Breakfast – Euskal Team X-Pyr 2022 Gabiria-Mendibil
Gosaltzen lasterketa hasi baino 3 ordu lehenago.
Having breakfast three hours before the start of the race.
Tag: 2022
The previous day of David Corpas
The prebvious day…of David Corpas. X-Pyr 2022 (Hondarribia – El Port de la Selva)
Day 0 – Briefing with the teams
After yesterday’s registration day, today was briefing day.
A long session presented by our race director, Íñigo, that covered many points related with the race.
Long explanations about the route and, especially, the restricted airspace , which is the biggest headache for both the teams and the organisation.
Tomorrow this long-awaited edition of the X-Pyr begins. Although we fear that it’s not going to be the start that both teams and spectators are hoping for, as the weather doesn’t look very good.
Here you have a selection of photos from this session.
Yuji Emoto in Lafinetia beach
Keith “Bud” Paterson being interviewed
X-PYR: The days before the race:
X-PYR: The days before the race:
We arrived in Barcelona on Wednesday the 22nd of June and headed directly to pick up our rental camper van.
The van was not in a good shape! It had several electrical issues, smelled like shit, and was in general in a poor condition. Unfortunately this was the only car available, and we had no time to find a new camper. We decided to make it work. My supporter is an electrician, and I have an education in mechanics so we didn’t waste more time arguing.
We spent the first night just outside of Zaragoza. Clear sky and the car now smell like artificial apples (something we picked up at a gas station…) and we had an OK night in the van. Next day we arrived in Hondarribia, and it rained heavily in the afternoon. Now we discovered that the van had a hole/leak in the roof. A major leak! And it was not unknown to the rental service, because it was “repaired” or at least they spent a roll of duct tape on the roof…
With a forecast that predicted rain during the first days of the competition this was not good!
After some research we were heading to Bilbao where we could change the camper van. It was in way better condition than the other, but unfortunately the beds were only 170 cm long. We are all 183 cm or more… not ideal!
But now there was really no time to do anything about it. We had to pack and organize the car before the race.
Finally race day came and we were almost ready. We didn’t have much time to look at the forecast or strategy in advance because of all the hassle with the van, so we felt a little unprepared when the countdown at the beach of Hondarribia began. But we were optimistic and in a good mood. Ready to enjoy this adventure!
Fred Juvaux’s team, XPyr D-1
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
Three hours of registration in 50 seconds…
The registrations were fast, fast, fast
Team’s presentation REMY P1
No X-Pyr without a competent, versatile and friendly team.
For this X-Pyr 2022 edition, the core of the team is made up of 4 Pyreneans, “local people”.
Pierre REMY, athlete of the French team, 2 X world champion (FAI 2017 and PWCA 2018) will take the start on Sunday morning, with his trainers in the sand, from Hondarrabia.
At his side on the field, Nicolas FORIO known (and recognized) for his ability to swallow the kilometres. He will be the support, the “Swiss Army knife” of the team. Matthieu ROUDIERE, the first-aid climber of the quartet. He will also play the role of weatherman.
Somewhere in a secret location in the Hautes-Pyrénées, Manu BONTE, the team’s weather and aerology expert, will accompany the group in the forecasts.
This weekend is all about preparation.
See you on Sunday!
Long way to get there, but finally registered for xpyr 2022!
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 18th 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 18th 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!
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