Hessiche Day One

Prefrontal with a forcast for increasing winds here at Griefenburg deep in the Austrian Alps. Fearing overdevelopment the director called for a very short task up and down the valley. An out and back up one ridge before crossing into an adjacent valley, then back to griefenburg. 43k total distance.

Racing in the mountains can be a whole different animal then the flats. Its fun, a different challenge, and a great learning tool. The whole point of this trip is to learn as much as I can, and hopefully score some high placings in the process. I am sure I will make tons of mistakes racing and I made sure to start that process early. Every task I have ever flown was either a race start or 3-4 start gates spaced evenly. There was only one time listed on the task board and no numbers or spacing indicating start gates. I asked the meet director, "Sprechen sie English?" and when he responded, "a little" I figured piece of cake! I asked him about the launch time (12:00), start time(12:30), and if it was a race start. Wow, only a half hour between launch open and a race start gate. That seemed rediculously short but how could I protest, haha.

I launched at 12:20 and couldnt' come anywhere close to getting in position for what I thought was a 12:30 race start. I just did the best I could before charging off. No sitting at cloudbase waiting for the gate to open! Under the circumstances I have no idea when or in what relative position I crossed through the start gate, I just flew the conditions and tried to make up time. There were good clouds on course and lift was easy to find and very strong. It seemed like the southwest side of the fingers were working the most consistantly. The best cores were very tight and leaned/drifted back quickly. Since I got a late start plenty of markers pointed out which areas were working. From there I would try to find the tight cores and get away. With a diverse mix of paragliders, flexies, and rigid wings navigating up through climbs had some additional challenges.

The south wind aloft (maybe 11-13 mph) made the last valley crossing the key point of the flight. Extra height was needed to traverse over the opposing ridge. My final glide around the corner said I had plenty of height to make goal but it wasn't taking into account the giant wall of earth and rock standing between me and the last turnpoint. Fortunately my las climb was strong and high so the traverse was a non issue. A rigid wing and I crossed together, nailed the turnpoint, and raced to goal.

I am not sure how they are handling the scoring but I think I was the second flex in. There were 2 rigids faster but they get a time handicap. It was a short, but very fun task

Kev