Author: X-Pyr

XPyr D-1, only a few hours before go! Latest seasonal equipment, strategy of… walking not flying!

 – Fred: “Concentrate… your head in the course.”

 – Camille (last assistant to arrive today!): “It would be better with the sun.”

 – Titi: “Mrrr but this box is heavy!!! Storage of the trunk of the truck in progress.”

 – Cathy: “Anyone want something to drink? Food?”

We play it friendly, warm in our truck. Tonight we will enjoy a good shower between four walls. Andddd…let’sss go to the Rune…hoping we get away from the rain soon.

And bring us as close as possible to Cadaques, more solar! But hey there, like that… it seems very tense to us… We’ll see!

It’s a whole new experience for the four of us.

 – Objective number 1 for Fred:

Survive and not get hurt.

 – Objective number 2:

Reach the finish line.

To be continued !!!

Fred, Cathy, Camille and Tweety

Finally! Today we registered for Xpyr Hike and Fly Competition in Hondarribia, but to get there was a long and even more exhausting road than expected:

However, I had to non-stop work (no joke!) from March until the 18^th of June. I did the preparations for the comp late at night and trained in every second that could have been used between all those SIVs at Lake Garda. On 18^th of June after the last training-day, I quickly packed my stuff and drove to Austria during night. So that I could pick up the supporters car, store everything in it, drive another 400km to one of my supporters Kogi for doing the last car preparations, went shortly for a powernap, and drove even further (another 600km) to my other supporter Tobi to pick him up. Then Tobi and I drove appr. 1000km south and finally stopped at Dune de Pyla. However, after preparing everything during day and mostly driving during night, we really needed some rest time. So we decided to have a lazy day off at Dune de Pyla and enjoyed it to the fullest.

On the next day, we drove the last km to Hondarribia to finally check in on the campsite to meet the other pilots and do some route checks. After that we registered and did the equipment check today! In the meanwhile,  Kogi, the other supporter whom we left at home,  is coming by plane tomorrow and will make our team complete and ready for the comp!

We are so excited!!

Originally we should have taken part at the xpyr 2020, but as we all know, that comp wasn’t able to take place anymore due to the pandemic. So now it is the time to finally compete against all those highly well skilled hike and fly pilots. And the weather forecast will challenge the comp a lot additionally! So let’s hope that the weather will be better than expected and that we can fly most of the distances 😉 But even if we have to run big distances and altitudes in the first few days, we are optimistic that the comp will be outstanding and we are really thrilled to finally start!

Thanks again to our sponsors Nova Performance Paragliders, Salewa Mountain Shop Schladming, Red Bull Spect Eyewear and DANKE AG for supporting us with their sponsorships!

Team Heli Schrempf

Suuny day, and tomorrow?

Preview day of Tomas Matera…X-Pyr 2022 (Hondarribia – El Port de la Selva)

We are already in Hondarribia 🎉 only two days left for the start of the xpyrrace and we are noticing the influx of riders in the area, there are more and more vans of teams and more faces of riders excited about what is coming from Sunday. 

It is a lot of work to get to where we are, but this has intensified even more in the last few days because Felipe Tudela has joined the team as official support because Olmo Cadahia has had to withdraw, he had a bad landing during his flight training and has broken his calcaneus, the bone in the heel, due to the impact and needs an operation. It is a pity not to be able to share the race for all the effort and dedication that Olmo has had during these previous months, but the first thing is to recover and more opportunities will come in the future. However, Olmo will continue to help the team from home and it’s time to catch up with Felipe about everything and try to exchange opinions and get organised; but I’m happy because everything seems to be going in the right direction and there’s no lack of enthusiasm and excitement💪🏻.

The briefings with the organisation, the interviews with the teams and the checking of every detail have already begun. This is already a reality, there is nothing left……only 2 days!!

After a few days of scouting for the #xpyr2022 race on the French and Spanish sides of the course line, it appears team Canada has brought the crummy Canadian weather with us! Despite a couple of reasonable flight earlier this week, overcast skies, low bases, and lots of wind is now the norm. We’re making the best of it though with lots of little hike and flys off hills with their tops in the clouds, and desperate 1m 30s flights kicking treetops to get off a hill. I’ve learned that Pyrenees prickles like to grow just below the fern tops so you can’t see them, and picking your glider out of wet side hill fern fields takes longer than expected! Despite all that it’s been a treat seeing the terrain firsthand and I’m still hoping for flyable conditions come race day on the 26th 🤞 although that’s looking less and less likely. If not, I’ll be carrying my bag of flying gear across the Pyrenees, instead of the other way around!! 

I have a lot of people to recognize and thank for helping make this odyssey a reality. 

Most importantly, thanks to my amazing partner @sheinamacadam for taking care of our life commitments while I’m away so we can make this possible. 

Secondly, a huge thank you to my sponsors;  Paraglide Canada, Pathfinder Asset Management, and Christopher Bates. 

This race would be impossible without my supporters Jonathan, who’ll be keeping me on track,  and Dave, who are cooking up Michelin star meals out of the Renault camper. 

Last but not least, gratitude to Team Canada’s patrons back home; Alex Raymont, Brad Henry, Tonya Roumiantseva, Brent Handy, Martin Zac, Renata Moravocava, Tony Evans & Nora, Richard Bruneau, Devin Andersen, Rod Frew, Jonathan Pettersen, Randy Smith, Brian MacLean, Greg Martin, Leylan McGinn,  Daisy, and everyone who bought t-shirts to help contribute to this endeavor! 

For Team Canada X-Pyr 2022 daily race updates, follow along at www.instagram.com/flying.james