Just released! The X-PYR STORY series is free to watch on https://bit.ly/xpyr-story

It was an unforgettable experience. Congratulations to all of you.

best wishes

Greg

  INSTRUCTOR

flywithgreg.com

The final day…

Today we hooked up with Nicolas Hayes at breakfast. We discussed the options on how to get over to France and further northwest towards TP4. There were two different passes to choose from to get across to the French side. Nicolas knew some pilots in the area and we got some tips on where to go.

We geared up and started hiking. As we started the ascent we saw Greg Hammerton hiking towards the other pass. We discussed our options a little, and concluded it would probably not be that much different. This pass or the other. Potato potato…

As we approached the pass over to France the wind increased rapidly and was funneled through the pass. Major rotor on the French side. Our plan to launch high on the lee side and catch the early thermals on the east facing side was impossible to execute, and we had to walk quite far down (below the inversion) and into France before we found an acceptable area to launch. Unfortunately for us we saw Greg on the livetrack. He was able to launch, climb high, and continue towards TP4. In hindsight it was of course a much better choice of route. More protected from the wind compression, and less hostile terrain on the French side.

Anyway, Nicolas and I were finally able to launch and continue towards Luchon. Some weak thermals made us extend the glide past the airport in Luchon, but no further. Stable, and surprisingly strong valley wind from the north. Headwind. Hard to make progress by flying. The only good option was to walk to the end of the valley and see if we were able to continue flying towards TP4 there.


As we walked we calculated our speed, the elevation, and the deadline at 21:00 to see if we could make it to the top of Pic du Gar. Tight, but we decided to give it a try. It would be great to finish the race in the air. Both our teams helped us with supply of food, water, and whatever required for us to keep going. Nicolas had his father and brothers supporting him. Great people, and really nice to get to know them all!

At the peak our options to launch were not as good as we expected. In the end we decided to give it a try from an area of tall stinging nettles. A weak breeze, and we both took off at the same time and glided together towards TP4. Since Pic du Gar is at 1900 meters the glide was long, and lasted for 25 minutes.

We landed 5 minutes before the deadline. A good way to end the day, and the race, even if this was not a great day for us. 

Xpyr 

What an XPirience!

O had the opportunity to come experience this race and it was incredible!

I could talk about rain, hiking in the rain, Dengue Fever, difficulties… But that was just part of the game.

I would rather think about the most beautiful views of one of the most magnificent mountain rages of the world, and how incredible it was to go through it’s little corners, valleys and peaks.

How the climb after take off opened this amazing array of valleys and peaks, some covered with snow still.

How the vultures were so nice to indicate the thermals but would leave as soon as o started circling with them as to give room to the clumsy white and red bird that appeared.

How it is not needed to start from the top os the mountain as halfway hill the thermals were already good, and a timed take of would make you out climb the peak in minutes if you timed it right.

That just to talk about the nature.

But the XPyr is so much more than nature, it is the people that put it together in amazing fashion with attention to detail and care and also the pilots and assistants that flock from around the world to do this incredible adventure.

I tried not to use superlatives, but it is just not possible, everything is superlative in this event, the organizers, the pilots, the assistants and of course the nature!

I loved it all, including the suffering before the good weather(would prefer without it though😉).

Hope to come back next time.

Thank you so much Renata for being my supporter, with attention, patience and love.

Thank you everyone else, organization, pilots, supporters.

I loved it!!!

Grande abraço,

João

Great job by Kinga, finishing the race in 24th place and completing a route of 299.9 km.

Last, intense, exciting and satisfying day of the X-Pyr 2022 race. I’m very happy to be part of the top ten of the table and I go home with a good impression being my first participation. It has been a very very hard race and it has not been easy, but this still makes me feel happier with myself for the work I’ve done. I keep many moments in my heart and the spirit of this race. THANK YOU.

Don’t miss that video! James Elliot’s words as David Corpas approaches from behind. Competition and companionship.

