tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52733708674256185712024-02-07T09:19:47.347+01:00Tom PayneParagliding Cross Country and CompetitionsTom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-82178904693294094252018-12-06T02:31:00.000+01:002018-12-06T02:57:32.456+01:00What you need to know about single-surface wings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Single-surface wings are incredible. They weigh nearly nothing, fit in to your hand luggage, and yet are still real paragliders, capable of soaring and even cross-country flights. Understandably, many pilots are considering buying one. This post exists to help you make that decision.</div>
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All wings are compromises. Traditionally the compromise has been between performance and passive safety as measured by certification. Single-surface (SS) wings are equally compromises, trading some disadvantages for other advantages over classical double-surface (DS) wings. Let's go through these.</div>
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<b>Weight</b>. SS wings are much lighter - but not half the weight, as you might have expected. There's no under-surface, but there is still a lot of fabric structure, more line, and the same risers as a DS wing. Consequently, you typically save about 40% of weight - significant, but not 50% - compared to a DS wing.</div>
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When considering weight, you need to consider the total weight of your gear, which includes your harness, reserve, helmet, flight clothing, and food. Dropping the wing weight from a 2.2kg DS to a 1.2kg SS sounds like at 45% saving, but is much less interesting if your total flying gear weight drops from 5.4kg to 4.5kg - that's just 17%.</div>
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<b>Pack volume</b>. Fabric is not heavy (typically 27g/m^2 for a lightweight cloth) but it does take volume. SS wings have much less fabric, and you can squeeze the air out of both ends, so they pack much smaller. You can pack them into 4-6 litres of space (that's a tiny backpack), easily half the volume required for a DS wing. When they're this small, there's no excuse for not having the wing with you on every trip.</div>
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<b>Price</b>. The cost of building a paraglider is the composition of many things. Fabric is expensive (which SS wings have less of), but so is line and construction complexity (which SS wings have the same or more of). Overall, like weight, expect an SS wing to be cheaper than a DS wing, but not by as much as you might initially expect.</div>
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<b>Fragility</b>. SS wings are built to be light, and feel very fragile in your hands. Yet, they still pass the same 8G load tests as normal wings. Made of light materials, you need to be more careful not to snag lines or fabric on rocks or bushes, but here they are no different to their DS cousins.</div>
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<b>Inflation</b>. SS wings love to fly. Like, they just wanna be up there above your head all the time, even in the lightest zephyr. This is fantastic in zero or light winds (and even backwinds) but becomes a problem in stronger winds. Specifically, DS wings are easy to pin down on the ground using the brakes or D-risers. SS wings are always trying to leap up into the air. Great if you're looking to fly from a tight spot, but if you're launching in wind you're gonna be fighting the wing all the time until you get off. Similarly, for landing in wind this is a problem: the only way to "kill" the wing can be to run downwind past it, gathering the wing up as you go. Doable on a solo wing but almost impossible on a tandem.</div>
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<b>Launch</b>. They're immediately above your head and inflated, but they're not lifting you yet. You still have to run, The runway needed to take off is perhaps slightly longer than a DS wing.</div>
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<b>Calm-air glide</b>. Here, they're pretty OK. They don't glide as well as DS wings, but modern SS wings get a comfortable 7:1 or so in still air.</div>
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<b>Speed</b>. First-generation SS wings were very slow (e.g. 26km/h, with no accelerator). Modern SS wings claim trim speeds closer to DS wings and have speed systems offering a few extra km/h. However, if you're considering a SS wing you should measure the trim and accelerated speeds yourself.</div>
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<b>Turbulence</b>. This is where the compromise happens. Many things are different.</div>
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Firstly, SS wings move around a lot. They don't contain the mass of air that DS wings do. The air in a DS wing easily weighs a few kilograms, SS wings have no air in them. SS wings move initially very quickly, and then stop. This makes the glider feel very nervous: they jump around, feeling like they're gonna dive too far, but then they just stop. This takes some getting used to. They can be more stressful to fly than CCC competition wings.</div>
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These damped responses make SS wings great wings to throw around: you can wingover and spiral as much as you want, but it takes perfect timing to get large-amplitude movements, and as soon as you stop, the wing immediately loses all energy and resumes normal straight flight.</div>
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Secondly, SS wings lose all performance in turbulence, period. Rough air is where glider performance differences are most evident, and here SS wings are the worst of the bunch. Once it gets even a little bit bumpy, SS wings perform significantly worse than a school EN A wing, At times, it can feel like you're descending vertically with no forward speed - and there's nothing you can do about it.</div>
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This is really important for your flight planning. If you launch a SS wing, you need to have a landing field within a 2-3:1 glide angle, unless you're very sure of the weather conditions.</div>
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<b>Sink rate</b>. SS gliders have higher sink rates (especially in thermals which are by their nature turbulent) and have less efficient turns, even in smooth dynamic lift. You get more feedback from the wing's nervousness, which compensates to a certain extent, but you're still going to climb less well than a school wing. Don't expect to be top of the stack, and you'll almost definitely be the first to sink out and land.</div>
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<b>Landing</b>. Older SS wings have very poor flares. You need to pull on the brakes fractions of a second before you touch down, and even then you get a hard and fast landing. Modern SS wings claim much better flare characteristics, but you should test the wing yourself before buying it.</div>
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In conclusion, SS wings are awesome. If you want a wing that you can take with you everywhere to fly in good conditions, then get one. They're not without compromise though. The range of conditions in which SS wings are safe and fun to fly is significantly smaller than the conditions for a lightweight DS wing. An SS wing is not a replacement for a DS wing, it is a complement to it.</div>
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Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-15547190869390139062011-01-09T20:00:00.001+01:002011-01-09T23:35:33.205+01:00Bessans Cross Country Ski MarathonToday I returned to <a href="http://www.marathondebessans.com/">Bessans</a>, deep at the end of the Maurienne Valley for a second crack at an cross country ski marathon. Last year conditions were difficult with several centimetres of fresh snow and temperatures the cold side of minus ten. I struggled round in about three and an half hours - slower than my normal running pace, but satisfied to have completed my first cross country ski race.<br />
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This year conditions were completely different. After two huge snowfalls before Christmas the weather in the Northern French Alps has been sunny but cold. Until this week when it changed for the worse: SW'ly winds brought warm, humid air and wind and rain to most resorts. Saturday was as warm as a spring day and the snowpack at all levels has suffered catastrophically. There simply isn't much snow, and what there is below 1800m has been rotted by the rain.<br />
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But Bessans is special. Deep in the mountains and surrounded by the glaciers of the Vanoise National Park, it is legendarily cold - as I had discovered in 2009. This year it is one of the few cross country ski resorts in the area that still has reasonable snow cover. Conditions today were warm and the pistes were in fantastic condition. Instead of hacking through fresh snow, it was pure glide on perfect pistes - a potentially record day.<br />
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The event is a mass start with both the half- and full-marathon skiers starting side by side. In total well over a thousand people were chomping at the bit at the line and when the gun went they launched themselves forward in a mad folly. Skis were trodden on, there were falls and crashes, and and at least one marathoner's race ended early with a broken pole in the first four hundred metres. I saw him unhappily skiing back to the start, staying to the side of the piste to avoid the swarming mass of skiers.<br />
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After the excitement of the start, normally the pace cools off a bit and people settle into a more relaxed marathon rhythm. Not this time. The glide was fantastic and people were enjoying it, hungry to break their own personal records. With so many around it was nigh on impossible to overtake and so I settled into a comfortable pace, pacing myself and knowing that I'd still be fresh for the second half.<br />
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For the first 15km the course winds left and right, making a wobbly loop through the fields up the valley from the village. Glancing at my GPS, the first 10km takes only 36 minutes, not bad given the crowds. From there, we descend gently and consistently next to the river. It's a good consistent gradient giving a good cruising speed of over 20km/h. I sneak around one group of skiers and squeeze through another, enjoying the descent and keen to make time. After crossing the river down the valley, we make a U-turn and head back towards the village. Here comes the only extended climb of the course, a perfectly wide and steady slope. The snow is good, I change down two gears, and keep my technique for the climb, occasionally changing stride to give alternative sides of my body a rest.<br />
