Sport-heute: Sailing - Red Bull Glorious Days

17. November 2009, 12:25

Red Bull Glorious Days

Staring at the horizon on a remote and isolated salt-flat bordering the Gulf of Carpentaria in outback Australia is a solitary human figure. Surrounded by the endless expanse of Australia’s harshest landscape, a land reserved for snakes, saltwater crocodiles and sea eagles, Jon Durand watches the sunrise, waiting to fulfill his lifelong dream to surf the ‘Morning Glory’, the tsunami of the sky. He carries no surfboard, but rather a sleek competition hang glider rests beside him, for the Morning Glory is no wave of the ocean but rather a 1000km long roll cloud, surging across the ground at more than 60km/h and has the ability to thrust those who dare to ride her beyond 4000ft into the atmosphere, or to plunge them out of control to the ground.

Brüttisellen, 17.11.09 (mk) The shock-wave cloud is a fickle and rare display of Mother Nature’s splendor and the Red Bull Glorious Days project is an attempt to document Durand, the world’s number one hang glider, in his attempt to soar the leading edge of this spectacular phenomenon. However, the glory is somewhat a mystery and there is no guarantee it will eventuate at all - the entire project remains in the hands of Mother Nature. For hundreds of years the Morning Glory has gone by the aboriginal name of ‘yippipie’, the spirit of the fruit bat and it is for this spirit in which Durand patiently waits.

At four o’clock every morning, Durand and his ground crew assemble his glider on the isolated salt plains outside of the tiny township of Burketown, awaiting ‘The Glory’. The chance of the phenomenon appearing on the horizon is sporadic and each morning the tension before sunrise is on edge. “Is the tsunami of the sky on the horizon? Are the conditions right?” More often than not it is only the endless expanse of an outback sky that appears, void of any ‘surfable’ updrafts.

It is only in recent years that scientific explanations of the Morning Glory have been circulated. However, even the scientific world deems the Morning Glory as something of a mystery. Whilst it is widely acknowledged that the phenomenon is an undular bore, caused by two opposing air masses colliding, the formation of a single wave or set of waves and the size and magnitude of the Morning Glory still remains in part a mystery. More importantly for Durand, any scientific model able to predict the Morning Glory is yet to be formed.

Durand’s mission to surf the biggest wave known to mankind is a lesson in patience, skill and luck. Fortunately, as the world’s number one hang glider he is no stranger to the nuances of Mother Nature and so waiting days become practice days, and the local bird life looks on in awe as Durand loops and spins his way through the air currents, thousands of feet above the lonely settlement of Burketown.

Soon the searing heat of day eliminates any chance of a ‘Glory’ for yet another day and the afternoon is crammed with preparation and planning for the following days. Weather maps are rechecked, satellite images are downloaded and necessary equipment modifications are carried out.

The dragonfly aircraft on standby to tow Durand into ‘the glory’ becomes the scouting craft for barramundi fishing, or sweeps along the secluded inlets and deserted coastline of the Gulf of Carpentaria offering Durand a birds-eye view of ‘worst case scenario’ landing spots. The waterways are home to saltwater crocs, some five meters long and Durand prefers not to encounter any of these prehistoric monsters while awaiting a helicopter pickup.

As the day cools and the sun sinks towards the horizon, the sailplane pilots become the focus point for Durand and his team. They are also here to fly the phenomenon. However, instead of a hang glider, they have the benefit of a motor and propeller to get them onto the cloud and are able to surf the Morning Glory over the ocean as they carry back up in the form of a fuel driven propeller. Durand has neither fuel nor propeller on his craft built only from super lightweight aircraft-alloy, a carbon fiber framework and fabric. For Durand, wiping-out on the Glory over the ocean would have disastrous consequences and so his only option is to pray for ‘yippipie’ to reach land.

The pilots are not hard to find – Burketown has become the ‘Mecca’ of the gliding world and at its centre is the Pub. Also at the pub, on a barstool in a corner engraved with his name is indigenous Burketown legend JY. His dark face is adorned with a wiry beard as white as snow and the wrinkles around his eyes are those of a life outdoors. It is claimed he is the one man able to predict the Morning Glory. JY laughs at the urban myth, stating only that if the tables in the pub begin to warp at the corners due to humidity or the bar fridge fogs up, the likelihood of a Morning Glory is promising. Additionally, a stiff sea breeze all day brings in the moisture and so a humid evening with fog in the morning is almost a guarantee the tsunami of the sky will appear.

No sooner has JY taken a seat than hopeful pilots gather like school children around a teacher, quietly asking, “whadya reckon bout tomorra?” Everybody appears aware of JY’s uncanny knack of predicting ‘The Glory’ and all it takes is a simple nod of his head for ales to be finished quickly and Durand and his crew to retire in anticipation of the early morning wake-up call.

