The UHPC organised a fly down from the summit of Slieve Donard to raised money for The William Keown trust (Highlighting the achievements and promoting the dignity of people with disabilities).
About half way up several pilots stopped to have a sandwich.
With my kit weighing about 20 KG, this was hard going.
Donard forest and Dundrum bay in the background
One of the things that spurred me on during the last leg was that many hill walkers asked why I was carrying such a big back pack, so of course I had to explain that as a group we were paragliding down. At least three groups of people wished me well.
Summit of Slieve Donard looking North, wisps of orographic cloud forming behind the cold pilots,Irish sea on the right.
Well we made it, I wasn't at the front of the pack with the fit people (which included two pensioners) but I wasn't at the back either. As soon as I stopped I put all the clothes I had brought with me, some estimates put the temperature at -8 C. While I stuffed the last sandwich into me wisps of orographic cloud started to appear. At this point decided it was time to get ready just in case we got clagged in.
Andrew D. is the first to get off.
Fortunately nothing more came of the cloud, which was a relief as I really didn't want to walk down.
Harry the paragliding dog with owner Tony clipped in and ready to launch
You may recognise Harry, he is quite famous, been on the tele and everything!
Harry on his way to meet his public.
It was so cold that I could only have my hands out of my gloves for a minute before they were unusable. This made doing my equipment checks quite slow. When I did eventually get off there was little in the way of lift, so it was just a big 2,700 feet top to bottom. I did take the opportunity to play with my speed bar on the way down.
Of course we have the obligatory fly down video!
We had three landing options, first was and easiest was the beach as the tide was out, second was the football pitch and third was the lawn in front of the Slieve Donard Hotel. I chose the football pitch and one of the upsides to this that I didn't appreciate until after landing was that I have never landed on such an even surface before. Still, I witnessed two experienced pilots trip and fall on landing, I guess the flat surface put them off.
It is something when you have to be released from your own lines by family and friends.
Last two pilots.
Some statistics:
It took me about two and a half hours to make the summit.
Only about thirteen minutes to fly down.
Summit is approx 2,700 feet above sea level.
I counted 18 paragliders (not including Harry).
Everyone enjoyed the experience, and I am sure there will be plenty of money raised. It is not something I'll be doing in a hurry again, and certainly I will wait until warmer weather before I try again.
Thanks to anyone who has sponsored me, expect a visit asking for the readies soon :)
No comments:
Post a Comment