[Intro music plays] Alright Tripp, Here we go.

I'm Keegan Van Hook, and this is Us As We Are.

Wow.

Well, that wasn't my smoothest intro ever, but the feeling of launching was pretty cool.

So what are we doing?

Where are we?

Who's this guy?

Yeah.

I'm Joshua Dean.

I'm the president of The Rogue Valley Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association.

So we're at top launch on beautiful Woodrat Mountain in the Applegate Valley, Southern Oregon.

This is unpowered majestic free flying.

So we have paragliders as you can see.

Some of them are setting up to take off.

And then we have some hang gliders off in the distance, and those are those delta wings over there.

So we have two different modes of flight.

Both having a a really good day today.

The conditions are absolutely epic.

I have quite a few pilots in the sky, and these conditions are really, quite nice for this event and this this time of year.

Paragliding like this has been on my bucket list for a really long time, and we've been wanting to make a show about the paragliders often seen in the Applegate Valley for years.

Luckily, Joshua Dean here is my old neighbor.

He used to take pictures like this of my crew and I enjoying our roof all the time.

Now that he's president of the Rogue Valley Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, he's invited us to the annual Rat Route event to come find out what this amazing sport is all about.

We are paragliding.

We're hang gliding.

We're hanging out.

We're watching each other.

We're being safe.

Hi there, folks.

I'm Keegan Van Hook, and this is Us As We Are.

Us As We Are is made possible in part by The roundhouse Foundation, a private family foundation that supports creative solutions to the unique challenges associated with rural culture and the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest.

Additional funding by the Elizabeth C. Peace Memorial Fund for Education and Social Welfare and by the Members of Southern Oregon PBS.

Thank you.

sweet embrace.

This is my instructor.

This is Sam Crocker.

Hey, guys.

This is Sundog paragliding.

He's the one that got me into this whole mess.

I ruined his life.

He used to do other things.

Now all he does is hang out here on a mountain fly.

How long have you been into this?

Started in '98.

So a little while back.

It's the most beautiful thing you can do.

As close as we can get to be a bird, I don't have to flap my arms.

I get to be a bird.

I love birding.

I like bird watching.

So, yeah, it makes me happy.

Like, I assume that this is as close as to feeling like a bird I can be.

I've been flying here at Woodrat for 18 years, and I'm gonna be 80 on the 25th of August.

Wow.

80 years old.

80 years old.

Keeps me young flying with all these young people.

Absolutely love it.

Keeps me alive, keeps me young.

I mean, it's such a freeing experience.

Me, personally, like, I'm disabled, so I'm kinda stuck and moving really slow the majority of the time.

So being able to kind of have free movement to go where I want and be able to steer and see the countryside because I can't hike anymore.

It's really an incredible experience for sure.

It's pretty amazing that you can take a bag of nylon and strings, put it in a backpack, walk up a mountain, climb up a mountain, lay it out, and fly away.

And go distances.

Hundreds of miles at times.

Expose the elements.

There's nothing between us and what's going on.

We can just see everything.

There's a beautiful view.

I mean, I still giggle.

I'm excited to do this tandem flight here with Justin.

Justin is fantastic.

You'll have a great time.

Awsome, so what do think I should be ready for in terms of the experience?

What does it feel like if you can put that in words?

You actually loft, when you actually get off the ground, it's a feeling like you've never had before.

Right?

So the wing is holding you up and it's going to lift.

So he's gonna wait till there's lift.

And so you're just gonna be swept up.

[car honks] A lot of people ask what the mountain is named after.

They go, what is it, and it's the wood rat.

I've never seen a wood rat.

It's not the most glamorous, but have you ever seen a wood rat?

I've never seen a wood rat.

I Don't know what that is.

We'll, throw a picture up, I guess.

Yeah.

Throw the picture of the wood rat.

Oh, look at that thing.

Oh my God.

Look at it.

Just, ugh.

Horrible, or, Aw.

Oh, god that thing is cute So cute.

Wow.

It's considered one of the best mountain flying sites in The US, and that's just because of consistency of conditions.

Being that we're a very popular flying site, we get pilots from all over the country and sometimes the world coming through and wanting to experience flight here at Woodrat.

You know, we welcome anybody that wants to come up, get a site tour, orientation.