No more words are needed, that’s what Cedar says: Best team ever!!!!  

First- every edition is a win on experience and exploring new areas, also this one brings us deep into the Pyrenees!

Second- also when it looks hard (this time the route was more than 600km and crossed the main ridge twice, and the weather forecast was bad) somehow it will work, and often it comes better than expected!

And third- a race is not finished before the finishline. This time we started off on different routes, but came together again in the lead for a first long flight on day 3. After that it was windy and for the first time in 12 years of Hike&Fly adventure races i spent a full day hiking, that was hard… On the final day, with Maxime and Pierre on the same mountain and 150km to go. We had good teamwork before a difficult area spread us away. We came together once more at the last big mountain Canigou where Maxime arrived higher and flew away. I decided to hike up a bit to be back in thermal – and it worked! I stayed focused on myself and tried to stay high to fly as long and far as possible. This edition we had permission to underfly the airspace, what allowed me to fly until 3km before the finishline – unbelievable!

After 46h of hiking, covering a distance of 262km and 18’800m ascent, I arrived healthy and very happy (ok, i feel like i’m 10 years older now…)

In general the race here with a familiary organisation committee was a pleasure and for sure the rest period during the night from 9pm to 7am was for all athletes and staff more relaxed (hope to have this also at @redbullxalps 2023)

Thanks for all the fan support and motivation during these days- you are the best followers!

I started the last day of the race with a hike with 2k of elevation. Unfortunately thermals didn’t work well till the afternoon, so I had to hike up again. But then I enjoyed an incredible flight and finished the race in Andorra at 20:30h.

At least they have finished the day with a sunset in the Pyrenees, amazing.

Goal achieved. The two hug.

Mikolaj Kokot | Day 7 – Landings Day 6 and Day 7

The battle continues. Although the day is better than expected, it seems that it will not allow large flights.

Iñigo has had to mark the beacon walking. He will try to take off, but apparently with little chance of flight.

Day 7 of Reto Reiser. After going through Tp4, he has landed 30 km from Midi de Bigorre. We will see how the day ends.

In one of the toughest X-pyr for its route and weather, participants continue arriving. Simon Oberrauner is near the finish line.

He has had to walk a lot all these days, it seems that today, when it ends, the most flyable days begin.

Quick breakfast and interview of David Liaño.

Impressions of day 7, it seems that it is better than expected.

Yuji Emoto -Day 7 – Pack and interview

Thibault Voglet-Day 07 – Intervew before ascent Midi

Fabian Umbricht -Day 07 -the ascent to Midi begins

Noe Court – Day 7 -Walk and Wait in Take off

Patrick Sieber – Day 7 -Take off in Tp4

Final Run – Pierre Remy – Day 7 Runing to Goal

I wish I could be like him once. Old and stubborn to reach every purpose 😛

Noé Court

Day 6 started slowly. We decided to wake up later than usual as we slept just below a high take off – Peña Montañesa. We got up there still far too early to fly, but that way we could escape the sun a bit. Around 1pm the thermal activity finally showed signs and we took off direction France.

What a flight it was! No clouds, wind direction quite unexpected at times, thermals rather messy and spread out… At times we managed to get up to 3300m, but most of the time we stayed around 2500m. It definitely made it easier to fly it as a group, although clearly everyone had a different approach…

On the main ridge to France, we encountered valley winds of 40km/h or more, so we had to gain a lot of altitude before making the jump to the lee side. It was a bit scary at that point, but that was it, no way back. I crossed the ridge and floated above the clouds covering the sky in the north. We made it to France!

But there conditions were completely different. As the sky was covered in clouds, we had to descend below them to gain visibility. However, there we encountered strong valley wind from the north (before it was coming from the south!) and no thermals. While the transition was smooth, it was just really hard to keep going against the wind: in places we were not moving at all.

