Date: July 19th, 2007
We loaded up the “outfit” and headed out to Squamish via Golden last week. We’re here for the Squamish Mountain Festival, which has been rocking all week. Last night was a photo shootout with four good photogs followed by a DJ throw down at the Howe Sound Inn, good times although I was worked and checked out early. The weather here is of course shite at the moment, but the kayaking has been great. If I can’t climb I can at least boat…
On Tuesday night I ran the Upper Cheakamus with local Steve and Becky from the ‘Stoke, the river was pumping (2.95 or something on the gauge, about as high as it’s been this year?), which meant a fast trip. Steve gave us a great “Paddle right, avoid the huge hole, paddle left, avoid the hole, paddle through the hole” tour, no scouting on the run, just blasting down through some huge waves and holes, super fun. I haven’t paddled a hammering river like that in about ten years, felt good. Paddled an H3 for the first time, it was a bit big for me but dealt well, bit hard to turn.
Wednesday morning saw us walking to the put-in for the Seymour, a cool canyon I’ve always wanted to run. The water was really low (big change from the Cheak), but John, Derek, Becky and I bounced through the canyon anyhow, very low-volume boating but super fun, that’s just an amazing run so close to downtown Vancouver. Paddled a Crux, nice boat, like the way it turns and boofs, bit easier than the H3 but also very different water…Then it was off for a TV interview, back to Squish, Mountain Fest, good fun…
The weather is rainy, cloudy, cool and not really sorted for flying or climbing, but it’s also beautiful in its own way, the soft mist and rain very different from Alberta “normals.” Lots to do here in the rain too, more kayaking to come I think, loving it!
Posted in: Blog
Date: July 17th, 2007
I just finished teaching an XC clinic with Keith and the Muller Windsports crew, great conditions in Golden (14,000 foot base!), good group, fun times. Whenever I teach a course in climbing or paragliding I invariably learn something new myself. Sometimes just a bettery way to present an idea, sometimes a new way to look at a movement or mental pattern, always something interesting.
I always try to teach students in whatever sport I’m working with to look at the mountains and themselves and try to see things as they actually are, not as they at first think things are or as they want them to be. This is a basic Buddhist idea (never mind that everything is also supposed to be an illusion, haven’t figured that out yet. Wait, maybe if we see everything as an illusion then we’re seeing the world as it is? Nah, couldn’t be that simple…). Anyhow, another way to look at “seeng thing as they are” is to analyze how aware we are in any given situation. Are we really looking at conditions and watching them change, or are we just running an already-created movie in our minds and ignoring what’s actually happening right in front of our eyes?
The most important part of doing any sport safely is knowing what to look for in any situation, and being aware of those clues. For example, a novice paraglider pilot may not equate lenticular clouds with potential high winds. Or a novice back country skier standing at the top of a nice-looking north-east facing slope may not notice that every north-east facing slope on the whole drive to go skiing had slid the night before… I like to think of situational awareness radiating in rings from me. My first ring is my mind–how I feel, what my attitude is, why. If I have a “bad” feeling then usually I’m missing something in my wider rings of awareness, or haven’t connected something consciously yet. I don’t believe in “mystical” mumbo jumbo, “premonitions” are just my mind trying to reconcile a small clue…In my “immediate” exterior ring are things like my harness buckle, rock quality under my hands, my harness knot, all the holds I’m going to climb up etc. A little bit farther out is the “action” ring, which is about the length of a rope, a rapid, or a glide on a paraglider. This represents roughly the next “unit” of action in whatever sport. Then there’s the “big picture” ring, which includes the day, past conditions in the season (gotta remember that November rain crust in the snow pack), what I read in the winds forecast for paragliding that day vs. what I’ve seen that forecast mean in the past, etc. All of this is “situational awareness.” I think many very good athletes have excellent situational awareness, while most novice athletes don’t. For example, a novice climber’s situational awareness field is can shrink down to the size of a coffee can–the six inches of rock directly in front of their eyes. Anyone who has taught climbing will relate to the novice with the leg shaking like a sewing machine needle–with a two-foot flat ledge just below their foot to stand on. A novice driver may not see all the brake lights going on a half K down the road…
Over the years I’ve been at with several master athletes in different sports who were past their athletic prime but still had excellent situational awareness. I especially remember being out with an old guide on an easy climb about 20 years ago. I was loving the climb and the day, and totally missed the black clouds brewing over a nearby peak. We bailed when he mentioned them, and arrived back at the car and cold beer as hail pounded the walls of the canyon… I’ve now seen this same difference in situational awareness in many different sports, I think it’s the most important or defining mental aspect of adventure sports.
Next time I teach that Cross-Country flying course I hope to do a better job defining how to see things as they are through developing better situational awareness.
Posted in: Blog
Date: July 5th, 2007
I’m on a “common sport themes” kick right now. I’m looking for a sort of unified feild theory for the physical side of sports, or at least pieces of them. Last night I was running (literally) a kayak shuttle and had some time to think. I had been watching people on the river all evening and seeing a lot of the same errors (and some fantastic paddling too). To keep it simple I’ll focus on the roll, a basic move in kayaking that’s not that hard to do well. Back in the day I taught kayaking a lot (thanks to Otter Bar for the education!), that was where I first learned to read a student’s movements and teach them how to correct them. There are a lot of ways to roll a kayak, but they all flow from the hips and head position. Most novices pull their head above the water first (makes sense, that’s where the air is), but the head is a heavy object on the end of a relatively long lever (neck and body). If the head comes out of the water first and is the high point then a roll will seldom be effective. The kayak has to be flipped right side up first, and the hips do that, then the head and body follow. I only saw one roll yesterday that I would use as a “good” example of a roll; in all the rest the head was high and off the shoulder, and the hips snapped well after the head came out of the water. This started me thinking about how the hips and head work in climbing, paragliding, skiing, mountain biking and most other sports.
I’m starting to think that the hips drive and the head controls almost every movement in the sports I do. To turn a paraglider you have to drop a hip bone lower than the other one; it’s not about “lean” but putting weight on the inside of the turn and the inside riser. We do drill in kayaking where we sit on the ground and ask people to lean the boat; most of the time they lean over with their body, but the boat doesn’t move. The boat only starts to move when they start to lift the opposite hip with the obliques and some other muscles, driving one hip lower. Drop the head in this position and the boat goes back to flat and upright, which is the end of a roll. Paragliders need to do this drill too, I’ve taught it on the grass. Many people who heave been “leaning” for years suddenly discover they weren’t leaning at all, but just flopping sideways with their head still between the risers…
Skiing has the same component–the hips drive the motions of skiing, and the head’s position often determines balance over the skis. Mountain biking too– the hips determine the basic balance point, and the body follows the head, and we go where our head is pointed…
There’s a unified “head and hips” theory in here somewhere. I love teaching these sports and understanding how students think and progress, teaching is how I’ve learned the most about the technical (and psycological) side of any sport. Hmmm….
And for something completely different, check this out.
That’s one hell of a paragliding trip!
Keep yer head down and drive with yours hips,
WG
Posted in: Blog