That way, if they haven't flown here before, they know that they're with a local that's giving them the rundown of the mountains where the hazard spots are, where the areas that they need to stay clear from.

Because there are just a lot of aspects about the geography that unless you've been flying here for some time, it could be a problem for you if you're not familiar how to navigate it.

Yeah.

My name's Kate Vangeloff, and this is Longsword Vineyard out in the Applegate Valley.

What's happening here?

What is this madness that's going down?

This madness is a paragliding event, kind of a family friendly flying rather than a competition.

In years past, we've had competitions that have also used our property as a landing zone.

On my end, it's just dealing with people landing here out of the sky at all hours.

The pilots, the local club, RVHPA, they've been really great and supportive of my business and helped me out many times.

So, you know, it's kind of a reciprocal relationship and they've been an extended family here for a long time.

My uncle actually bought this place in '99 and had no idea that it was a good landing zone for Woodrat Mountain.

So someone just landed and he was like, what?

And ever since then, you know, it's just been this thing that that happens here.

Nice to meet you.

Here's an instructor.

Just look at him.

Just an overall even the way he drinks his, hydration, water.

You've got the energy.

Trying to keep it real man.

What's the thing on the nose?

Does that just keep your nose warm?

No, this cone is for sun.

Oh, Nice.

No sunburn on our beaks.

Sweet.

It's called free flight.

It's a non motorized gliding, kind of a modified parachute.

We go out into the air and, look for lift sources, usually like, thermals, rising bubbles of air, and we get in them and we go up, and fly around for hours at a time.

What's up, brother?

Whoo.

Whoo.

There are two forms of lift for these gliders.

So you're either gonna get the wind component that's gonna help for sustained flight or you're gonna get the thermic activity.

So as you can see, they're kind of rotating in the air and they're rotating around the core of the thermal.

So a thermal is just a pocket of warm air.

It starts on the ground and then it gets triggered by something whether it's a building, trees, mountain, and then once that trigger happens, then it releases and it rises.

Having flown here for many, many years, a lot traits of this valley and the way the thermals work and the way the ground heats and where it releases is well known.

So we call those house thermals, and so it's where we can expect on any given day the lift to be at.

Now that doesn't mean that you're not gonna have some other things like convergence, The valley flow coming from two different directions and where it meets is gonna also give you lift.

So this valley is known for a lot of convergence.

The convergence can be strong enough to where it's actually a challenge to get down.

So you might be up there, you might not be going any higher than 5,000 feet, but the convergence might not wanna let you down either.

So when that happens, you have to, start exploring and looking for sink.

And that just means you're going to an area where the convergence is, not as strong.

The challenge becomes where to find lift and then also where to find sink.

One of the great things about our bird friends is they are some of the best indicators of where the thermal is at and the conditions.

So if they got their wingspan out, we know that they're just, you know, sitting and and really utilizing that lift, to fly around.

And then if we ever see them with their wings pegged back a little bit, we know that those conditions might actually be pretty stout up top.

So we always pay attention to the birds.

What's amazing is you'll get out in a thermal and they don't seem to care about us and they will get right in that same thermal with you.

And so you can get into these moments where you're, you know, literally hanging out doing the thing they do every day.

Paragliding doesn't require a license.

It's an FAA part 103 activity, so it's unpowered ultralight.

And so you don't need a license, but in order to fly a USHPA designated site, which is the US Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, you have to have the minimum certification for flying this site.

This is considered a P3 launch site, which means you either have to have your P3 or be mentored or have somebody supervising your flight.

Most of my flying I do is down by Monterey and Sand City.

I do ridge soaring.

I'm newer to thermal flying, which is what everybody's doing here.

So I'm a baby all over again, but I'm having fun.

I think this is the perfect place to really learn more and practice my thermal flying.

The valley, what we call it, turning on, and that's when the thermic conditions start to allow for sustained and higher altitude flights.

We've had a pilot make it all the way over to Crater Lake and beyond.

From this spot here.

This spot here.

Yeah.

So there are definitely some state records out there for distance traveled from this location.

Yes.

Really amazing what unpowered flight and an in-depth knowledge of the environment can do for these pilots.

My name is Dave Penzik, and this is a hang glider.

So unlike the paragliders where the wing is inflated, I have some reinforcement here.

