As a new year begins, I find myself preparing for my 22nd season running SkySchool. It is something I never imagined when I first started flying, and it has made me look back on my own personal journey. That reflection even had me digging out some rather old photos from the days when I still had some hair!
Before paragliding and paramotoring entered my life, I was already involved in other adventure sports. I made my first tandem skydive with the Red Devils at Netheravon in 2000, an experience that set me on the path to complete my AFF course near Brisbane, Australia, in 2003. That same year, I turned my focus to the mountains, and in 2004 I completed my BASI Snowboard Instructor qualification in Tignes, France.
At the end of 2004, I met Gilo Cardozo, the founder of Parajet, and he gave me my first taste of paragliding and paramotoring. At the time, I had no idea that flying would play such a significant role in my life.
Through flying, I met people I would never have crossed paths with, opened doors I did not even know existed and travelled to places I would never otherwise have visited. I owe it a huge amount!
As I flew more, I did less skydiving. Eventually, in 2021, I stopped altogether. I never truly enjoyed being confined to a drop zone, reliant on others for a lift to altitude, only for the experience to be over in moments, followed by long periods of waiting. As the adrenaline faded, I began to question why I was spending so much time and money on something that no longer gave me what it once had. Fortunately, paragliding and paramotoring gave me all of this and much more!
Living in Chamonix, France since 2014, I have been able to do a lot of paragliding and snowboarding. I love combining the two sports. Most people have heard of speed riding, however not many people have heard of speed snowboarding! Taking off on a snowboard opens up the mountain in an entirely different way, allowing you to ride a line and fly out without skinning back up or battling down through difficult terrain. Playing with soaring on a snowboard has also added another layer of enjoyment, using the wing almost like a kite. I would love to see more people flying with a snowboard however that may be wishful thinking!
I owe a huge amount to both skydiving and snowboarding. One introduced me to airsports the other gave me the confidence to teach. When writing the APPI Power training systems, many instructional methods were drawn directly from the BASI manual. As the saying goes: Good artists copy. Great artists steal
Over 21 seasons, my love of flying and of running SkySchool has never faded. These days I find the greatest satisfaction in cross country flying, exploring new areas, and returning to familiar flying sites that I know so well. Introducing those locations to new pilots and seeing their reactions, never gets old, nor does watching students reactions after their first solo flights.
Looking ahead, I do have concerns. Will these incredible sports, which provide so much joy, freedom, and in my case income, become overly regulated in the years ahead? Will people still want to learn to fly, invest in equipment, and go on trips during a potentially turbulent economic climate? Many of these concerns are outside of my control.
What I can control is working with my exceptional team at SkySchool, who continue to set the benchmark for paramotoring safety and instruction around the world, and long may that continue. So here’s to another busy flying season!
Bring it on...
