Report from GV

[Flying Lobster]

Finally got hooked in at Ray Leonard's place.

After a couple of days of getting my ass kicked by rippin mid-day thermals and rotor--I finally vindcated myself with a lucky flight today.

I watched a dozen Brazilian, Swedish and Italian pilots launch and basically sled to the lz. I launched last and decided to scratch close in--a risky thing at GV but it seemed OK given the stable conditions. I get the luck of the draw and manage to squeak into a disorganized thermal which slid me over the towers. But once clear of the mountain, the thermal turns on big time--1,250 fpm worth. I couldn't believe my luck-especially since it was a blue cloudless day. What da f%^ck--I decide to see what happens as I follow the road out of GV. Over 40 kilometers later I land in a village--even though thermals are still rippin--I was just too beat and dehydrated to fight on.

This is the most outrageous paragliding I have ever done. Big rippers all the way down to the deck--I had quite a few low saves from just a couple of hundred feet or so. Everything is manageable as long as you keep the glider cranked over--I've only had a few moderate tip collapses so far. The locals say conditions are unusaully strong for this time of year. On Sunday--when I couldn't even make it to the main lz--about a half dozen pilots went 180 to over 200 kms--including the new site record.

marc