Live Podcast Interview

On Wednesday 13th of January at 18:45hrs I will be talking about The Nepal Traverse in a live interview with Wesley Murch.

Join us in this live Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/94140418649…
Meeting ID: 941 4041 8649
Passcode: 665163

It promises to be an entertaining chat, which is being recorded for The 831 Podcast.

We will also be receiving and answering as many questions as time allows at the end of the session so please do get involved.

Please login at 18:45hrs for a bit of warm up footage from the adventure ahead of the presentation starting promptly at 19:00hrs GMT (When joining the zoom session, please ensure you have a recognisable ‘sign in’ name.)

Fundraising to Complete The Nepal Traverse Film

We have started our crowd-funding campaign to cover the costs of filming additional interviews, editing and completing the production of a short adventure film about this unique journey.

Please click on the GoFundme link for more details, make a donation and kindly share with you family, friends and colleagues: gf.me/u/yca56h.

Ultimately the end purpose of ensuring we create a film which wins awards and generates an interest is that it will produce a small profit. Any cash received from my talks and film royalties will be gifted to two Nepali charities; save the Karnali River which is the last free flowing river in Nepal and helping to support education and tackle poverty of Nepali children through the Karma Flights organisation. More on these worthwhile charities in a separate post.

Reality Sanity Check!

As I leave a very flyable Pokhara for a 3 day public travel endurance to get to the Far Western region of Nepal, by plane+bus+bus+jeep. I am wondering at what point I thought this was a good idea?!?

The weather beyond Wednesday next week is less uncertain so I will need to push on to make the most of this decent weather window.

Ensuring my safety!

I will be carrying a concise first aid kit focused on my needs. This is stored in a drybag and the Sam Splint wraps around everything to provide some protection.

I have found it difficult to decide which Search and Rescue operator to sign up with. GEOS would be the first choice as it integrates seemlessly into my InReach. However, there is a real issue with the fact that if the SOS button on my InReach isn’t pressed in an emergency GEOS will not undertake or cover the cost of SAR. I have therefore decided to sign up with Global Rescue backed up with IMG Signature Travel insurance. Insurance choice is limited when you are trying to cover the activity of Paragliding!

Preparation and Plans

After alot of thought, conversations and map studying, I am now putting some details into my plans for what will be my most challenging paragliding adventure. Starting from a base in Pokhara, I will be travelling overland by bus to Dharchula in the remote far western border of Nepal to launch from there. The first stage will be to paraglide back to Pokhara (300km). 

If I achieve to reach Pokhara within 15 days, I will restock for the next stage which will be to continue on to Sun Koshi river valley near Kathmandu. If time allows, I will carry on to the eastern border with Indian, finishing just north of Bhadrapur a total distance of 800km.  The route is along the foothills of the Himalayas, where possible I will push into the higher mountains to fly above the inversion layer and expand the possibilities of this adventure. 

The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.

– Tony Robbins

A bit about me..

I am thinking it would be quite useful to give a little bit of an introduction about me for those that find this web page, well here you go:

I am no paragliding hero, sky god or accomplished competitions pilot. At 52 I have been paragliding for over 26 years for the pure enjoyment of free flight. In business I am an entrepreneur and this same ambition to create something new is reflected in my passion to explore new lines with a paraglider.

However, I fly safe, after learning to paraglide in a time when paragliders needed a high level of piloting, I fly actively expecting the worst and would say now have the experience to deal with it! More importantly and most importantly I have a family I love and wish to return home to after every adventure.

Why write a blog?

  • I know that without a focused media to post about this trip I would not have the discipline to record and share the adventure to a wider audience?
  • Also the effort in organising this adventure needs to be given a platform from which I can draw from to assist in my preparation.
  • And what a great way to share a travel journal of the trip, it is very likely that I will be off grid for most of the traverse but with the help of tracking and ground support I hope that an interesting level of live update can be fed through to this site during the adventure!

I undertook a 4 day 3 night VolBiv trip earlier this year from Pokhara.  This first trip is shown on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/1h8XitxbHD4 . I have also given a number of talks about the trip to an audience of paraglider pilots and outdoor enthusiasts.  This first adventure was the seed of the idea for The Nepal Traverse. 

I look forward to sharing this adventure with you.

Steven Mackintosh