xAlps training in Canada

We are now in full swing with our training and will slowly work to our peak by mid June.
As most of you know, my better half and supporter, Penny Powers (she does not just sound powerful, she lives up to her name) has worked out and written an x-alps training program for me.
The goal is to be able to do 4-5 hour hikes with full gear for 4 days in a row without getting tired during and after the hikes.
Besides hiking and flying, I have a weekly schedule to train on the Lakeview Meadows stairs, at our rec-center to swim, and in the gym to work on core strength.
Right now the lake is frozen which also gives me the opportunity to Nordic ski at least 3 times a week in the evenings.
I am very lucky to be able to do all this training right from our house. As I work from the house, it allows me to work 8-10 hours a day and still have fun with my young family.

The video shows a couple hikes with toboggan rides and flying over the ice.

Paragliding at Panorama Mt. Resort

The new owners of Panorama Mt. Resort are welcoming the Paragliding pilots for the 20010/11 season. This is now our 14th's season up there and we are getting again a special deal for pilots (if it is flyable).
Check out the guidelines at our Panorama page and get your wings and skis ready.

We are also planning to do some Santa flying over Christmas.
Anyone interested?

Seasons Greetings from Erik, Katia, Penny and Max

Nova Wings now available at www.flyingMax.com

 At our last trip to the Dolomite's, we had the chance to try the new Nova Mentor2 and this wing is just outstanding. I think most of you know that the Mentor 2 was at least the same or better performing then the Omega 8 from Advance in a bet between Tom Payne and Hannes Papesch.

This is absolutely amazing to have a 1-2 wing with a smaller aspect ratio and such a performance .

We also met with Nova at the Team meet and we talked about Nova sales in Canada. There are only 2 dealers, one on Vancouver Island and one in Ontario but no one in the Rockies.

Well we changed this now.
If you have any interest in a Nova wing, send me an e-mail to max@flyingMax.com

xAlps preparations are on the way and still having fun with the family.

Since we got the news to be selected again for the 2011 xAlps, we are working hard on logistics and the mapping. This time we are working together with Steve Nash (Team UK). Steve and I are both Nova Team Pilots and decided to work together on the prep-work to get a good chance to be in goal with the others.

Besides working on maps and logistics we started already with some easy training on the mountain 3 times a week, Yoga 1-2 times a week and the odd time in the Gym.
Penny worked out a super cool program for me, which I am very excited about it. It is all about to be able to workout hard 4-6 hours a day for 5 days in a row without getting depleted.
Sounds impossible, but I am convinced with Penny's supervision it all can be done.

In the mean time I have tons to do with www.Appointment.com and still have time to enjoy my family with skating, hockey, bike rides, playing in the snow, reading with Katia and yes also with flying.
Have a look at the video I flew with Penny and Katia. Erik was kind of bummed  not to be in the video, but believe me, he gets his fair share of flying as well.

RedBull xAlps 2011

Today we got the news that we have been selected to be one of the 30 teams to compete in the 2011 www.RedBullxAlps.com. We are super excited to be there again.
I sometimes wonder what it is that brings us back to this event? It is very time consuming and expensive to get prepared  for it and during the race, which takes about 2 weeks, it drains all your strength and power one has. But it's addictive and an experience and challenge like no other, and Penny and I are in it together.

I like to stress one important part, this all would never be possible without the help from Penny and the kids, they are the best I can ask for. And thanks for all the support and help we have from our community, family and friends.   

Fun with the kids - heading to the Dolomite's

Already September??? Man, time is just flying by here.

August was great and we had a ton of fun. Right after the www.LakesideEvent.com event we spend a lot off time at the beach and in the air. I did a ton of tandems with the kids and friends. Flying x-country is fun, but very cool is if your own kids want to share your hobby with you.

End of August we headed up to the "Nation Lakes" (3 hours North of Fort St. James). We did a 9 day kayak and canoe paddle with the whole family and the Kubian's (Rick, Ange, Micheal and Adam). This was a true adventure to travel only by Canoe and Kayak over 130 km and not to see anyone.