So it's kinda like a big kite that, you strap yourself to and run off of mountains with.

The experience is amazing.

The glider, it feels very much like a part of you.

It's almost like wings coming out of your back.

You're flying in the prone position, sorta like Superman, which is kinda awesome.

The visibility of it, you know, looking down is amazing.

It flies a bit faster than the paragliders do.

They have a little bit better sync rate, so which basically means they can stay up in lighter conditions.

I need a bit more wind and bit stronger lift.

But we're lucky because we're here at Woodrat and, you know, Woodrat provides.

Dave is really getting after it.

Listen to this thing.

[Paraglider Wooshes by] That was sick.

Yeah.

So, yeah, Dave's a awesome hang glider pilot.

He is my favorite person to watch.

So I noticed they're kinda moving up over here, so I'm guessing that there's a new thermal sort of activating in this zone.

We're midday.

The house thermal or this thermal is really gonna bubble up to the top of the mountaintop here, and then it's gonna push, up above.

And so they are just trying to stay in that core.

We gauge our flights mainly on how long did we stay up, were we able to core the thermal, you know, get to the top of lift.

And so those are a little bit more like the bragging rights when it comes to the flights of the day.

What what is the danger level with a sport like this?

I feel that this, sport is one of those things that even though there is inherent risk, it is as safe as you wanna make it.

So everybody has a different tolerance for what they feel like doing.

So if you're trying to cover long distances, there's going to be hazards with where am I gonna land if I fall out of the lift, types of wings.

Not all wings are the same, so it starts on a rated system, so, A through D. So your A wings, that's what most people start on, what they learn on.

They're very collapse resistant.

They reinflate if there is a collapse, and so it's generally considered the safest wing, but it has some performance limitations.

So the higher you go in the rating, so if you're on a D wing competition, non rated wings, very fast, very efficient through the air, but it's gonna take a lot of pilot control to keep it above you, whereas the A wings have tons of passive safety where the pilot doesn't actually have to do much.

You know, you're not sitting on the couch at home, but it's up there with all the sports that are outdoor kind of adrenaline activities.

You just have to train really well, have a level head, make good decisions, stay current, stay practiced and stuff.

I started competing right in my first couple of years of flying, and I realized I was too competitive.

So I pushed the envelope a lot and got myself in positions to where I wasn't safe.

And, I don't do that anymore.

I like a lot of terrain clearance, a lot of distance between me and the ground so that I can get away and make smart decisions now.

When I was younger, I was reckless.

Yeah.

Like most of us are.

Be physically fit and have some kind of experience in flow sports, you know, surfing, skateboarding, riding motorcycles, skiing, things like that.

Things that take an assessment of risk.

If you have experience there, then you'll be set up for success in this endeavor.

People think that paragliding is a very extreme sport.

And I say, it's not that extreme.

Like, do you like sitting?

I have the sport for you.

A lot of people like to add hiking to the activity.

We call them hike and flies where they will start at the bottom park and they'll just hike all the way up to the top, get their fitness in.

Slide right down.

So you can make it exercise if you want to.

My energy crashes really easy and sometimes my knee gives out from under me.

So I've actually worked with Superfly Paragliding out of Utah is where I got my training done.

And he actually has a nonprofit working with disabled flyers and trying to get disabled people to fly.

So anywhere in the world, Chris Santacroce will take their little trike thing and fly anyone disabled they want for free.

It's an incredible nonprofit.

And so he was able to kind of adapt the training to me so that I could do everything, I had full control, that I wasn't gonna get hurt.

So it was a really incredible experience.

Yeah.

Do it tandem, first and foremost.

That's just gonna let you know, hey.

Do you do you even like this?

We have some really fantastic tandem certified instructors that will they'll give you an intro into the sport.

And then once you've established what you'd like to do with that, then we can put you in contact with one of the instructors that's taking on new students.

From there, you're gonna spend time out at Emigrant Lake.

You're gonna be working on kiting.

You're gonna be working on just ground control of the wing.

Safety, obviously, that's a huge thing.

So preflight checks, gear checks, getting good habits built about the sequence of what you have to do to have a good safe flight, and then you start rolling in weather conditions.

There's something for every skill, and there's something for building onto those skills, and it never really ends.

So it's a sport where you can't just top out at knowing everything because if you get used to one flying site, the next flying site could really change the game for you, or it could test all of your skills.

