2011 WEEK 12

Take to the skies this summer on the top of a Stearman Biplane

Wing walkingWing walking

www.bremont.com

WELCOME

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IN this week’s issue we have everything from driving a 4x4 through the desert, to flying through the sky on a biplane and riverboarding down whitewater. It’s a mix that shows how nature provides us with some of the most beautiful settings for our adventures. But as we’ve learnt in the past week, nature can also show its strength through earthquakes and tsunamis. Human spirit always wins out and whether we find ourselves in tough situations unexpectedly or through placing ourselves in them, we have this ability to adapt and survive. Huw Miles and his team are deliberately planning on putting themselves into one of the most aggressive white-water rivers in Nepal later this year on riverboards. It will be a world first which is great to see in this age of ‘it’s-all-been-done-before’ . Huw’s team will no doubt face tough times and possibly even injuries along the way. But again, it’s that human trait of being able to keep pushing ourselves. Even at less extreme levels, putting up with injury is common place. Even a dislocated shoulder shouldn’t stop us going skiing this year, providing we take the right precautions and understand the risks.

Wishing you all safe adventuring.

EDITORDAN TYE

DESIGNERKEVIN REED

TO WEEK 12Welcome

RIDE & DRIVE

SKI & BOARD

FLY & SOAR

SWIM & DIVE

LIVE & EAT

RUN & HIKE

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THE ADVENTURE GENERATION

New research shows we’re all becoming more adventurous

WHEN Continental Tyres first started offering a competition to win a 4x4 adventure across the Sahara desert earlier this year they were taken aback by the huge numbers entering. More than that though, they were intrigued by the ages of the entrants prompting them to start a study into the travel habits of the young and the old.

Continental surveyed 1,000 people in their mid-twenties and 1,000 people in their mid-fifties and asked them about how many adventures they went on. Tim Bailey, spokesperson for Continental explains the initial results, “What is evident from our work is that all ages are eager to experience new locations and cultures. People want to get off the beaten track, to find new places to explore. Certainly this is easier now than a generation ago thanks to advances in transport technology making travel more accessible.”

According to the research, from the age of 18, the average young Brit embarks on six short trips a year and three longer expeditions every two years clocking up an average of 4,146 miles a year. A twenty-something will visit nine different countries before the age of 25 and one in ten have ‘backpacked’ on at least one big trip.

It’s this data which has prompted Continental to name the 18 to 25 age group the ‘adventure generation’. Tim adds, “People in their twenties are more widely travelled in terms of total distance and the number of new countries visited compared to their parents generation. They also feel that are more adventurous than their parents were and confident that they are able to experience the World in a way that their parents either did not or could not.”

However it turns out that the parents of this ‘adventure generation’ are also looking to make tracks in new and ever more exotic destinations. This is down to a combination of more disposable income when the kids have left home, improvements in car technology and the availability of more travel opportunities. “The older generation are looking to make up for lost time planning more adventurous trips later in life,” explains Tim adding that 73% of fifty-somethings plan to travel more once their children have left home.

Entries are still open to win an amazing Moroccan off-roading adventure holiday. Driving one of 14 Hummers, the winners will explore the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert, crossing sand dunes, navigating through rocky gorges and fording rivers in the quest for the Conti4x4Trophy. Successful participants will get to stay for four nights in a 4-star hotel and one night in a Bedouin style camp. www.conti4x4trophy.co.uk

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RIDE & DRIVE

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“WHAT IF YOU FALL OVER AND DO SOME REAL DAMAGE?’ THEY SAID TO ME, BUT I THOUGHT THAT COULD HAPPEN IN THE STREET SO I WASN’T ABOUT TO GIVE UP MY SKI HOLIDAY”

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SKI & BOARD

VERYONE was telling me not to go skiing,” says 30-year-old Charlie Kimbell, who dislocated his shoulder just three weeks before he was

due to head to Meribel in France. “What if you fall over and do some real damage they said to me, but I thought that could happen in the street so I wasn’t about to give up my ski holiday.”

