“Some people, you know they can't believe -- U.S.A., we got an acro team!”
The bunch of us are crowding a little hotel room over Villaneuve’s Lake Geneva harbor, turning heads across the street with our caterwauling.
For those unfamiliar with the 1993 film dramatizing Jamaica’s bid for bobsledding gold in the 1988 winter Olympics, our chanting makes no sense at all. But if the stunned locals outside knew what we’re singing – and why this little crew is here – they just might start singing along.
We are at the Sonchaux Acro Show. It's the biggest acro show in Europe. It is a *very* big deal.
I’m with Max Marien, Bryan Rice and Adam Fischbach. They are three of the four founding members (with Mateo Manzari) of the United States’ single acro paragliding team: HapiAcro, based in sunny California. There’s a handful of other high-level American competitors in the discipline – one of whom, Nova Dasalla, represents the remainder of Sonchaux’s anemic American delegation – but when it comes to a dyed-in-the-wool American team, HapiAcro is it.
The States has a distinct lack of wide-open water under suitable launch areas – or even towable, showable lakes. The country’s draconian state- and national park rules also help to keep the sport sidelined, in much the same way that BASE jumping has been shoved out of America’s tallest, safest cliffs.
It’s HapiAcro team pilot Max Marien, with his trademark tumble of blonde curls stowed back in a thick ponytail and his shyish, slyish grin, that has motivated the team to hop the pond. He’s an easygoing guy with a profound sweetness about him.
He’s also here to win this thing.
In some ways, Max is no stranger to acro showmanship. In 2012, he broke the record for infinity tumbles in a self-organized flight at the Torrey Pines Gliderport, hucking a whopping 374 tumbles – exploding the previous record of 287 – before coastal breezes pushed him out to sea and he was forced to fly out his 2,500 remaining feet to make it to shore. (It wasn’t long before Horatio Llorens broke that record, but Red Bull had to fund the Spaniard’s oxygen-assisted helicopter ascent to 19,700 feet in order to do so.)
Max has been flying since he was 12, but this turn at Sonchaux is the first time he’s actually participated in a competition. It’s the first time he’s landed on a raft, the first time he’s performed for a big crowd – in fact, it’s the first time he’s seen this many acro pilots all at once.
It’s the first time I’ve seen this many acro pilots all at once, too. I’m here to be, essentially, a performing dolphin – sharing the sky with Max and his top-level skinny-winged brethren, but snug in my BASE rig. I’m one of the several BASE jumpers who have been invited to entertain the crowd between rounds by dropping from paragliders and helicopters and nearby cliffs, sometimes in wingsuits and sometimes without. The Swiss Air Force PC-7 Team is here, too, as well as a handful of speedflying and hang gliding hotshots.
Hang on to your hats and glasses, folks. This is going to be a high-flying week.