Good Memories

I'm back in the US now. The 2009 X-Alps was a tough battle but as the painful memories fade the good ones shine bright. Here are two photos: the first is of the launch for my longest flight in the X-Alps and the other is from an ascent on day nine. I want to sincerely thank all who joined our 2009 X-Alps team!

3rd Place!

What a challenging journey the Xalps has been this time around. Criegle set a blistering pace and demonstrated just how good he is at flying, making it hard for the mere mortals to keep up. Through out the exhausting battle Honza remained focused and strong. While his main objective of reaching Monaco was not met, his 3rd place finish is just rewards for a race well run and he has left a very good reason for his return in 2011! Thank you to everyone for following the race and thank you for your support. Race archives, tracks, photos and movies will be found at www.redbullxalps.com

Cheers!
Dave Hanning Team USA supporter.

Race Time!

The race starts tomorrow and all is well except the weather. It has potential with a few days of post frontal coming towards us, so we are all hopeful for some good flying conditions to avoid the big walk at the beginning. So far it has been a bit of a family reunion from the last race with excellent hosting on the part of the race organizers. Many thanks to Red Bull & Zooom for putting on such an excellent show. We have been treated as if we are royalty. Excellent food and parties, professional organization & an awesome Press Conference and epic tour of all the Red Bull Airplanes and racing autos in Hanger 7 &12! The DC-6 is incredible, the P-38 rocks and the helicopter fleet is way impressive. It was very special to be at the Red Bull HQ of the world empire! Already I feel as if we have won, whatever happens next. Saying that I can report that Honza is ready, he is strong and he is motivated. It will be a great show whichever way it goes! Tomorrow we start in Salzburg below the famous fortress and race to the summit of a nearby peak. It will be hard to make a good flight with such a strict and big airspace to avoid. Everyone is pouring over maps as I write here in the athlete's lounge. Soon we will have to sleep some as we have an early briefing pre-race. Then the athletes will be bused to the town center (20mins away) and I will race into town to be there for the start. This race trumps the last by a mile and more, but so far this has been the pattern Hannes has set, always improving on the last one. It is very exciting to be here participating in such an awesome event and I want to personally thank everyone who has backed us in this event. This one IS for you all!

Please follow us on the www.redbullxalps.com website as we will be focusing our posts at the race site. Everyday we will be giving back to everyone on our team thru the raffle.

Thank you again for being such good friends!

Onward to Monaco we go!

Dave Hanning, professional supporter!

One Week Before the Race Begins!

Can't wait for the game to begin though I must admit it will be quite hard to leave my son for three weeks. I guess it just means I'll have to move fast so I can get to Monaco as soon as possible.

Rainy Europe

I'm in Europe now with my wife and baby son. He turned 5 months today. It has been raining every day with a few short breaks to sneak in little flights. At least I got some hiking in the rain practice. That is something that is hard to come by in California this time of year.

Seattle Trip

On June 13th I had a chance to give an X-Alps slide show in Seattle. There was a great turnout of pilots. I thank them all for their generous support and welcome them to the X-Alps team USA. After the talk I had a chance to hike with some of the local pilots who prefer hiking. The flying at tiger mountain was great. It was my first time there and I think it has a lot of potential on a good XC day.

Things That Matter

As I have stated on many occasions I believe the X-Alps is "The Perfect Game" but in the end it is just that; a game.

Lake Tahoe

Nate and Lisa Scales and their kids invited my wife Barbora and baby Martin and me out to a cabin in Tahoe. Nate and I flew both days to over 4000m above sea level and the wives and the kids went to the beach.

Fly Far, Eat Cactus!

Several weekends ago I had my second longest flight from my home site. I also got a good feel for my Axis Mercury 09 that I will be flying in the X-Alps. It flies like a dream! After landing out I had trouble hitching a ride so I talked to a farm worker named Saul. He said he was going to Woodland, a town less than 15km from where I live. He had an hour of work left so I got a shovel and helped him out so he could be done sooner. He showed me a cactus that they eat in Mexico and I took some leaves home to try to make a meal that Saul described. It was surprisingly tasty!

Salt Lake Trip

Last weekend I had a chance to go to Salt Lake City to give a talk about my meteorological research at the University of Utah. I also had an opportunity to fly Mount Olympus thanks to Bill Belcourt showing me the site. Great site I must say. In the air I met up with Dave Hanning, my X-Alp supporter. That evening we gave a fund raising slide SUPERFLY headquarters. Thanks Chris Santacroce for making it very successful! Lots of thanks to the Las Vegas and Salt Lake pilots for all your contributions!

Tacos Anyone?

Hiked 40km nonstop last Sunday from my apartment to my local flying site with 20kg. I had new Inov-8 paragliding boots, Black diamond poles and nourished with Hammer Nutrition bars and gels along the way. Pace gradually slowed and heart rate slowly picked up. Had a nice flight half way back after one side hill landing and hike back up to launch. Landed by a Easter party and was offered plenty of beer and tacos and lots of kids wanted my autograph.

Mountain Biking With My Brother.

Friday March 13th my brother Dan and I tested our luck dropping in on ridiculously steep terrain on our bikes. All bones are intact!

Warming up for the X-Alps

Had a great two hour out and return flight on Sunday March 8th from my local site. Nice spring like thermals and good fun at cloudbase!

The Million Dollar Smile!

Martin proudly wears his custom hat from SUUNTO!

Strong Like Bull

Martin is growing fast and getting strong and looking forward to joining his Dad on many adventures.

Contemplating Strategy for the 2039 X-Alps

Martin has plans for the 2039 X-Alps but he can not tell Mom!

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No... Can't Speak Yet

Martin is doing well and in his fifth day of life, after contemplating many offers from Rolex and others, has decided to sign, or footprint, a multi-million dollar contract with Team SUUNTO! He can't wait to tell Mom and Dad!

It's a Boy!!!

A healthy Martin Rejmanek was born Friday January 30th at 11:19AM after a natural birth with no pain medication! He weighs 3.4kg (7.5lb) and is 52cm (20.5in) tall. Attached are photos. We are exhausted yet very happy. Martin, Barbora & Honza

The Next Generation X-Alper Taking Its Time

My 1st kid is 5 days overdue so my wife Barbora and I have been doing uphill hikes to motivate it. Last weekend we did 1000 vertical feet each day and still no baby. Great weather for hiking.

1st Marathon

I put on my Inov-8 running shoes and decided to run half a marathon so I could give Eddie a time. Eddie is the trainer that I will have under the SUUNTO sponsorship. I had never run more than 12km in a single stretch before so I asked my wife to drive to the next town in 2 hours. I chose a google earth route that was 21.1 km. It took me 1h 45min. I got there but she was not there yet so I turned around and figured I should try to run a full marathon. My wife showed up soon afterward and gave me recovery drinks and gels. She followed me back and to make a long story short I ran, no walking, my first marathon in 3h 57min. I then ate a bunch of food. I am a bit sore from the marathon and can see why some people would choose to train for such a run. I also got a blister on one toe. I am not sure if I have mentioned this, but I will be a Dad any day now!