“Maybe it’ll come tomorrow!”

Having carried out a two-week reconnaissance mission last year without a ‘Glory’ and a further five days into this expedition with limited success, the Red Bull Glorious Days crew is getting restless.

On standby is a Long Ranger helicopter carrying an expensive Cineflex camera set-up. Additionally, two cameramen, sound operator, reconnaissance pilot, tow pilot, project manager, producer, journalist and myself (stills photographer) are all on board in an attempt to become the first ever crew to professionally document this phenomenon with today’s advanced digital equipment. Durand plans not only to fly the shockwave but also to perform aerobatics on it… something neither accomplished, nor documented before. Additionally, Durand’s father Jon Senior has traveled more than 2000km so see his son accomplish this feat - as a hang glider himself he understands the need to pursue this dream, he even packed his glider “just in case!”

On the nose of Durand’s glider is a customized Nikon D300s camera developed to capture both video and stills imagery using a remote cable release designed specifically for the project. Durand also carries two further on-board video cameras and a sound recorder. He is under pressure to produce results. This has been his dream. It was his concept from the beginning and with an entire reconnaissance trip and a week under his belt without results, the tension is beginning to show.

“Has it all been worthwhile?” The hours spent researching and developing systems to make this happen, the time and money to bring together such an experienced crew and the risk that it is all in the hands of Mother Nature… if no cloud appears, it will have all been for nothing.

All these thoughts circulate through Durand’s head day after day… but then there is hope. The evening air is sticky and the fridge doors fog up. There has been a sea breeze all day and the weather map displays typical Glory producing characteristics and more importantly there is an unspoken glint in JY’s eyes… the Glory is on its way.

At four-thirty in the morning, the mud on the salt flats is sticky, there is still moisture in the air… but at first light nothing appears on the horizon – will today be another let down? Then the UHF radio crackles and comes alive… “You’re gonna shit yourself when you see this Jonny!” It’s Ben, the helicopter pilot and he is hovering in front of a 2000ft wall of cloud surging at him out of the ocean. Suddenly a text message appears on Durand’s phone and it’s from Kieran, the reconnaissance pilot. Attached to the message is an image… we all hover over Durand’s phone as it opens the photo – our mouths suddenly gape open. On the tiny screen appears an imposing monster of a ‘Morning Glory’ and the message says it is moving fast… suddenly it is action stations.

Cameras are loaded and set rolling, Durand checks and rechecks his gear whilst Jon Durand senior, in charge of the ground crew, safety and pick-up, ensures everything is good to go. Dragonfly pilot Leroy starts the propeller on his ultra light aircraft and attaches a tow rope to Durand…we are set to go. I strap into the front seat of the dragonfly and Leroy climbs in to the pilot seat… with a roar of the engine we are off.

Flying onto the front face of the huge cloud gives the impression of flying toward doomsday. A massive imposing wall of moisture visibly rolls up the front of this wave, only to throw itself over the top at 4000ft and explode in a mass of turbulence behind it. The golden light of sunrise glows off the top of the wave – like sunrise on snow. Durand yells down his radio with excitement… “I have to get on this thing.”

Suddenly he releases from the tow plane and dives towards the wall of cloud surging below him. In my viewfinder Durand becomes a dot amongst a seething mass of cloud but then reappears, the sun glinting off his wingtips as he rolls, banks and loops the updraft off the front of the wave. “This thing is moving, I’m doing 80km/h and only just keeping up with it”, we hear on the UHF as yet again Durand pushes his nose down to outrun the cloud. Clear of the seething mass of moisture he once again pushes forward and sends his craft into a high-G loop, only to level out and holler with joy down his mouthpiece, “I just rose 50ft during that loop” … the rising air off the front is staggering.

It feels like only minutes have passed, when Jon Durand senior comes over the radio warning of the forest below. The wave has already passed well over Burketown and is now entering a remote area of rugged terrain. Durand has surfed more than 45km over the ground and his landing options are becoming sparser.

Over dry outback plains the Morning Glory eventually breaks up just as Durand speeds at nearly 100km/h to find a landing location. Scraping treetops and spooking cattle sheltering from the phenomenon he finally touches down.

Alone for a few moments in time, with only his glider and cameras rolling, Durand has achieved what he set out to do. The hang glider mounted nose-camera only captures audio of his breathing but he reappears in frame, grinning madly and alone in the vast deserts of Northern Australia. Durand looks directly down the lens grinning and exclaims: “Oh yeah baby, now that’s the Morning Glory for you!”

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