So after an afternoon of flying, during which we covered most of the distance to Arbas, the majority of our group landed, with no forward speed. An intense experience, that is for sure!

I lost some time chatting in the landing just to realize it was already pretty late. I had to rush to the closest take off if I was still to fly one last time before 9pm. So that is what I did. I ran up and managed to squeeze one final glide at 8:40pm, despite the back wind. Landed just short of 9pm, close to a fellow pilot, Keith, for another night of party in the mountains.

Overall a very good day. Less walking, more flying and I even managed to get up a few positions on the ranking.

Day 7: here we come!

Yesterday was a dream day for us. The Flyingconditions on the south side were really good.

After crossing the main north/south ridge Reto had to overcome a difficult passage near Bossòst. Right after that, he managed to land high towards col de menté. After a short ascent, he could launch again and tag TP4 from the air!

Finally, we could gain some airtime and move forward on the overall ranking. Today we look forward to a beautiful last day of X-Pyr 2022 on the French side of the Pyrenees in hopefully good flying conditions.

Day 4 Kinga’s patience paid off, she hiked 1200m that morning and waiting for and hour on launch for the day to turn on as two other competitors launched and glided out. Her patience was rewarded with a windy and difficult flight, but 35km on track to TP3. The air was rough, and it was an exhausting flight. She then took to the pavement and reached the Suerio expecting a good glide to the valley. The winds however kept us parked, with a 3:1 glide she landed, packed, and met for pizza and camp.

Day 5 began with a morning hike and a hope. The weather models couldn’t agree and we decided to take the risk of climbing Nabain. Chris assisted in her launch in an incredibly tight location, barely fitting her wing and having to lay some of it on a bush. She launched at 10am, just before the winds were supposed to press her down. She made it work, crossing all the way to Peña Monteñesa by air! After landing at only Noon, we set our destination as Campo for a good forecast the next day. Based on the winds, we wanted to surf the ridge to Campo, yet somehow the winds stayed East throughout the day. This resulted in 24km on foot to Campo where a hotel and steak awaited. Prepped for a morning flight off the local site to cross to France for TP4!

My team when they say they have a lot to do ! 

My old dad ! 😛 Still alive :0 Even in strong pain he follows whatever it takes ! He is amazing. I’m sure he is the best support I have. 

Noé Court did 2 flight’s during day 6 and the second was quite long.

“Tomas Matera daily report Friday: 

Definetly better day than yesterday, some interesting take off and landings today and nice evening glide to the Spain. 

I wouldn’t say that we choose the best way today but I’m enjoying a lot still. In good mood, racing with myself and the route in general 🙋🙂”

What a crazy two days! So crazy that we couldn’t even write a blog post yesterday… Oupsie!

Yesterday was a neck and neck race, with which we found ourselves at the foot of Peña Montañesa for the night rest with a whole group of 4 or 5 teams.

This morning, for a change, it was “sleep in” and we started only at 8 am to take the turnpoint.

And then it was parawaiting – patience, patience and again patience! Finally, around 1 pm the whole group took off and could fly relatively close together to Castejon de Sos. Here the field split and Patrick showed some courage to tackle the main ridge as first in the group. One of the most epic flights he ever got to do. The Pyrenees are just so amazing!

Tomorrow we attack Turnpoint 4 as the race comes to an end, who would have thought that at day 3!

Today was the highlight of the race for Rich despite being unwell. Starting the day with a slow hike up Peña Montanesa for what appeared to be a international para waiting party. Team Poland, Team USA, Team UK and Team Germany. Initially It was a bit touch and go for Rich as he sunk out on glide over Castejon Des Sos. He quickly packed up and hiked up to relaunch, this time making it into France. Tonight we camp high with plans of a early morning glide to tag Arbas (Rich’s personal goal for the competition). Bring on day seven!!

