The GoPro HERO 3 goes *everywhere*.

Skydiver? Paraglider? Hang glider? Rock climber? Mountain biker? Skateboarder? Unicycle enthusiast? No matter what your obsession, you need a helmet camera to seal your bragging rights.

Whether your aim is to record your latest daredevil stunt for YouTube glory or simply to capture an enduring record of the amazing scenery you’re enjoying, the right helmet camera can do it all. After all -- a picture may be worth a thousand words, but a video tells the whole story. Why settle for still shots from a standard camera when you could have an video that, as it unfolds, lets people experience the moment with you?

Once you’ve tried using one, the amazingly versatile helmet camera will be your sidekick for every adventure you undertake -- and once you’ve tried a GoPro, no other helmet camera will do.

The term “helmet camera” itself is something of a misnomer for the GoPro, as it boasts a range of mounts that affix the camera to any sort of sports equipment imaginable. While these solidly built cameras can be mounted on any configuration of helmet, they also can be mounted to handlebars, a chest harness, a car, a dog...anything you can dream up. The GoPro’s extensive range of accessories -- including an available waterproof case and surfboard mount -- give the unparalleled versatility. You can truly take this camera anywhere.

As a handsfree recording method, the GoPro helmet camera offers you a way to record all your activities -- especially the ones you do solo. Want to show your friends and family the reason you enjoy your sport so much? Hanging off the face of El Capitan and wishing that you could show people what you are seeing? Riding the wave of a lifetime and overwhelmed by the desire to capture the experience for posterity? Since it can go everywhere you can, your options are nearly endless.

The three versions of the GoPro HERO 3 -- white, silver, and black -- represent the exciting new horizon of the sports camera landscape. The HERO 3 is 30 percent smaller (and 25 percent lighter) than its predecessor. The resolution is up to 4x higher, and WiFi controls are included. The top-of-the-line of the three is the Black Edition, which is capable of capturing video at up to 4K res and has doubled frame rates at lower resolutions. The Silver Edition maxes out at 11MP stills and 1080p30 video, while the White Edition drops down to 5MP stills.

All three versions include WiFi. Unlike the previous versions, no BacPac is necessary for remote control (via the app). The Black edition includes a remote that can control up to 50 cameras at once, with a 600ft range.

For most sports, the long-lasting battery should handle all your recording needs; however, for long-distance activities (or if you’re utilizing the power-hungry Wifi feature), you’ll want to take along a spare battery just in case.

Verdict: There’s no better camera available for the active photographer.

You probably know Cloud 9 for paragliding and speed flying -- but did you know that Cloud 9 Toys has been one of the largest "on ocean" stores for kite surfing gear for over a decade? We've also been THE center for snowkite-specific gear since the birth of the sport. Pretty impressive, huh?

Cloud 9's owners, Mike Steen and and Steve Mayer, have been definitive athletes in kiting from the very beginning. It's in their blood -- both of them have kid brothers who've became professional kite surfers in Florida and Maui (thanks to some kick-ass older brothers, of course).

…so we know what we're talking about when we say that kiting has considerably evolved in the last decade. Luckily, Cloud 9 has been around and involved long enough to know the details. We know what works (and what doesn't work), what brands have good warrantees, what brands hold up to the abuse of a long season (and what brands suck), what brands present a good value and what brands (or specific kites) are best for your unique needs.

We ask the right questions.

• Do you want a quiver to share with your wife?
• Do you live in Kansas, or Maui?
• Where will you travel to kite?
• Are you a beginner with some kite experience, looking for next steps?
• Are you advanced, and want to know if you really can kite in 6 knots of wind? (By the way: you can. We can help with that.)
• What board do you really need to add to your already enormous pile of gear?

We're also there to answer the pressing questions for which you need a straight, smart answer.

• What's the best way to travel with your kite gear?
• What repair supplies should every kiter have?
• Are you ready to try that trick you saw last week on YouTube, or will it almost certainly kill you?