This is often the case with an injury. Sometimes it’s just a small niggling ailment which won’t prevent us from activity on the slopes but the possibility that we might make it worse is always there at the back of our minds. In Charlie’s case, he wanted some support for his shoulder that would at least ensure he had a small measure of reassurance so he wore a Neo-G shoulder support. His verdict? “It was brilliant. When I first put it on it felt really tight. A strap comes around

the body and under the arm. Initially it started to ride up and I thought this is going to be uncomfortable, but in the end I wore it over a base layer and it was fine. I didn’t think it was going to fit under my jacket but it did.”

Charlie says that wearing the support gave him the confidence to ski as he normally would. He even fell over a few times but with no ill effect. He adds, “I don’t think it would stop another dislocation but it was certainly better than nothing. Once it was on I didn’t feel it restrict my movement at all and I didn’t notice that I had it on.” Any downsides? “It did get very sweaty,” he says. “But it washed and dried very quickly.”

Just as well, we don’t want to stink the bar out while we’re drinking our Vin Chaud. The Neo-G VCS shoulder support costs £34.99 www.neo-g.co.uk

TESTED:

ABOVE You can see the shoulder support under Charlie’s jacket“E

AN EVENING

On certain evenings throughout the summer two people can train as wingwalkers. Fancy flying on your very own wingwalking adventure?

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ABOVE Romey shows her wingwalking skills and elegance in the air

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DURING most weeks last summer, amongst the local pilots nipping up for an evening flight and those drinking in the Wings Bar could be found a pair of slightly nervous looking people signing up to train as wing walkers.

It’s not exactly a walk-on-the-wing in the truest sense of the word, more of a wing-stand, however being strapped into the harness on top of a Boeing Stearman biplane is one of the most exhilarating experiences outside of a theme park that we can get.

“We flew over 100 people on wingwalks last year”, says aerobatic pilot Richard Pickin. “Wingwalking is one of those things that people really want to try but the issue is finding a company where they can have a go. We’re a very professional outfit called Aerobatictactics offering a very exciting experience to try wingwalking. We do most of our wingwalks at weekends operating out of Damyns Hall in Essex but also use Headcorn Aerodrome in Kent.”

Those signing up to a wingwalk have specific training beforehand as well as a full safety brief. Once all the relevant documentation is

FLY & SOAR

Photos Richard Foord

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completed either Tony Richards or Richard Pickin takes them up, both of who are very well respected (and safe) aerobatic display pilots.

Romey Foord did her very first wingwalk last year and described it as a ‘christening by fire’. Her very first flight was to perform at a show. She explains, “It was on with the lycra and my backside up there. Wingwalking is a ‘fait de complet’ once your strapped onto the rig. It was a case of ‘Just get on it with it love!”

Romey reckons she is possibly the oldest wingwalker in the world and she says it’s amusing when she lands after a display to be asked ‘how old are you?’ “Old enough to know better,” is her

FLY & SOAR

BELOW We’re strapped well in before a wingwalk and Romey checks and double checks that we’re fully secure

usual reply. Not only is she the Aerobatictactics wingwalker she is also the safety girl who gives us our safety brief and climbs up on the wing with us to strap us into the harness.

She says most of the people coming for wingwalk hang onto the rig for dear life at first but gradually they become more courageous and get into the spirit of the experience. Some start to wave their arms and some even manage to extend their legs. Those trying a leg extension will be surprised at just how hard it is against the rushing air especially in a dive at 135 mph. “I thought, Christ, I’m gonna lose my leg when I first did it,” Romey jokes. “It takes a lot of strength and determination to get your leg up in a ballet pose. I have always taken my hat off to the wingwalking girls but now I really appreciate that they do a fantastic job.”

Romey and the pilots answer any questions we might have to calm any nerves before the flight. Interestingly, the men appear to have more anxieties about the experience than the women but when they land all those nerves are long since gone and Romey says she has yet to meet anyone who didn’t like it. “They come back completely overjoyed,” she adds.

One woman who had her first taste of wingwalking last year was Kat Spencer who says she was petrified but wanted to give it a go to overcome the fear of it. She said, “I don’t even like flying on commercial planes. Tony, the pilot, was so good though so I trusted him and his ability to fly the plane safely even though I don’t trust flying.”

