Ten years ago, hang glider pilot Jon Durand began to hear tales of a ride so wildly beautiful that the very idea of it seemed like something from a science fiction tale. A decade of fiction finally turned to reality this week after Durand flew into the heart of the cloud known as Morning Glory.
For the second year running, Durand and a film crew decamped to one of the most remote parts of Australia, the salt flats surrounding Burketown in Queensland, in the hope that at this, the correct time of year, the Gulf of Carpentaria to the north would give up one of its greatest secrets. The Morning Glory is a tube of thick cloud, often 100km wide and rising two kilometres into the sky and rolling inland at speeds of up to 80km/h.
And the aim? To be towed up to the front of the onrushing cloud by ultralite and be released into it foaming path, to ‘surf’ this incredible wave and film the results.
With just 10 days at his disposal and having been disappointed last year when the clouds failed to form, Durand was again left questioning his timing after five days of clear skies in the tiny hamlet of Burketown last week.
But then on Sunday morning, Durand’s wish came true. “When I woke up the weather felt different,” he says. “More humid than the other days and that’s what you’re looking for. By the time we got out to the salt flats at about 5am the light was just coming up and we could see this huge cloud coming in.
“We had a long time to prepare, which felt a bit strange, but we’d done quite a few practice runs so knew what we had to do. It took about 45 minutes to an hour before we towed up to the cloud.”
And when the dream was finally realised?
“Mate, I’d seen load of pictures and heard loads of stories but honestly it was the most breath-taking thing I’ve ever seen,” he says. “Just this incredible wall of cloud, it’s immense, an incredible fleeing to fly it. I was speechless in the air and once I released I had the flight of my life. That first one was pretty special I have to say.”
But if the first ride was special, the following day would bring even more memorable experiences.
“I woke up on Monday and the first thing I did was look at the weather computer,” he says. “And I saw the biggest line of Morning Glory cloud racing towards us. I knew we had to move fast and it was close and with the size of it I knew it had to be moving fast. We raced out to the salt flats and on the way hit heavy fog.”
According to Durand, thick fog and heavy humidity is a sure sign that a major Morning Glory cloud is on its way, but the fog also narrowed the team’s chances to getting airborne and filming the immense cloud.
“We almost didn’t make it,” says Durand. “It was so close and the fog was causing problems with takeoff at the airport for the dragonfly (ultralite).
“I think we were about 10 seconds from having to abort the whole thing,” he says. “But eventually we go up there and I came out from the bottom of the cloud and it was just unbelievable! The cloud was just enormous. It was truly spectacular, the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”
And the spectacle will soon be available for everyone to see, with conditions perfect for filming.
“It all went really well,” Durand explains. “You know the producer of the film told me that he’s been all around the world and filmed some pretty incredible things but this, for him, beat them all. I have to agree!”
In tandem with the beauty of the cloud though was the risk of conditions in front of the cloud being trickier than anticipated.
“It was pretty hard to stay in front, to maintain a position ahead of the cloud,” says Durand, “just because the thing was moving so fast. I reckon I was having to fly at more than 80km/h just to stay slightly ahead.”
But after a 68km, 1 hour and 40 minute flight it was mission accomplished and following a landing “in the middle of nowhere” the team trekked back to Burketown to view the footage and relive the experience.
“It was for sure the realization of a 10-year dream and that’s very satisfying,” concludes Durand. “It was a pretty emotional experience up there and something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Not too many people get to do something like that.”
Until now. Thanks to Durand and his film crew the tale of one man’s mission to ‘surf’ the world’s biggest ‘wave’ now exists for everyone to get up close and personal with. Should be a helluva ride.
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