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Cresting the top, I grab a warm sugary tea from an aid station without breaking pace. It's a flat run to the village from here, and the half-marathoners break off left for their finish. I'm in the marathon and I have a second lap to do.<br />
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With half the number of skiers and everyone slowly spreading out there's suddenly much, much more space. I'm still fresh and I know the terrain from the first lap. I step up my effort and focus on the skier twenty metres in front of me, hauling in him. Once I'm past him I focus on the next one and haul him in too. And then the next one. The glide is good and despite one wobbly moment while wolfing down a carbohydrate gel, my technique is holding together. This is the best part of the race.<br />
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With just 10km to go I glance down at my GPS watch - I've been only going 1h50m. With a quick mental calculation I realise that a sub-2h30m time is possible. Not wanting to waste this opportunity I step up my pace. Once again I'm on the cruising downhill section by the river and I push harder, tucking in behind a group of five skiers. I'm skiing into the increasing wind but that means that the wind will be with me for the long climb. Rounding the corner after the river I again gear down, not wanting to blow up three kilometres before the finish. It works. I crest the top for the second and final time, having gained a few more places on the way up.<br />
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On the flat I step up the speed again. The skis are still working well and the finish is in sight. I'll be comfortably under 2h30m, but can I gain any more time? Pushing on and counting down 800m... to go. 600m... At 400m I start my sprint - a somewhat wobbly proposition given my "English" technique - and cross the line at full pelt and 2h23m on the clock, over one hour faster than last year! Yes!<br />
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Thanks so much to Sylvain Dhonneur for organising a brilliant weekend and waxing my skis to perfection. This was great training and a real confidence boost for my big cross country ski challenge this year: the <a href="http://www.transjurassienne.com/">76km Transjurassienne Ultramarathon</a> on Sunday, 13th February. Let's hope there's some snow!Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-39176312766145903662010-06-18T11:19:00.002+02:002012-07-16T10:59:08.628+02:004 days, 24 hours of flying, 580 kilometres XC and 3 kilos of cheese<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The brief was simple: take off early, fly your socks off as far as you dared and then fly back again to land back at HQ. The Cat's Cradle Trophy is a new pure XC competition organised by <a href="http://www.dezair.com/">Dezair Paragliding</a> in Marlens, Annecy. I joined thirty French pilots and one New Zealander for what turned out to be one of the best XC weeks on record.<br />
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Pure cross country competitions have been gaining popularity with events like the XC Open and the Czech-organised XCamp. French and PWC Champion Patrick Bérod brought the format to his home site of Méruz at the south end of the Aravis mountains near Annecy in the French Alps in April. I signed up partly for a much-needed break from the day job and partly to get first-hand experience of the XC comp format.<br />
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The organisers promised less follow-the-leader gaggle flying, less mindless bar pushing and instead more flexibility, more decision making, and the opportunity to make the most of every day - in contrast to the hanging around and three-hour stress-fest of a traditional comp. I was skeptical. I had concerns about safety (XC comps have a much worse safety record than traditional comps), logistics (how do you organise retrieves when pilots scatter themselves to the four corners of the map?) and fairness (surely the local pilots would have a huge advantage?). As it turned out, I would be wrong on almost all counts.<br />
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The first day dawned with exceptionally clear skies and an excellent forecast. The deep blue was pure: an Icelandic volcano had scattered engine-eating ash into the upper atmosphere and there was not a single jet trail in the sky. Kiwi Glen Stevens had braved 36 hours of surface transport to get to the comp from London. With the magical sensation that the skies would be ours and uniquely ours the atmosphere on launch was palatable. We all knew the day would be special and it did not disappoint.<br />
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From the start the atmosphere amongst the competitors was positive. We all realised that the battle would be fought in the air but by sharing information and route ideas we would all benefit. The task was set informally by the pilots: blast down the East faces of the Bauges mountains, do the huge transition into the Chartreuse, bar down to Grenoble to the south, tag a turnpoint somewhere near the Fort St Eynard and then race back north. Big transition back into the Bauges, and then keep going: tag Annecy and then cruise into goal on the valley winds just before the window closed at 17h30. Having launched ten minutes after the first pilot (it was effectively a ground start from a one glider launch) it took me 10km to catch him but conditions were fantastic and once away from launch I made only sixty turns in the first 80km to Grenoble, spending the rest of the time on half bar. I lead out, falling into a natural rhythm with the thermals and the clouds, until about 160km into the task. If it was good I stayed, but as soon as the lift dropped below 2m/s on the 20s averager I put on the bar and glided to the next source. Finally, bizarrely, it was at one of the most reliable thermals in Annecy (the rocks above Bluffy) that I finally fell out of cycle and was caught by Nicola di Bernardo (Mac Magus) and Sylvain Dhonneur (Aircross Usport) who had been chasing hard. After six hours of racing we fumbled our way up to base and headed in different directions to maximise our distances as the final minutes ticked away and goal beckoned. As it was we all made different decisions. Nicola claimed the longest flight but was 130 metres short of the line as goal closed. Similarly for Sylvain. Not getting to goal in time was costly. I'd blasted in with two minutes to spare to take my first 1000-point task win in an FAI Cat 2 competition. Day 1: 180km and 6.5 hours of flying.<br />
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Day two was very different. Cloudy. Over-development later. Pilots were tired from destroying their personal bests the day before. An earlier land-by time was set. Despite the tricky conditions this would prove to be the defining task of the competition.<br />
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With the forecast of big clouds in the mountains I'd planned a route that took me to the edge of the flying area during the strongest part of the day. The goal was to head towards the flats, clock up the kilometres on the lower ridges away from the main massifs, and then cruise back into Marlens on the valley winds before land-by time. It wasn't easy and I would have bombed out early on had I not been working low slopes with the eventual female winner, Christine Metais (Gin Boomerang 6 X-Alps). But it worked. In a dance of patience and planning I flew from sunny spot to sunny spot, occasionally relying on the magical lift-sniffing abilities of my Axis Mercury 08, and sometimes counting only on its raw speed and stability when jumping from mountain to mountain. Christine doubled back at the Montagne de Banges but I continued. The game was sunshine and shadow. Working large-scale weak lift I got rained on and hailed on, but it was only light. I flew into goal with just over five hours on the clock and a slow 105km on the counter. An insignificant distance compared to the previous day but hard-fought and enough to hand me my second 1000-point task win. Day two: 105km, 5.5 hours.<br />
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For day three the excitement was manifest. Almost the entire field (including me) had broken their personal best on day one, and Wednesday was looking even better. It was. The game was kilometres and everyone (except local XC hound Betrand Bellet (Gradient Avax XC2)) opted to follow the same flight as the first day but to extend it further north. I was once again a bit late to launch and it took me 80km to catch up with the ten-minute first launch advantage of task leader Maxime Pinot (Aircross U4) at Grenoble at the extreme south end of the defined flying area. The flying was fast - not dumb balls-out fast but intelligent fast - using the best lift, gliding at speed to fly. My impatience was on my side as a left Mont Granier below cloudbase for the big transition into the Bauges. This proved to be the decisive moment in the flight as I led out alone but in cycle, tagging the summit of Sur Cou at the extreme north end of the flying area before relying on raw bar speed to get me back to HQ with ten minutes to spare. I could have flown further. As it was, I ticked off the longest flight of the day with 211km in 7.5 hours, another personal best and a tidy average speed of almost 30km/h for a XC flight flown predominately alone. That day, four pilots flew over 200km circuits despite having a land-by time that still left 1.5 hours - 45km - of flying time. As you can probably imagine, the atmosphere in goal was electric. Almost everyone made it back in time having broken - no, destroyed - their personal best. Those who didn't make it in time landed in goal later, with fewer points but with even wider smiles. There was a barbecue at the HQ at the Auberge des Aravis and you can imagine as well as well as I the atmosphere amongst thirty pilots who had each just flown the best flight of their lives so far. For the third day in three, I won with 1000 points and the French were beginning to get annoyed.<br />
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The Meet Director Patrick Bérod announced that Thursday would be the last day. The accumulation of twenty hours flying in the best conditions that the French Alps have to offer was beginning to show in the eyes of the competitors. Of course, it's never easy. The beloved French President Sarko was in the area and this meant that there was an air exclusion zone around our normal playground of the Bauges until 13h30. We headed further away to take off - the ski resort of les Saises with it's south-facing slopes at 2000m - but it was still a game to make the most of the day.<br />
