The kids here don't beg like they do all over Mexico, but when you land your paraglider in a field like Mark Furgeson is doing above, they run up to you in force and ask to help fold your glider. You are advised to pick just one and give him five pesos for his service. They seem genuinely interested in us and our sport, and watch intensely as you pack your instruments and gear.
      Launching on the second day of the comp (my first), I proceeded to look for lift out front, over the LZ. I found the LZ, not the lift. As I watched the gaggles complete the task I told myself I would always come early to these events to find the LZ before race days. One of the Mexican pilots landed in a tree on the top of the Pinon today, didn't even have time to get a reserve out! I guess the air was as rough as I thought it was. Evening glass off at El Torre was really booming - high wind launch and fat lift way out over town.
      Day 3 task takes us down the range from launch past the Pinon, a huge towering rock that produces such a massive ripping thermal that if you get up close to it, you can see the trees shaking violently. But before I went anywhere, Mexico was going to show me the biggest collapse of my life, followed by a brief spin. A few hundred feet later it sorted itself out nicely, and I continued on. Many pilots grovelled in the lee side of the mesa beyond the Pinon, and on the other side of the next valley by the Three Kings, some finally choking in the broken lift here.
      As I worked a patch of 200 up (zero sink), I watched someone about half mile in front of me falling and then finally throwing their reserve chute and going into the trees. Todd Bibler was OK, but it took the Mexican Phone Company to get his laundry down out of the trees. This is the point where I Just kind of relaxed and said to myself "I could just go land now and be very happy with my flight. I'll just stay real high and enjoy the rest of my flight." I worked up to the middle of the next mesa to where the road was (nice for landing near) and just kept climbing - up to 10K. I went out to the antennas, our next turnpoint, right over the top of the mesa like going straight over the bow of a ship, the lift was coming up both sides of the triangular shaped mesa. Got the photo and returned to the mesa and the thermal was still there!
      As I watched pilots scratching along the edge of the mesa, I boated along the road right down the middle of the large fields on the plateau, keeping plenty LZ's in view. As I headed for the lake, I knew I needed one more good thermal to put me comfortably on the other side of the water. I found it right over a fire burning at the edge of the last field, and when my vario showed final glide was reduced to 6.5 to1, I left for goal and came in fourth. 2 hours, 36 minutes after the start tarp opened (approx an hour after launch) was my time, but I was still a few thousand feet over the city! I toured the west end and snapped a few pic's of the Valle before setting down by the lake. Una cerveza, por favor.