MEET JOE STONE

READY TO FLY Ready to launch on a light-wind day at Mount Sentinel in Missoula, Montana

Photo: Julie Tickel

MEET JOE STONE

Joe Stone has been travelling the flying sites of the USA for 18 months, living in his truck and camper and following the weather. He tells us about life on the road.

I’m from Minnesota, but I moved out to Montana to get into the mountains in 2009 when I was 23. I was a skydiver, and I started speed-flying in 2010 but had an accident that same year. I broke my neck and back and had a bunch of other internal injuries, and was very lucky to have survived. I woke up as an incomplete C7 quadriplegic and started a whole new life.

I spent about four years trying all these other adaptive sports. I wanted to see if anything else grabbed my heart like flying had, but nothing ever did. Then in 2014 Chris Santacroce from Super Fly Paragliding in Utah reached out to me through Project Airtime and just said, “We’re here for you. If you want it, let us know.” A couple months later we set a date, and I went out and started flying again, this time with wheels.

It was such a cool experience. It was my first time travelling anywhere by myself since the accident. I had to drive 10 hours to Utah and had a big adventure. Spent a week there. Did a couple tandems, tons of kiting. Ended up getting in the air solo for the first time since my injury. It kind of changed my life.

The coolest part was it felt very normal and natural to me. In the air I realised I was doing the same thing everybody else was doing. The only thing that separates any of us is our experience level. I quickly recognised how inclusive it is. We can all just fly together and have a pretty magical experience.

Paragliding gave me the drive to want to travel more. When you survive something like spinal-cord injury you have to relearn almost everything in life. So having paragliding motivated me to learn more daily living skills, which added to my independence.

Eighteen months ago I started to travel full-time. I live in a 5-x-10 camper that I pull with a 2013 Chevy Silverado, and I’ve travelled all over to fly. British Columbia, Canada, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Southern California. I really got dialled in to be able to travel independently and manage my own life, but also to meet up with new communities, get involved and learn new places, new air, new everything.

I’ve met such amazing people along the way. With flying you can travel anywhere and not know anybody. But reaching out through Facebook, everywhere I go it’s been, “Totally, yeah, let’s meet up.” And then before I know it they are pushing me off the mountain.

Getting a helping hand in the wind at Point of the Mountain in Draper, Utah. “Launch can be a little more technical, so kiting skills are key. I do a lot of kiting so I can be confident in my launches.”

Photo: Ben White

It’s hard to name a favourite place. Southern California is great in winter. The community is great and there are lots of places to fly. Arizona was pretty special because it was challenging thermalling. Utah will always hold a place in my heart. It’s accessible, where I learned to fly, I’ve flown my biggest XCs there. Jackson, Wyoming was huge! You launch at 10,400ft and the Teton Mountains are pretty committing for a chair user. It’s really kind of gnarly, and next level for me.

I’m kind of like a hang glider for landing. I have to be extra careful on my altitude before I make my next move. I need to have a good LZ in sight. I can’t side-hill land, so I have to be a little extra cautious. That mindset keeps me safe.

I fly an Advance Iota. It’s a great wing. My trike has a harness integrated into it, it’s pretty cool. The trike is specially made for paragliding by a company called Backbone in France. I use a front-mount reserve, and that has my flight deck on it.

My next step is to add motor assist. So I can be more independent on the ground. Add a battery and motors on the rear wheels. All the tech is there in adaptive mountain biking. It’s just a matter of doing it!

instagram.com/meetjoestone