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Flush from three days of success, I got it horribly wrong. In my mind the goal was simple: don't take any risks, fly well enough to score 600 points which given my 400-point lead over second place Julien Senzier would be sufficient to secure the competition win. Even with this, we discussed tactics beforehand, freely sharing our information. But this day would not be mine. In the air, sensing a weakening of conditions, I took the conservative option of flying in the Bornes and Aravis mountains with a guaranteed return to goal in the Annecy valley. I got trapped under an inversion. Twice. On a weak day that would also be worth 1000 points like the others, in a four hour task I spent two hours scratching, going nowhere. I limped into goal, a few km under the belt but doubtful whether it would be enough.<br />
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While I had been stuck surviving, Kiwi Glen had been blasting up and down the East faces of the Bauges as fast as his Niviuk Peak would take him. Not bad for a non-local pilot who'd just learned the entire area in three days flat. While I'd done a mere 80km in four hours he'd clocked up 120km in the same amount of time but had been agonisingly a couple of kilometres short of goal when the time ran out. Nicola di Bernardo had got it right. He'd flown at speed-to-fly and blasted into goal a little early due to confusion about the land-by time. Having won three days in succession, was I about to lose it all?<br />
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On that final day I was 18th out of thirty. Everybody else was celebrating finally beating me. I was gutted that I'd fallen short, failing at the last hurdle. In those tense few hours before the final results came out I was not a good person to be around. My mood had changed from loving the flying and the atmosphere to playing zero-sum games of your win is my loss. It was not a proud moment.<br />
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Friday dawned cloudy and inverted. There would be no task. Despite my errors the previous day I had kept my first place albeit giving away two hundred points to second-placed Julien. I topped off the week by landing on the spot in the local stadium in Ugine to thank the local commune for letting us use the launch and adding a kilo of mature Tomme cheese to my pile of delicious Reblochons from three task wins and my first FAI Cat 2 win.<br />
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So, how were the logistics? Pretty good. The retrieve was organised using a minibus in each area. I got back to goal each day in time so didn't get to test out the retrieve system myself, but no-one was late back and everybody was happy. Safety? There was one reserve deployment with no injury, which given the 1000 hours of flying in strong Alpine conditions accumulated by the pilots was about par for the course. The emphasis on personal decision making meant that each pilot made his/her own individual decision to fly or land rather than being told what to do. Fairness? Well, the jury's still out on this one. I knew the area well and did well, but Kiwi Glen arrived with no local knowledge and nearly won the last day. As a non-local pilot you're unlikely to win but you'll certainly walk away having learned a fantastic amount.<br />
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Rumours are that they'll be another Cat's Cradle at St Jean de Montclar (site of the 2009 British Open) towards the end of the summer, and maybe a wider series to follow. See you there?<br />
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<a href="http://parapente.ffvl.fr/compet/1548">Full results</a>.</div>Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-37030707954969605342009-08-12T21:19:00.004+02:002009-08-13T16:07:40.555+02:00The X-Alps: The Inside Story<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8nJFGRUPcjKHAoobsZXAAxbp2A1YkAqeFrBGOfx2Tbx2E1A_6dvEHH_iwdlKVfWLpaDOaZvziXoMN70ysXDQcaKY-XqfzXDwHPs5LPhiHUMCXcWTQJsNjr61V12k5ZSBTselWCl5gJItz/s1600-h/GBR2_090726_VL_RBX_003-small.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8nJFGRUPcjKHAoobsZXAAxbp2A1YkAqeFrBGOfx2Tbx2E1A_6dvEHH_iwdlKVfWLpaDOaZvziXoMN70ysXDQcaKY-XqfzXDwHPs5LPhiHUMCXcWTQJsNjr61V12k5ZSBTselWCl5gJItz/s400/GBR2_090726_VL_RBX_003-small.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369449643864483474" /></a>Judith Mole and I have just done the follow-up podcast on the race and it's aftermath. Have a listen to it on <a href="http://www.judithmole.net/blog/?page_id=123">Judith Mole's paragliding podcast page</a>.<br /><br />The race was very tough but I was very happy to still be in the race at its end. The podcast covers a lot of topics, but if I've missed anything then email me at twpayne at gmail dot com and I'll answer your questions here.<br /><br />Photo credit: ©Vitek Ludvik / Red Bull PhotofilesTom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-34139261710784477752009-07-18T22:02:00.003+02:002009-07-18T22:15:30.267+02:00818km race to goal via seven turnpointsThe glider has been relined (and the risers modified to prevent more tree landings!), the rucksack is packed (about 10kg with minimum gear), Alex has stocked and fuelled the van and we're ready to roll. Race briefing is a 7:45am tomorrow morning, we'll be in Salzburg city centre about 10:30am, and it all kicks off at 11:30am (0930 UTC).<br /><br />Who's favourite? I don't think anyone feels confident that they will be the first to Monaco. So many world class pilots, several strong walkers. And of course Toma Coconea. The forecast is pretty grim: there'll certainly be a few good opportunities to fly, but with strong Westerly winds forecast for the next week at least I wouldn't be surprised to see a Coconea/Toase one-two, maybe with only Toma in goal. But the forecasts are more often wrong than right.<br /><br />It's gonna be a long race. You don't really get the scale of it until you see the terrain: hundreds upon hundreds of kilometres to cover, valley after valley, mountain pass after mountain pass. The full scale of the endeavour has only really become apparent recently, but I'm really looking forward to the challenge. The past few days here in Austria have been busy but comfortable. Twenty four hours from now I'll be walking though the night and my life will change completely. Not just during the race, but I know that the Tom Payne at the finish of the race will be a different one to the one that started it.<br /><br />Let the adventure begin.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-19081656423839779212009-07-16T22:38:00.003+02:002009-07-16T23:00:11.754+02:00Pre-race jittersOf course there were going to be a few problems immediately before the race.<br /><br />Several competitors have only just received their equipment. Harnesses and gliders are arriving in plastic bags and factories from around the world. It's a bit late for major modifications, but a few grams can be trimmed here and there. Vincent Sprungli was not happy with the glider sent to him, so he's decided to use his glider (a Boomerang 5) from 2007.<br /><br />I managed to get things wrong today by not noticing a tangle in my lightweight risers on take off. The line lengths on paragliders need to be accurate to within a few millimetres but the tangle meant that one set on the right-hand side were shortened by 10cm. It didn't really fly very well in this configuration, I couldn't even fly in a straight line and so I ended up in the trees below launch. Thanks so much to Alex for organising getting me out and for Jurgen (one of the safety team) for getting me and the glider out unharmed. I need to replace the lines but that's the only damage. A simple modification to the risers will prevent this happening again.<br /><br />This morning we had a briefing on the rules: the Race Organisation are going to be very strict on a number of rules this year, including airspace and the number of supporters.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-61712136040080281632009-07-14T22:52:00.002+02:002009-07-14T22:58:52.391+02:00Fuschl am SeeAfter three days driving through the incredibly varied scenery of the Alps, we arrived at the Race Headquarters in Fuschl am See near Salzburg today. Austria is a breath of fresh air after Italy. The Italian terrain is a mix of forest, fruit trees, gorges and power lines, but in Austria it seems that every field is a perfectly mown lawn and every mountain has gentle grassy slopes on top.<br /><br />The teams are converging here at Race HQ and we've already met the Czechs, the Polish, the Canadians and fellow Brit Aidan Toase. The Japanese teams' vehicles have been spotted but we haven't seen the pilots or their supporters yet. Initial race briefing is at 4pm tomorrow so everybody should be here by then.<br /><br />The next few days will be spent in various briefings on safety and use of the live tracking equipment. We'll also meet the media and have a few official photos taken. There's a whole host of professional paragliding photographers present, including Ulrich Grill and Felix Wolk who'll also be following us during the race so expect some spectacular images during the race.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-65157121804889090792009-07-13T19:37:00.003+02:002009-07-14T22:52:08.472+02:00Approaching the start lineMy supporter Alex and I left Geneva on Saturday morning and are driving the first half of the route backwards to the start. We checked out the "South" route via the Sondrio valley and the Nufenenpass that Alex Hofer took so successfully in 2007. It's a commiting route, and we both have renewed respect for Alex's tactical and flying ability. The valley floors are low and the tree line is high, and with many peaks below the tree line there are very few potential launch sites. Landing fields are very scarce in many places, there are far too many vineyards, orchards and power lines. All in all it's a very committing route: if you can fly it, as Alex was able to, then it's almost a short cut, but if the weather's not so good or you make a mistake and land early it can be a very long walk to the next take off.<br /><br />Today we drove through the Dolomites. The scenery is simply incredible. Once again there are a multitude of possible routes. Here there is no lack of take offs and landings, but the valleys are as narrow as the mountains are steep, which is to say very. There are several high passes to cross, which makes adds up to a lot of height gain and loss if you're stuck on the ground due to weather. It's definitely a section that you'd rather fly than walk! Martin Muller explained to me that to fly successfully through the Dolomites you have to stay high. In the French Alps where I've done most of my mountain flying getting low is not a problem: you can use the regular pattern to valley winds to find ridges facing in to wind and so find a thermal back to cloudbase. The Dolomites are different: the valleys are tight and windy and if you get to low you simply get flushed down to the valley floor. To make progress you must stay high, jumping from peak to peak.<br /><br />Right now I'm typing this in Leinz in Austria. Tomorrow we'll check out the most likely route past the Grossglocker turnpoint and then up to the Watzmann and in to Salzburg. We have to be at Race HQ in Fucshl am See on Wednesday for several days of briefings and pre-shoots before the race start on Sunday morning.