Where One Journey Ends, Another Begins

Unfortunately last week I didn't keep up with writing my blog, and although I question my memory's exact accuracy, I'll finish up relating my experience at the Nats and the 2007 Willi XC.

After my horse field experience, the Nationals continued to be a real adventure. Sitting up at launch and wondering what the task for the day would be was really neat, and although I never made goal, I really enjoyed witnessing how for some, making goal wasn't the issue, it was more about how quickly they could do it.

There were a couple days were I was disappointed with my flying, but I had just as many moments were I thought I was really kicking some ass. I landed once at the Columbia Valley Lodge on a beautifully manicured lawn, and felt so proud that I was able to make it that far and land so well. Yes, some pilots flew 100 k's that day - I flew 18 k's or something like that, but you know, I was quite happy with my performance. I spent the next hour meticulously folding my glider with a big grin on my face - I totally fly for moments like that.

All in all I finished 58th out of 65 at the comp. A long way from the top I know, but for my first official comp, and first time actually seriously understanding and trying XC, I'm happy.

The next week was the Willi Muller XC Challenge, which unfortunately did not have the same fantastic weather that the Nationals had. Basically when it wasn't raining, we were mainly doing sled runs. There were a couple PG pilots who managed to squeeze in some decent XC's, but they were pretty few and far between. On one occasion the organizers decided to have a spot landing competition which ended up being more of a "safely land" task, as everyone (including myself) ended up flying backwards over the LZ due to strong gusty winds.

It was a really great 2 weeks - I have a new appreciation for Golden as a flying site, and also some new respect. There were a few accidents and incidences during those 2 weeks, and although even I have a little 'oops' account of my own, as far as I know, most people walked away mostly unscathed from any less than ideal situations they were dealt.

Next year I will definitely enter the Nationals again, but with the bar set higher this time. Meanwhile, a few of us are heading to France mid-September to do some flying out in Annecy and St.Hilaire, and to check out Coupe Icare - man, how cool will THAT be! Hopefully the weather will be on our side, so I can attempt the fly-around-the-lake XC route in Annecy. I'm sure it'll be amazing.

After that, more travel is in store as I hook up with Flight Culture UK again and join them for the next few months assisting at their paragliding holiday trips. I'm certainly no stranger to adventure anymore!