The final day of the comp and the weather was looking epic: sunny, light winds, and cloudbase predicted around 10,000'. So the task committee came up with an ambitious route: a 121 km triangle from the Butte, to Farmer in the SE, North to Leahy, and back west to goal in the Chelan Falls Park LZ.

Sunny and light winds at the beginning of the day, with the winds predicted to strengthen quite a bit as the afternoon went on (to 15-20 mph on the ground). Task today was race to Okanagan (about 70 km) with no turnpoints in between. When we heard the task there was lots of discussion amongst pilots about which route to take: you could stay on the Chelan side of the river (the mountainous side) until closer to goal, or you could cross over to the Flats right away and fly on that side (the east side) all the way north.

Forecast for today was sunny and light winds from the south. But no cu's, and some high cirrus came though occasionally. A 62.2 km task was set: Butte to Sims Corner, then goal at Leahe.

The launch order today was decided by your FAI ranking. However, the first 20 minutes was allocated to whomever wanted to launch, without having a higher-ranked pilot butt in front of you. After the first 20 minutes a higher-ranked pilot could butt in front of you. Subsequent days will be determined by your comp ranking from the day before.

I'm in Chelan for the next week or so, for the Chelan XC Open/Pre-PWC/Canadian Nationals. Got here yesterday, mid-day, in time to see a gaggle of pilots finally get high on the Butte (apparently they had been scratching since it had been overcast until now) and make the crossing to the flats. After getting up on the flats they flew NE, aided by the SW winds. Pilots were scattered all the way from Mansfield to Grand Coulee.

I attended the World Championships in Brazil, in 2005, as a member of the Canadian Paragliding World Team. That was my first time competing at a high-level, international competition, and it whet my appetite for more. So when I heard the 2007 World Championships were to be held in Manilla, Australia (a place I’ve always heard referred to with lots of enthusiasm and awe) I started getting ready.

Nicole's first Magic4 flightI had a chance to fly my new Magic4 at Woodside just before Xmas. The first flight was only a sled ride, and the second flight I got to thermal a bit over the clearcuts before heading out. Although I can't get a lot of info from those 2 very short flights, I can tell you a little bit.