Lessons Lead the Way - Mex to Colombia

By: Tyler Bradt

By KAVU

April 25^th, 2023

Fresh from writing my last adventure story.... I launched into the skies of another beautiful day in Valle de Bravo, Mexico. My last flight before continuing my journey to Colombia. My plan was simply a nice flight back to the lake.

As I began to fly, I saw the day was turning into something really special. About 45 minutes into the flight, I arrived at a decision point at Divisadero (a mountain turnpoint used in competitions). To my right... the lake was an easy glide away, to my left... clouds built over a line I had been wanting to complete; the start of the elusive 100km triangle was paved. I aborted my ‘nice flight back to the lake’ plan, turned left, and flying solo, set off in search of the triangle. My intentions now were much different than when I set off. I began connecting climb after climb, thermaling with birds to cloud base, and then sending lofty glides from feature to feature on my route.

I was flying fast, feeling connected with my gear, and as comfortable as I've ever been under my wing. I topped out a climb high above Aguila ridge, and without looking at any other options, eased onto the bar and pointed towards Morador (another turnpoint).

The glide was less than desirable but I pushed on, tried to fish out a climb over a town but didn’t have much success. I knew I would be coming in lower than I hoped...

....but still I felt I could make the glide.

I came into Moridor just a little too low. A couple hundred feet above me, birds climbed out over a small feature on the ridge of the mountain. I turned right hoping to find lift, but found nothing. I turned back left hoping something would be coming up the mountain, but again.... nothing. I glided out over a good landing zone and saw my last chance, a small hill on the other side of the LZ.

I was now getting low, with perhaps 200 feet of elevation. I Flew to the hill just above tree top level, began hunting for some lift, and got a couple beeps on my vario, which gave me hope but eyeing up the LZ, I noticed a powerline separating me from the main part of the field. There was still an ok LZ this side of it..... not great..... but it would do in a pinch. I turned back towards where I thought there was lift and when there wasn’t.... it was now time to land.

Deciding not to risk flying low over the power lines, I set up for the small LZ. 30 feet up I wasn’t coming down as the midday heat was making the air buoyant.

I was running out of room.

To my left were the powerlines... to my right and straight in front... trees. I started slowing down my wing, trying to sink into the last of the LZ. It was working but not quickly enough. I needed to make a slight turn to the left, to stretch out the last 50 feet of space, and land in some bushes. When I went to make the turn my wing, now flying too close to its stall point, it spun and shot in front of me. I knew what was coming and curled up to take the hit, landing hard on my left side.

I knew I was hurt, but could tell it wasn’t too bad, and certainly not life threatening. Slowly, I rolled out of my harness and tried to stand up, the pain was pretty bad. My wing had gone into some thorn bushes and I spent the next hour limping around trying to untangle it. Finally packed, I made my way to the road, flagged down a truck, got in the back, and headed to town. My friend Goldo met me halfway with the help of another good friend, Alejandro, and we began putting together a plan to figure out my injuries.

The next day, the MRI results came back. I had fractured my pelvis in two places and cracked a rib. I changed my ticket for Colombia, bought some crutches, and moved to Goldo’s house to begin the recovery.

A week later, still walking with crutches, I caught a ride to the airport to continue my trip in Colombia.

I knew I couldn’t fly or paddle yet, but figured I would recover better in the warm climates and it would be fun to spend some time watching the days develop in the famous Valle de Cauca. With some luck, I might recover enough to still spend time in the sky, and hopefully get on the water too.

I caught a ride to a hotel on top of a hill near La Union that my good friend Jeff Shapiro recommended and spent a full week there doing some mobility exercises in the pool, taking daily saunas, getting massages, and generally trying to recover as well as possible.

A week later, friend Juan Manuel, who lives a few hours away in a town called Manizales, came to link up, hang and fly. It was great to see a friendly face after a week by myself at the hotel. We changed location and the same day headed to launch at Roldanillo. Neither of us having flown the site before we were immediately impressed by friendly pilots, ease of getting to launch, and very interesting launching conditions. It had been raining a lot, and getting to launch in the clouds with the launch wet and muddy was a new experience.

I wasn’t healed but knew if I could get in the air it would probably be a great way to spend some time, with my feet up (doctors orders), while still doing something I love.

To the dismay of 10 pilots lined up behind me, I patiently waited for a strong cycle so I wouldn’t have to run. I pulled my wing up, turned, and took a couple of steps into the sky. Flying felt amazing; my leg finally pain free. The flying in Roldanillo was as good as everyone had previously told me and we were happy to be there, connecting climbs, and seeing the beautiful landscape from the air.

After a few more beautiful days in Roldanillo, Juan and I headed for Manizales, a city high in the mountains and at the base of a large volcano, Los Nevados.

Juan gave me a tour of the city, of his avocado farm, and the beautiful place where he and his family live. To top it off, early one morning we drove high onto the shoulder of the volcano and launched at about 14,000 ft elevation, and sent a beautiful glide back to the city, a truly stunning flight.

We had breakfast, and the same morning I hopped on a bus to Cocorna, a small town outside of Medellin where my good friend Jules Domine lives and operates Expediciones Colombia. Linking up with Jules is always an unforgettable experience and our first order of business was getting back on the water.

He lent me his paddling gear, invited a group of good friends to join us, and together we set off on a multi-day paddling trip down the Samana, now a classic river of Colombia. Beautiful rapids and pristine jungle framed our next two days. We caught up around the campfire and enjoyed some much needed river time. After a long time away from the river,

.... it was good to be back.

Back in Cocorna, I spent some days flying the local site, a little known but stunningly beautiful place to fly. A highlight was thermalling next to a cascading waterfall, topping out climbs in white fluffy clouds, and cooling off high above the equatorial heat below.

So many thanks to all of my friends who helped me, and took care of me along the way. Being injured is never fun, but it was heartwarming to feel the love of so many great friends.