by Chad Bastian     

Driving on the left side of the road just seems like the wrong thing to do, and the crazy bus drivers in London only make it even more absurd. Getting from Heathrow to Ludon Airport was quite an experience!

Picture Tour: Eric and Jill Meeting Tents Task Board Map Board Bernard and Cheri Eric Preppin' Snow Bank Spin Landing Upper Launch High Thermal Sierra Village Veleta and village Veleta Peak Sierra Nevada Gaggles ahead Distant Veleta Distant Sierra Landed in the flats Launch #2 Launch of the Proton Josh contemplating Spanish Thermal Lead Gaggle View from the air Over Launch LZ Looking South LZ Looking North Check-In GPS Download Task String The Red Bull Party

I hooked up with Eric Reed in England and we flew to Malaga, Spain and our rent-a-car was waiting. Good thing, because it was 2am and it would have been interesting if they hadn't shown. We drove to Granada, but the directions got a little ambiguous from there.
     The email said Monachil, but the apartments were actually up the hill at Sierra Nevada. After looking around the little village of Monachil for an hour, trying to get a pay phone to work, we found a little hotel at 5am and got two hours of sleep.

Parachute Meet Tents

After a really nice breakfast at the hotel, the owner found the location where we needed to go, and we were on our way.
     Today was quite windy, so a few of us headed for the coast for some touristing. We found a beach where the wind was blowing so hard over the back of the point to the west that dust devils were picking up sand at the far end. Soon, the tourists had to abandon their use of beach umbrellas as the gusts intensified. Around the corner, we found a launch that would be great for ridge soaring the cliffs facing the wind, had it not been so strong.
     The next two days were 'official' practice days, and we flew tasks with turnpoints and goal to get our GPS traces in order. The Sierra Nevada is a formidable range, with few LZ's - especially down in the canyons if you sink out. The key is to side hill land if you are getting low, walk back up and relight rather than get low in a canyon. Sometimes there are valley winds which can blow you back into steep jagged rock walls or up narrow, winding tree-filled canyons, or possibly into a lake. You have to be very aware of where you are going so you don't get stuck.

LZ Looking South

Up high on the ridges, the thermals make it difficult to land, as one pilot found out when he broke his foot after a frontal while he was top landing.
     The key is to get high, stay high and always look for other pilots or birds where you are going to find the next thermal. Racing here is tricky, and the pilots who do the best here are the ones who have flown it for years. By the end of the second task, many of us were still getting the hang of the spanish thermals with some wind mixed in. The day before the first task, a pilot got stuck landing in a gulch with lots of trees, and went in hard, breaking his back.
     Josh Cohn threw his reserve on the first task day, trying to avoid another pilot after taking an asymmetric, causing the glider to go negative and wind up the risers. Perhaps a serial glider would have recovered, but the Windtech Silex was a prototype competition glider made especially for Josh, and it would not reinflate. He was a bit shaken up, but unhurt except for soreness in the neck and scratches on his legs.
     I spoke with another pilot who actually took pictures of Josh trying to recover his glider, and he swore that Josh actually looped over his wing as he attempted to unwind the risers. Josh recalls falling past the wing at one point, and not very far from it! Shortly after that, with about 1000 feet left, he deployed.

Josh Contemplating

Another reserve was thrown the first day, and another at launch on the second day, so my assessment of the air being a bit challenging was not unfounded.
     Day three had a task with a triangle, then to the beach. Some pilots actually broke the FAI record for the triangle portion, then proceeded to fly all the way to the Mediterranean Sea! Unfortunately, there were more injuries, and Bo was the first to land and assist a pilot with a badly broken leg.
     The fourth day put the goal in Baza, to the northeast. The route to this area puts us over a very remote part of the Sierra Nevada before gliding back into areas where landing is an option again. At one point, I was down to about 7000 feet in no-man's-land before I found a rock outcropping to ridge soar until a thermal came ripping through, carrying me back to 13K. At altitude, there was a slight tailwind but unfortunately, there was NE wind down low, and most didn't find this out until they hit the strong surface flow. A very challenging day, even for the pilots that fly here alot.
     Task five put us in a race to goal in Peal de Becerro, about 90K to the NNE. Again, the gaggles went back up the ridge to Veleta, then deep into the Sierra following a ridge of convergence, as reported by some pilots. About 90 pilots made goal on this task, but many also spoke