<br /><br />I don't think that I really realised the scale of the challenge that is the Red Bull X-Alps until Alex and I started driving the route. It is simply a gargantuan challenge. But this will be the subject of a future blog post.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-20464485377402560252009-07-10T15:55:00.002+02:002009-07-10T16:09:02.688+02:00The harness<a href="http://www.supair.com/">Sup'air</a> are kindly sponsoring me with an excellent harness. It's a lightweight version of the <a href="http://www.supair.com/en/produit.php?id=43&prod=sellette">Altirando XP</a> with a few minor modifications to save weight. The modifications are:<br /><ul><br /><li>No comfort padding on the inside. The normal Altirando XP has some rather luxurious padding for your back, but Sup'air have removed this to save weight. The race harness keeps the full airbag back protection found in the standard version.</li><br /><li>Lighter buckles. These are a lighter, simpler and a touch more fiddly than the normal light clip buckles. However, it saves a few grams!</li><br /><li>Fewer pockets. Once again, just to save weight.</li><br /></ul><br />Sup'air have added a lightweight removable leg cover. This is streamlined and warm in the air, and can be removed and put in the van if there's a long walk ahead. In rucksack mode it's very comfortable to carry.<br /><br />The reserve parachute is a <a href="http://www.supair.com/en/produit.php?id=11&prod=parachute">Sup'air Xtralite Small</a> which is a fully certified reserve parachute weighing less than 1kg. It packs in to a very neat combined front mount container which doubles as a cockpit for mounting my instruments in plain view.<br /><br />These are the final pieces of gear, I'll get the scales out tonight to find out how much it all weighs.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-46644253985575410202009-07-07T21:24:00.009+02:002009-07-07T22:57:12.304+02:00Weather strategy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFr8NwGt1gG53pJOfDgZ7wH-xc9x0j2SoHF1wuiMUaif2e8isNJEWzwH0IOBs2hBrscsC4PInJilIN2B8RdUt6QXYPlD6Gf7jJ_Nslej0iglYmKJ1uFN4k_SgVC5qS8sXUTZDqud35EeIk/s1600-h/netcam1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFr8NwGt1gG53pJOfDgZ7wH-xc9x0j2SoHF1wuiMUaif2e8isNJEWzwH0IOBs2hBrscsC4PInJilIN2B8RdUt6QXYPlD6Gf7jJ_Nslej0iglYmKJ1uFN4k_SgVC5qS8sXUTZDqud35EeIk/s200/netcam1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355810248377814546" /></a>Right now there's a thunderstorm in Geneva. The lightning is spectacular and the rain torrential. There's just a thin sliver of clear sky sandwiched between the towering clouds and the crests of the Jura mountains. The light has an metallic blue quality, illuminating the city in eerie surgical glow. I've never quite seen anything like it.<br /><br />Despite the years of preparation, the months spent training, route planning and tuning gear, the winner of the X-Alps race will most likely be decided by the weather. Maybe the strong pilots and aerial tacticians will be able to weave a thread through the mountains, keeping them in the air and covering hundreds of kilometres day after day. But if the rain falls and the wind blows then the runners will be kings. Positions in the race will rise and fall based on each team's abilities to exploit the weather to play to their own strengths.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYXMZ8fKd6fjkCTVIzZ6shJP9QEtL-9l37jgN0LG4HchfTH-ISe4RdKAdsWAru6Hxg7WTR-O7K8oyxFnSM9Iwu31WddmlLL6RXJy1tZH-B6Ke4iF_UIPrbNxJR-_uNKMgvFI1vhY7a7AK/s1600-h/Rtavn2881.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYXMZ8fKd6fjkCTVIzZ6shJP9QEtL-9l37jgN0LG4HchfTH-ISe4RdKAdsWAru6Hxg7WTR-O7K8oyxFnSM9Iwu31WddmlLL6RXJy1tZH-B6Ke4iF_UIPrbNxJR-_uNKMgvFI1vhY7a7AK/s200/Rtavn2881.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355811296462665826" /></a>Alex and I have a whole host of weather information sources at our disposal. For the general long term forecasts we use <a href="http://www.wetterzentrale.de/topkarten/">TopKarten</a> which publishes the output of the American GFS model (click on the link then click on GFS). This gives us forecast pressures and wind speeds at different altitudes, precipiation, cloud cover and more esoteric variables like CAPE which allows us to predict the chance of thunderstorms. You can click on the "+6" and "-6" links to animate through the forecast for the next two weeks. We'll use the output of this model to make the grand strategic decisions, for example do we take the north route through Chur or the south route through Bellinzona?<br /><br />Here's a quick guide to interpreting the output of the GFS model so you can predict the teams' strategic decisions during the race.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixoedpCp9fueKuMn-ocngQh51aqutLeB7lPfhCniE-OCgF3lxvM8qh0UxJdvxHe2ZLsidjmBsvrVCpgLlxkK2qw_Jl0suGineH1o60KJsTAbGa7Tu9OO-HnchDZ2YoaWNCGy6NpxPHl9nv/s1600-h/Rtavn28812.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 167px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixoedpCp9fueKuMn-ocngQh51aqutLeB7lPfhCniE-OCgF3lxvM8qh0UxJdvxHe2ZLsidjmBsvrVCpgLlxkK2qw_Jl0suGineH1o60KJsTAbGa7Tu9OO-HnchDZ2YoaWNCGy6NpxPHl9nv/s200/Rtavn28812.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355809049968871810" /></a>The first thing to look at is the wind speed. Meteorologists prefer to use pressure altitudes rather than elevations. To first approximation, 850hPa corresponds to about 1500m -- the altitude at which we normally fly -- and 500hPa corresponds to about 5000m -- the summit of Mont Blanc. Wind speeds less than 10km/h at 1500m are "go anywhere" days and paraglider pilots can fly in any direction. Up to 20km/h pilots can still fly but it's difficult to make progress against the wind, and above 30km/h we are grounded.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgj4VVdEEyomYuSUSoauGGzJFc6viBdiJASUY0Umz2AgECZK2zWcKYSnakNsV0glzBqctfKcAVSWof8Q5aHurETJUKg9YkC4Xsmz1mUkaR4rHQdf2Sfzyvs8PZ1Erg7B2WVmxv3YoFEqel/s1600-h/Rtavn28816.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgj4VVdEEyomYuSUSoauGGzJFc6viBdiJASUY0Umz2AgECZK2zWcKYSnakNsV0glzBqctfKcAVSWof8Q5aHurETJUKg9YkC4Xsmz1mUkaR4rHQdf2Sfzyvs8PZ1Erg7B2WVmxv3YoFEqel/s200/Rtavn28816.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355810774440940498" /></a>If there are also light winds at 500hPa then expect some very long flights, if you see a "snake" of strong winds (Stromlinien) over the Alps then it means that jet stream is near and flying will be difficult.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQ8xCUv8IUMd125YrVGd_9DZXLVdD5_moCf4hqrnq4L6UK-8j-mBO_-n6qmovTtO765hNXNKnK5Ps5kCRnZJIT9O2NGHWuKBjbiXxf2TwqfoFRKw5zQIcPIK3cXm7bRmtWpP9fxf5O3WB/s1600-h/Rtavn2884.png"><img style="float:left; margin:10px 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQ8xCUv8IUMd125YrVGd_9DZXLVdD5_moCf4hqrnq4L6UK-8j-mBO_-n6qmovTtO765hNXNKnK5Ps5kCRnZJIT9O2NGHWuKBjbiXxf2TwqfoFRKw5zQIcPIK3cXm7bRmtWpP9fxf5O3WB/s200/Rtavn2884.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355809512004299058" /></a>The precipitation (Niderschlag) is accumulated over several hours, so a little bit of light blue is not a worry: it means the occasional shower at worse. However, once you start seeing purple on the forecast charts then you can expect a wet day with limited flying opportunities between the rain clouds.<br /><br />As I'm finishing off this blog post at my kitchen table the sun has set and the cloud above is as black as ink. Out on the road and in the mountains it will be a long and dark night.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-31670583496286806982009-07-06T23:59:00.009+02:002009-07-07T10:30:40.968+02:00Getting geeky<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4tMGzj9RBXuroHDFYcqdFBOh1kPTQhyphenhyphen4azA0psK8Ze2Z9u-dmtU5CJF64ZLlJ9spHBwBGtCEjlQ8t3Xeu-hyfSH46kKVopSUI465EkzR1X6dyTlRPvaNvM0l5Cy4FSI7N9w4v3g96HUsO/s1600-h/google-earth.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4tMGzj9RBXuroHDFYcqdFBOh1kPTQhyphenhyphen4azA0psK8Ze2Z9u-dmtU5CJF64ZLlJ9spHBwBGtCEjlQ8t3Xeu-hyfSH46kKVopSUI465EkzR1X6dyTlRPvaNvM0l5Cy4FSI7N9w4v3g96HUsO/s400/google-earth.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355481489134291666" /></a>During the 2007 race I was glued to the internet, following the teams' progress through the Alps. Suddenly my phone rang: it was Aidan Toase: "Hi Tom, it's Aidan -- I'm trying to find a take off but I'm in the cloud and I can't see very far. Can you have a look on Google Earth and see if there's one near me?" Thanks to the live tracking I could find Aidan's exact position as he was on the phone, and was able to tell him that if he walked a few hundred metres north through a forest he'd come to a clear area where he could launch.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsETrk3yBMQwFtHhgRlriEXGHvGf8n5udfVY3G3OOYVssbUb9YoQ6zzULh8oMsC4k2oDG0au0cP_l52G57ZFj18VZf275LtX8m4T7YJU_jXhjGeircfUcIZInnpV9512JEWepeQBqTHKmY/s1600-h/skyways.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 137px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsETrk3yBMQwFtHhgRlriEXGHvGf8n5udfVY3G3OOYVssbUb9YoQ6zzULh8oMsC4k2oDG0au0cP_l52G57ZFj18VZf275LtX8m4T7YJU_jXhjGeircfUcIZInnpV9512JEWepeQBqTHKmY/s200/skyways.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355482551854872450" /></a>Technology has made an incredible difference to how we paraglide. Through the internet we have access to the latest detailed weather forecasts and up-to-the minute information from the sites. Using Google Earth and online databases like <a href="http://www.paraglidingearth.com/">Paragliding Earth</a> and XContest's incredible <a href="http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/useful-features/map/">Skyways Map</a> we have fingertip access to experience that would otherwise take years to acquire. Once in the air live tracking systems like <a href="http://www.livetrack24.com">Leonardo Live</a> allow others to follow our progress in real time and are a great safety feature. Pilots who were flying ten years ago may remember analysing every word of the TV news forecast and somehow organising to go flying without using mobile phones. How archaic it seems now.<br /><br />We'll have a whole host of technology on board to help us in the race. Here's a quick overview.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.brauniger.com/images/cms/product_overview/iq_compeo_plus.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 127px;" src="http://www.brauniger.com/images/cms/product_overview/iq_compeo_plus.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>The 2009 live tracking, written by Harry Gergits, will be even better this year, with live updates every minute. <a href="http://www.redbullmobile.at/">Red Bull Mobile</a> are supplying us with <a href="http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/overview/c702">Sony Ericsson C702</a> which talk to our <a href="http://www.brauniger.com/english/products/iq_compeo_plus.html">Brauniger Compeo+</a> altivario GPSs via Bluetooth. The Compeo+ collects a minute-by-minute log and packs eight track points in to an SMS which it sends every eight minutes.