Sunday, 5th July 2009
Posted by Judith on 06 Jul 2009 at 12:45 pm | Tagged as: Competitions
I wasn’t that hung over but very, very tired. Packed up and went to say good bye to people and then Kai, Kelly and I made our way to the airport. Everyone from the Mynd, Derbyshire and the Pennines was on board, but nearly everyone nodded off the minute we had taken off. On arrival, the baggage handlers decided to work to rule, so Cris climbed through the hatch and passed gliders through manually. We eventually got our luggage once they resolved the dispute. Got home very late and I was shattered.
On reflection it was a great experience. I spent time with lots of really nice people and got a chance to meet up with lots of friends and make a few new ones too.
I liked Piedrahita and the flying around there. I didn’t see the results until I came home, so was pleased to see that I came 102nd overall against a lot of competition gliders and extremely experienced pilots from all over the world. In my class I came 26th and was 6th woman. I didn’t feel I disgraced myself and actually did ok for my first comp.
I learnt a huge amount. It was invaluable being able to talk through the tasks with Dave Thomson in advance and then to de-brief them afterwards too. I’m glad I put in the prep for the competition. I’ve spent the last nine months trying to prepare for going to Piedrahita and it certainly made me feel less intimidated and more confident, both in my attitude to the flying conditions and to the competition in general.
Will I do it again? Definitely. Just not in St Andre or thereabouts. If there’s a Spanish round next year, I’ll definitely be there!
One negative note… I lost all my photos from the first few days, and I am really gutted about it!
4 Responses to “Sunday, 5th July 2009”
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Judith/Geoff – as someone planning to (eventually) set up work so that I can be flexible for paragliding and maybe spend more time in the year abroad, I was curious on your comment on St Andre (and area) v Spain. Do you think Spain is the much better place to fly/live?
Richard
Ermmm, I didn’t mean to be derogatory about the St Andre area, it’s just that personally, for me, it’s a bit full on for a PG. I have flown there on a hang glider and found it very strong and the terrain very scary, so it is not somewhere I want to fly until I have more experience of flying abroad in the summer and feel more confident about strong conditions.
Spain is home to us in winter; I speak the language and therefore it is just easier to go there and Piedrahita was a nice place to fly. Where you go to live will depend on your circumstances. I.e. if you already speak French, your level of experience, type of flying you enjoy, etc.
Spain is a hugely varied country, so it depends on where you wanted to live as to what kind of flying you have. In the NE, where we live, the flying is different to Piedrahita or Algo for example. What I do know is that Spain is a cheaper place to live than France.
Hope it all works out and you get to be free to fly all the time!
Judith
Agree with Judith about St Andre – it can be absolutely full-on, rough-as-old-boots mid summer. Have done some comps there on the HG, but have definitely chosen not to do the PG comps there. It is an awesomely spectacular place to fly though, if you choose your conditions very carefully, or fly there later in the year when it is more mellow.
Just down the road, Laragne and the sites close to that (Aspres, Beaumont etc) are much nicer and safer mid-summer (similar conditions but without the huge mountains, deep valleys, strong valley winds and unlandable areas thrown in!
Andy
Thanks for the response guys – much appreciated