We are here to answer those (as well as many other) questions. It's very hard to get all that info on a website, and we just plain think it's best to have a chat with a real human that knows what's up. If we can't answer your question, we know who can and will get you the correct answer -- one that we can stand behind.

Kites are expensive. We get that. That said, we can get you an unbeatable price on your kite gear. Really. Just drop us an email -- or, better yet, call -- and let us know what you're after. We've put together some sample packages to give you some ideas, but we can do a better job taking care of you if you reach out to us. If you get a great price from your local shop, by all means support them! If it's not, give us a chance to earn your business. We want you to be our customer for life.

(P.S. Our repair loft alone makes Cloud 9 shine. If you break anything you buy from us, we'll fix it for 1/2 price on labor and give you priority on all repairs.)

Photo by Carson Klein

1. Learn to ski. Well. If you can't ski, you can't speed ride. Contrary to what you may have heard, the ability to slide for a few seconds at launch will not suffice. Your femurs will thank us for this excellent advice.

2. Learn to speedfly. Well. If you're a paragliding pilot, you'll notice that the speed wing's higher wing loading not only greatly increases the speed of the flight but the responsiveness of the handling. A speed wing's glide angle is much lower than a paraglider's, and the landing approach and landing itself are considerably different -- especially on skis.

3. Get specialized instruction. Skilled skier? Great. Excellent speedflying pilot? Wonderful. You still need to learn how to combine the two in a way that will optimize your awesomeness and not wrap you around a tree. Look for instruction from a school that's set up to teach this specialized sport. There are several around the world -- and hey! Cloud 9, parked right betwixt some of the best speed riding sites on the planet, is a great place to learn. If you learn from a speedriding-specific instructor, you'll learn faster in a more controlled, less stressful and safer environment. (What does that spell? More fun. Less ouch.) You'll also need to get trained in the art of avalanche avoidance so you don't get dead.

4. Don't be an a-hole. Practicing on non-designated ski slopes is a big no-no. Even after your training, make sure to contact the resort safety team before you take your wing anywhere near a resort. The safety guys will probably be authorized to designate you an off-piste site where you can safely practice. After all, there's a chance you'll be a "first" in your area and your responsible attitude will pave the way for others. If you screw it up for everybody, you'll earn the ire of a generation. Don't do it.

5. Get equipped. Responsible speedriders have a kit: a full set of quality off-piste ski and avalanche equipment. You'll learn about what you need when you get your avalanche training (transceiver, shovel, probe, etc.)

Oops.

6. Know your conditions -- not just the ones you're already familiar with. You need to know much more than just the conditions for paragliding and speedflying when you speed ride. Snow conditions figure in here in a massive way. If you're on the way to a site and you're new, get oriented to the site and take advice from resort safety experts and/or high mountain guides, if you're lucky enough to run into one.

Beach towels are for the weak and boring.

If you're an inland kinda paraglider, you may not be used to coastal flying dynamics. Here's what you need to know to keep your summertime paragliding vacation from ending in a soggy, salty mess.

1. Know the pattern.

Coastal sites tend to work in three distinct stages, shaped by the time of day: early morning, daytime and evening.

The early morning starts with sunrise and tends to last for about three hours. During this stage -- before the land has warmed up from its nighttime temperature -- the wind will tend to flow from the land down to the ocean or sea. After the land warms, the wind will flip. This occurs due to the low-pressure zone formed over the warmed land, which pulls the air in from the high pressure over the lower-temperature water. A bit before sunset, as the land cools back down, the wind will switch back to its "early morning" mode. As a rule, exercise extra care if you're launching during one of these transitions -- and, if you're landing at sunset, beware of the offshore wind pushing you out over the water as you're landing.

If the winds are forecasted to be strong all day, the strength of the conditions may override this pattern. Also be aware that, if the forecast for your site seems to contradict this information but you see pattern conditions at launch, you may face a significant wind shear for which you need to be prepared to compensate.

Choppy water = bad.