<br /><br />Alex will use the live tracking to find me using a satellite car navigation system, and we'll both be watching the other team's movements to observe their route choices.<br /><br />We'll also use the mobile phone to connect to the internet for the latest weather information and plan our moves on Google Maps and the Skyways Map. We'll make regular diary updates though MMS messages from the phone, which should be able to to text, photos, audio and video.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Z0sPui5tMohWgDs-pbjt_ikMXFNxpCwIIzFN-x-NEvOn2XsHAjWyHH-ujjFJ4whAHY5Dhwg__ZbsHn6g2bL5jit4v355F6w0JbLrOH-Ly3U8YAXUAgFlYBXwpZ0aW1Xl9YrffAzUiuPU/s1600-h/core_extreme_gallery_large_1_v3_m56577569830809834.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Z0sPui5tMohWgDs-pbjt_ikMXFNxpCwIIzFN-x-NEvOn2XsHAjWyHH-ujjFJ4whAHY5Dhwg__ZbsHn6g2bL5jit4v355F6w0JbLrOH-Ly3U8YAXUAgFlYBXwpZ0aW1Xl9YrffAzUiuPU/s200/core_extreme_gallery_large_1_v3_m56577569830809834.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355483611924536946" /></a><a href="http://www.suunto.com/">Suunto</a> are supplying us with their new <a href="http://www.suunto.com/suunto/Worlds/outdoor/main/Products_main.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673992058&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302757941">Suunto Core</a> watch which includes an altimeter, compass and thermometer. All these features will be very useful for navigation in the mountains. For example, you can use the thermometer to measure the environmental lapse rate as you walk up to launch to get an idea of the atmospheric instability on the day.<br /><br />I'll also be flying with the <a href="http://www.livetrack24.com/">Leonardo Live</a> tracking system created by Manolis Andreadakis which means that you'll be able to follow my flights in greater detail, it'll act as a backup tracklog in case I have problems with the official tracking devices, and will be further safety device.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6t6HalhwqKkVs17Bw71M8CxTm-j_eUk6oEBFz4yw9RACvnuj7JBJW-h3mpyPsr-6fMecoHKvDiNDuXbtprinaQP6EhBg3_7_aoTUABBwcdeWcsqZQmV7efY1dR3gcJCawfwxfu8MwOnx5/s1600-h/xcplanner.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 137px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6t6HalhwqKkVs17Bw71M8CxTm-j_eUk6oEBFz4yw9RACvnuj7JBJW-h3mpyPsr-6fMecoHKvDiNDuXbtprinaQP6EhBg3_7_aoTUABBwcdeWcsqZQmV7efY1dR3gcJCawfwxfu8MwOnx5/s200/xcplanner.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355482018113592706" /></a>Those of you who know me will know that I have a bit of a fetish for computers and have written quite a lot of software for paragliders. If you're an XC pilot then be sure to check out my <a href="http://www.paraglidingforum.com/xcplanner/">XC planner</a> and to analyse your flights with my <a href="http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=8466">Google Earth flight analyser</a> (now integrated in to <a href="http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/">Leonardo</a>). There are also a few geekier projects on my <a href="http://github.com/twpayne">GitHub home page</a>.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-85872380544665018822009-07-05T23:39:00.005+02:002009-07-06T00:30:36.852+02:00Grub's up!Eating right is going to be critical if we want to survive the race. 2007 competitor Ulric Jessop perhaps put it best, he said:<br /><blockquote>I think my greatest advantage was [my wife and supporter] Ruth's cooking. She put a huge effort into preparing a set of recipes for the race. One night, we were parked next to the Czech team. They were tucking in to their <a href="http://www.potnoodle.com/">pot noodles</a>. Ruth had prepared stuffed veal cutlets. At that point, we knew that the battle was won.</blockquote>You need to be fit and fuelled on the start line, but there's a big difference between single day events and multi-week events like the Red Bull X-Alps. In a single event you need to focus on getting enough energy in to your system to allow you to complete the race, you can recover afterwards. In shorter events like marathons you'll focus on carbohydate with a touch of protein and salt towards the end. In the slightly longer events, like ultramarathons, it's more important to eat slower energy sources like long chain carbohydrates, protein and fat. But we're not on our feet for a single long day. We're going to be pounding pavement day after day, week after week, and this is going to take a horrible toll on our bodies. We need to eat not just for energy but to recover - or at least slow down the inevitable damage.<br /><br />Not only does the food need to be nutritious, it also needs to be quick to prepare using easy to find ingredients and easy to eat. Strong flavours and tough textures are likely to cause upset stomachs and a loss of appetite. In the van we have two gas cookers and a fridge, that's it.<br /><br />Here's my favourite recipe which I've modified slightly from the original by my friend Alice Handerson. Preparation time is about twelve minutes start-to-finish. It's delicious, nutritious and easy to make and will be my secret weapon in the race.<br /><br />X-ALPS SMOKED SALMON PASTA<br /><br />Ingredients (per person):<br />- 125g of smoked salmon (economy salmon is great)<br />- 100ml of creme fraiche<br />- half an onion<br />- one clove of garlic<br />- quarter of a courgette<br />- 100g of fusili (spiral) pasta<br />- sea salt, ground black pepper, olive oil<br /><br />Start heating the water for the pasta in a large saucepan. While it is heating up you can do all the preparation. Chop the onion in to small squares. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan and once the oil is hot, add the onion. To tell when the oil is hot, add a single small square of onion. When the oil starts to form bubbles around it then it's at the right temperature. Heat the onion over a medium heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. While this is cooking finely chop the garlic. When the onion is soft, add the garlic, keeping the heat medium. At this point the water for the pasta is probably boiling so put the pasta on with a bit of salt and a splash of olive oil. The olive oil reduces the formation of bubbles, allowing you to cook the pasta at a higher temperature for a better texture. Chop the courgette in to quarters lengthwise then cut these in to small chunks. Throw the chopped courgette in with the onion and garlic with a couple of grinds of black pepper and sprinkle of salt and fry, stirring occasionally. Chop the salmon in to small cubes. When the pasta is done (al dente is best), drain it and add the onion/garlic/courgette mix. Mix well: the oil prevents the pasta from sticking. Then add the creme fraiche and the chopped salmon. Mix everything up well in the pasta saucepan with an extra grind of black pepper and serve in bowls with a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice. Delicious!<br /><br />We're looking for other good food ideas. They need to be quick and easy to make, nutritous and simple. If you have some good food suggestions then please email me at twpayne at gmail dot com. Thanks!<br /><br />P.S. Addie and Fatty Puff will recognise the title of this post.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-89500793831021260472009-07-04T21:26:00.007+02:002009-07-04T22:00:17.974+02:00Final stage of preparations, first glimpse of the race weatherAlex and I leave for Austria next weekend. In the meantime we're frantically getting together the remaining equipment. Last night we put a lighter set of risers on the glider (thanks Martin Orlik at <a href="http://www.axispara.cz/">Axis Para</a>) and I test flew the glider with them this morning at the Saleve mountain near Geneva before the storms arrived and stopped play. The afternoon was spent putting stickers on the glider. There's a lot of them and the Red Bull logos are really fiddly. However, by the third sticker we were starting to get the hang of it and can now put them on quickly and cleanly.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.supair.fr/img/produits/Altirando_XP.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 241px;" src="http://www.supair.fr/img/produits/Altirando_XP.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>On Wednesday I'll finally be able to collect the harness from <a href="http://www.supair.fr/">Sup'air</a>. I've chosen to use a third generation <a href="http://www.supair.fr/en/produit.php?id=43&prod=sellette">Altirando XP</a>. Sup'air are producing a special version for the X-Alps which is a couple of hundred of grams lighter than the standard version. It's a really nice harness in the air, nicely aerodynamic with the removable leg cover and with some excellent back protection in the form of an airbag. Equally importantly, it reverses to become a very comfortable rucksack. I've asked for a couple of minor modifications to adapt it better to my rather skinny body shape. Stay tuned for a more detailed description of the X-Alps gear towards the end of the week.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRvEcMv0VEdRi2uqR-IrWnlcj-jSmQEb0TRnyq8qwwgnVw8-KUmXogv7gkBRXjmhXwXhk1ClwsLDvA0kl4shMLzrcIvZi0JIBzlepw4pn94SS-RHN-Y1jcGGLZpYycYNvvdWo8V4pUgN6/s1600-h/Rtavn36016.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRvEcMv0VEdRi2uqR-IrWnlcj-jSmQEb0TRnyq8qwwgnVw8-KUmXogv7gkBRXjmhXwXhk1ClwsLDvA0kl4shMLzrcIvZi0JIBzlepw4pn94SS-RHN-Y1jcGGLZpYycYNvvdWo8V4pUgN6/s200/Rtavn36016.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354697135901935298" /></a>Finally, the race start is just fourteen days away now. It's scarily close and the first long term forecasts have just been published. Two weeks is an eternity in weather forecasting and you can't really believe anything they say, but I can't resist peeking! The current forecast is that Austria will get quite a lot of rain the day before the race but race day itself will be dry with light winds at 1500m, which means that we'll be able to fly from the first turnpoint above Salzburg, the Gaisberg. The winds at altitude are moderately strong Westerlies, which could be a problem for making progress in the air. We're racing from East to West, against the prevailing winds and consequently the 'hard' way. This is the Red Bull X-Alps, after all...Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-37700897027403934692009-06-30T18:42:00.003+02:002009-06-30T19:35:50.235+02:00Who's flying what?All major paraglider manufacturers will be represented in this year's competition. There's a good mix of competition, serial and even DHV2 wings. Here's the quick low-down on who's flying what:<dl><br /><dt>Gradient (6 pilots)</dt><dd>de Dorlodot (BEL), Skrabalek (CZE), Gebert (GER), Makkonen (FIN), Pascale (ITA1), Carter (RSA)</dd><br /><dt>Axis (4 pilots)</dt><dd>Pennicuik (AUS), Payne (GBR2), Vrabec (SVK), Rejmanek (USA)</dd><br /><dt>Gin (4 pilots)</dt><dd>Ogisawa (JPN1), Geijsen (NED), Jagla (POL), Muller (SUI2)</dd><br /><dt>Advance (3 pilots)</dt><dd>Eichholzer (AUT1), Morillas (ESP), Maurer (SUI3)</dd><br /><dt>Nova (2 pilots)</dt><dd>Fanderl (CAN), Matsubara (JPN2)</dd><br /><dt>Ozone (2 pilots)</dt><dd>Wirtz (FRA2), Toase (GBR1)</dd><br /><dt>U-Turn (2 pilots)</dt><dd>Sprungli (FRA1), Takats (HUN)</dd><br /><dt>UP (2 pilots)</dt><dd>Coconea (ROM), Hofer (SUI1)</dd><br /><dt>Mac (1 pilot)</dt><dd>Susa (SLO)</dd><br /><dt>Niviuk (1 pilot)</dt><dd>Penso (VEN)</dd><br /><dt>Skywalk (1 pilot)</dt><dd>Frotscher (ITA2)</dd><br /><dt>Sol (1 pilot)</dt><dd>Gryaznov (RUS)</dd><br /><dt>Swing (1 pilot)</dt><dd>Amon (AUT2)</dd><br /></dl>It'll be very interesting to see how the different wings perform. The full-on competition wings like the Gin Boomerang 6 (flown by all the Gin pilots) and the Ozone Mantra R09 (flown by Wirtz) have the best performance in the air. However, in the normal version they have a lot of heavy internal structure and semi-rigid parts to help them maintain their shape at high speed. The X-Alps versions of these wings use fewer rigid parts to save weight, but this will compromise their handling and potentially their safety in the air. It might be that the friendlier competition wings like the Axis Mercury 09 (flown by Vrabec and Rejmanek) which are designed without rigid parts will fly better in their lightweight versions.<br /><br />Pilots flying lightweight versions of certified wings like the Gradient Avax XC2 and the Axis Venus 2 will have less performance in the air but this may well be compensated for by the relative ease of piloting. We'll be improvising launch sites in the mountains and conditions won't always be perfect. Having a glider that launches easily - which is most definitely not a full-on competition wing with its structure removed - in extreme cases could make the difference between a passable launch and no flight at all.<br /><br />Finally, competition wings are designed for maximum performance in normal paragliding competitions. These are short, intense flights lasting two to four hours and very different from the long multi-hour cross country flights we hope to do in the X-Alps. Competition wings are extremely demanding and tiring to fly. As fatigue sets in during the race only the very best pilots, like Hofer, Eichholzer and Maurer will have the ingrained reactions to continue to pilot them at 100%. Personally, I know that I will fly better for longer and be safer on my Venus 2.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-62481775946408772212009-06-29T14:29:00.004+02:002009-06-29T15:48:30.336+02:00Team GBR2 in the air<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDTUP91EPqoy_SvAms3US9qbeg3mKgW7nblfQfLux-LdijU36Fqe4h8xqNizqXmZfxDcGErJPCX0Fam47hvHtaWHZ8CHpZZyRtJe91YyM1aD0YUo3A7doEww9u5_I-87l9qQiqEDIGy28/s1600-h/trelod.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDTUP91EPqoy_SvAms3US9qbeg3mKgW7nblfQfLux-LdijU36Fqe4h8xqNizqXmZfxDcGErJPCX0Fam47hvHtaWHZ8CHpZZyRtJe91YyM1aD0YUo3A7doEww9u5_I-87l9qQiqEDIGy28/s400/trelod.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352728951797189010" /></a>My supporter Alex Raymont is an excellent pilot himself, having been Canadian National Champion in 2003. We also weigh about the same so we can fly each other's wings. On Sunday we flew a wonderful XC together from Annecy, me on my Axis Mercury and Alex trying the Axis Venus 2 that I'll use in the X-Alps. As you can see from the photo above, cloudbase was low but the clouds were tall. We carefully threaded our way through the Bauges mountains to the Dent d'Arclusaz and back. Alex was really impressed by the handling of the Venus 2, and especially its climb performance: it seems to be naturally drawn in to thermals.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzVeN6L4cTQukpvw3dh0I3n44Z8S-tVJCzlhKzPZ7-dAwq2CMCRt6h7DZ7g1XU241rjrfmsDRGitrI3-cKQd9ANxrT3sf7fzWIOd7FD4KOy8YiIsdmrOd8od-eEp5WN_v2AvfpyEO7O1p/s1600-h/ogi.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzVeN6L4cTQukpvw3dh0I3n44Z8S-tVJCzlhKzPZ7-dAwq2CMCRt6h7DZ7g1XU241rjrfmsDRGitrI3-cKQd9ANxrT3sf7fzWIOd7FD4KOy8YiIsdmrOd8od-eEp5WN_v2AvfpyEO7O1p/s400/ogi.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352729019744620562" /></a>Back in Annecy we stumbled across the two Japanese pilots competing in the Red Bull X-Alps this year. The photo above is of Kaoru "Ogi" Ogisawa (fifth in 2007) flying in front of the Dents de Lanfon on his 2009 gear. I think he wins the prize for the most stickers on his glider!Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-68983861321213349932009-06-23T08:27:00.007+02:002009-06-23T21:07:30.850+02:00The dreaded "goutte froide"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAwby3AEmUY5iFvk8VIHw3LkNiT8AUZf7_x2Pi5AmljV3Km01X4hrqzFV6zUwFnytt_4FXfr_AukdkW6F5j-e8SjKdl1GR3E1-WloEc20TXGhXhmYVIrtDt6P_5WvGYoDc9hhXLz2RLnCA/s1600-h/Rtavn122.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAwby3AEmUY5iFvk8VIHw3LkNiT8AUZf7_x2Pi5AmljV3Km01X4hrqzFV6zUwFnytt_4FXfr_AukdkW6F5j-e8SjKdl1GR3E1-WloEc20TXGhXhmYVIrtDt6P_5WvGYoDc9hhXLz2RLnCA/s200/Rtavn122.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350406221125538562" /></a>Right now flying conditions are not good in the Alps. We're in the dreaded "goutte froide" situation. This occurs when cold air sweeps across the Atlantic Ocean and a blob on the end breaks off and floats around the Mediterranean Sea. It's visible on the temperature chart on the right as a big orange "bite" centred over the Adriatic Sea and is a low pressure system.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7McuXgMPeFcJeBkJzSfjG-vohrg6imT-Q_Sjs7bIE6RZnyTkgwtOqjAvYZydOdKeZ3HGz4yIKOYr7jVIZhUj00Vy3deUfNlLHcoLd9CJPY0UKSIqSHl7ilFEKHl60_oAaYAkX_yxY-L6w/s1600-h/Rtavn124.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7McuXgMPeFcJeBkJzSfjG-vohrg6imT-Q_Sjs7bIE6RZnyTkgwtOqjAvYZydOdKeZ3HGz4yIKOYr7jVIZhUj00Vy3deUfNlLHcoLd9CJPY0UKSIqSHl7ilFEKHl60_oAaYAkX_yxY-L6w/s200/Rtavn124.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350406339329090626" /></a>The winds blow anticlockwise around a low pressure system in the Northern Hemisphere and these winds collect moisture from the Mediterranean Sea and dump it as rain on the Eastern end of the Alps. You can see on the precipitation chart on the right that today is going to be a very wet day in Austria and Northern Italy. No flying there.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMN4byIlU1WKeTkjuQdcnnHgaWEkjq2OHr4iIqN0yYL_vBLIbpiRr7o0Uhek76unZkl2dM2mrpUHDc-uIKAPi__IWrsPMUbtXH9VKkCaNLO22Qyzxd-gSjq1KRMpiQwnKvuyMnHGq2_LDp/s1600-h/Rtavn1216.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMN4byIlU1WKeTkjuQdcnnHgaWEkjq2OHr4iIqN0yYL_vBLIbpiRr7o0Uhek76unZkl2dM2mrpUHDc-uIKAPi__IWrsPMUbtXH9VKkCaNLO22Qyzxd-gSjq1KRMpiQwnKvuyMnHGq2_LDp/s200/Rtavn1216.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350406480788080690" /></a>At the same time there's a big high pressure system over the British Isles and the North Sea. The winds blow clockwise around these and the air is squeezed between this high pressure and the "goutte froide" and accelerates, i.e., it's windy. At the West end of the Alps (Geneva) this cold NE'ly wind is too cold to flow over the Alps so it flows around them and is further squeezed between the main body of the Alps and the Jura mountains. It's the classic "Bise" wind: cold, dry and strong. Right now in Geneva it's about 40km/h at ground level and 60-70km/h at altitude. Further south, this wind blows down the Rhone Valley past Lyon and becomes the "Mistral" in Marseille.<br /><br />In these conditions flying is impossible in all but the most protected areas. Plan Joux in Chamonix is one such site as it protected by the enormous cliffs of the Rochers de Fiz behind it. Further south, St Vincent les Forts is well protected by the 4000m+ Ecrins massif. At these sites you can fly comfortably all day long in bubble of light winds, but stray to high or far and you quickly hit the strong winds and things can get interesting. For paragliders, flying cross country is almost impossible.<br /><br />The bad news is that such unflyable situations - rain in the East, wind in the West - can persist for several days at a time. The current forecast is for an easing of the winds tomorrow and the "goutte froide" to dissolve in to the surrounding air towards the end of the week leaving a fairly even pressure over the Alps. Such flat pressure fields usually mean storms.<br /><br />The X-Alps has historically had fairly mixed weather, and if a situation like the current one sets up in late July/early August then it could become a war of attrition on the ground. It'll be tough.<br /><br /><i>Update Tuesday evening:</i> Tomorrow (Wednesday 24 June) is looking like a cracking day in the Southern Alps while everywhere else in the Alps is pretty much unflyable. The hang gliders at the <a href="http://www.chabre2009.com/">Hang Gliding World Championships</a> in <a href="http://www.flylaragne.com/">Laragne</a> should have an epic day. It'll be very interesting if such a situation develops in the race: the runners might be able to get ahead in to the good flying conditions while the fast-in-the-air-slow-on-the-ground pilots will be stuck in the bad weather. You really have to be ready for anything in this race.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-90202937099297244112009-06-22T18:33:00.000+02:002009-06-22T18:35:43.584+02:00The Team UnitedAlex flew in from Canada on Wednesday morning and it's great to see him again. We last saw each other in the summer of 2007, so we're doing a lot of catching up. X-Alps duties started immediately for Alex, with an evening at the <a href="http://www.talloires2009.org/">PWC Annecy</a> where Ulric Jessop presented the Bafta-nominated film of his 2007 campaign on a big screen next to Lake Annecy.<br /><br />We've still got loads of preparation to do, everything from working out routines and tactics to buying minor bits of gear for the support vehicle. In all cases Alex has hundreds of good ideas, backed up by an incredible understanding of mountain gear. He'll be a great supporter and I'm very lucky to have him on my team.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-20942052944608250642009-06-21T23:55:00.003+02:002009-06-22T00:08:14.068+02:00X-Alps PodcastJudith Mole interviewed me for a podcast about the X-Alps. She asked a lot of difficult questions! You can listen to the podcast online or download it at <a href="http://www.judithmole.net/blog/?page_id=123">Judith Mole's podcast page</a>.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-12039115808740181332009-06-14T23:37:00.010+02:002009-06-15T01:27:28.461+02:00Three good days in Annecy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4DsMwDInKGyjzNMxd5vlRndsTSBGsC_fuFsX60KjVeTZSTnEHhfFPIr_A_diX8t7Ce1Z6LH5xAroi3cWQdrAg3VAehRrQB6s_Gr3NjMS7n8tdmRLISVBi5Yh70vH3-_Ld7OQnijSo9Qn/s1600-h/annecy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4DsMwDInKGyjzNMxd5vlRndsTSBGsC_fuFsX60KjVeTZSTnEHhfFPIr_A_diX8t7Ce1Z6LH5xAroi3cWQdrAg3VAehRrQB6s_Gr3NjMS7n8tdmRLISVBi5Yh70vH3-_Ld7OQnijSo9Qn/s400/annecy.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347324289970326210" /></a>It's been a pretty windy Spring in the French Alps, but a ridge of high pressure built over the France and the Western Alps over the weekend and I took a half day of holiday from work on Friday to take advantage of it.