For the week of October 8 - 14, 2003

Pilot Orlick flies to national title

At national paragliding

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When you see dread-locked Martin Orlick and his girlfriend Martina around Ketchum, be sure to offer congratulations for Martin’s hard-earned accomplishments on the Paragliding World Cup over the past year.

And be sure to give Orlick well-deserved praise for a recent feat.

Martin Orlick of Ketchum, once again a national paragliding champion. Courtesy photo

Orlick, who hails from the Czech Republic, proved himself to be the best competition pilot in the U.S. for the second year in a row. He won the 2003 U.S. Paragliding Championship held Sept. 16-22 in Telluride, Colo.

More than 60 competitors battled over four days of cross-country turn-point tasks that averaged 30 miles and reached altitudes of over 17,000 feet.

Orlick is only the second competitor to win the national championship race twice—the first being former Ketchum resident Dave Bridges.

But he worked hard for it, spending the entire summer competing internationally on the Paragliding World Cup where the PWC rookie astonished the veterans by maintaining a position of second overall.

At nationals Orlick finished ahead of leading Americans Eric Reed in second place, David Prentice in third and Josh Cohn in fourth place.

Women’s national champion for 2003 was Kari Castle of Bishop, Ca., the world record holder and former World Hang Gliding queen.

Other Ketchum residents who competed at nationals were Jamie Messenger of Great Britain who finished fifth, and Honza Rejmanek, also a Czech, who ended up in 14th place.

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.