Gust fronts are a very real consideration when you fly coastal sites, but there's a simple place to check to see if one is headed your way: the water's surface. Before you launch (and periodically during your flight), look out over the water towards the horizon. If you see either large, dark splotches or foamy whitecaps on the water's surface, there's a gust front out there. (A larger dark area or "whitecap zone," of course, indicates a larger, stronger gust front.) Once you evaluate the relative strength of the indicators, it's your call: either keep well away from the back of the ridge, fly away from the gust front or land and wait for it to pass. If you're not sure, choose option #3.

3. Be aware of the tide.

It's smart to peek at a tide table before you fly a site on the ocean coastline. At the very least, keep an eye on the beach. High tide may cover your dry, sandy landing area, and if that happens, it's not pretty: you'll definitely be stuck with an expensive cleaning and repack, and you may be forced to shred your lines with a hook knife.

Oh -- and don't automatically assume you'll be able to top-land and this section doesn't apply to you; sometimes, coastal conditions shut down remarkably quickly.

Your paraglider is in here somewhere.

Traveling with your paraglider is, y'know, the best reason to have one. However, if you don't play your cards right you may have a big, expensive mess on your hands. Here are some handy tips to help you avoid some serious hiccups as you travel to and from your paragliding vacation spot:

1. The "do not pull" note? Don't do it. If you put a note on your reserve handle that says "do not pull," you're basically begging those gorillas to yank as hard as they can. And they will.

2. Double-bag it. Putting your paragliding backpack in another bag -- even a cheap duffel -- may prevent the straps from being torn off by a conveyor belt or luggage truck in transit.

3. Consider triple-bagging it, if the afore-mentioned bag isn't waterproof. A few pilots have had nasty surprises (especially on the way back from France) when a red wine bottle in someone else's bag broke and soaked through all the way to their wing. Carnage.

4. Save your brain bucket. If you stick your helmet in your paragliding backpack, there's a chance it'll get crushed.

Organization before Ambien.

5. Don't lose it. As much as we hate to admit it, the TSA (and their equivalent in many other countries) must be appeased if you intend to arrive at your destination and return with all your expensive gear intact. How? Stash valuable electronic gadgets in your hand luggage, but don't forget to put your multi-purpose tool (i.e. Leatherman) in your checked bag. Along those lines: if you're carrying a 2-meter radio on the plane, keep your amateur radio license handy to demonstrate to the goons.

6. Avoid sneaky taxes. If you're traveling out of the country, make extra time to stop at the airport customs office before you go through the check-in process. There, have the office register your valuable gear (wing, harness, vario, radio, etc.). If they don't give you a registration card, ask for a printout of the file copy. It will have your serial numbers, which may save you from paying tax again on all your gear.

2. Look Out For Rotor


Are you feeling a light headwind at launch, but the trees behind you are shaking around in something stronger? Don't launch just yet. Instead, look up at the cloud movement above you and think for a minute. You might actually be about to take off in rotor turbulence from a strong back wind -- and you sure don't wanna do that, do you?

3. Do The Math


Yes. Math. Sorry.

Let's look a some numbers. Assume that the day isn't very thermic. If, at launch, you observe a strong wind coming from the front -- let's call it 12 mph -- and people below you are landing in light conditions (under 3 mph), you're not going to get much lift. If you launch in conditions like those described, you'll be up against a strong head wind without much lift, and you can reasonably expect to sink out. Most of the wind speed must be coming from a lower altitude for the average lift component of the flight to be great. If you have a ride back up to launch, take the sled run, but if you don't? Expect a hike.

4. Cliff Launch Like A Pro

If there's one thing that tends to get intermediate pilots in trouble, it's cliff launching. They sure look inviting, especially when there are other pilots playing out in the awesomeness, but you'd better know what you're doing if you plan to get out there with 'em. (Our best advice? Internalize the below advice, then get some coaching.)

Yep. Go for it.

Picture this: you're about to launch a cliff in strong conditions. The strong wind hitting the cliff in front of launch will create a consistent wave of rotor behind you. If you're new to cliff launching (and -- admit it -- a bit nervous), you'll probably want to start from farther back. When you move forward from that position, you're going to hit a significant band of lift that will resist your entry, pick you up and try its best to shove you back into the rotor. How do you avoid that YouTube-worthy scenario? Try to launch as far forward as possible -- and immediately be ready to fly at top speed.

