Next morning we found the garage where they couldn’t fix it and went to Cardigan to a Ford garage.  It would take one more day to order parts and get it fixed which left us wondering what to do.  We got directions to the 2 local golf courses, a 9 hole and an 18 hole.

The 9 hole course was at the Cliff Hotel, Gwbert-on-sea, Cardigan.  Here are some shots.       sorry Mike, Tony hit two of those balls he borrowed over the cliff – he’s looking for them in that shot  never found them. 

This beautiful coastal course cost 6 English pounds for the entire day, as many times round the course as you want.   We never made it to the 18 hole course.

The next day they finished the caravan and we were on the road back to England.  Today we arrived at Dunkeswell DZ, Skydive UK, where they are having a boogie and good weather!  Wingsuiting again

This past weekend was the wedding of Sarah Smith and Robin Durie. Sarah is the daughter of one of Tony’s oldest friends, Mike Smith and his lovely wife, Rosemary. We have enjoyed sharing this experience with them so much. They are a lovely family surrounded by wonderful friends. Here are some pictures of the wedding

We are in England for a couple more weekends, Dunkeswell coming up then visit with family before heading home.  We are visiting Wales over the next few days, Fishburn and up to Snowden.  We also hope to have a day or two in Cornwall before leaving this area.  It is so beautiful here.

…We were in Arco at the north end of Lake Garda with a few extra days to spare before heading to Switzerland.  We decided to tour Venice overnight and then travel across Italy to hike the cliffs of the Cinque Terre.

First, to Venice via train from Verona in the late afternoon; seeing it in the evening is recommended by locals – less tourist traffic, more music and ambiance.  From the train station along the Grand Canal we took a large water bus to Piazza San Marco (often known in English as St Mark’s Square) – the main tourist attraction in Venice.  Along this main canal we saw history in the architecture, historical sites, end of day canal traffic, gondolas, private boats, cargo boats….

With the name of a small local hotel in hand we began our search.  If you have ever walked around Venice you know the network of narrow streets, twists and turns; and, although we asked directions at several different locations, we wandered for an hour or more just missing this hotel by one or two streets several times over.  When we found it, they didn’t have a room and we wandered on…  We found a hotel room not far away and then dinner.  FYI…Prices in Venice are double for tourists as a rule of thumb.  If you can speak fluent Italian and act local, go for it, or go with a local, even easier.  It had been awhile since we slept anywhere but our caravan, which we love; don’t get me wrong.  But  it is amazing how luxurious a room with a bath and toilet can be.  After dinner, we walked to St. Mark’s plaza where there were musicians, classical and contemporary – it was fun and entertaining to experience the layers of culture, sounds, smells, lights, dancing and more.   Tired and satisfied we headed back to our little hotel room which although blocks away was easier to find now that we had walked for hours becoming familiar with the city.

The next day we took the boat bus back to the train and headed to Cinque Terre – a train ride that took us across Italy from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean.

Cinque means 5 and terre means land, so it is 5 ‘lands’ or towns.  Traditionally they were not accessible by car, only train, boat, on foot or animal transport. There is a unique charm in knowing you have only train and foot trails readily available to reach most of the towns even today.  We took the local train to the farthest town, Monterrosso and it was there I put my feet in the Mediterranean for the first time.  Everything they say about the clarity, blue and beauty of the Mediterranean, at least here, is absolutely true.  It is breathtaking.

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We spent an hour or so in Monterrossa then started our hike along the cliffs to the next town, Vernazza which took about 1.5 hours of up and down trail the mountain side.  We passed vineyard after vineyard, olive groves, orchards, all terraced on the cliffs.  The history here is so very old and their traditional day to day life seems much the same as we imagine it has been for many years.  We arrive in Vernazza around 6:30 pm, found water immediately and a slice of pizza, then walked through this old, sweet village until we decided to see if we could find a room somewhere for the night.  We hike up the trail that leads to the next town and passed a small sign at a restaurant near the edge of town.

