Today was another exhilarating ride in the sky over some inspiring terrain in the Wasatch mountains. Conditions were again challenging with many pilots falling prey to the strong winds and valley flows. There were some long crossings of very big and deep canyons with fairly strong winds up these canyons. Many pilots, including myself, were on the edge of our seats and rather tense through some parts. I heard a few pilots landed up on some very high terrain with very difficult retrieval. Another landed very high in the mountains and was able to hike to another position and re-launch.
The race started out as a 68k race to the north but was changed last minute to a shorter task due to safety concerns. There were many lightening strikes in the mountains a couple of days before the comp started, and some fires have resulted. Wild fires sometimes pose major obstacles to paragliding comps as the TFRs (temporary flight restrictions) which are put in place to protect the airspace for the fire-fighting aircraft can prevent us from flying in certain directions, and in some cases can stop our flying activities completely. During yesterdays task to the south a very large fire started high in the mountains behind us and to the Northeast which was billowing huge amounts of smoke and was spreading rapidly. Today we were restricted from flying south so we raced to the north instead with goal back at the North side of the Point of the Mountain Flight Park.
Today I made a real rookie mistake and didn't cancel and reactivate my route on my GPS. I made the last minute change to the turnpoint but neglected to finish the job. As a result of my inattention I somehow managed to fly about 4 kilometers past the far turnpoint. My mistake cost me time and points and a chance to race in to goal with the leaders, of which I had been one throughout the entire race. I still managed 5th place so I'm quite happy with my results but a bit frustrated at my lack of concentration with my flight instrument.
I flew well over 13,000 feet today and felt well throughout the entire flight... I'm working hard at staying well fed and hydrated both before and after, and during flight itself. We're 3 for 3 so far with a good forecast for the rest of the week. Many pilots are flying quite well and for the most part pilots are keeping themselves out of trouble. Those who aren't all that experienced seem to be exhibiting good survival skills by avoiding the terrain and conditions which are beyond their ability. Many of the top pilots are also progressing in skill and flying faster gliders so it's very challenging to gain on them on an overall basis because as I improve, so do they..... It's a formidable challenge and an amazing game we get to play....
The goal today was the Point of the Mountain Flight Park, which is one of the nicest free flight facilities / locations in North America. They've installed a huge network of sprinklers and planted grass over the entire North side with nice public facilities as well.
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