Comment from Tom
Time: November 30, 2011, 3:26 pm

Could we see a photo of you with your finished kit when it all arrives John? Be great to see what size a Delta and Delight will pack down to.

Comment from Beat Bischof
Time: December 13, 2011, 3:49 pm

Hi John
My Delight has just arrived and I guess so did yours. If not you can look forward with confidence, because it is so much better than expected: really really light but solid craftmansship, easy to ajust, comfortable and aerodynamic, easy to get in – just a masterpiece and probably the best harness that supair has produced so far.
Have nice flights, send good reports and I hope to be able to visit you once in Himalaya
Cheeers
Beat

Comment from Shawn Kitchen
Time: January 28, 2012, 5:01 am

John,

Coincidentally, I have put the same kit together as you. I want to travel from Yukon, Canada to fly one of the routes you have completed in the Himalaya after you inspired me to learn paragliding 10 years ago when I saw your film, “From Nowhere to the Middle of Nowhere.” After 10 years of flying around the world, I feel ready to fly my dream. However, I am not sure what additional things we should add to the kit for a multi-day trip in your neck of the woods. What do you suggest I bring versus what I can expect to find in the villages?

Regards,

Shawn

Comment from johnsilvester
Time: January 31, 2012, 7:38 am

Hi Shawn,
the extra stuff i take if i am expecting to be away for a week + is : mini torch,swiss army knife, 2+cig lighters, some newspaper, about 4 days worth of dehydrate food/brew material, chocolate bars/snack food, one mid size alloy pot with lid, 4 litre water bag, alloy table spoon, cup (usually a cut up mineral water bottle) bivvy bag (sometimes super thin sleeping bag), and any maps i have of the region. So I take very little extra, but somehow it still seems to weigh stacks!
also nearly always carry on any flying day in himalaya a very basic first aid kit (but quite alot of drugs), glider repair kit, some replacement AA’s (4 or 8 pack), and even more reluctantly a spot and radio after xavier went missing. but the spot might not work in the himal due to sat coverage, although so far I am the only person thats had this problem… SPOT are really not that interested in why, and say they do not expect them to work in the himalaya, which is a bit worrying. So it is important not to put too much faith in any of these aids and try to forget you have them and just be self sufficient. It also means you really have the adventure you are looking for.
I nearly always end up trying to give away my dehydrate and the locals invariably are not too interested in syntho food except sweets and any sugar/ tea.
They nearly always look after you brilliantly, and really appreciate small gifts like clean warm socks, small kids toys (parachute men!), and dont want any payment, just enjoy the novelty of us dropping into their lives for a couple of days. It is VERY sociable. But quietly giving some notes to the old woman of the house as you are about to leave seems to be the easiest way of getting money accepted , I think she has probably seen the occasional hard times over the years.
Being accepted so easily into the lives of remote villages is definitely the best gift that paragliding vol biv brings to us. Full on adventurous sporting combat (sometimes!) during the day, then an equally full on adventurous culture trip in the evening.
These people are so much more accomplished than us in many ways, and i am often left feeling inadequate by how resourceful they are.
Glad you are inspired…and apologies for my voluminous reply, but I love the big mountains and you have re-inspired me.
so thanks!
john

Comment from Shawn Kitchen
Time: February 11, 2012, 5:17 am

John,

Thanks so much for your detailed reply. One last question: what temperatures can we expect in March? I just tried sleeping outside in a very light-weight kit I rigged up for -3C on snow. I wasn’t about to freeze to death, but nor could I fall asleep.

Cheers, Shawn

Comment from Shawn Kitchen
Time: February 11, 2012, 4:35 pm

The equipment question can become a long discussion, but I am curious to know what vario you use. Someone recommended the Solario solar-powered vario, with a small GPS, which is very light and simple solution, but my impression is we are going to want to know how high in altitude we are to mitigate risk of hypoxia. Thoughts? I need to buy a new vario anyway, so I am open to suggestions.

Comment from johnsilvester
Time: February 13, 2012, 5:58 am

Hi Shawn… i find with a wide roll wrap of my wing, and sleeping on one half and fluffing up the other like a duvet is fine, even with a hard frost. but i will wear most of my flying clothes too! and i try never to sleep on snow. have you read the blogs on http://himalayanodyssey.org/ ? these guys did an amazing trip in march and there is sure to be lots of good info. I think a solario would be plenty good enough, they are great instruments, and the routes on the south side are very unlikely to see you going much higher than 6, so i wouldn’t be too concerned of the alti on this reason, but its nice to have one just to know how high you are, it helps build knowledge. i use the small brauniger IQ basic, which has a gps and tracklog etc, and 2 AA’s last much more than a trip…and i hate changing an instrument i like and am used too.
Be great to know where you are going…and have a brilliant trip!
john

Comment from Shawn Kitchen
Time: February 17, 2012, 2:52 am

John, the plan was to follow the same route as the Himalayan odyssey. I could not find much information in the blog as I think it is time limited (e.g. one year), so much of it seems to be disappearing.

Do you have other routes to suggest? We are looking for big views, big flying, and a multi-day bivi route, recognizing that we will not be acclimatized for high altitudes (over 6,000m) and we will not have O2. We only have 3 weeks.
Cheers, Shawn