They had no rooms, but one no show and so we dined on local cuisine and wine and waited and hour and a half (9:30 pm) for the small apartment on the cliff, overlooking the sea and a castle, for a fraction of the price we paid in Venice.  As we sat on the terrace outside the apartment (way more than just a room for the night) and up on the stone wall overlooking the sea we were tired, happy and felt very lucky for this experience.

Next day we headed out early, hiking to Corniglia which took about an hour.  We had breakfast, cappuccino and walked through the village.  Again, small, quaint, lovely.

We had to take the train from here to the next town because a landslide had taken out the trail, then we hiked from Manarola to Riomassiore which are the more populated, crowded tourist trails.  It was a lovely 3 days; like a honeymoon really  :)

Switzerland, Oh del aye hee hoo…

And so, from Brento, we headed to Lauterbrunnen (LB) on Aug 2, arrived Aug 3.  A big storm came over the Sustenpass as we lumbered up in our little RV.  She was overheating so we stopped for the night at the top, rode out the storm and woke to blue and beautiful skies in the morning.  As we came down the other side towards Interlocken we saw beautiful mountains, streams, waterfalls…the clouds were hugging the mountains and the valley as we drove toward Jungfrau.

We arrived, parked and stopped by the Horner Pub, a local gathering point for BASE jumpers.

We saw ‘V’ and a few others, most everyone is off jumping mid-day…so, we drove the valley to Stechelberg, passed the BASE house, checked to see if anyone was around…everyone is out and about.  We checked into the Jungfrau campground and settled in.

As people started to filter in from their morning, mid-day jumps we all gather at the Horner, a beer in some hands, glass of wine, cappuccino, tea or whatever suits the mood and stories are told, laughter, music, good friends, good times…

We stayed in LB about 5 days.  Tony made a couple of jumps off High Nose in LB

drove to ‘Candlestick’ for another jump before we headed on to “the Crack” in Walenstadt.  While he was at Candlestick I took the train from LB to Kleine Scheidegg where I hiked to the Eiger Glacier (north face).  As I hiked through the cows and cowbells, beautiful meadows on narrow goat trails I had an overwhelming urge to yodel or burst in song “The hills are alive with the sound of music” …

The next day we left for the Crack in Walenstadt, another beautiful drive to this small, child and dog friendly village on a lake in another Swiss valley about 2.5 hours from LB in a regular car, in our little ‘Saint’ it took about 5.  She is still chugging along in these higher mountains she still runs a bit hot so we turn the heater and fan on to cool her off and keep chugging away.

We hooked up with Jeff, Cedric, Filippo, Dougs and Simon who flew the crack with Tony everyday.  Jenny, another Mary and I hiked up to the top of the crack to watch their flights several times.  It is the most awesome flying I have ever seen, seriously!  In this picture the red circle indicates the exit point and the red rectangle identifies the area of the crack. .

To get to the exit it takes 2 regular trains, a bus, two cable cars and a hike along a high narrow goat trail to the exit – one jump a day, cost to exit = 55 euros but well worth it!  We stayed a week, between the campground and car park on the lake.  We loved it!

By the end of the week we had decided to go back to Italy and meet Filippo, James, Kristina, Roberta, Maury and Noah in the Dolomites.

The Dolomites…

Tony really wanted to go see these huge hikes and jumps he had heard about, and there was a helicopter available for some of them during this week.  So, we experienced another amazing drive and awe inspiring views into the Dolomites which are a unique section of mountains in north western Italy.

We stayed in a campground outside Alleghre.

It’s a quiet, family run site that was so friendly, affordable and lovely.  For dinner one evening (for maybe 5 euros each) we had hand picked fried zucchini flowers, salad fresh from the family garden and pasta Bolognese.  The red wine was local also, light and lovely.  3 plates with food and wine cost less than one salad in Switzerland.  Note: In all our summer travels, Switzerland and Norway were the most expensive, although both extraordinarily beautiful, it is most affordable to pack your own food and drink when possible.

