A scary paragliding flight off Mount St Helens!
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- čas přidán 4. 12. 2022
- Mount St Helens is an active stratovolcano in the Pacific Northwest region of the USA. Two paraglider pilots flew off the summit ... but only one made it to the planned landing. This is their story.
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Unexpected strong wind can strike at any time, so factor it into your flight plan! For the detailed analysis check out flywithgreg.com/programs/paragliding-safety-route
You can do a lot of preparations via making your own meteorology assessments based on the pressure maps and wind flow. You can reliably predict the weather for 3 days with some training - I learned how in class. It takes some effort but if I'm flying, especially at high altitudes, this is probably considerable as essential. To me it's like a ship sailing to sea without a compass otherwise. Gusty winds don't happen in a stable atmosphere. It makes zero sense not to take advantage of the data from weather centers.
@@maskcollector6949 thats the total base to check the weather. ✌️ With such extreme locations, very high over more than less flat mountains it can change anyway very quickly.😉
@@safranpollen That's why paying attention to the jetstreams is important to match altitudes. The weather stations typically show only the weather for ground level. It can be calm up to a certain altitude and windy above it if you're not paying attention. Even crazy weather is predictable.
I joined a group of friends way back in 1990 to climb and descend Mt St Helens on telemark skiis. In case I found favorable wind conditions, I elected to carry my jaguar 11 cell paraglider (early days!) stuffed into my pack along with a small climbing harness. Light winds on the summit found me unfurling my wing and going for it. Had a wonderful flight back down to the snowline where I landed among a group of boy scouts that were just waking up in their tents! My buddies soon joined me after a nice ski down. We pioneered several WA state descents back in the day. Good memories!
Hell yea, im 20 y/o and live to the north in BC, hiking up mountain peaks has got to be my favorite hoppy
I bet those kids will remember that day for the rest of their lives. How wild to wake up and see someone parachuting into your camp!
I flew my HG in September 1998. I launched into light soaring conditions and flew near the lave flow for 20 min l forecasting wasn't as good then, the wind switched 120° in only a few mins. I was sinking and couldn't make the top landing area. I went over the black lava flow and got hammered by the rocketing thermals. I was a low time pilot lacking the experience that I should have had to fly that site. After nearly tumbling on 2 occasions, I finally the height to make the top landing. I skimmed the edge of the launch site that I'd taken off from an hour ago. Flying into the wind (blowing strong down at launch now) at what must have been 100 kph or more, I touched down firmly and waited for several mins until a passing hiker could assist my nose wires in order for me to unclip form the HG. I packed my glider and thanked him for the help. My luck bucket was lighter following that day but my experience bucket was much heavier.
In the years that followed I put 1000 hrs in HG and then about 1500 in PG's. I may never forget that flight but I'll certainly never forget what I learned from it
They passed me and my friend climbing up the mountain that day. They were questioning the flight on their way up. It really was a glorious day; I dont blame them for taking off! Glad theyre ok.
I have climbed up Monitor ridge many times. Never in winter and was before I discovered paragliding. I was 13 when it erupted and was awesome to watch. I have been near summit and holy cow where did the wind come from!!
Many things to consider when making such a flight in a paraglider!!! I drove for a couple of paraglier friends who were very experienced back in 1994. They launched from a peak on the Oregon side of the river and its been so many years i cant recall their launch but it was just an open patch of shale rock basically.
Both made it to the Washington side where i picked them up and i thought that was an amazing flight! Was glad to be able to drive for them, i was recovering from a paragliding accident i had in 93 so was free to help.
Great video and thank you for sharing these experiences with us!!! I liked and subscribed!!!
Great story and insights Greg! I'll share this one for sure.
What an exciting trip and flight.
Thank you for sharing.
Wow Greg that's a great video
Thsnks for showing you got the forcast material from RASP, neat tool
Was there. Remember seeing that exact view. Its quite a beautiful spot
Thanks for making this video :)
Thank you Greg. I have learn a lot from you. Last year I am become better pilot, with your videos. Weary helpful
I hope we meet somewhere
Milos, Germany
Just north of St Helens, this is known as 'Getting Parked", daily forecast knowledge and insight from locals is vital.