It's just a, multifaceted, multidimensional sport That bar can keep on moving.

So, like, you can kinda be okay and just fly at your current level as much as you want, but if you wanna take it to another but if you wanna take it to another level there's also so many different types of ways that you can fly in the sport as well.

I would just say if you haven't tried this, like, sign up for a tandem.

It's really fun.

Sometimes I always say if that's all you ever do, that's a great day.

Just experience it for a day or two.

Yeah.

Well, that's the plan with me.

We're gonna go in tandem here with Justin and It's gonna be kind of a blast.

I love stuff like this.

I've never tried paragliding.

Oh, that's amazing.

I'm happy you're doing it.

Justin's a great pilot.

Yeah.

Have a great time.

I'm required to tell you the FAA does not inspect our equipment and does not give us certifications.

We fall under an exemption for ultralight aircraft.

The exemption for ultralight aircraft is for solo flight only.

So the way that we're allowed to do tandems is under an instructional flight.

Okay.

So today, I need you to fill out some paperwork for insurance reasons that is going to make you a student pilot for the day.

when we take off, there's gonna be a piece of webbing, like, right here where my arm is.

You're gonna be kinda hanging out front.

One foot in front of the other, he's bent a little bit.

Okay?

Once we start moving, it's your job as a passenger.

You're our propulsion.

You're our power.

Okay?

It's pretty light wind today, but there's always the possibility that once we get started, started, you can pull back a little So that's why I have you stay low and knees bent So that you can recover from this.

Keep pulling, pull, pull, that's it.

Okay, run run run.

We're checking all the clips to make sure they're all secure and done right.

Believe it or not, one of the most common accidents in paragliding is people forgetting to like clip their leg straps and just slipping right over.

Oh god.

Line's clear.

Trimmer's neutral.

One, two, Relaxed carabiners.

How you feeling?

I Feel really good, I'm excited for this.

Like I said, I've wanted to try this forever.

I think I'm just fully stoked.

Cool.

Why don't you go ahead and get in your ready position?

Okay.

Okay.

And when we run, you're basically gonna be going right back.

Just to the right of your cameraman.

Alright.

Alright Tripp, here we go.

Run run run I'm Keegan Van Hook, Keep running, keep running and this, is Us As We Are.

Keep moving your legs, keep moving your legs.

We're good, we're air born.

[Keegan laughs] Wow.

Alright.

Holy crap.

Go ahead and move your arms behind here.

That is an incredible sensation.

Isn't it?

Oh my gosh.

Good job, buddy.

Alright, yeah.

We did okay.

We did great.

Oh, yeah.

Wow.

Oh, I love it.

Pretty special feeling, isn't it?

So we're actually in a thermal right now.

There's no fear at all.

It's just calm.

Nice work, Josh.

What's up, Josh?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

It's like buoyancy.

Cool.

Isn't it?

Yeah.

Wow.

Incredible.

Hey, You're doing great, Josh.

Yeah.

Wow.

Now we're higher than where we started.

Nice.

I think that's Keegan.

It seriously is.

So peaceful up here.

Yeah.

I Love it.

Wow.

Alright.

Oh, my feet are totally asleep.

Alright.

We'll see if he, oop, that was not a good landing.

Oh, f*** he's, sorry, He's over the fence.

I think he just wrapped it over the fence.

And that's barbed wire.

That put some holes in it?

That can.

Yeah.

So wherever you're landing, you have hazards.

Right?

You have fences.

You have power lines.

You have water, ponds, trees.

You know, it's all about setting up correctly and reading the wind all the way down to the ground.

You can definitely have some rough landings.

You could oh, absolutely.

Oh, wow.

My god, here comes the ground.

Holy Mother Earth.

Oh my god.

Wow.

Justin, thank you so much.

Here we are with the lawnmower.

Hello.

Whoo.

Legs are absolutely shaking after that.

Good job, buddy.

Hard to walk.

Wow.

Oh, it's so hard to walk.

Alright.

The blood's coming back.

Hi there.

A 33 minute flight.

So that's not a bad first tandem.

And, had a perfect launch.

You had just the right amount of power and speed, and then we had a nice smooth landing.

So it was perfect.

Fantastic.

Job.

