Loaded the route into my flight instrument. Looks simple on the overview,
but I know once we get down in the valleys amidst all those trees, it’s
going to get X. I love the route! That double crossing near Luchon will be
spectacular!
The “X” of the X-Pyr, and of our 10th anniversary, and of course, of Munich, our main sponsor since the first edition (and, without whom, the X-Pyr would not exist).
Here is the new route for this fascinating edition.
Longer, more complex, more international, more… challenging!
A route of 605.5 km, with 8 turnpoints. With distances between each averaging around 80 km, and altitudes of more than 2800 metres, and maximum free distances of almost 100 km.
A traditional start, with the now famous Larun turnpoint (come and join us to see the take-off of all the teams). 94 km later, they will reach the famous Accous flying area, on the north face of the Pyrenees. Then, 83 km further on, they will arrive at a much visited turnpoint, the Peña Montañesa. And here we start our “X”. With stretches of about 75 km, they will progress from the Peña Montañesa to another well-known flying area, Arbas, in the French Pre-Pyrenees. From there, they turn back west to the imposing mountain of Midi de Bigorre. And back again to the Spanish side, entering the Corronco, a well-known cross-country route in the Pyrenees. After the Corronco, a visit to the famous Font Romeu area, to the Pic del Moros turnpoint, and then directly to the longest stretch of the race, to reach the Santa Helena de Rodes goal, where the individual time will be stopped. This will be followed by a pleasant glide to the raft on the beach of El Port de la Selva.
605.5 km with a multitude of options, flight exclusion zones and very, very different weather in the different areas.
A route that, for sure, will not disappoint. Now let’s hope that the weather helps the teams.
Months before the race, it’s game on. Our small team is scattered in NZ,
US, and CH, resulting in planning meetings at all times of the day… and
night. We are in the “race to prep mode” right now, as all of us prepare to
make our life changes to accommodate such an incredible race. We have been
deep in checklists, maps, previous tracks, spreadsheets, meeting minutes,
and action items; if I didn’t know any better, I’d say it feels like I’m in
corporate, holding a starbucks coffee with some sort of briefcase. Luckily
the gym, hiking, and overall training are preventing that feeling from
being longer than it takes to finish said coffee.
My favorite moment from our last meeting was: “It’s late, let’s get some
dinner and get to sleep,” and Chris immediately chirped up with “Dinner? It
is time to go back to the gym.” The quiet yet resounding “oh” made us all
laugh. Then Ross fell asleep since it was 1am his time while Nino had
breakfast in Switzerland.
A little review of these two days of flight, a little less than 350km and a little more than 13h of flight.
Monday, a beautiful day is announced, a strong instability, some ceiling but a lot of East wind in the mountains and on the piedmont.
Everything starts rather well, I swallow the first 40 km in just 1h and I put almost 1h to make the next 5km… This flight will have been a real fight against a strong wind, but I don’t let go, I didn’t put down my day to give up! Finally after 6 hours of fight between wind and rain, I manage to complete a 140km triangle. Monday’s track
So, a bit frustrated and angry, I put down my tuesday, cancel my appointments and think only of one thing, fly !
Appointment at 11am for the shuttle (Thanks Thierry Bohé) and gazzzz !
I take off a little before noon and start the cavalcade trying not to get too excited, because it’s a little early and my first bypass point will be a hang up on the West face around 1pm…
Contrary to my habits, I perch, roll up almost everything he passes like a real tourist.
In the end it pays off, I never bumper, I always arrive above the reliefs and my average speed is above 30km/h.
The ride continues and despite the usual low point towards Lourdes I am still in the right timing, I pass Campan still in perched mode, and at the level of Sarrancolin an idea comes to me, two messages to Benoit Fabre “200 or I’ll put down! I’m going to Oo”!
So, I fork in the direction of Luchon, no more foothills, the timing is good, I think the 200 is going to blow! Finally, I change my mind and aim for Antenac, my GPS shows 200, I just have to go back! But of course everything becomes complicated, it was necessary at some point… I get dripped and end up at the bottom of Oo (yeah I know at one point I had planned to go there) I look at Vincent Vincent’s terrace thinking that he will take care of me as always if I stop there, but no, no way, I get my finger out and even if it’s already 4:30 pm and I still have 70km to go back I don’t give up, but it’s going to be hot!
I pass the Peyresourde like when I was young, block in the pass and slowly go out on the west face, even if the hardest is still to come I already start to dream,
Now I’m going north to take back the piedmont and hope for 4 thermals to go back to push by the North-East.