6th race day of the @xpyrrace 

Today wasn’t my best day but I’m not giving up, I was able to fly this morning and stay very close to TP5, then I did a second flight and here it didn’t go well, I couldn’t make any progress and I ran out of options to rejoin so I had to walk down. I still want to move forward and do the best I can, my ankle and my right foot are pretty hurt but tomorrow I will try to give everything to finish my race as far as I can. So we continue with the war cry, VAMOOOOOOOOS!

Day 5 – Prat Bridge – Sort

 A LEGENDARY day!!! If yesterday was RockNRoll, today is Hellfest!

 Several rooms, several atmospheres!

 Climb in the forest in the mist this morning, blue sky and wind at altitude. Pebbles, lakes, high mountains as we like it!

 Manu’s forecasts announced strong fluxes at altitude and weaker ones in the lower layers.

 The strategic choice was to cross the chain as quickly as possible to position oneself on Castejon, hoping to trace towards the next timepoint… and it was done!

 A real mountain day today and a optimized strategy.

 A big Pull Up for Manu BONTE today, the Evelyne Dhéliat of X-Pyr, the Candeloro of aerology. He is 100% alongside the team since Soulom. 

 Summary of the day:

 TP6 checked

 PETER IS 1ST!!!!!!! 

 As some have told us by message:

         “Today is the X-Pierre ! “

 The choice is to optimize a night in the heights tonight.

 Pierre is doing well, and morale is high.

 Strength and Robustness ++ the team!

 We don’t get fired up, we keep the same ones and we start again tomorrow… and the day after tomorrow!

Day 6 was a superb example of “gaggle” flying! 7 pilots took off from TP3 and although 2 broke from the pack to find their own paths, 5 stayed together for the majority of the day and worked as a group. A wonderful display of sportsmanship on a blue sky day where they only had each other and the birds to show them the way to TP4!

To move from Arbas to Pic de Midi Bigorre took us 2 days. With hikes in the rain and under the fog! Due to these conditions, we deserved a treehouse for the night. But finally the effort to reach the spanish border paid off! With a beautiful flight i could reach El Corronco. Please Inigo skip the french side for a next episode! It is just pain while on the south side, in Spain it is flyable, warm and the sun shines.

Bad times, good times…

I packed all my gear in the morning. Quite a lot extra today with a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, food etc due to yesterday’s eventful end of the day.

My flexible Niviuk Race rucksack (50 liters) with its many pockets and flexible bands did the job even with a Vol Biv setup.

Even though I had a relatively short climb this morning, it was hard enough. I had no path to follow, and “off piste” in the Pyrenees is challenging due to vegetation. When at the top the wind was noticeable. So was the inversion. I’m not a person who is made for waiting, and now it was time to wait for the conditions to improve. Time to fight my instincts…

After some waiting I felt the condition were improving, the inversion was not that visible anymore, and I was keen to go. It was only a few kilometers between me and a big group of pilots in the mid pack of the race. I wanted to join that group today.

In the air the wind was present (as every day), and the thermals didn’t go very high. But it was on. Slow, but on. Still early. Or at least early for today’s conditions. 

The lack of alternative landings had not changed from yesterday, and there were no options in the most direct routing. In addition, airspace restrictions made it impossible to jump one ridge further back where it would have been more comfortable to soar the mountains in these conditions. All this, together with my experience from yesterday, made me choose a safer route towards TP3. My safe choice of route, this early in the day, forced me to land way too early. I was frustrated and a bit angry with myself. First of all I was too early in the air (no one else flew in that area until 1,5 hrs later) and secondly I was probably not reset and properly rested from yesterday, and my decisions in the air were influenced by that.

Time to reset! Only one option: Hike back up! I got rid of all my camping gear, had a decent meal and hiked back up together with my supporter, Knut!

Knut is great on occasions like this. Always positive, smiling and joking. Makes it easier for me to change focus from the errors and mistakes, and rather look ahead for what we can do to improve the situation. 