Windy day on the Upper Launch

of low saves more than once! Sunday morning we awoke to howling winds, reported to be from some sort of sandstorm - hot and dry, really strange here in a ski village! Task was cancelled, and the pilots headed out for alternate activities. I walked from our village to the top of Veleta Peak, 100 feet shy of a 4000 feet climb, but my knees were a little sore after the descent. Monday seemed to start out alright, light winds and sunshine, but soon the anticipated high winds showed up, and the day was called off early.
     Tuesday was obviously windy again, so off to the beach we went again. I got a short flight at the cliff west of La Herradura, then we bodysurfed in the Mediterranean until we were cold. Off to La Herradura Beach, where there were some interesting flights in the high wind, and a bit of kitesurfing as well. We stopped on the way home at a cafe where you can BBQ your marinated meat on a hot rock! Really delicious, and you can relax and cook your food for a long time as you sit and chat, watching the wildlife.
     Wednesday was still windy, but they sent us to launch to sit around for five hours before they called a short task. The wind dummys sank out twice, so no one was really ready to go prove anything right away. The wind techs finally hooked into some lift down the ridge a bit, but the air was obviously turbulent, and the wind on launch was strong and switchy. Nobody really wanted to fly when they called a task, as you could see clearly the valley winds blowing the smoke out front. Still, they called the task, and there were

Downloading GPS Track Logs

three deployments and six injuries, even though 67 pilots made goal.
     Thursday had an east flow, and things looked much better. They called a task that followed the Sierra Nevada ridge to the west, out onto the ridge to the turnpoint, then back by launch to the east along the ridge again to Jerez De Marquesado, then back to the launch ridge to goal. Basically all of the task covered ground that is walk-out only, and it was not possible to get much above the ridge for comfort. Half way through the task, the organizers stopped the competition due to wind and turbulence, and everyone came back to the upper launch to land. Another major injury occurred during the landings as a woman's glider took a massive asymmetric near the ground.
     Friday was Brilliant!! They carted us off to the upper launch, only to pack us up after two hours of east wind. Some of the pilots demonstrated the "spin landing" technique for us on the east facing snowbank - very interesting! Then it was down to the lower launch where the grasshoppers were as thick as ever. A task was called, but they indicated that they may call the task off if the wind increased.
     The first couple of wind dummies didn't seem to do too well,

Spin Landings

but a second set climbed nicely to a decent altitude. So we suited up and launched. Amazingly, we all climbed in three sets of pilots to about 8000 ft! Drifting back to the edge of the 6K circle around the turnpoint that was the start, everybody just seemed to boat around in light lift, waiting for the start. Then it was off to the races! I started slow and flew slow, staying high and comfortable, as this course was familiar to me now.
     After getting low at the third turnpoint, the launch, I was scratching around looking for a place to land, when a small bullet came through. Headed off to the Hervidera house for the fourth turn, but again came back low behind the launch. Ridge soared for fifteen minutes then decided to throw in the towel and headed over the powerlines to the gap in the lee of launch #3. Again, I was out of my seat when the glider started oscillating, and began to climb from about 50 meters over.
     This thermal was slow, barely good enough to stay with, but I searched for the center time and time again, and

The Party

over the course of the next 50 minutes, let it drift me all the way back up the spine to the last turnpoint. When I topped out at 9000 ft, I grabbed the GPS point, and followed a Nova glider toward the goal. We fought a headwind together for awhile, then I noticed that he was getting a better glide than I was. Pushing on the accelerator to half speed only made it worse. My Octane simply didn't have the glide. I dirted only seven kilometers from goal, while he glided in last. Still, it was the most enjoyable flight I experienced here in Spain. I just relaxed and flew.
     Friday night was the big party, with Kiwi serving Red Bull and Vodka to the masses. There was great music by Peter Brinkby, lots of noise and fights, even the police had to come! It was a fitting end to the World Championships.

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