The forecast was for an epic competition day and there were rumors of a task to Organya or Castejon de Sos, which would mean us crossing some pretty big mountains and stunning terrain. Everyone was buzzing and up for it. Unfortunately, the forecast changed and we were suddenly looking at a blue, inverted day with climbs to 1800m only, rising to a possible 2200m later.

It was 90 degrees off when we arrived on launch, but confident that the valley would warm up and bring it on, they set two provisional tasks. One would take us along the ridge, then over the back for a technical cat’s cradle task, landing at the same goal as on task two. The second option was Organya. The west wind kept blowing, but eventually there were launchable phases and the wind dummies were dispatched to check out conditions. They reported NW in the valley and I started to get concerned when I saw Jamie not going forward much heading west and then doing huge oval shaped turns in thermals while he was getting drifted fast east. Ivan was the last wind dummy and he reported the same conditions, so the task was cancelled. A really good, safe decision. Some flew down, some drove. Ariana decided to try the task and landed at Tremp. She was chauffeured back by a 70 year old bloke who couldn’t speak a word of English, but was happy to drive her all the way to camping.

Everyone is chilling out now. There’s a pool party to celebrate scorer Chris’ birthday, then a panel discussion on comp flying. After that we are going to make the most of the full moon by going for a moonlight kayak trip round the lake. I love this comp!

See photos of today.

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