A Bitter Sweet Birthday

Myself and others have been devastated by the loss of our dear friend Crystel Stanford. She was taken from us suddenly a week ago in a bicycle accident. She was the kind of person you feel instantly close too. Adventurous, happy, outgoing, kind, and constantly inviting friends into her life. My words feel so inadequate to describe her. Christina and I, and many many others have been profoundly affected by her death.

And so with a sad heart I headed to Funston on my birthday to fly the blues away.

It was friday, and only a few people were there. I met Tim (aka, CapTim America) and Urs. We were all friends with Crystel, and Tim has had some other painful losses this month. We shared some hugs (manly ones), appreciating our friendships a little more than usual. Looking to the South we brightened up and decided we should all head down to that nice looking shear cloud forming over WestLake.

We launched in nice smooth air and soon I was heading South. Urs was already above the shear cloud as I arrived at the WestLake cliffs. I was below the shear cloud and it occurred to me suddenly that I had never actually flown a shear cloud before, and I was not entirely sure how exactly you get from below the cloud to above it, without going through it.

I drifted along on the underside of the cloud for a few passes, and then found a spot on the North end of the cloud where I could slowly climb out in front of it. Climbing at 20 feet a minute I made pass after pass, and soon found myself above the cloud in butter smooth air.

Can you find Urs in this photo? Way above me, as usual


It was amazing. Like surfing a giant, white wave in the sky we cruzed up and down the coast. I was on my slow glider, but fortunately winds were fairly light for a shear, only 20mph or so, making it no problem for the Pulse, and allowing paragliders to join us as well.


Looking North Towards The Fort


Getting above the shear cloud was a first for me, and I am still living the flight. It was so smooth, and the contrast of cloud and trees and city and ocean was spectacular. I couldn't help but feel like our friend was telling us that we need to cheer up.

Playing in the sky, with Mr Tim West. CapTim America himself





It had been hot in the setup area and I foolishly took off my jacket before I launched. It was cold in the shear and I flew for an hour and a half before I finally started shivering and had to head back to the Fort to warm up. The LZ was smooth, the landing easy. I did a second launch and landing just because it was so fun. A perfect end to a perfect flight.

We miss you Crystel.

Flight 1 - 1:25
Flight 2 - 0:08

After heading home, my long time friends Wes and Natalie joined Christina, my parents and I at Cafe Gibraltar in Half Moon Bay for dinner. It was a wonderful evening, spent with people I love. A nice way to turn 33.