BASE jumping begins with a peak,  Quarta Pala (about 2700 ft at the exit point) overlooking the campground.  Tony and Filippo had a short drive up to the trail head then hiked 6 hours, one hour of that was steep climb, no ropes.  They radioed down and everyone watched as they flew the most beautiful lines along the ridges and opened over the campground to land in front of us all.  Awesome!!  In this picture, the little red circle at the top just left of center is the exit point.

Tony was also able to make one cliff jump from another location where the Turbolenza team was filming.  It was a helicopter lift to the exit on this one. The smoke is Maury, Roberta and James just before exit.   Great fun

Near the end of the week the guys decided to jump Ciavetta, this highest peak in the Dolomites and a serious hike/climb.  We left for Alleghe at about 4:30 pm, took the cable car and chair lifts as far as we could

   (thank God for hiking poles!) and hiked 1.5 hours to the mountain hostel where we spent the night in a room of 22 beds (at least 15 full), had a dinner of pasta (carbs for climbing) and started out at 5:30 am for the Via ferrata (A via ferrata (Italian for “road with irons”) is a mountain route which is equipped with fixed cables, stemples, ladders, and bridges).  In this picture, it is 5:30 a.m. and we are hiking with head lamps 

then the peak of Monte Ciavetta which is a 2100 meter jump 3212 meters above sea level).  I hiked with them for about 40 min as the dawn was breaking – gorgeous – before turning back as the trail climbed steeper approaching the Via ferrata and took my time hiking out taking pics

  you can see the hostel where we stayed in this picture:  

Tony made most of the climb, including the beginning portion of the Via ferrata before turning back.  It took Kristina and Filippo another 4.5 hours from that point to reach the exit.  Tony arrived back at the landing area in town about 20 minutes after they landed.  Like many of the BASE cliffs, it takes a love for climbing and the whole experience, even if that is hiking out and not jumping.  Of all the exits this summer, this one was the most difficult climb of all.

Gransee, Germany

So, it was time to leave Italy, the mountains, and the BASE portion of this trip and head to Gransee, Germany which hosts Tony’s favorite wingsuit competition.  On a short side note, we had a flat tire on the camper van in Germany on the autobahn and it was with patience and persistence we got it done.  Tony did an amazing job of it!! 

Gransee, Germany – Go Jump DZ

What a great place!  We arrived on Thursday in time to get 2 practice jumps in.  Friday the competition started with downwind distance (2 jumps).  On the first jump I re-injured my knee on exit so was out for the rest of the meet.  Tony flew wonderfully and Apaches were in the first 4 places for all the rounds until the last upwind speed event where clouds caused variations with  flight headings for competitors, so many zeroed out on that round changing the outcomes.  All in all, it is a wonderful event and everyone had a great time!  Oliver Furer remained in the lead for the entire event and won it easily – great flying Oliver!!  Congrats to all who participated.

 This is my first wingsuit competition – I came in 5th (out of 5), whoo hoo!!

 the winner this year is Oliver Furer.  Great flying!!

 all of the competitors

 the four Apaches.  1st, 3rd, 4th and 7th place in the open catagory.

Saturday was a rain day so Oliver, Corrine, her mom, Tony and I took the train into Berlin for the day.  We started off on a double decker tour bus and got off at the DDR museum on the river.  We toured the museum which depicts the communist post war era in East Germany.  We then hired a bicycle cab to take us around to the Berlin wall.  Along the way he gave us a more in-depth history of this area of Berlin.

He is about 54 years old and said the best day of his life was dancing on the wall in 1989 when the last of it came down.  He even let Tony drive for a ways.

We had a wonderful dinner near Check Point Charlie, then barely avoided an anti-terrorist demonstration, grabbing a cab back to the train station.  Berlin is a very interesting, historical, cultural city that is well worth exploring.

