In issue 158 (April 2015) of Cross Country magazine, Red Bull X-Alps 2015 Wildcard Dave Turner tells us how he came down off the cliffs of Yosemite and fell head over heels in love with flying…
“Keep an eye on this guy,” a pilot told me in 2010, “In a few years he’s either going to be doing great things, or he’ll be dead.”
Dave Turner has lived several lives. Born in northern California, at 18 he dropped out of college and moved to Yosemite, America’s climbing mecca, to climb fulltime. Over the next decade he climbed the iconic El Capitan 45 times, including three new routes solo. At 26 he spent 34 days alone climbing a 1,200m overhanging granite cliff called Cerro Escudo in Chilean Patagonia. By the time he finished he was a climbing legend.
Two years later he discovered kiting in the Arctic, and from there speedflying then paragliding. In 2011, aged 29, he quit Yosemite and moved to the famous Owens Valley to fly fulltime. He became an instructor and guide. Then last year he flew an 800km vol-biv through the Rockies before heading to Europe where he flew the length of the Alps twice – first solo from Monaco to Slovenia, then back again on his tandem with girlfriend Tawny Thomas. In 2015 he’s doing the Red Bull X-Alps, as one of their Wildcards.
Turner’s progression in paragliding has not been without incident or controversy. He took risks early on and Turner recalls them with a mix of cockiness and a reluctant admission of naivety. “I’ve thrown my reserve every year I’ve been flying,” he admits without pride. The small handful of local pilots in the Owens initially reacted badly to his approach, but over time a rapprochement emerged as Turner calmed down and gained acceptance, although a couple of feuds still remain.
After learning to fly in the Owens flying elsewhere came as a surprise. “I would fly through thermals that were less than 3-4m/s looking for something stronger,” he says with his characteristic smiling gaze. “In the Owens I was used to climbs of seven or ten. When you fly in that sort of strong air you learn a lot about wing management.”
Now he says he flies with “a high level of boldness”, and it’s not hard to imagine how Turner’s single mindedness can come across as arrogance to some. Socially, he’s disinterested in making small talk. But when talking flying he becomes intensely fixated in a way that’s equally disconcerting and intimidating. Without this approach though, it’s hard to see how Turner could have achieved the flights he’s done, let alone the speed with which he’s developed as a pilot.
In an insightful and at time eye-popping account across 10 pages in issue 158 of Cross Country magazine he describes his journey – and you get the impression he’s only just begun.
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