Mt Everest Gliding with Sebastian Kawa

Hi,

As some of you may already know or Sebastian Kawa is going
to Himalayas in 2 months and one of his goals is to conquer
the highest peak on the World - Mt Everes, in the same way
he conquered Aconcagua, the highest mountain of Andes.

http://www.sponsume.com/project/everest-gliding

If you have spare 30k euro you can become P2 in ASH 25 and
soar over Himalayas with him.

Of course you can support him with smaller amounts.
Regards
Wolf
http://youtube.com/user/WolfTheAviator

At 09:34 03 October 2013, gotovkotzepkoi wrote:

'Wolf Aviator[_2_ Wrote:
;845160']Hi,

As some of you may already know or Sebastian Kawa is
going
to Himalayas in 2 months and one of his goals is to conquer
the highest peak on the World - Mt Everes, in the same way
he conquered Aconcagua, the highest mountain of Andes.

http://www.sponsume.com/project/everest-gliding

If you have spare 30k euro you can become P2 in ASH 25
and
soar over Himalayas with him.

Of course you can support him with smaller amounts.
Regards

Wolf
http://youtube.com/user/WolfTheAviator

Conquer?? I don't think so. Everest was long ago "conquered"
by just
about everybody: 80 year old grandpa's, the blind, amputees,
paragliders, skiers, housewives...even accountants for
heaven's sake.
It's been flown over by helicopters, ultralights, and paper
airplanes
launched by 6 year olds....ad nauseum...I see neither the
excitement nor
the value of this stunt, which is about all this is. Kawa's a great
pilot but seems to be grasping for straws with this one.

--
gotovkotzepkoi


That's quite correct, but nobody did that in a glider! Actually
there is not much soaring with sailplanes going on in Himalayas.
This is kind of terra incognita for us. Especially the
meteorological conditions for soaring are a bit unknown. It won't
be easy to take off low and soar up to the top of Mt Everest.

Please don't mention powered planes or helicopters. It is not a
big deal to use an engine. Try to do it without. And how many
hang gliders and paragliders took off at the bottom and soared
to the top? Are there any?

You can beat records in Andes, but it ain't so easy in Himalayas!
Regards
Wolf
http://youtube.com/user/WolfTheAviator

While hang gliders and paragliders have soared over the summit and launched from the summit, I believe no one had soared to the top of Everest from lower elevation before. If this is the intention, it is definitely not clear from the web site. It sounds like the plan is to "glide" to the top which I imagine could be done by towing to the to as Angelo did with a hang glider behind an Ultralight nearly 10 years ago. Perhaps a better and more accurate description of his plans will generate more excitement.

Ramy

That's quite correct, but nobody did that in a glider! Actually
there is not much soaring with sailplanes going on in Himalayas.
This is kind of terra incognita for us. Especially the
meteorological conditions for soaring are a bit unknown. It won't
be easy to take off low and soar up to the top of Mt Everest.

You are aware of the MountainWaveProject, that prepared their Himalaya expedition for several months/years and will be starting there this month too, right?!

http://mountain-wave-project.com/index-2.html

"...I see...nor the value of this this stunt...".

I believe this way of looking misses the forest because of the trees.
(Disclosu I could be called one of PR - such as there is one - people for the project. But I do it on my own time, as one of many project volunteers, so you may believe that I believe in what I am writing here).

John Cochrane in "The Evolution of U.S. Contest Soaring" (http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john.cochrane/soaring/) stated "Soaring is a participant sport not a spectator sport." John further in this article relaxed his statement (writing about Grand Prix races), but the framework I think remains valid and useful. There is "participant sport soaring", there is "spectator sport soaring" and there is a relationship between them.

In short, we believe that the "Everest Gliding Project" tries to draw attention of uninitiated as a stunt, *is* in truth a reconnaissance into flying gliders in Himalaya (multifaceted interest, more below), and *may* pave the way to Himalaya being the venue for the "spectator sport soaring". The next stage would be to firm up and satisfy the *spectator* interest, for Himalaya and other places. "Big" helps. "Famous" helps. Those mountains are big and famous.

The ultimate goal is a bit further, it is to draw more people to "participant sport soaring". I think John argued convincingly why it is vital for the sport. I would like to only add here one element to John's analysis, that of the link between "spectator" and "participant" forms. We think sport's "spectator form" would be an effective recruiting tool for the "participant sport soaring", probably both in drawing more people to gliding and in inspiring them to subsequently graduate to "participant contests" (John analyses both issues). The reason why seems obvious to me.

Having said that, would Sebastian go there without all this high-minded rhetoric? I guess yes :-). But he probably would not give a damn if anybody knows.

Anyway, I think trying to decide "a stunt or a real unprecedented accomplishment" is interesting to argue, but the whole issue does not reduce to this dilemma.

Now, what has to be remembered here is that mountains of Himalaya have a special meaning to the people of the region. Religious, spiritual. The very gusts of air there are, for the people of Himalaya, much more than just "air particle flows". So it is far from only about understanding "how to drive the machine" there. It is the people from whom much is to be learned, and establish mutual understanding. It is not only meteorology which is as yet unknown to Western pilots.

OK, now the standard PR information. The project is privately funded (debt).. It will go regardless of the fund drive results. The money gathered will be spent on additional equipment/services, additional video capabilities and to reduce debts incurred directly to fund it (with video the higher among those priorities).

The glider (ASH25Mi, privately owned) is loaned for the project by one of the pilots of Karkonoskie Stowarzyszenie Szybowcowe. It has a 60Hp rotary engine, expected to be used for the launches only, from airfields of below 2000m elevation. Pokhara (Nepal) is the most likely base of operations. The glider is in transit now (shipping container, the ship so far on anchor due to weather), via sea and then land to Pokhara.

