Emberger Alm Task 1

Strong West to North West wind is the forecast. Uh oh. Not the best direction for this place. Any kind of north in a strong wind means rough air. Lucky for us it was mostly west. The task was a simple out and return that wasn’t so simple after all. The Flex wings and Rigids were set to run the same task 53k or so past Lienz then back to Greifenburg. 44 kilometer start circle put us about 7k from launch. The gaggle was big and almost everyone started together. Heading to the west end of the main ridge was easy and staying with the Rigids was Kein Problem (No problem). We all got up and headed straight across the valley below Lienz. I am told this was our mistake but what the hey, we were all following the Rigids and “they know this place.” The first half of the glide was cake but once we got close to the Lienz Dolimites Many of us began falling out of the sky. I was flying through that monster sink that could only be lee from a huge mountain. This was one of those points that illustrates when, in the right hands, the Rigids have an advantage. Many of them arrived at the lee ridge safely above the saddle height and began to scratch like Rock Stars. The Flexies started dropping like flies. Vladymir ran away into the valley, some hugged the terrain. Quite frankly, I don’t remember because I was in immediate survival mode.

So began the hunt for my lee side bitch snake. I found a marginally effective one on a spine above the lake in the valley. It was like hanging out over the barrel of a semiautomatic rifle in the hands of a twitchy crack dealer. Random shots of strong lift would bang through and drag me in one direction or another. It was never the same. Down below a litespeed struggled to drift back up the side of a large rockface. Something seemed to be coming together so I drifted around the corner with it. I got a steady enough light climb that I gave in to the will of the wind. As the thermal wrapped around the corner I had to correct upwind almost every 360. That drift took me 90 cross wind down a steep face and around to the opposite side of the spine I had just fought over. Tucked in here I found a true lee monster that took me high enough that comfort returned to Kev. This sucker had really weird drift patterns and there wasn’t an obvious wind direction. Now, west of Lienz the obvious route was north to the opposite side of the valley. The clouds along that ridge were a sight to behold, and the gliders ahead marked it clearly.

Once on the North side of the valley strong lift was easy to find but unfortunately it came with REALLY strong wind. I think at times I was registering 35kph headwind. With the temperature -4 C at cloudbase the fast flying had me steering with two curled up popsicles. As I made my way the last 20k or so up the ridge I could see the leaders starting to head back. Many of them were getting high in the center of the valley which came as a surprise to me since the clouds were centered more on the ridges. Hmmmm, so many unanswered questions. High after the turnpoint final glide said I had it by a couple hundred meters but there is no believing that from over 50k out! I chose to return to the north ridge and follow that same cloud street back. I think this was my big mistake. It was a longer route and required crossing over lienz in a difficult section of the valley. The massive tailwind lasted until I got just past Lienz and quickly deteriorated into a 25kph headwind! Dam, doesn’t that suck?! Strong head wind both directions on an out and back. Who woulda known.

I did the only thing I could and retreated to the “toilet bowl” as I call it. The locals have some other name for this ridge and it is something like the asshole of Lienz. The valley wind strikes this ridge at about 60 cross and makes some usable lift on the fingers. I scratched outta here free flying under very similar circumstances a few weeks before. On that day I had gotten flushed in the same Lee sink off the Dolimites as this day. Where is the learning curve you ask? I don’t know, I am still trying to find it! The one thing that was different this time in the “toilet bowl” was the lift was stronger. Too strong sometimes. Real cannon balls. I guess Cannon Balls are better then no balls so I will be more grateful for whatever balls I got from now on. Once high enough to safely round the corner it was a downwind ridge race to goal. The fastest rigids smoked me by 40 minutes or so and the fastest flex by about 10 or 15. The trick was getting high in the valley back at the turnpoint and then using the huge tailwind to cruise straight back. My longer route only got me further downwind when I hit the valley winds over lienz. Doh!

Challenging day, fun task. Only 4 flexies in goal. I was very relieved to be second.

Kev