One more note: stopping at the edge of the cliff is not a good choice. The vertical wind direction will stabilize your wing in front of you and yank you forward unless you brake just right…and this is not a good scenario in which to practice that particular kind of braking.

5. Join Us!

Cloud 9 has started hosting mountain flying trips in the Salt Lake City region, and you're invited. Call us at the shop at (801) 576-6460 or email us, and we'll tell you when and where to meet up. We'll help you dial in the details of your mountain flying, and you'll have a great time.

If you ever have to spash down, you'd better know how.

Landing in water is not an exact science. For chrissakes, don't listen to those who pretend it is.

Without a quick-release system, landing in a tree is generally preferable to landing in water. If you have no other landing option but the water, here's your plan of action:

1. While you still have some altitude, check the water beneath you for signs of a current. If the water isn't as smooth as glass, there is -- so try your best to quickly identify in which direction it's moving, and at what rate. Look at the movement of water around rocks and other obstacles, look for foliage dragging in the current and look for the trajectory of animals and debris moving on the water.

2. Try to determine your altitude. (It is very difficult to judge your altitude over the water.) Don't look down at the water to judge your distance; instead, use nearby features on land as ground references. If neither are available, fix your eyes on the horizon.

3. Plan your approach. In light winds, do your best to fly downwind. Your aim is to get the wing to overshoot, keeping the lines as stretched as possible.

4. Just before final approach, unclip your chest strap and the leg strap over your non-dominant leg. (It'll keep you from slipping out of the harness prematurely, which would really suck.)

5. Decide whether to jump from your harness or remain clipped in. (If it looks like there is a chance of a significant current, your best bet is to ditch your gear.)

Hoo boy, this is going to suck.

If you jump:

• Don't look down. Keep your eyes on the horizon, glancing at land features to judge your altitude on final approach.
• Keep a hand on the buckle for the final leg strap and make sure the clip is unimpeded. You'll unclip it at the last possible moment.
• Aim to leave the harness at a height of 10 feet. Less than 10 feet is preferable to more than 10 feet; if in doubt, wait.

If you remain in your harness:

• If you've executed your approach correctly and the wing overshoots you, the leading edge will hit the water first and remain an inflated "wall." If you're lucky and the shore is populated, the colorful material standing on the water will act a signal.

• It's best to leave your gear at this point. (If there's wind, the wing will catch it and pull you along, perhaps into an entanglement.)

6. Resurface immediately to check the position of your wing and lines. If they're collapsing on you, quickly dive and swim away to avoid a dangerous entanglement.

7. If you happen to get caught in the lines, don't wait -- use your hook knife. If you find that you're caught under your wing, don't panic. Instead, look for an air pocket. Kicking will only entangle you further, so focus on being calm and assessing your situation.

8. Be glad you were recording video on a GoPro HERO 2 in a waterproof case. (You were, weren't you?) 'Cause this footage is going to be epic.

Finally, a note on harnesses in water:

If you think your harness's foam back protector will keep you afloat, keep in mind that it will still be difficult to keep your head above water. A long wait for help will likely exhaust you, especially in cold water.

If your harness has an airbag, you'll have to fight it from pulling you under. The same mechanics that move air into the bag when you're airborne will move water into the bag once it's submerged. Unzipping the airbag will help, but it's very unlikely you'll be able to pull it off under the stress of the circumstances.

The best advice? Think before you launch.

Crazy springtime weather patterns, poor planning or just plain bad luck: if you're in the air, rain sucks. Do you know what to do if you're flying your paraglider and a raincloud suddenly pops up and soaks you? The following are, of course, totally dependent on how intensely the rain is coming down (and how long you're exposed to it)

In the Air

- The fabric may stick together during recovery from a collapse, so don't freak out and take it easy.Your first priority is to land; however, don't perform maneuvers to do so that require strong braking (such as wing-overs or spiral dives). Big ears are also a bad idea, as the wet nylon may stick together on one side and not the other, leading to an ugly oopsie. Only execute a B-line stall if absolutely necessary; if you do, use a light hand on brakes when you set up your approach.

