Task 2 of the Monarca Open

Hello Gang this is Brad just gettin back to the Castle after a wonderful task 2 of the monarca! The task 68km was Maguey with a 3km entry start cylinder then hit Maguey as the first turn point, then to Diente,Divisiro,Mesad,LaCasa,with goal being San Ramon. The start was a little hectic with a low cloud base and a lot and pilots getting sucked into the clouds,I managed to stay out of them but was curious how we were going to get to the first turn point with a big cloud in between us,luckily a nice gap opened up for us just before the start :) I had a nice relaxing start and took some nice start pics.After hitting Maguey it was decision time and I had decided on launch I was going back to the knife ridge before heading out into the head wind into the flats for Diente,and Bill had the same Idea cause he was leading the way with Greg Blondeau down low in the lee pushing like only Greg does.We slowed down a bit after the turn point things got blue in the flats and shady on the mesa, I wasnt sure what we where gonna do there so I kicked it in any lift I could. The lead gaggle pushed hard on the ridge,ridge soaring along like it was Torre Pines. I saw a cloud forming out front so jumped to over to it and it ended up being a great thermal, taking me all the way to base. Finally the lead guys were connecting with the convergance marking it very nicely for me as I came in high over them taking a few turns and then pushing hard into Divisiro. We had a strong south wind so after hitting the turn point we had to push into a head wind all the way back to Maguey, some people went straight over the mesa but I felt like it was better odds pushing into the head wind on the ridge with more options. I was still with Bill Bellcourt at this time to shadey ass Maguey, Bill chose to go out front to the sun I started to follow him thinking it was a good idea when I saw Atuk climbing strong in the shade (convergance thermal) so I jumped over to Atuk and we went easily to cloud base. Trying to not get sucked into the cloud we started out over the Mesa, I figured the pilots that got a head of us (Greg Blondeau, Stephan Wyss, Stephano, and Yassen) were way ahead of us and then I saw them way low in the shade, so I slowed way down at Gordo kicking it in light thermals with Pete Shaefer coming in off the mesa we hung out for a good 10 minutes waiting for the conditions to change. At this time I saw Blondeau getting very low
ridge soaring knob to lower knob and getting taken out of the game, along with a few other pilots sinking out and the guys pushing on to the mesa started to get it so we went after them running into a strong thermal over the escalante taking us again to base and finally getting us established on the mesa, then things got alot easier and the hardest part was staying out of the clouds :) as we fought the strong south wind that seemed to of picked up. We jumped from cloud to cloud over to Mesad following the convergance line at this time I only had Yassen and Jamie Messenger in front of me and I turned on the after burners a little to late and they were able to maintain that lead. I am flying a new Icepeak 3, and I had the trimmers open and about 3/4s bar trying to close the gap when I noticed Stephan Wyss over my shoulder trying to pass me underneath me, the same thing happend to me yesterday and I was like oh no not again so I went Pulley to Pulley with full trimmers to stay ahead of him. That is the fastest I have ever made a paraglider go and I was totally amazed of the wing and its stability at such a high speed. We where flying through some pretty strong thermals and some roudy air and the wing never fell apart on me. When It was all said and done I got 3d on the day so I am happy with the results and the learning lessons I am getting. I learn so much at these comps and am so stoked to be here, flying/hanging out with some of my best friends,learning and training for the World Championships!!
I am going to be blogging with Rob Sporrer on his site the address to the blog is
http://www.eagleparagliding.com/?q=node/201 so please go there to hear more and see all the pics Ive been taking. I am back taking pics and loving it!!

Mexico Baby

Watching the Utes beat up on Bama right now but when I get a chance I will tell the story behind these pics!

Mexico

Happy New year everyone!!!! I am finally getting to internet and I only have a few minutes, but we are moving to a new place that has internet so I´ll be back. So to amke a long story short Rob,Andy,Trey,Brett Zangelin,Kevin Howe and I all made it safely to Valle Da Bravo we rented a little apartment on the lake and we have been flying every day,doing some wonderful tasks, training hard for the Monarca comp coming up in a few days. I got a new camera and have gotten some really nice pics that I will be posting soon. I also got my new Niviuk Icepeak 3! Which I love, it is an amazing wing, the stability at high speed is unbeleiveable! I was flying with the infamous Greg Blondeau yesterday and he has the new Mac Para comp wing and I think they are pretty similar, we will see after this comp. We are all going up late today because for some reason all of us have a head ache today, cant figure it out, hmmm anyways happy new year everyone and hope this new year finds you and your family happy, and healthy. Brad G