At the top we found a suitable area to launch. A quick setup and I was ready to go. I expected the conditions to be good since it was 16:00 and the sun was at its most powerful. We also had some strong gusts on our way up the mountain indicating thermal activity. But it was surprisingly difficult to get away from the mountain. The meteo wind destroyed the thermals and I had to spend some time before I found the formula on how to drift my way over the top.

I got enough altitude to continue my glide towards TP3. I reached Mt. Corronco low, but I was able to soar up the south side in quite strong wind. Tagget the turnpoint in the air and continued towards TP4. In the air I hooked up with Nicolas Hayes from Argentina and we flew together most of the flight this evening. We landed together in a narrow valley close to Mt Aneto, and both teams decided to stay at the local hotel for the night. Luxury, and a nice way to end an eventful day with both bad times and good times.

David Corpas speaks about strong wind and the wet weather and James Elliott adds that was insane.

On the way…

A first flight, on the way to TP5.

Launching from TP 5 Midi de Bigorre

Faced again with tricky conditions and the now already familiar low cloud layer on the north side we had no choice but to cover distance on the ground. Two very efficient glides, one with some soaring were at least some relieve and helped us get further than expected – with the south side only one hike away.

After the awesome day of flying the north side of the Pyrenees was not that kind on us. Cloud cover and strong winds at the Pic du Midi turnpoint had Simon spend a lot of time waiting for feasible conditions. He battled very turbulent air and ended the day trapped on a mountain pass in a thunderstorm.

With paragliding being a conditions-dependent sport, days four and five of the X-Pyr were pretty hike-centric. Rob was faced with strong headwinds both days, making it tricky to fly, but he was able to cover a good distance on the ground. He was ushered into camp at the end of day four by a booming thunderstorm with some pretty dramatic lightning strikes. We posted up near Yesera, Spain, where we enjoyed some tasty pizza that was generously delivered by Keith’s friend Alex, a wingsuit athlete local to the area.

By mid-afternoon on day five, Rob had walked and run a good portion of the day, taken a short flight and charged through the town of Ainsa towards Peña Montañesa, which is TP3. The decision was made as Rob approached Peña to rally up a very direct trail with a lot of vert and tag the TP on foot, with the idea that we would make it back down to camp and set out east the next day to a different launch. Rob was able to tag the TP before the cutoff time for the day, but we didn’t make it back down to the car. Keith was a champ and hiked food, water, and camping gear up to Rob, and I made an out and back run to the car to grab more gear and join him for the night up on the side of the mountain, which was actually quite nice.

Rob has been playing leapfrog with a few other athletes chugging along in the same zone; it’s been fun to run into and chat with them and their teams, including Rich Binstead and co. Rob has been working really hard, never stopping, and has done a good job of putting himself in a good position to utilize XC conditions on day six. ‘Til next time!

Here are the back of the race we are fighting for every mile of distance. Getting served with rain, cloud and wind. Walking up high peaks only to find stable layers beneath it, or risky wind flows that force a long walk down. Now we are in Spain and hopes are high for a big flight. I’ve updated the X-PYR coverage with some live streams during the race. Enjoy an inside look at racing life. X-PYR 2022 here.

Day 3 was a really great day for team Canada. At the end of day 2, James ended up in a really good position that allowed him to hike into Spain early in the morning and get a flight early in the day, allowing him to make the most of the day.

6 hours and 20 minutes in the air had James way too stoked to be off the ground and not walking, flying over some of the craziest terrain in the Pyrenees!

Day 4 is looking promising weather-wise so we’re looking to hike up early in the morning and try to make the most of the day, landing on mountains and avoiding valley bottoms until the day turns on.