- Disturbances to the laminar air flow over the wing will probably cause your sink rate to increase.

- Water will begin to soak your wing through micro-cuts in the fabric's coating. This will weigh down the wing's trailing edge. As the trailing edge drops, the wing will begin to "apply the brakes to itself," increasing the wing's angle of attack without pilot input. Depending on a number of factors, this could lead to an irreversible stall. (Important note: a wet wing will stall at a higher speed.)

On the Ground

Your troubles aren't over after you've landed. Don't collapse in a cold, tired heap; you must see to your gear if you intend to keep it in good working condition.

- Putting away a wing with any moisture in the fabric will seriously deteriorate your wing. Mildew will set in almost immediately.

- Never do a flight to dry your wet wing.

- Hang your wing to dry. If you're lucky and the sun has come out by the time you get back to a dry place, don't succumb to the temptation to hang your wing in direct sunlight in the hopes that it will dry faster.

- It's a good idea to get your reserve repacked if you've soaked your gear. Left packed and wet, moisture may turn your reserve parachute into a useless brick. (In the Cloud 9 loft, we've seen it many times!)

If rain's brewing, land.

- Depending on the materials from which your glider was made, the process of soaking and drying can cause the outside of your lines to shrink. If the shrinkage puts your wing out of trim, this could expose you to the danger of a deep stall if the C and D lines don't stretch back to their manufactured length. If you've soaked your wing, it's a good idea to bring your equipment in to the Cloud 9 loft for a quick inspection to get the official all-clear (or a repair, if something's seriously amiss).

Prepare Yourself

One of the reasons we see a long of spring-season accidents is that rusty pilots are so gung-ho to fly, they push it -- way too hard.

If you haven't flown for a while, don't jump the gun. Start with mellow flights. Take a step backward and reacquaint yourself with the air -- you'll likely be glad you did.

Review What You Know

Take a moment to refresh your PG knowledge.

Remember that the thermals tend to be stronger in spring than every other time of year, and the lapse rate can be very high (because of the bigger temperature differential between the middle of the night and midday). Both aspects of spring paragliding tend to surprise a lot of people, leading to a sky full of spooked pilots. You don't have to be one of them -- review your student syllabus and refresh your knowledge of the technical aspects of the sport.

Speaking of refreshers: don't be embarrassed to show up for a brush-up lesson. Think about it: if you haven't been scuba diving for a while, you won't rent gear and splash right in for a wreck dive. The same is true -- perhaps, even more so -- for paragliding.

Get your gear checked at the Cloud 9 loft.

Prepare Your Gear

Get your glider in for its annual inspection. When your glider sits in the garage over the winter season, latent moisture can cause lines to shrink.

Not convinced you need a repack? Heed us. Paraglider manuals generally recommend that a reserve be repacked twice a year. We generally acknowledge that once per year is adequate for the more casual pilot.

Whenever you have your reserve repacked, we recommend hanging from a simulator and tossing…just to see what happens. Though it's convenient to do this from a simulator -- like ours -- it's perfectly fine to do this at home and ship the rig to a loft for a repack.

The kicker (and you may find this out for yourself) is this: one in ten reserves don't come out when the person tries to throw.

A Repack = Health Insurance. Really.

Common causes of this deeply unsettling malfunction can be improper installation, corrosion on the deployment pin (especially, though not exclusively, for coastal fliers) and deep creases, or "memory," that cause the reserve to come out as a non-unfurling brick. (The latter is usually due to moisture in the reserve container causing the nylon to adhere to itself.)

Your reserve: will it be ready when you need it?

The Cloud 9 loft has also seen two reserves that were not connected to the paraglider whatsoever. (And no, we did NOT pack the reserves in question.)