 These guys were too funny. We saw them later when it was raining, still drinking and peddling wearing their cheap clear plastic rain covers.

We are now off to England for the last part of our tour – 2 wingsuit events and a wedding.  We are driving as I type this and are almost to Dunkirk, then France, ferry to Dover.

On a side note, stopped off in Antwerpen to see my favorite orthopedic surgeon, Eric DeCoster, who had a look at my knee.  Not sure if meniscus is compromised, will let the sprain heal for a couple more weeks and decide on surgery then.

So, we arrived a week ago and Tony went right up the mountain first thing the next morning.  He has jumped almost everyday, sometimes both morning and evening hikes, making a total of 9 jumps this week.  Although still exhausting to hike with gear, we are getting stronger each time, especially Tony who is getting more hikes in than I am.  We bought collapsible walking poles last week which are making the hikes easier on our legs.  I’m sooo proud of him!  His exits and flights are beautiful.  He and Kristina flew a race last week in their Apaches.  They both flew very fast although she just edged ahead to finish!   Also, Tony made his first proxy flights here this week.  He was not near as close as Oliver Furer’s flight last week but is flying more closely than he has before; it’s a start!

Tony and Dieter, a new friend from Austria, went to Thiene, a local DZ on Sunday to wingsuit.  They all gave Tony a warm reception and had a great time!  http://www.skydivethiene.it

I made my first cliff jump on Wednesday morning, then Friday morning and lastly yesterday morning.  Truth is, each time was more frightening for me than the one before.  I was having trouble launching a strong exit so got more head down each time.  Best launch was the first one,

We have shopped, dined, hiked up to the castle and played at the playground this week in Arco, a lovely little town in the valley between the lake and Monte Brento   .  Today we are doing a bit of site seeing in Cinque Terre and Venice before heading to Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland.

Here is a pic of Alberto, Tony and I
(great guy and wingsuit coach – thanks Alberto for all your help and kindness).  It was Alesseo and Giorgea’s birthday celebrations on Saturday night.  A great party!  Alesseo got the gift that just keeps on giving, the one every skydiver wants these days, a Go Pro!  

We are heading to the north of Lake Garda near Arco this morning to Mount Brento. It is about 2 hours north of Molinelli where we are now. The morning is a bit chilly with a gorgeous sky.

As an offshoot…I (Mary) spent last Friday in Bologna. Tony dropped me off with my bike just outside of town and off I went. I ended up parking the bike and walking into the town center – lovely place and, as everywhere else in Italy, rich in history.  I stopped at a sweet little restaurant for lunch and had…yes, of course, pasta with Bolognese sauce, Outstanding!!   The intention was to take the train from Bologna to Budria where Tony would pick me up that evening.  There was a train strike and I rode my bike to just outside Budria, about 8 miles, where he picked me up.  Loving the exercise!

So, off we go again.  :)  I will be posting the video of Tony’s practice jump on his Apache from the WBR at Griset shortly (later today or tomorrow). The POV is from the top of the cliff – awesome footage – stay tuned!!

So, as much fun as it’s been and all the wonderful friends we have made and revisited here in Norway, it is time to move on….We left Norway on Sunday heading southeast past Oslo into Sweden where we spent the night at the Stromstad DZ – no jumping this past weekend after a bird went through their PAC’s windscreen! We heard the pilot had only minor cuts and bruises.