Day 4 started out looking promising with a blue sky. James woke up just south of the France border and was looking to tag turnpoint 4, Arbas, by at least the end of the day. When he got in the air he quickly realized that the air was rather stable and decided to hike and sledder from ridge to ridge until finally, late afternoon, he was able to get a short thermic flight and land at the base of the backside of the ridge just south of Arbas. Unfortunately it was a little late in the day when he tagged the waypoint, and had to finish the day in the middle of a forest. Team Canada is really pleased with James’ performance and how he’s placing on the scoreboard. If he does his best to continue to be consistent as well as take care care of his health, then he should place well by the end of the race.

The weather for day 5 doesn’t look so promising and James is not looking forward to hiking down the road all day, so hopefully the weather won’t be absolutely terrible.

Noé Court has could to launch during the fifth day.

And then, after running in the rain, a bit of relax before tomorrow.

David’s summary of the day.

On the way…

Lot of rain – 75 km of hiking – no flights, that’s all I wanted to say.

A challenge to my supporters!

We had taken a strategic choice yesterday by hiking over high mountains to be in a position where we could glide out the altitude instead of hiking/running downhill, which is a pain to my knee. Wind could be an issue but most prognoses indicated it should be a flyable window in the morning.

Knut and I got ready at 07:00 and walked around the corner on top of the valley. We were both optimistic for a long sweet morning glide. We were even discussing soaring the ridges to extend the flight quite a bit. But as we approached our planned area of launching we realized the wind was not perpendicular to the valley, but it was funneled into the valley and compressed through this area. Strong and gusty! We waited a bit, but the conditions only got worse. Knut was crystal clear: This is not safe! In addition it was headwind so I would probably not make any progress at all. Now I had a long walk downhill ahead…no good.

Some way down the valley we decided to have another go at flying. We found a suitable take off and I was able to fly down to the valley floor, and landed on the sandbanks of a lake.  Still quite windy so I didn’t make much forward progress, and the landing was vertically due to the strong wind. But it was OK and at least I didn’t have to walk downhill. Then it was just to saddle up and continue along the road for another 15 km.

After a while we grabbed a meal, and discussed how the day actually seemed to improve, despite the forecast saying wind, rain and overdevelopment. As we discuss we see two gliders in the air. Livetrack showed that they are part of the competition. They had chosen a much more southerly route yesterday, and were in a better position to avoid the wind. But now we were in the same spot and we had no time to lose. We planned which mountain to climb and went up.

The others that had flown over us a little earlier had landed in the valley towards TP3, and were hiking. It was late in the afternoon and we had to try to catch them.

In the air the thermals were weak, and a bit broken by the wind, but they worked. Luckily I had some tailwind component and was drifting almost in the correct direction. Now it was my turn to overfly the others. It shifts quickly in a competition like this. I was in the mood to go far and fast. Too much in the mode maybe…

Late in the evening I was able to soar up a west facing ridge and just had enough height to drift over the top and drop over at the back to shortcut the route. Lee side. Flushed down. I was prepared for this. It was expected. What I didn’t expect was the lack of alternative landings.  Absolutely nothing! High pine trees as far as I could see. I continued on the speedbar to avoid the flush while I was calculating my options. I was too low to land on the summit above the trees, and my glide ratio was far from good enough to reach the open areas in the valley. Conditions would probably improve the further away from the lee I came, but I didn’t risk it. I didn’t want to continue downwind either to see if there was an opening in the forest somewhere. A three landing in these high trees would probably damage my gear, and potentially myself, and the race would be over.

I decided to set up for landing in a small open area on a mud road that was winding up on an otherwise tree covered hill. Not much space at all. Difficult as the wind made it turbulent, and it was not an ideal area to land a paraglider. I was able to pump myself down to the ground, but I was not quick enough to catch/pull in all parts of my glider and my right wing tip got stuck up in a tree.

Some lines caught quite high up in the trees…

The opening in the road was due to some work they had done, and part of that was to remove the bottom branches from the trees to clear the road. In my case that was a good thing because I was able to land there, but it was also frustrating because I was not able to climb the tree in a good way to get my glider loose. I tried to get it down by myself, but soon realized I needed help from my team. A rope and some manpower were required.

