very nice camera angles. Alex sent me a section of his raw video showing me
climbing out below him then diving at the mountainside. I altered my flying to
get good angles to share the spectacular beauty of the Sierra. My flight was
only 46 miles and I safely landed just South of Big Pine, while Alex and two
other pilots landed just South of Bishop near 58 miles. It was good to have the
O2 onboard since I live at sea level and spend very little time at altitude. The
180 liter cylinder pocket behind my calves worked out great and I stowed my flow
controller in the external side storage pocket where I could change the altitude
setting in flight.

I did two completely different edits with vastly different musical genres. In
the second edit I wove in Alex's footage as well.

Mellow and relaxing:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9GZXK1Qjpvg

Short and fast-paced:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gZyRiZA4vw  or
http://vimeo.com/25203284

My tracklog:
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/464616

Alex:
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/464647