Monday morning we drove on, through Denmark to Germany.  We are spending a day at Tim Baldheader3rdreich’s house in Offenbach just outside Frankfurt. Tony and Tim have a great relationship.  It is based on who can joke on the other first, or more about just about everything.  When we arrived Tim had made copies of last year’s race at Marl where he beat Tony’s ASSS in time! (only) not in distance.  He came in 3rd and Tony came in 4th.  He had posted them everywhere – on the walls, in the bathroom over the toilet, inside the refrigerator door, under Tony’s pillow… it was a good laugh.  We have spent the day today touring Frankfurt with Tim, taking in the local flavors and sites. There are beautiful beer gardens and wonderful beers here (of course, it’s Germany!). For lunch Tim took us to the Adolf Wagner restaurant.  A local favorite for it’s traditional Frankfurt region food.  http://www.apfelwein-wagner.com
We spent the afternoon biking around town,  hiking up a church spiralstaircase – 330 stairs steeply and narrowly winding up and up and up…,  viewing thecity from a skyscraper observation deck, visiting the historical areas…touristy stuff. We are leg weary but not done yet. It’s steak and potatoes for these cyclists tonight at Fleischeslust Steak House http://fleischeslust-offenbach.de/, beer,  and chocolates,  Yummmmm.

Time for a quick sleep and up early to drive on into Italy.  We will be at the Flygang DZ Thursday-Sunday this week for a wingsuit boogie.  Whoohoo!!

Tony, Odd Martin, Mike, Don and a couple of other BASE jumpers are hiking up Bisbon at the top of the Trollstigen Pass and will be buzzing the road here shortly. I’m heading up to get video. We will post more later….

Something has happened that wasn’t supposed to happen here.  The 2 fastest times are from intermediate jumpers who just raced each other – I vote we let them join the competition.  Does anyone object?

Well, there were objections about rules being rules, … …so, Tony and Hans Christian are still not in the competition, but their times are being logged.  We will see what happens tomorrow

Check out today’s scores on the FB page for World Base Race – you can find the link at www.worldbaserace.com

Hellesylt National BASE Race – The competition

This competition has two layers both based (no pun intended) on speed:

1.  Day #1 Timed event – the fastest time to cross the finish line – two poles with 2 lines stretched between are the finish line markers.  The photo is taken from the ground up under these lines for judging/time.  This ranks the competitors for the final round see #2.  Note: elimination will also occur if the canopy ride is under 30 sec. and there were at least 2 eliminations this weekend for that.  One jumper pulled so low, he had no time to clear toggles and land – whew.

2.  Day #2 Race Off – Two flyers exit, one in lane A, one in Lane B and race each other across the finish line.  The winner of each race goes to the next round.  The elimination continues until all winners are placed.

They wouldn’t let Tony enter the competition officially here because according to their current rules he doesn’t have enough wingsuit BASE jumps yet – needs 80, although his jumps were timed as you can see on the score sheet below.

The obvious favorite was Frode, 2009 champion and favorite in 2010 until disqualified for lane crossing.  Here is Frode and Tony – Frode is wearing Tony Suit’s patch pants 

Day 1 – Tony’s times averaged almost 2 seconds slower than Frode’s.  He was happy overall with his first time BASEing the Apache, loving the speed and opening way high on each jump.

Here are pictures of Tony’s first Apache BASE jump:    photo by Livia Dickie    photo by Livia Dickie  

Day 2 – We watched the Race Off from the landing area on Sunday.  This is the most accessible and thrilling spectator friendly ‘skydiving’ we’ve ever seen (sorry BASE jumpers; we know you don’t like that reference).  They have a bit of a tail wind. Frode takes it easily on every jump.  About 1/2 way through the competition some non-competitors jump and one of them, a russian girl jumping ‘slick’ – in regular clothes, no jumpsuit, had an off heading opening near the talus.  She landed in a stand of trees about 1/2 way down the cliff.  She was soooo lucky just missing the waterfall which would have been a big bumpy slide to the bottom.  They took the heli up to check her out. She was ok and decided it best to have a couple guys hike up and get her – steep and slow.  In both these pictures I have put a small red circle around her at her landing location on the cliff side.      Final Scores:

The prizes were handmade by Martin Janssen the landowner, ‘Bird man’, I told you about him in our last blog entry. The top 4 winners are:

1st place – Frode 

2nd place – Ronnie

3rd place – Dominik

4th place – Odd Martin (aka Tiger)

So, we all left Hellesylt Sunday evening and drove 2 hours north to Romsdal Valley where the World BASE Race will be held this week.  Remember I’ve mentioned as we travel we think each place is more beautiful than the last?  Well, Romsdal Valley is no exception.  It is gorgeous!!  We just came through Trollstigen Pass.  It was overcast and dramatic coming down into the valley.  We are very excited to be here.    The road down into the valley was steep switchbacks, slow going, amazing to see

Our new campsite just outside Andalsnes  

We have now been on the road officially for one month.

Here is a picture of our campsite under the BASE exit 

Hellesylt – the hike up (for good hikers) averages 2.5 hrs. It is harder than Kjerag which is referenced as “a walk in the park”, “the easiest hike in Norway”, Tony is waiting for the helicopter at 4pm to make his first jump. So we have some extra time and head into town to get a few things – a larger packing mat, masking tape, apples, … I rode my bike (it’s mostly all downhill) and Tony drove the RV. There is a carnival setup in town and a few vendor tents; looks like it’s going to be a big weekend in this small, lovely Norwegian village. Tony and I walk around town, check out some shops and get information on the scenic ferry that runs between Hellesylt and Geiranger. It is an hour ride so I am taking my bike and Tony is going back to the BASE camp. It’s now 2pm.

The ferry ride was wonderful. There are several abandoned farms along this fiord that are preserved by “the Friends of the Fiord” even though they are still privately owned. Most occupants left during the 1960′s, some before. The farm in this picture was left 100 years ago because of a large rock overhang they thought would collapse on them – it is still overhanging 100 years later. The farm is so high up, they tethered their children to keep them from falling into the fiord.  This farm was accessed by ladders. When the tax collector came they took the ladder up and the tax collector went home empty handed.  This series of falls are called “The Seven Sisters”. There is a legend the sisters are all still unmarried and have broken the hearts of many men with their beauty. 

Geiranger is a small tourist village filled with small local shops and tent vendors. It was wonderfully relaxing (girls) to wander through and visit with the locals. This chocolatier, Bengt Dahlberg, opened his shop 1 year ago. He uses a blend of Norwegian brown cheeses, goat and cow, and honey from a local farmer to fill the center of these dark chocolate sensations . His website is www.geirangerskokolade.no if you want to see more, of course it’s always great to stop by in person. I had lunch across from the marina; a plate of topas – moose, raindeer, spiced pork, Wise Man aged (like bleu cheese), a couple of other local cheeses, apricot compote, dried tomatoes, green olives and the local draft Hansa beer.  Ahhhh, bon appetit!  Then back on the ferry and biking uphill to the BASE camp. I’m getting better – it took 35 minutes and 6 brief rests, whew!

Tony had a great time on his first jump here. It was filled with excitement – first time using this rig, first time using this canopy, first time jumping this exit, an though he has 100″s of skydive’s on the Apache its the first time jumping one on a BASE jump. A lot of firsts!! “One very nervous jump” he said, He exited along side Graham, a Scott, here for the competition. Everyone said from the ground it looked like he was going up! He pulled high, short of the finish line so was not close in the time category but was very happy with the jump overall. Frode [2009 champ] had the fastest time on the practice jump followed by our own Odd Martin, the Go Pro team are here again and will do the WBRace next week also, nice to have fellow Americans “along for the ride” its quite a tour.

As I rode in, Tony was finished packing and we headed over to the tent to hang out for awhile. Martin, the landowner, and his son, Martin Jr, have a tent set up for gathering and meals. They fix 3 meals a day for 3 days for 350 Kroner (about $70 USD). That is the most affordable price we have seen since we got here. A hamburger and fries in Lysebotn was $30 USD. So we have paid for meals for 3 days, money well spent and they are cooking good food!