Another nauseating story from the Cloud 9 loft: we had a customer come in from Europe to fly at the Point of the Mountain. His glider had a note tucked into the seat informing him that customs had inspected his luggage. He at first was planning to fly without the repack, but took his rig in on a lark.

The rigger pulled his reserve, and a ball of knotted lines plopped onto the floor. It turns out that customs had pulled it out, checked it, then tied it in knots, shoved it back in and carefully closed the reserve flap. (We don't like to think about how the story would have played out if he'd needed it.)

The Moral of the Story

We know you want to fly -- really badly, as soon as possible. Think about it this way, though: if you set yourself up intelligently, you'll enjoy many more years of crazy, bumpy springtime air than if you pass on the minimal investment of time and resources it takes to be safe.

No matter where in the world you happen to be, we're happy to inspect your rig, repack your reserve and dole out any advice you seek! Drop us a line or call the shop at +1 801-576-6460

This is *not* parasailing. Sheesh.

When you spend as much time in the sport of paragliding as we do, you hear a lot of nonsense. Today, we at Cloud 9 were inspired to set a few things straight.

1. Paragliding does not occur behind a boat in Jamaica.

That's parasailing (and you would not believe how often we have to explain that).

2. You need wind to fly a paraglider -- lots and lots of wind.

Strictly speaking, you don't need wind to fly a paraglider. Sure, we utilize wind to stay aloft longer than the short "sled runs" we take from the top to the bottom of the hill in no-wind conditions.

Though non-pilots often assume that gliders need loads of wind to inflate and fly, the truth is rather opposite: too much wind can complicate (or eliminate the possibility of) launching. It can also push unwary gliders into a danger zone on the wrong side of the hill/mountain/ridge. For these reasons, savvy pilots launch their paragliders in a conservative range of conditions -- often, winds that feel surprisingly calm to non-pilots.

3. Paragliding is really dangerous.

Danger? Pah. We blend danger into our morning smoothies. Danger, schmanger.

Actually, the sport of paragliding is as dangerous as you want to make it. Lots of pilots we know have been flying for a quarter of a century and have never had more than a twisted ankle. We know other pilots who bought their equipment on Ebay and immediately attempted to fly off a mountaintop into a thunderstorm (or tie themselves to a pickup truck and have a friend mash the gas pedal).

Like many, many other sports, the golden rules of paragliding are to get quality paragliding instruction from someone who knows what they're doing (like, y'know, us) and to always fly within your limits. If both boxes are checked, the likelihood of a paragliding-related injury is much reduced.

This isn't paragliding, either. (It's awesome, though, and you should try it.)

4. Paragliders last forever.

A paraglider isn't a big aluminum airplane that you can polish up and send out, year after year after year. It's made of nylon (which, by the way, makes it oh-so-much-easier to hike with than a Cessna), and it's going to come to the end of its flyable-glider life at some point.

Paragliders will last anywhere from 3-6 flying seasons, depending on how often you fly. After that, old paragliders become difficult to launch, less responsive and more liable to sink out. (All this is entirely aside from the annoyance and expense of patch-jobs and relining.) We know that there are some old-school specimens floating around the internet (and, in some cases, boating geriatrically around the sky). But seriously -- do you want to fly, or fight your equipment for every foot of lift?

Yep. Thought so.

5. Paragliding is prohibitively expensive.

A paraglider is the cheapest, simplest aircraft in the world. Prices for a complete set of gear range from $3,000-$6,000, and training for a basic license (USHPA's P2, which qualifies a student to fly on their own, without a tandem pilot) costs around $1,000.

Once you've got the gear and the training, paragliding is essentially free. There are no required additional costs to continue in the sport: no flights to skydiving altitude, no fuel, no storage costs for the equipment (as it fits in a closet). While you may find yourself traveling to explore lots of far-flung sites, paragliding is one of the most cost-effective sports on the planet -- far more so than its awesomeness would suggest. Which brings us to…

6. Paragliding will get you laid.

Actually, that one's kinda true.

If you hear this balderdash perpetuated as much as we do, take matters into your own hands and share this post!