There will be an effort to live-track the flights (website). Info about the developments will be Twittered. The project has a Web site
http://everest.glidezar.com/en/site/
and a FB page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Everes...18475524982721

There will be 3 pilots (including Sebastian) and a minimal support group.

Now about the funding: let's say it was already possible to gain full sponsor funding, but the product in question was perhaps not the best match with the image the project's people want to associate with the sport. So for now it is "specific items" sponsorship from under 10 sources. The upside is unconfused endorsement - those things are necessary :-) But the project is actively looking for further sponsors.

And the project is looking for individual donations. The Website explains options available. There are some perks for supporters. What is newfangled is the Bitcoin donation option. Bitcoin community helps a lot in spreading the news about the project.

The project is also looking for people who would want to help: writing texts, FB updates, monitoring media, answering questions etc.

LBNL, there is another gliding related project in Himalaya this Fall: Mountain Wave Project. The goals are a bit different, MWP is mainly science focused, Everest Gliding *has* to do some science for practical needs of flying, but is more sport focused. We think both projects will complement each other and cooperate where practical. Of course the scale of both projects is very different in many dimensions.

I will be trying to post updates to this thread, please feel free to ask questions. And forgive if there would be some delays in answering - there are things like jobs and family, too... :-)

PS. Thank you for pointing out that the mode of operation ("is it a glide down from the top?") is not clear from the website. My fault, I will try to make it clear. Here I repeat: engine turn off about 500m above the launch site, at below 2000m. Engine restart not possible because of (low) temperature. Self-launch has to be used - no other options.

For the world majority which knows the Polish language:

TV interview about the project with Sebastian will be aired today (Sat Oct 5) at 1400 UTC on TVP Polonia, as a part of their daily program Kulturalni.pl. Info on Internet, sat and cable availability in US and Canada at http://www.tvpolonia.com/en/index.php Europe/Australia at http://www.tvp.pl/polonia/zasieg-syg...-swiecie/69992 you may also try http://weeb.tv/online/tvp-polonia

TVP Polonia is a government funded TV station aimed at viewers outside Poland.

Tomasz Kawa (Sebastian's father) comments that since the project was announced there is a constant stream of reporters arriving at Mountain Gliding School Żar (which is the project's base). Our community could not effectively break out into the national media with the 2013 EGC at EPOM Ostrów/Michałków news/reporting, despite very solid and professional support the event had from regional TV and printed press.

So "the stunt" may be working :-)

I just want to remind to us all that it is not "the stunt" by itself which might have a lasting effect. We hope for future competitions with the Himalaya as the place of action. This would perhaps get into mainstream programming. With all "trickle down" benefits, not only to the gliding community.

Whether Sagarm�th�/Everest will be definitely attempted will be seen, many factors - though this is a clear goal. What is fundamental is to learn the place, in many aspects.

The Saturday TVP Polonia interview with Sebastian (link below, Polish language, 35 minutes into the program, some 6 minutes).

Some background info first: the hosting program was not a news program (the way previous TV info on the projects was showing up), it is a regular "magazine" format program, probably aimed at people who actually read something once a while. Well known in Poland.

Talk was rather devoid of hype, with very decent videos of gliders+mountains constantly showing in the background. Sebastian was telling how gliders may naturally extend what is already being done and established in the region as far as aviation sports are concerned. Some technical issues were mentioned/explained. Natural fact of not using engine except for launch (low altitude airfield). Tolerance for higher wind speeds than what is safe (especially close to obstacles) for paragliders, hanggliders and microlights. Resulting possibility of expanding the flight season and climbable altitudes. But also about the remaining hard limits of Himalayan weather.

Nobody is doing any polls here, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the last spate of news had put gliding on the radar for most people here in Poland. We will see.

http://vod.tvp.pl/audycje/kultura/ku...-1600/12402608

"Gliding going mainstream"... Well, another success but with a bit of mixed feelings :-) Polish most influential daily newspaper "Gazeta Wyborcza" had run yesterday a lengthy interview about the project with Sebastian (feature articles section). Fair amount of information about the details of the planned project flights for the uninitiated, nice introduction to the gliding in general. The interview is ranking third from the top in popularity on the Internet version of the newspaper. But here it becomes "interesting". First ranked is a feature about sexual abuse of minors by catholic clergy (graphic details included). Second ranked is a story about police efforts to shut down roadside prostitutes business (pictures!). Sebastian comes third, but the newspaper gave the story a title "Polish-German battle for Himalaya". Hmmm... Sebastian did mention Mountain Wave Project, but not exactly in this way... Well, there is a manual on writing attention grabbing headlines ("Win free sex" is the ultimate one supposedly) but becoming a case study somehow leaves a funny feeling...

http://wyborcza.pl/piatekekstra/1,12...imalaj e.html

With apologies to Mick Boydon - the project is really helping to popularize the sport here. The national TV networks (TVN, TVP) when interviewing Sebastian for the Himalaya project (perhaps initially seeing just another "5 minute of fame event") start noticing the background. In short, today we have national live TV (TVN, major network, today 6:05 UTC) coverage of the training camp (wave/ridge) currently going on at Żar. Sebastian is one of the instructors and lecturers at the camp (how he found time when packing for Nepal is another question). More details in the attached album. It is strange that we could not get live national TV coverage for the EGC 2013 in Michałków, but now it is changing. Maybe it is mountains, maybe some critical mass is being approached. Maybe a parallel effort by Adam Czeladzki to highlight the flying by handicapped pilots also contributed - another major TV network is now soliciting gliding film footage for it's library, in connection with Adam's story.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...82721& type=1