<br /><br />On Friday I took off with my friend and fellow Axis pilot Damien de Baenst from the Planfait take off. It's my favourite site. It's relatively low (900m) but the aerology is fantastic, meaning that as you climb up to the Dents de Lanfon you look down on take off. It's a real escape. The other main Annecy take off - Col de la Forclaz - is higher, and is a better choice in some weather conditions, but you don't get the same sense of "climbing out" as you do from Planfait.<br /><br />From the Dents de Lanfon (usually called "the Teeth") we headed north to Parmelan where great 3m/s climbs catapulted us up to over 2000m. The air was exceptionally clear that day, and it felt like you could reach out and touch Mont Blanc, over 50km away to the West.<br /><br />We headed back to the Teeth and then crossed over the lake to the Roc des Boeufs. Anyone who has flown in Annecy will know that these are classic flying routes. Here it took some time to find a way through the inversion at 1600m, but we both eventually made it through and headed for Margeriaz. I arrived somewhat ahead but found that the north tip of the ridge was only working weakly, so I continued round to the west face. Which was dead. Not a single peep from the vario. Now without enough altitude to get back to the north side, and stuck in the stability, it was suddenly all over and I was left with just enough time to chose a landing field. I radioed back to Damien to warn him and he was able to stay on the north side and continue his flight, eventually landing at the entrance of the Maurienne valley.<br /><br />At this point I cheated. It was late in the day and there was no time to walk up to another take off, so I stuck my thumb out. Anyone who's landed in the Bauges mountains knows that there is very little traffic and getting home can take a long time. However, I was lucky, and after just 20 minutes a young guy stopped. His beaten up Peugeot 205 barely held together, no doubt shaken apart by the thumping hardcore techno music he was playing. The tempo of the music was matched only by the speed of his driving (and he was a local who knew the roads). It was great fun (and I loved the music), he kindly dropped me off at the Revard (4 Vallees) take off, and just one hour after having landed I was back in the air again.<br /><br />Here the goal was clear: get back to Annecy. It was late in the day but I knew the route. The stability was still there, but my Axis Mercury climbs and glides amazingly so, despite being a lot lower than I would have wanted for several of the transitions, I was still able to make it back. In the landing field I met fellow first-time X-Alps competitor Ronny Geijsen who was in Annecy to test his newly-arrived wing and fly in the PWC. There's no book about how to prepare for the X-Alps, so we eagerly swapped notes about gear, training and strategy. He's also a thoroughly nice chap.<br /><br />On Saturday I headed, again with Damien, to a new take off for us both at the south end of the Aravis mountains. Not much more than a small clearing in a forest with magically fewer line-snagging rocks than your average mountains side, it was a real discovery. We launched, once again, in to stable air on the wild, steep SE face of Mont Chavin.<br /><br />It took an age to climb out. Every metre was hard won in the 0.3m/s thermals, and ten minutes work would every now and then be wiped out by a few seconds of -3m/s sink. It was galling. After several attempts to break through the inversion at 1800m I gave up and decided to do something different. With another Mercury (not Damien) and two DHV 2s headed West over the classic site of Marlens and on to the SE faces of Tournette. This was a flight that I had heard was possible, but I'd never tried before. On this day, with the stability, I fully expected to land early.<br /><br />But somehow, despite the weak and broken thermals, we were able to soar up in the slope breeze and finally broke through to more unstable air above. To get through an inversion on a paraglider you've generally got two options: either find a large and strong enough thermal that's powerful enough to break through to the air above, or tuck in tight to the terrain, kick trees, and work the slope breeze. Today, only the second option was possible. But it worked! The slope breeze gave way to reasonable thermals and eventually we popped through in to steady 3m/s climbs up to cloud base now at 2500m.<br /><br />This was a new route for me, and I remembered Aidan Toase's advice for the X-Alps: "You have to be happy flying alone over unknown terrain", so I resolved to explore as much as I could on this flight. I flew straight past Annecy, not bothering to turn in a thermal full of competition pilots preparing for the Paragliding World Cup. Alone at Parmelan, I found an incredible 4m/s thermal that launched me in to orbit and used this to head north.<br /><br />Despite having lived in the area for several years, I had never flown these mountains before. Sous Dine, Sur Cou and the Pointe d'Andey came up and I cruised past them. My only knowledge of this area came from driving to the ski resorts of La Clusaz and Grand Bornand, and my memories consisted mainly of narrow tree-lined valleys with no landing options.<br /><br />Several pilots have remarked on Alex Hofer's flying attitude: he flies with total confidence. There's no need to worry about having nowhere to land if you're not going to land. If there have been thermals in all the south-facing bowls so far, then so will the next one, even if it doesn't have a big grassy field to land in at the bottom. So, I adopted a new mental tactic. At each decision point, I asked myself: "what would Alex Hofer do?".<br /><br />It's scary at first, but it works. I chose a remote col where there should have been convergence between the southerly thermal breeze and the northerly meteo wind, and indeed it worked. Elsewhere I flew into a high a tree-lined bowl and it worked as well. When you're high there are landing options that you can't see from the ground: the glide angle of your paraglider means that you have a large search radius, and you only need one decent field in that area to be safe. But you shouldn't worry about the details of identifying an actual landing field. Instead, I think the trick is to focus not on what happens if you don't find any lift, but rather the focus on where the lift actually is.<br /><br />Finally I ended up flushed through some sink and too low in the low level stability to get up again and landed out. Five quick and easy hitches with several interesting people got me back to the valley below my car, but I knew (and had planned) to walk up from the valley floor to where my car was.<br /><br />1000m height gain, 15km along the road, all with 25kg (40% of my body weight) of competition wing and harness on my back took just under three hours, fuelled only by a bit of leftover couscous and half a litre of energy drink. It was a good slog and almost dark when I got to the top. Incidentally, the road has 41 hairpin corners. It's reassuring that I can do it, and the only damage was a small blister on one toe because I was stupidly wearing normal cotton socks. It'll be a lot easier with Alex supporting me: proper nutrition, moral and tactical support, and a change of socks and shoes every now and then.<br /><br />Sunday was the first day of the <a href="http://www.paraglidingworldcup.org/">Paragliding World Cup</a>. It's a long-term personal goal to compete in the PWC. I went along to the competition to catch up with friends there and to meet several of the X-Alps competitors. Watch out for the British Force of Mark Hayman, Jamie Messenger and Craig Morgan. Of this year's X-Alps athletes, five are there: Toma Coconea, Vincent Sprungli, Primoz Susa, Ronny Geijsen and Helmut Eichholzer. It was great to finally meet the legend that is Toma Coconea and his supported Gigi. Toma, the poor fellow, wanted to run up to take off but had been told that he had to take the bus! My friend and 2007 X-Alps competitor <a href="http://www.pottyplace.com/accom/">Ulric Jessop</a> was also there and it wad great to catch up with him and get loads of tips gear and tactics.<br /><br />I had the privilege of wind dummying for the competition, taking off just before window open to find out if anything, anywhere was going up. Luckily for me, the inversion at 1260m was just begining to break as the competitors launched, and I got a bird's eye view by parking myself over the middle of the course and watching the race. I've got to say, these PWC guys (and gals) are really fast. It's a great ambience on the ground, but once in the air everyone is focused on maximising every thermal and pushing as much bar as possible on every glide.<br /><br />Flying competitions is definitely a different set of skills to the cross country which I've been focusing on. In fast and full-on competition you have a defined task, you're flying during the strongest part of the day, and you have the world's fastest pilots around you to help you find lift. Flying XC, typically on your own or in a small group, flying all day long, and adapting your route to the terrain and the changing weather conditions is another set of skills. It's a real sign of maturity in the sport that paragliding has now evolved in so many different directions.<br /><br />Alex arrives in Geneva on Wednesday for the final month of preparation. The race start feels awfully close now.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-8816105367531138242009-05-30T20:12:00.003+02:002009-05-30T20:58:16.500+02:00A few words of wisdom from Aidan Toase<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWfBO_E6l25bV-7bgoiwFqbSJN-NyMM-oEaJuBiGexkULW2eeX1citspNPLZkvrUNR6QuBo0UR0dhlIKi_jwLNUr8IUA2ScE3yveR6k2YlqfEK9uqyu4DkNFbENUvO6qoj_fKqrpWgL8Y/s1600-h/aidan2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWfBO_E6l25bV-7bgoiwFqbSJN-NyMM-oEaJuBiGexkULW2eeX1citspNPLZkvrUNR6QuBo0UR0dhlIKi_jwLNUr8IUA2ScE3yveR6k2YlqfEK9uqyu4DkNFbENUvO6qoj_fKqrpWgL8Y/s200/aidan2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341693121273920466" /></a>Aidan very kindly shared much of his experience of his two previous races and good humouredly answered my incessant questions.<br /><br />I asked him what is it actually like to fly in the X-Alps:<blockquote>You do some crazy things like taking off from the top of a mountain at dawn and landing by 6am. I did this in Davos: I left the van at 3:30am and started walking up. Then it started snowing. Just as I got to the top I broke through the cloud layer and saw that it was relatively clear on the other side of the valley. So I found a bit of snow, laid out the glider and took off. It was a short flight, but amazing. The plan was to walk up the other side and do fly XC later in the day, but it all went horribly wrong after that.</blockquote>On the advantages of running versus walking, he responded:<blockquote>It's not about efficiency, it's about wear and tear. And running really tears you up.