But where was I? And where were they? And where is the cell phone coverage in Spain?

I was able to get some coverage, got in touch with my team, and sent them a pin on my location. This would probably take some time since they had to walk quite far to get to me. (Approximately 10 kms). I was not allowed to move since it was past 21.00. I tried to relax, eat, drink, and enjoy the sky that was on fire that evening.

Late in the evening, or more precisely early at night they arrived. Well equipped with camping gear for me, food, headlamps, and repair kit for the glider.

After some time we managed to get the glider down from the trees, but not without some force, and some repair was required. Then it’s great to have a team member with skills and know how to repair gliders. Kudos to Nikolas for a well done field repair performed in the forest in the middle of the night!

Finally it was time to catch some sleep. At least I did get a few hours of sleep. Knut and Nikolas had to hike back down to the van, and they were not back before 04:00.

But hey! The bright side is that I was in a quite good position for the next day! Only 500 meters elevation to hike up to the summit and suitable area to launch. It was now a Vol Bivouac or perhaps a Bivouac Vol trip:)

On the fourth day of the race, Xevi Bonet has had a great day in which he was able to advance several kilometers by air, in difficult terrain with a very low ceiling and dense forest, after having marked the TP Arbas early in the day.

To the surprise of the team, after positioning himself in a good place to mark the next TP, at the Beyrède pass, the organization announced a 24-hour inactivity sanction for Xevi for having flown over a protected area. On this fifth day, the team is resting and we are following the progress of the rest of the teams and studying the possibilities for the penultimate day of the race

Así, llegamos a Midi du Bigorre.

Estamos muy contentos con nuestra posición, y esperamos seguir presionando hasta el final de la carrera.

Camino al TP5 ha conseguido coger a James y compartir ruta.

Today we decided to stop our race because of a growing pain in Édouard’s foot. It is a shame because the body, mind and spirit wanted to continue and go on.

See you in Porte de la Selva! 

Day 3 started in the clouds. We finished day 2 earlier with a few teams gathering in a small village named Mayerau. That place, Mayerau, stays in our memories like a dream. We arrived in the fog, at night, exhausted. We left in the fog, in the morning, a little bit less exhausted. A place that will stay levitating somewhere out of time.

Our strategy was to hike early and the less possible to keep our energy as much as we can. Man those two days walking were something. So no climbing to the TP2, rather we’ll hike behind reaching 2200m and hoping to catch a better weather system. 

I can tell you that, from the valley, the sea of cloud is not appealing at all. We’ve seen it for quite a while now… What is blue? How is yellow and heat?

But on we go through a beautiful beech forest. Some of those trees have hundreds of years, and it is quite a dream-like atmosphere with the fog adding to this effect.

And then, for a brief moment, suddenly a mountain appears. Not all at once, just reflections of the water dripping from its vertical faces but gigantic, overcoming us completely. And the we saw some blue (it exists!) and after a moment we were above the clouds and into another world. Mountains and sunshine and flying conditions!! Hell yeah.

Day 3 is always a turnpoint. It’s the hard one. And it ended with Édouard landing at 20:56pm right next to a sleeping spot. As a Frenchman once said : fumant!!

Hi

So it’s our last post here. After a last hike this morning to reach TP5 in the cloud, we decided to stop here ..

Due to some injuries on the right knee and the left ankle, it was too difficult to continue walking again all the day and probably tomorrow 

This edition of the Xpyr was really hard due to the forecast, we walked really a lot but however it was a really exciting race

Thanks for the support and see you soon 

Tanguy’s team

Yesterday Logan made good distance in the air, but decided to be conservative and prioritize safety while approaching the crest on the way to TP4. As a result, he landed and had to hike over into France. He only has four years of paragliding experience, but is performing incredibly well. His takeaway was that he should push a little harder in the air and plan on doing more hike and fly in Europe, since the terrain and weather at home in California are very different from what we have here in the Pyrenees. He made some good moves in the air on the French side, but eventually hit too much north valley wind to continue making progress flying. Shortly after he landed, three sailplanes that he had been flying with landed at the nearby aerodrome, so conditions were clearly deteriorating. The weather for day 5 looks very challenging for making distance in the air, but he will take any opportunities that present themselves.