Follow this link to see pictures, be warned there are a lot of pictures and they might get boring for you.

After we got back, the weather was not the best for flying so I started with my training to loose some of the accumulated weight. This involves about 4-5 Mt. Swansea hikes per week with and without gear and with yoga sessions. All feels good and it is amazing how fast you can get back into shape again.

Today we (Penny and I) had a intro to kite surfing at Cochrane. Pretty good fun and we love it. We think we are going to start this winter on the lake.

Another reason why we are in Calgary is that I am heading to Germany tomorrow evening. First we planned to go with the kids, but now with Katia going to school (yes grade 1) I ended up going myself. I will meet up with 4 other Canadians to visit the "Free Flight" expo at Tegelberg and after this we are heading down to the Dolomite's with www.Bluesky.at. This will be a bit hectic as I will have to keep on working during the evening hours with my daytime job for www.Appointment.com.

I will keep you posted during the trip.

34th annual LakesideEvent.com

The 34th annual LakesideEvent.com splash down was simply said amazing and magical. Friday we had huge thunderstorms and the weather forecast for Saturday was so so.
Saturday morning the valley was covered by fog and low clouds. We had 15 Hang glider pilots and 30 Paraglider pilots show up at the 8:30 am morning briefing. Once we got up to the launch (around 10:00 am) the south wind already picked up and the clouds and fog was breaking. See some pictures from Stewart's Photo Album.

Eventually the south wind got to strong for paragliding and only hang gliders where in the air. We had a lot of spectators on the beach and even Brewster come down with a full busload of spectator. While hang gliders where flying we did a ground-handling demonstration. One with a modern serial class wing and I had the opportunity to play with a 1989 Birdwing (I flew this kind back then). What an experience for me and spectators could see colored wings and activity. I think I even saw Jeff starting a hula-hop competition. Then just as asked for, the wind died down and we could start flying again.The wind shifted from south to north and eventually got to strong to land at the Lakeside Pub (around 5:30 pm). Everybody could get their flights in and some could log up to 4 flights. I did 3 tandems, one with my son Erik and his teddy, the second with the Columbia Valley Pioneer reporter Kate and the last one with Penny's sister's son Declan. Katia (my daughter) did not feel to good to go flying and the wind got kind of to strong anyways, so she enjoyed the beach and the many other kids to play with.

The www.LakesideEvent.com is not a hardcore flying meet where pilots fly long distances. This meet is more to show all the non-fliers what we have fun with and to raise interest in our sport. This event is also a social event for all the pilots, friends and families to get together to socialize and have fun. And this is exactly what we did, after the flights, everyone enjoyed the beach and then headed to the Lakeside pub for dinner. They had a great buffet ready which was leading into a fantastic party and dance with the Electric Squirrels. The Electric Squirrels are a great dancing band playing just about anything, thanks again for playing until 1:30 am.
Before I forget, during a music break we had our boat race between Hang glider pilots and paraglider pilots. This was a close race and had to be done twice. This year the paraglider pilots will be on the trophy (sponsored by CJ92). Can't wait who will be on it next year.

All in all it was a great event, for everyone who did not come, you missed a good one.

Here are a couple thank you's to make this all happen. First I like to thank Frank and Tracey to run this event and to keep everyone inspired and more so to back it financially, meaning to somehow make this work with the needed cash sponsors. Also a huge thank you to all the volunteers for their time and efforts and to the Search and Rescue group who come up from Kimberly to monitor the top of Mt. Swansea.

Sponsors and supporters where:
www.CopperSideCondos.com, www.InvermereHardware.com, www.ColumbiaRiverOutfitters.com, www.Appointment.com, www.PanoramaResort.com,  www.MullerwindSports.com,
Inside Edge Sports (Invermere), Kickinghorse Coffee, Rocky River Grill (Invermere), Rona (Invermere), The Rainbow Dunky (Kids clothing in Invermere), Valley Foods (AG foods Invermere), Valley Hair Styling (Invermere), Oasis Gifts (Invermere),