Kat says she had no idea of what to expect. “I thought I’d spend the whole time wishing I was down on the ground,” she adds. “But when I was up there it was so the opposite. It was the best view of London I’ve ever had.”

Kat did her wingwalk with her best friend who she describes as a ‘daredevil’. Now that the pair has shown the photos to other friends they’ve found they all want to try it too. “I’d definitely do it again,” she beams. “I’m now telling everyone in the world that they must go and try it. Six months on and I’m still talking about it.”

To book a wingwalking course see the website or call 01580 831 369. www.aerobatictactics.co.uk

www.skyschooluk.com

RIVERBOARDING THE SUN KOSI

SWIM & DIVE

By Dan Tye

RIVERBOARDING THE SUN KOSI

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Nine people, nine boards, one world first

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IT’S only when you look at a map of the Sun Kosi river when you begin to appreciate that taking it on with little more than an adapted bodyboard and a set of fins is a big deal. The names of the river sections hint at the story ahead; there’s Big Dipper, Dummy To The Wall, Rhino Rock, Jawa, High Anxiety and eventually, Meatgrinder, which sounds every bit like it will rip you apart.

“We’ll have to read every wave, ripple and swirl, correctly, to get down the river safely,” says Huw Miles, the leader of a team of nine who are planning to riverboard down the Sun Kosi later this year. But more needs to be told about the Sun Kosi before the true nature of this adventure becomes clear. Snaking through Nepal, the river is a 280 kilometre stretch of class three to five rapids with water gushing along at 400 to 2500 tonnes per second. As Huw tells me, the river is fed from the melt water of the Himalayas - and that water comes down pretty angry. The Sun Kosi has been kayaked but no one has ever attempted to riverboard down it. There’s good reason for this; it’s one of the most tumultuous stretches of white water in the world. No doubt this is why Huw and his team want to become the first to do it.

The ballsiness of the attempt has even prompted official backing from Sir Ranulph Fiennes who says, “Riverboarding is definitely an up and coming extreme sport and these folk are at the forefront of it. A new generation of adventurers; different techniques, the same spirit. I wish them the best of luck and skills.”

Quite rightly, the team is very proud that their plan has been acknowledged by one of the world’s greatest explorers and right now they are trying to increase monetary and equipment support for the attempt.

Huw is already an accomplished riverboarder and no stranger to ‘firsts’. In 2009, for a holiday, he and his girlfriend went to South America. While she followed in the car, Huw riverboarded down

the rivers alone and accomplished four first new descents in Ecuador.

Cold rivers in South America are all good, but the Sun Kosi is different. She is famous for swallowing expedition sized rafts in her vast waves and has been described as “biblical in size, stunning in scenery and alive with whitewater” and Huw’s team of nine are going to throw themselves right into it.

Psychologically they will have to put up with being pulled, pushed and battered by the water as they aim to travel 30kms a day. “We’re all trained to make split second decisions in the water, “ Huw explains. “But each one of us will have to be in the best physical condition of our lives.”

At face level, a riverboarder is so close to the water that they get a totally different experience than they would from being onboard a raft or kayak. A riverboarder feels every current in the river; not just the ones on the surface. The key is to find a breaking wave and surf it instead of paddling. As Huw says, “Find the perfect wave and you can surf it for as long as you are physically able. It’s seriously addictive.”

Huw started his riverboarding career in Queenstown, New Zealand. A Welsh man, the 27-year-old has worked and played in the outdoors for over a decade.

There are four different nationalities represented on the expedition (British, Kiwi, American and Israeli) and the crew of is made up of both men and women aged 25 to 30.

Huw plans to make a HD documentary of the descent down the Sun Kosi. With the sheer number of light but strong and waterproof HD cameras now available, we’ll be in for some incredible POV footage on their return.

“Never before has this feat been accomplished,” says Huw. “In this day and age, it is increasingly rare to be able to say that.” www.milesaway.com

ABOVE Catch a wave and save yourself the effort of paddling with your legs

RIGHT Twiggy Rummer dropping a 7m waterfall on the Kaituna River, NZ

SWIM & DIVE

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