I go slowly, I assure the ceilings, look for all the birds, look at the ground as never and finally touch the west face that goes up to Montaigut, it’s past 6:30 pm, I have 20km left, in my head I know it’s over even if there’s still a bit of work to do…But I can’t stop thinking about this teenage dream we had with Pierre Dejous for almost 15 years, Luchon-Accous return, and I’m going to do it, but without him ….
The emotion rises in this last slide, I slide as much as I can, touch the north face of the small Caba on the ground, I have 6km left, I know that it passes, I call my wife and aim at the landing where beers are waiting for me with Thierry Bohé.
It’s done, after 10 years of trying I finally managed to complete a 200km triangle on the north face of the Pyrenees in just over 7 hours!
Tuesday’s track
Practicing my ‘escape to the flatlands’ move this weekend in the X-Eryri
race in Snowdonia, North Wales. The south wind came tearing through the
mountains, but this gave an opportunity to ride the lift where it converged
with the lazy air on the coastal plain.
With Ceri in my ear and Courtney in the van, my race team worked like a
machine! Bring on the X-PYR 22.
A few weeks ago Team Helleland/Aarhus gathered in Bergen and arranged a test run to see how the team managed to work together, and to recognize areas where we need to improve and/or adjust. The idea was to spend two days in race mode. Starting at 07:00 in the morning and continuing to be on the move until 21:00. The task was planned to be out and return northbound with some mandatory waypoints along the route.
We started the test in urban surroundings at Streamer AS, one of our main sponsors, in Bergen City 07:00 on Saturday 23th of April. First stage was up mt Ulriken (643m asl), cross to the eastern side, and an early glide eastbound. Easier said than done due westerly airflow, but we managed to find an area to get airborne and continue as planned though a bit delayed.
We packed up, filled up with water, grabbed some food on the go, and hiked up Skåldalsnipa (605 m asl). At the top the conditions were not ideal with Northerly winds. But the sun was heating the ground and we thought it was OK timing to go flying. Knut was first in the air to test the conditions. He was pushed southbound by the wind, but he managed to find thermals and stay airborne. I launched, and the same happened to me. I was pushed southbound (in the opposite direction of the route) but I was able to stay airborne. When I tried to head north I was flushed down by the wind and pushed back south, all the way to the ground. I landed at the exact same field as earlier on the day. Not ideal…
OK. What to do? Get back up again!
Important to stay positive!
Another hike up, and now the conditions were more mature. The sun had come around to heat the west face of the mountain and it was a better setup to push into the headwind. Launch conditions were strong and the take off was vertical. In the air my instruments indicated 25-30 kmt winds from the North-north-west. Together with airspace limitations at 1067 meters it was challenging to move forward along the route. Decision was made to fly a different route than first planned towards TP1. It worked out quite well, and even if the conditions were far from ideal I managed to get a 42 km flight northbound, and landed in the crossroad to the road leading onroute. Not far, and far from my expectations of the day, but still I was OK satisfied the way the day turned out with regard to wind and the bomb out earlier on the day.
Now it was time to grab a quick meal and hit the road. My team made me a coffee to enjoy while walking, and motivation was top. After a 11 km walk in scenic surroundings it was time to stop at 21:00. My team had already found a suitable place to camp. Last hours of the evening were used to clean up, eat, and prepare for the next day.
Sunset. Straume-Moldalen
Next day started at 06:15. Breakfast, coffee, and a short briefing about today’s plan and weather. Weather was again challenging with quite strong North easterly winds.
iKamper roof tents are ideal for quick and easy camping
The team planned a 15 km hike to position me for an east facing site with the possibility to soar northbound and at the same time take advantage of early thermal conditions. The plan was good and I was on the go at 07:00. Two hrs later, and two coffees later, I was ready to hike up the hill and execute step two of today’s plan. The hiking conditions were far from good. More snow than expected and Knut and I had a struggle in the soft and deep snow. We found a decent take off site, but the wind got stronger and more gusty. Also the cloud picture looked less inviting with lentic’s and visible signs of really strong winds aloft. The team on the ground also reported increasing winds with gusts on the valley floor. Not good…
A lot of snow in the mountainsstrong and cold winds at the top
We decided to wait for a while to see the development. Wise. Winds picked up more and we decided to move on to plan B. Bite the bullet, walk down, and continue hiking along the road.
After some hours hiking we decided to make a new attempt to get airborne. It seemed like the wind was weaker, and the windy clouds had to some degree softened out. The team found a possible take off site with a steep path leading in that direction. But again the snow was a major issue. We spent almost 2 hrs hiking 500 height meters. Soft and deep snow was draining our energy. Good thing I brought a good amount of energy bars!
