I’ve arrived in Ager for the first of two comps, back to back. I am a little apprehensive about doing one comp after the other, because at the moment it looks very, very flyable, so it’ll be full on for two weeks with little prospect of a day off. I’ve been a little nervous about these two particular comps, since both are in places renowned for big air. On the other hand, I don’t really know why I am particularly nervous. I know Ager well, having flown there a fair bit and having learnt to paraglide here. I have a nice safe wing and I can always land if I don’t like the conditions, since I am a clear also-ran, rather a serious competitor. The other nice thing is that with 35-odd competitors, the women’s comp isn’t going to be crowded, so it won’t be too busy in the gaggles.

My priority of these next few weeks is fun. I’m going to enjoy the holidays, hang out with the girls (and guys next week) and do some good flying too, I hope.

Geoff dropped me off this morning, bitterly regretting that he’s not coming with me when the forecast is so bad. In the seats on the plane next to me were some lovely young Welsh lads on a stag do. They had dressed the groom in a polyester matador outfit, which was going to be a) far too hot; b) somewhat tasteless given the amount of people injured in the bull rampage of yesterday; and worst of all c) incur the wrath of every Catalan who will think he is making a Spanish nationalist statement against the Catalan bullfighting ban. Let’s hope he gets gored by a passing bull before the Catalans get him.

We had some fun and games getting all our party assembled at the airport, with us all arriving at different times. Catherine from Switzerland had arrived at 8am. Kirsty and Ruth were already there, and I was supposed to be last and phoning for the retrieve at 1.30pm. We were short of Domenica and found her two and a half hours later in the other terminal, where it had taken her three hours to get back her paraglider her airline had lost the day before. Joanna arrived at 4pm from Venezuela via Frankfurt, having been upgraded to business class and then waited on hand and foot by Corinna Swiegerhausen (the German national HG champion), who works as cabin crew on Lufthansa.

We got to Ager some hours later and first things first… a cold beer and meeting up with Emma. Lots of people were flying and it would have been nice to go up, but we had to sort out the apartment (we didn’t get the one we booked in March), and were too hungry. So nice to see so many friends. Mike Cluer is here, as well as many women not seen in ages. Really nice to have big dinner with so many smiling girls.

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