Another beautiful day flying with friends! I don't know that I've ever seen such a large gaggle over Mt. Si 🤩
Thank you @keasaurusrex and Zach Kiefer for the photos.
We’ve wrapped up the 2025 Worlds in Castelo with a hard fought 9th place! We’re also extremely proud that Alexia came in second place among women - just points from being world champion.
It was a very difficult competition in many ways, with challenging weather, tough launch conditions, and gear delays, and we’re proud of our team’s performance. Unfortunately Violeta broke her ankle on launch on the first day, but she is recovering and looking forward to being in the sky again soon.
Thanks to everyone who followed along, donated to help get us here, and who’s helping support US paragliding. Stay tuned for US Team trainings sessions for our donors this year!
The first annual Women's+ flyin last weekend at Tiger Mountain was a great success. It was so exciting to be a part of it and meet some more incredible pilots in the growing Women's+ community here in the PNW. We had several flights throughout the day and @thorrad took some incredible photos. @littlecloud_usa provided some demos as well. Thank you @ushpafreeflight !
@radford_creative_photo_video
Next up on the US Worlds Team 2025: Alexia Fischer!
@alexiaf8 is the newest pilot and a rookie to the Worlds. Hailing from Seattle, WA, she started flying in late 2018 and did her first competition in 2021. Since then, she’s proven herself in the competition scene in the women’s category and overall with high-level, consistent flying. She has 2 Superfinal Women’s podiums – the only US pilot to do so, Women’s National Champion 2024 (#2 Overall), and US league XContest winner in the female category 2 years in a row (2023, 2024). When she’s not racing paragliders or flying cross country, she’s racing sailboats, doing long bicycle rides, or hanging out with her dog Finnley.
Help us get to Castelo by donating here: /paragliding-world-championships/
In just under a month, the Paragliding World Championships will be taking place in Castelo, Brazil. This event takes place every 2 years, and this time, I was able to make the selection of 4 stellar pilots to represent Team USA!
Paragliding efforts in the US are only personally funded, so in order to help with additional costs of this competition, there is a team fundraiser hosted by the Foundation for Free Flight:
/paragliding-world-championships/
(Link also in Bio)
The PWC in Macedonia was an extremely high-level competition, unfortunately plagued by challenging conditions. We only had 3 full tasks, 2 stopped before the start due to increasing winds and challenging launch conditions, and 2 canceled before they began due to strong winds.
2 of the tasks that went were extremely fast, full-on racing, something I struggled with a bit since I was still battling some fear and confidence loss with pushing full bar.
The last task was a test of patience and stamina, yet was the deciding factor in the results. Less than 20 made goal, after flying for hours in windy, weak conditions. I made it, but just after the task deadline.
It was fun to see Macedonia 🇲🇰, someplace I haven't been before. During one of the canceled tasks, we had an excursion to the town of Ohrid. It was a beautiful lake town with a Mediterranean vibe and the water was clear and refreshing.
I'm just getting around to doing some posts in IG. It's been a busy month! The US Open of Chelan concluded at the end of June. We had 6 tasks through varying conditions: full on strong with puffy clouds, 2 very overcast days, one strong and one weak, and a special day with some blue thermals that took us higher than surrounding clouds before the start.
I finally got around to getting a new Enzo 3 in preparation for the World's. My second one so far after putting nearly 350 hours on my first one - which stayed competitive all this time until flying in some rain in Italy. The new one proved to be a handful, throwing 2 full frontals at me which I managed to recover from but not without some loss of confidence and fear.
My goal this comp was to try the art of attacking and pushing regardless of results as I tend to be more of a follower. The first couple of tasks I was able to do this, not particularly well but not poorly, and then discuss strategy with some of my friends and mentors. In the end, I became too tired and afraid to push full bar due to the violent collapses. We've been working on some rod adjustments so hopefully the glider will be in good shape soon.
The PWC in Algodonales, Spain kicked off the 2025 PWC season. The weather forecast looked questionable, but conditions improved and we were able to fly 6/7 tasks ranging from 55km to 114km.
We were also treated with a rare opportunity, with Task 5 being a gorgeous and unforgettable flight over the mountains to land on the beach of the Mediterranean.
I flew well and consistently, focusing on my climbing and further honing my skills at gliding. Algodonales rewarded those who could find the right lines, and the strong cores. It was fast and top level racing. In the end, I finished a solid 24th Overall.
In the middle of the comp, we had a rest day, where @whstites and I explored the Sierra de Grazalema and sumitted the tallest peak. We also visited the town of Ronda, famous for its Bull Ring and cliffs.