At the top the winds were not too strong and we managed to get in the air on an east facing slope, and then fly around to work the lee side where the sun was heating. It worked!
It was relatively stable air with thermals to a maximum of 1200 m asl and winds from the NE made the flight challenging. Also the fact that the fjord from Mo has few/no landing options made the flight interesting. After 10-12 kms with no landings it was time to head north into Romardalen. A narrow valley with rising terrain. It was all covered with snow from the valley floor and up. No thermal activity and lee conditions. The flight ended here, in a parking lot next to the main road. Anyway, still far from my hopes for the day I landed with the same feeling as the day before. To some degree satisfied. Even though the conditions were difficult we managed to turn our mindset around and make use of them.
Now it was again time to pound the pavement until 21:00. Coffee and some Drytech food kept me going.
The test was now over. I covered approximately 3500 height meters hiking, 67 km flying, and 67 km walking/running. We did not get around our planned O/R task, but even if the conditions were difficult we stuck to the task and tried to make the most out of it. Good exercise both physically and mentally.
The team worked well to try to keep me going at all times. We need to adjust some routines and checklists and delegate/share some tasks within the team. We also need to learn from our mistakes! To be on ground when conditions start to pick up is far from ideal. This is probably my biggest challenge. I’m too keen to get going, and not patient enough to stop and wait when required. My supporter and team knows this, and will try their very best to hold me back if necessary.
If not the best weekend to cover longer XC it was actually a great weekend to get some experience with my team. Challenging winds and flying conditions, decision making, and many transitions between hiking, flying, walking.
Anyway, even if the conditions during the test weekend were challenging, and the snow, heat or whatever is making it difficult, the team knows that it all sorts out with a cup of coffee:)
Hopefully we won’t have the same issues with snow in the Pyrenees, even though reports say that snow actually may be an issue. It will be interesting to see. Second week of May I will be in the Pyrenees to get familiarized with the area, and I’ll get an idea of the snow and other factors/conditions.
I have decided not to compete in the X-Pyr. The reason is that the risk is too high that I can massively worsen the healing process of my broken femur.
So far I can’t complain about the healing process at all, as a lot has happened in the last 7 weeks. My mobility has been restored to some extent. In principle, I can walk without crutches, but my gait is anything but clean. At the end of May, light hike & fly should be possible again. It is important for me now to listen to my body and not to do too much too fast. I would love to run up the mountains again yesterday.
I therefore want to give my body time to heal without pressure and stress and will probably follow the X-Pyr again this year in live tracking. I hope for a very exciting race and an interesting route.
I wish all the teams a great experience and an exciting race. I will definitely follow it.
Note from the X-Pyr organization
We wish Markus the best of recoveries. And, of course, you know that X-Pyr 2024 will still be here.
On the other hand, this means the entry into the race of one of the teams on the waiting list. The one formed by Edouard Potel and Jerôme Alixant. Welcome!.
I’ve arrived in Europe, bought an ebike, had a big flight around my new neighborhood, and I’ve taken the weekend off to get some organising done. One of the things on my list was to write an update for xpyr, but when I look into it I see I am a month early. In any case, it’s always smart to be on the organisers’ good side.
Back in 2014 the x-pyr was my first hike and fly race in Europe. It was an amazing adventure of course, but then, as now, I still fear the long road walking parts. With 18km before you even start the ascent up La Rhune, it is six times the distance of the first xalps turn point! So obviously a much harder race. But the good news is that the route zig zags through the highest part of the pyrenees, which is good motivation to push through green cloudy France.
I am really looking forward to sharing the race with my supporters. Andrew, official supporter, was Carl’s eyes and brain when he chased me back in 2014. With some extra help on the fourth day when a hitchhiker helped him navigate – and I ended up at his intended destination! I’ve known these guys for most of the time I’ve been a pilot, discovering the “underground” Conondale club and their discrete unlikely launches on the small hills of the Sunshine Coast hinterland, flying with xalps legend of the day, Lloydy. They also both joined me for a road trip around the pyrenees a month before the 2014 event.
A couple of rookies have contacted me asking for advice. So here it is. Take care of your legs – don’t ruin yourself on the first day. Perhaps see what they can handle now, before it’s too late. And, take care of your supporters – make sure everyone gets enough rest, and don’t stress too much. You want to manage your psyche so you’re engaged but not overwhelmed – and the excitement of a race with live tracking is likely to push you maybe a little too far. So, make your own decisions, and have fun!
Photos and video are from my first flight this year in the southern French Alps.
And what is coming is the most exciting event so far – more teams than ever, at a higher level. More kilometres in the course, more excitement and anticipation… higher, longer, bigger, better… join us!
