Sunday, February 26, 2006

Millennium Cup

We've had good conditions the last couple days, with clouds forming above the mesa at ~12,000 msl. Everyone is flying fast in the favorable conditions and on Friday Brett came in first at goal, about a minute in front of Dustin. I made goal as well, about 45 minutes ahead of the next class B pilot.
The goal each day is Valle, and landing on the green grass in front of the Boga Boga Cafe is a pleasure. You can unhook, step out of your harness, and enjoy good food and friends as you watch the sunset.
On Saturday I get a late start and have to struggle a bit to get high but once up and on coarse the cloud streets show the way and I make the 37-km dogleg without getting low and make my final glide from the last turn point at 12,000'.
Going into the last day of the comp, Brett was leading Dustin by a couple of minutes (quite a bit for a 3-day meet). Both pushed hard and got low; Dustin managed to hang on and make a low save while Brett landed out. Dustin took the day and placed 1st for the meet.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

The Competition Begins

First day of the competition in Valle. There are about 25 pilots competing, including Brett Hazlett and Dustin Martin. I'm flying in class B (shorter/easier tasks) so I'm not competing with these guys, but a few of our turn points are the same so I have a chance to fly with these experienced pilots for short periods of time, which is fun.
I was the last one off the hill today but managed to get high in the start circle just in time to follow the lead gaggle to the first waypoint. Our paths diverged there as I headed off on a different route for class B. I hooked up with Dustin and Brett at Cerra Gordo. We all were low but they managed to hang on until a cycle came through while I sank out and had to land. I was bummed, but soon felt better when Russ and two other Mexican pilots landed near me half an hour later. A short wait for retrieve and then it was back to Valle for cervezas and sunset.

(photo by Russ Gelfan)

The Other Side of Valle

Russ and I went with Alfredo, one of Jeff's retrieval drivers, today to check out the Monarch butterflies. This is truly a must-see if you are in Valle in the winter. It's a short walk up a dusty trail to the bower of the butterflies.

There is so much to see and do around Valle that a week hardly seems enough time. I guess we'll have to come back next year to see all the sites we missed this time around.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

The El Peňon Yo-Yo

It was another beautiful day here in Valle de Bravo, and another day of flying from El Peñon was on the schedule. The pilots called a task that took them off to the West as practice for the comp that starts Thursday. My goal for today was to make it back to Valle. It was a bit windy today and the thermals were small and broken. Russ sank out to the Piano LZ and I worked the launch area for the next 40 minutes trying to get up. The thermals were hard to hang onto and I repeatedly got up to about 8600' only to lose it and sink back below launch. Not having much luck there, I flew west to El Peñon and repeated my yo-yoing another 30 minutes until finally I was able to hang onto a large enough thermal to take me to over 11,000'. I headed north to El Gordo Mountain and then on to Valle to finish the flight with some nice ridge soaring above the town to relax the muscles before landing. The lake LZ is quite large now that the lake is down, and Alex and Jeff have made some great improvements to the place with a new pilots' lounge/cafe to have a cold beer at after a great day of flying.
A couple more pilots showed up last night (Dustin and Mark) for the comp and will be staying here with Russ and me at Jeff's villa. They brought their gliders with them, so they'll be putting them back together this morning then heading out to El Peñon. Russ and I are going to take the day off and explore some of the many other activities that Valle has to offer.

Monday, February 20, 2006

First Day in Valle

A long day of traveling on Sunday to get to Valle de Bravo. Left the house at 5am to catch a 7am flight to Dallas, where our connecting flight was delayed because it was 20F and all the aircraft had to be de-iced before take off. I'm so ready for some warm weather! We touched down in Mexico City around 5pm, got our baggage, and cleared customs without a hitch. Jeff Hunt was there to meet us and we caught a superdeluxe bus (they served snacks and showed a movie, neither of which were present on our flights) to Toluca to meet Jeff's driver, who took us the rest of the way to Valle de Bravo. We arrived with just enough time for Jeff to give us a quick tour of the square and to grab some tacos before getting dropped off at the pilot bunk house, a comfy multi-level Mexican villa with a beautiful view of the lake from just about every room.
This morning we headed to El Peñon, the local thermal site, for our first flight. There are some other pilots here for the upcoming competition, and a group of about eight of us flew. The thermals were rippin' and I found it hard to relax, having not done much big-air thermal flying since the Chelan Classic last year, but after about a half hour of getting tossed around I found my groove and got up high enough to head over the back but sank out shortly after. Ah well, it was a good first orientation flight. Russ on the other hand, headed over the back and nearly sank out as well but managed a low save thanks to the help of a local farmer whose tractor apparently triggered a thermal as Russ was getting ready to land in his field. He rode it up from 500' agl, as the only cloud in the whole sky formed above him. He made it the 14 km to Valle and took this picture of "downtown" before landing.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Voy a Mexico

I’ll be heading to Valle de Bravo on the 19th. I just talked to some local paraglider pilots who are just back from the Monarca Open in Valle. They had good weather and conditions for the comp, which is the norm there, I hear. I don't think a day went by during the competition without a reserve deployment though.

This will be my first trip to Valle de Bravo and I’m looking forward to checking out the area and the flying. I’ll be hooking up with Jeff Hunt of Fly Mexico and using one of the wings from his inventory while I’m there. Not having to travel with my glider makes going to Mexico for a week to fly a lot more appealing. Flying vacations sure make me envy the portability of paragliders. Paragliding opens up some unique travel opportunities for pilots, but seeing the pilots throw their reserve chutes on a daily basis quells my interest a little bit, but maybe that's just me.

Check back for updates from Valle!