But like I said, I'm glad I did the one job I had well enough that we managed to get off the ground.

And then, I mean, the experience was remarkable.

I thought I wanted to learn to fly airplanes but looking into it just the same cost of owning an airplane is unattainable for most people.

And then one day I saw a kid doing this on the Practice Hill at the Emigrant Lake in Ashland.

Started learning like within the next month or so from now and then I've been hooked ever since.

And I don't think there's been longer than two weeks between flights since I started.

What's up, buddy?

Dude, that was incredible I can see why you're kind of hooked on this.

Yeah.

We gotta get you a kit.

Dude, I love flying with you.

Yeah.

That was a lot of fun.

When you fly tandem, I get sick as well.

I'll be facing lane flyer or whatever.

But it's weird when you're not in control.

I'm a control freak.

You just wanna be the one.

Maybe that's who I am.

Maybe I just can't relinquish control.

Damn.

First tandem, buddy?

Oh.

Quite an experience.

Yeah, baby.

How how was it?

It was wild.

Yeah.

Kind of a new sensation, honestly.

Yeah.

Not something I have ever felt before.

Something that you wanna feel more of?

Yeah.

Probably.

Dude, how much more room is in the cab?

Alright.

Here we go.

Alright, buddy.

Cheers.

Appreciate you.

Good as you know.

So we're gonna ferried back to the top right now.

We'll be so proud of folks.

Oh, sick.

I'm back.

How was it?

That was incredible.

So, the daytime flying is mainly the ridge soaring as well as the thermal lift.

And then in the evening, this really cool thing happens.

we call it glass off.

It's where all of the latent heat that's built up throughout the valley slowly starts to bubble up as the sun is going down.

So when the shadows start coming up, it pops this entire blanket of warm air and the whole valley rises, and we call that glass off.

You don't actually have to find a thermal or the ridge lift.

You can just go out into the valley.

You know, you'll get up to the top of lift, you can just boat around the entire area without, you know, coming down or going up.

This is a really fantastic community of volunteers.

You have this amazing group of people that put in a ton of time dedicated to this activity, and then also just the way we take care of each other.

We regularly, at the end of the day, we're looking online to see where people are, if they landed somewhere, whether or not.

We would like you to have a tracking device so we can keep an eye on you and keep you safe.

We're not like, can't do this.

It's like, Where are you?

Are you okay?

Most years, we get 200 to 300 visiting people come through.

Very good place to fly around here.

It's pretty much known around the world.

Wow.

That's amazing.

There's so many things that are like that with Southern Oregon where it's like there's a little niche things that this is one of the best places to be.

Yeah.

And this is so random and, you know, such an obscure sport.

This sport is really wonderful.

I'm glad to see so much interest this year again.

So I really appreciate you being here.

Yeah.

I'm really happy to just spread the word about this and try it out.

We saw that.

Yeah.

It's really helpful.

So thank you very much for helping us.

Thank you.

Really good to talk to you.

So if anybody wants to test the waters and see if there's something they'd wanna learn how to do or participate in, give us a holler We'll set you up on a calendar.

We'll get you in the schedule to go fly.

Awesome.

Really good to meet you.

Everyone should try it at least once.

Yeah.

I concur.

This was a bucket list item for me for a long time and getting to try today was amazing.

And, yeah, everyone should do it at least one time just to know what it's like because it was really a great time It was really good talking to you, I appreciate it.

Well, thanks, man.

It was really good to meet you Yeah.

You're welcome.

Really good to meet you.

Thanks again, enjoy the flight.

It's beautiful weather.

Good to meet you and talk to you, appreciate it.

Nice meeting you too.

And if you stop by, you might get to enjoy a flight and watch a flight.

So it's kinda special.

Really good to talk to you and meet you.

Thanks for having us out here.

Join us.

Come out and fly.

That was that was a dynamite flight, dude.

I just love sharing the sharing the sky with you, buddy.

Josh, thanks so much for bringing us out here.

Absolutely man, appreciate it.

Us As We Are is made possible in part by the Roundhouse The Roundhouse Foundation A private family foundation that supports creative solutions to the unique challenges associated with rural culture and the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest.

Additional funding by The Elizabeth C. Peace Memoiral Fund for Education and Social Welfare and by the Members of Southern Oregon PBS.

Thank you.