</blockquote>On the interaction with your supporter:<blockquote>Sometimes you're so focused on the race that you don't realise what you're putting your supporter through. You ask them to buy a blister pack from the nearby town because they've got the van and it's just a short drive. When they get there they find that the pharmacy is closed but they don't want to come back empty handed so and they drive to the next town. Before you know it your quick request has caused them a multi-hour round trip.</blockquote>On his application to race again in 2009:<br /><blockquote>I'd love to apply and not get in. Then I could not do it guilt-free.</blockquote>Aidan also revealed the secret that won him eight place in his first ever X-Alps and sixth place in 2007, but I'm not going to share it here :-)Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-55635394349522665252009-05-29T12:53:00.005+02:002009-05-29T13:05:15.196+02:00Aidan Toase and the Simplon Pass<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmYkgktuB_zOVOw6LB5jhyy17RGO29SVggD4vSgVidFHXL4AKAY6Ue8L20NeFIRtVbbVr3-o5h9FXVDIxf5LwAOZ9IbWS3r0NAgWUyZDAbZBLkhC_KCP3zYHqf0mNs11OI-xqzQHgp-cDP/s1600-h/aidan.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmYkgktuB_zOVOw6LB5jhyy17RGO29SVggD4vSgVidFHXL4AKAY6Ue8L20NeFIRtVbbVr3-o5h9FXVDIxf5LwAOZ9IbWS3r0NAgWUyZDAbZBLkhC_KCP3zYHqf0mNs11OI-xqzQHgp-cDP/s200/aidan.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341197347763646338" /></a>On Thursday I met up with two-times X-Alps veteran and 2009 competitor Aidan Toase to check out route around the area of the Simplon Pass and the valley to the Matterhorn. We explored potential take offs and landing areas, and discussed route options in the area. Although it's a classic paragliding highway, it will still be a complex section to negotiate during the race: we have to fly around airspace at Sion (the same airspace that cost Martin Müller the title in 2007), we're flighting the strong valley winds, and the area around Martigny where we need to cross to Chamonix Mont-Blanc takes the full brunt of the valley wind and is always very, very windy indeed.<br /><br />You can follow Aidan's blog at <a href="http://www.flyingtoast.co.uk/">www.flyingtoast.co.uk</a>.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-3996115053671232252009-05-17T22:07:00.015+02:002009-05-18T23:53:38.811+02:00Wing arrives, Swiss League Cup<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIBeXnSzLCyDGwEHooUCBhSDwcZDZl0DfQcNuc-mrbwfKKpDmPamlT_KWPMzBdwaA9Mf9bBRO4bpMEghq4kOT6zjrgUZbLcongxRAa96K8Ui1vkEAjPs3YNIIyYN0_t_YRAx81oIoRnO15/s1600-h/emj.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIBeXnSzLCyDGwEHooUCBhSDwcZDZl0DfQcNuc-mrbwfKKpDmPamlT_KWPMzBdwaA9Mf9bBRO4bpMEghq4kOT6zjrgUZbLcongxRAa96K8Ui1vkEAjPs3YNIIyYN0_t_YRAx81oIoRnO15/s400/emj.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336919907926244786" /></a>My X-Alps wing arrived on Friday! Thank you <a href="http://www.axispara.co.uk/">Axis UK</a>! She's a beauty: 6.3:1 flat aspect ratio and racing trim giving her accessible comp wing performance and weighing just 4.8kg.<br /><br />No simple top-to-bottom to get to know her, instead I took her to Frutigen near Interlaken in Switzerland for a round of the <a href="http://www.swissleague.ch/">Swiss League Cup</a>. For me it was an opportunity to discover a new flying area, get to know the wing, try out the X-Bus and meet a few of the big names in Swiss paragliding.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBttjxuj8lIX8PB0cEqRKaF-smMyqOMgZJ7jZlOR9XOUrhdMrIYYxU-lLAf0lFuwsICSCh9xz7okDTUFRtv71f47YGylA9mVYySL55srfHKbPmnHUBF9yhyiWNz2YuNaRToNkUDiEw9Jl/s1600-h/frutigen-1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBttjxuj8lIX8PB0cEqRKaF-smMyqOMgZJ7jZlOR9XOUrhdMrIYYxU-lLAf0lFuwsICSCh9xz7okDTUFRtv71f47YGylA9mVYySL55srfHKbPmnHUBF9yhyiWNz2YuNaRToNkUDiEw9Jl/s200/frutigen-1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336919033515034514" /></a>Saturday, day 1. Conditions were expected to be tricky and indeed they were! Although the airmass was unstable, rising atmospheric pressure restricted their upward movement. The result was small, weak, snotty thermals that seemed to form randomly and then peter out after a few turns. You'd occasionally hit a 2m/s thermal, but most of your time was spent grovelling over the trees in 0.2m/s. The Task Committee set a 49km task around the local area. Most of the field, including me, bombed out at around 20km, simply running out of options at the third turnpoint, but a few pilots persevered. PWC Champion <a href="http://www.anjakroll.ch/">Anja Kroll</a> won the day, getting to goal in 3h20m and 35 minutes ahead of the only other pilot to complete the course.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGiGa2LVqOdk6hdON1Boh4iOZDc1DZcnhJ5N0G3lxey4tYB4bnSY1AXlANIxuZ355ATgXYLh71q775LvOiSCyTzD11SextBzFpLdUQisJ3SXfdMgy07SXO14ehmrJJChf6vnMtJRgEy9t/s1600-h/wing.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGiGa2LVqOdk6hdON1Boh4iOZDc1DZcnhJ5N0G3lxey4tYB4bnSY1AXlANIxuZ355ATgXYLh71q775LvOiSCyTzD11SextBzFpLdUQisJ3SXfdMgy07SXO14ehmrJJChf6vnMtJRgEy9t/s200/wing.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336919434702075346" /></a>I was really happy with the wing. I was flying in my normal cocoon harness which put me 5kg over the top of the weight range and yet I was still able to climb well. The air was turbulent behind the spurs in the lee of the valley wind and yet on a day when two wings ended up in the trees I had nothing more than a tip collapse.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6hs3GvsDWbFCzSrxZHuivJych8t6giahi28se4HAs0gAx0Lrunbv1LvD_Nw0BvUzyAx_q4follBpk0hvt7vuSjZ8biWPYsEMLoxbhq4cmFEUmPiwFgtrpdXIcobOhumequNlmm7PIkSx_/s1600-h/x-bus-frutigen.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6hs3GvsDWbFCzSrxZHuivJych8t6giahi28se4HAs0gAx0Lrunbv1LvD_Nw0BvUzyAx_q4follBpk0hvt7vuSjZ8biWPYsEMLoxbhq4cmFEUmPiwFgtrpdXIcobOhumequNlmm7PIkSx_/s200/x-bus-frutigen.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336920621840022930" /></a>On Saturday night I got to test the X-Bus, my first night in the support vehicle. It's brilliant! Comfortable, plenty of space to stand up and cook inside, light, heating, music, and a warm night spent in my down sleeping bag. It's a home away from home.<br /><br />Sunday was forecast to be marginal: sunny in the morning but with Foehn winds in the Valais and moderately strong SW'ly winds at altitude. Fellow X-Alps competitor <a href="http://www.chrigelmaurer.ch/">Chrigel Maurer</a> was here today (he lives just down the road) and I was eager to find out more about his preparations. He's designed his own wing and sewn his own harness: the combination is very compact and weighs only 10kg. As we arrived a take off the race committee realised that with the strong winds it wasn't going to be taskable and made a quick and correct decision to can the day so we could get a short free flight before conditions got too bad.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqkVmaANx0iswhVKzxIeqIyO58ZdZbqVYr_LHt6jBaqW1cyc-IW7yF5KC4VsR_ssjfz4h-Tm6rZtmNeILh7dTmi3YhuLlgT30rRrXN3QG5ME3JBMOA5kg_wRjr0S06kSA5OpmpzRAOeYaX/s1600-h/joerg.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqkVmaANx0iswhVKzxIeqIyO58ZdZbqVYr_LHt6jBaqW1cyc-IW7yF5KC4VsR_ssjfz4h-Tm6rZtmNeILh7dTmi3YhuLlgT30rRrXN3QG5ME3JBMOA5kg_wRjr0S06kSA5OpmpzRAOeYaX/s200/joerg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336921346474103954" /></a>Many launched quickly (although a few decided to take the bus down) and those who did fly were rewarded with a stunningly beautiful flight. The weak thermals of yesterday had been replaced with solid two and three metre per second climbs. I took one to over three thousand metres and with stunning views in all directions, including the lakes of Interlaken and the unmistakeable 4000m trio of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau peaks, one of the turnpoints in the 2007 race: see the photo at the top of the post.<br /><br />The forecast was spot on, however, and with a Foehn wall visible tumbling over the cols between the peaks, a brisk 30km/h wind at 3000m, lenticular clouds forming, and a forecast of storms in the afternoon it wasn't a day to hang around so I spiralled down to land back at base.<br /><br />It was a real pleasure to meet Anja Kroll, Joerg Ewald, and Swiss paragliding guru <a href="http://www.azoom.ch/">Martin Scheel</a>. The organisation by the local school <a href="http://www.cloud-7.ch/">Cloud 7 paragliding</a> was excellent, and thanks to all of the pilots who made me feel so welcome. While I was walking back on Saturday a car full of pilots spontaneously stopped for me and I had to explain that, in fact, I didn't want a lift and actually wanted to walk back...<br /><br />Update: Martin Scheel's beautiful photos of the event are now online at his site <a href="http://www.azoom.ch/fotos/suchergebnisse.php?shooting_no=526">www.azoom.ch</a>.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-26464613003005497392009-05-13T18:06:00.003+02:002009-05-13T18:11:25.872+02:00Vehicule aquired!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rIr4d08aGIDHdPRluuBiM8LSbck78BilmQovF8a9GTJOrNl3fXwJZY18UAypI3w0YDgWeSn3dnHlY4rXI6XQhk8lmU0fLHXd2-9JtANhrky8z8-BgW_nSdp8NPZmWMSsbKiZwCRr3a8H/s1600-h/x-bus.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rIr4d08aGIDHdPRluuBiM8LSbck78BilmQovF8a9GTJOrNl3fXwJZY18UAypI3w0YDgWeSn3dnHlY4rXI6XQhk8lmU0fLHXd2-9JtANhrky8z8-BgW_nSdp8NPZmWMSsbKiZwCRr3a8H/s400/x-bus.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335341780577818914" /></a>I've finally found a camper van for the race. Provisionally named the "X-Bus", she's a 1992 Ford Transit Nugget Westfalia. Four seats, four comfortable sleeping places, and enough room inside to cook in bad weather. The engine (a 2.5 litre diesel) and the bodywork are both in good nick. Will do the job, basically.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-75635644858014217632009-05-09T16:38:00.003+02:002009-05-09T16:41:35.965+02:00Alpine flying podcastJudith Mole has put together a series of excellent podcasts on various paragliding topics and has just interviewed me about alpine flying. You can download it or listen to it online at <a href="http://www.judithmole.net/blog/?page_id=123">Judith's podcast page</a>.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273370867425618571.post-364065466329851742009-05-06T19:33:00.005+02:002009-05-06T19:36:13.804+02:00First photos of the wing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8i4qYH1EDv2Iu82d-g9hrVuzKl8SEM4aN-8-aoIaTTmwDf4P9CIowtg9C4woYYPzZRgC6mFqF_l-1ixWFuG2mP2bgB_Gx6VClZL7JYjEdWwl52oeGPk3gxEKfAJzIHYhxRjHIIawA8Pki/s1600-h/gbr2-canopy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8i4qYH1EDv2Iu82d-g9hrVuzKl8SEM4aN-8-aoIaTTmwDf4P9CIowtg9C4woYYPzZRgC6mFqF_l-1ixWFuG2mP2bgB_Gx6VClZL7JYjEdWwl52oeGPk3gxEKfAJzIHYhxRjHIIawA8Pki/s400/gbr2-canopy.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332765762371024578" /></a>Axis have sent me the first photos of my X-Alps wings. All being well I should receive her next week.Tom Paynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10344815542729165660noreply@blogger.com