You're awesome!!!
I have flown over that mountain in my light sport airplane a few times and have always experienced turbulence and down drafts…….I have always wondered what it would be like to PG off of it. Ice job Greg
Very clear day. Not only can we easily see Mt Hood, but you can see Mt Jefferson beyond Mt Hood. And is that one of the Three Sisters beyond Mt Jefferson?
I wonder why he took off with crampons, the snow was soft and it doesn't look steep. Easy to say from the comfort of my armchair, but I'd take off without crampons there.
I've heard the "escape downwind" tip a number of times, I hope I have the presence of mind to remember and apply it if I ever need it.
I was wondering the same thing, I would have definitely taken them off, as the minimal benefit they might give you on the ground is way outweighed by the risk the pose on the ground to the equipment and in the air or during landing to again the equipment and yourself. And yes, I use crampons quite a lot in the winters for many different sports.
I took off from this mountains no crampons. It was a no brainer as we immediately thought about our ankles being broken if we had left them on.
I dream of flights like this one day well maybe without the complications. Do you know Nate Scott? He’s a local instructor in my area. They fly mt Shasta a lot well he just flys a lot in general good share thanks!
Hey Greg, great vid, thanks! what camera providing the telemetrics data like on the video please? is it Hero 8? which software you used for edition? Thanks, cheers
it's called Telemetry Overlay
🔥
Супер! 🎉
@Greg, where would I find the extended edition of the video? I’m part of the FlyWithGreg flying academy, but I don’t see it in the recent videos, nor by searching “Helens”
That's because you're so early, I hadn't released it yet! It's now on flywithgreg.com/programs/paragliding-safety-route
@@FlyWithGreg , just watched it now. That was great, thank you! I know these two guys, and someday I want to do Helens as well. Great insights, both in this video and your other ones!
hej greg how did you make the overlay with altitude etc. ?
it's a program called Telemetry Overlay, using the GPS tracklog from the flight instrument
exposed takeoff in the north, huge differences on tempertures day/night can cause immediately strong wind at any time. all times demanding. Never without iridium satellite connection, garmin mini inreach a must have and a reserve , prepared smartphone, if the main is damaged at landing.
Good advice not to be totally fixated on the original "Plan A" & to have some thought to alternative options.
They're both great pilots and honestly really talented. However, I'd really like to point out the obvious - they should have never taken off. The forecast for that day was showing strong layers and for wind speeds to exceed safe conditions. I think Max even posted a screenshot on his website. On their hike up, they should've noted the similarities with the forecast and the strong layer they were feeling and considered aborting plans. In general the mountains around here should only be flown on really light days because of how dynamic conditions are. Glad they were mostly alright, but damn so avoidable.
yeah, there's always a 'should have' with every incident, I'm grateful that they shared this situation because it's happened to many of us. You think 'it will be alright' because you want it to be alright, and then ... it isn't. There was still a way to have a safe flight in those conditions, but the landing site plan needed to be quite different.
the sasquatch population of mt st helens was wiped in the cataclysmic eruption of 1980. Sad.
1:1 glide ratio into wind. Even so flying downslope? Does ridge lift offset headwind in a glide ratio deficit?
sometimes, for part of the way, you can make progress in the ridge lift, but when you slip off the side of the divergence line and the wind runs across the slope, the ridge lift ends and your glide goes to pot
OOF, that's rough. Too bad it's mostly an ad to join your website. :P (I get it though, CZcams does NOT pay well unfortunately.)
Are there any prohibitions about flying in national parks?
You sound like Werner Herzog
It is also ILLEGAL to fly in & over national parks. Also, it is illegal to hike in as most of that area is a research area for how forest grow back after eruptions. Know the laws
St Helens is a legal flying site approved by local rangers
Only zones 1 and 3 are closed to aircraft (and paragliders). Zone 2 is legal. They flew from zone 2 out of the monument without crossing either boundary.
As you say, know the laws. At least before making snarky comments.