Patricks first short flight this morning.

David getting ready to go out to TP4.

Day 4 Let’s begin the day with sunshine…  

The 4th day started with sunshine and we hiked up the mountain for the first flight. However, on top we ended up in a big cloud. Super shortly, there was a little cloud window, which we took to launch our gliders and to finally fly to turnpoint 2! Afterwards we soared up at the entrance of the valley and flew to land over there. Wow – the flying conditions were pretty rough, but we managed to land safe!  

…but the sun is not always shining – which means…  

I decided to stop the race in the afternoon. My decision wasn’t made because of having any physical pains. I still could have hiked to the end of the race in terms of physical strengths, but my psyche was fucking with me more and more. The truth is, that I worked without break for such a long, exhausting time that I really underestimated taking part at a race like this without rest-time before. If you are always somewhere else with your thoughts, also flying is going to be dangerous, which I felt with my last take-off. And the longer it takes, the more you start to think… Additionally I also decided to skip the Eigertour next week and now rest for some time so that I can take part – fully rested – with a good mind and physical strengths at Dolomiti Superfly in August.

“RockNRoll(a)” Day!  It was rock today!  

A nice climb early in the morning just to remember that we left the “low” Pyrenees for the “High”. Pic du Midi takeoff was “sportive”, a darts tournament and 10 km of asphalt later, Pierre and the team are at the Prat bridge this evening.

• Pic du midi tags checked  

• 47 km for 4500 D+ on foot  

Takeoff was complicated at the Pic du Midi… Pierre had to land at Lac d’Oncet, then take off again from Coume Layse for a landing at Payolle. The climb to the Col d’Aspin was done on foot for a last flight to Avajant.  

A physically intense day but the training of the last few months is paying off.  

Tomorrow, the team will attack the massif on the Spanish side on foot. Strength and Robustness guys!

A great start to day 5 for Bud. After the disappointment of yesterday with only 4 hours to work with he ran like the wind and placed himself well for the mornings hike over the dreaded Cotefablo tunnel.

Yesterday night, I was searching the network under the rain.

X-Pyr J+1 Ichère Pass 

What to say … The theme of the day? The rain … no need to look for thermal baths to relax, we are already bathed in humidity up to the tip of our toes.  Anyway, overcast sky as soon as we wake up which definitely doesn’t announce anything good, after a breakfast and a quick packing of the camp, it’s time to set off, Thibault on his feet and us in a van on pursuit.

Thomas quickly decides to go with him on foot and drizzling rain is coming that breaks all hope of being able to fly, at least a “top to bottom” flight but, everything considered, there’s not even too much relief in the area that would allow us that. 

After 60 kilometers on foot already covered yesterday, we swallow kilometres one after the other in a good mood. Despite this very changeable weather, we have the opportunity to discover wonderful landscapes scattered with clouds at all heights. We also experience some encounters. Some human ones when we meet other competitors or their assistants who go back and forth.

Some more animal ones like cows, sheep, horses… some less fierce than the others and among them one in particular.  He first tries to rob Thibault’s wrap before attacking our van with his head. Then he rounds up his friends to prevent me from going away. A break in the rain allows us to make a glide to win some kilometres and to save our feet while going down. This was the first…and the last sky clearing of the day. The rain remains with us until the end. Nevertheless we have some short dry pauses but no relief is workable, looking more like fully green heaps than anything else.

We finally stop at 8:45 pm at the foot of the Ichère Pass to spend the night there between hay bales and river. We try to treat foot blisters and tendons as best as we can following the advices we received from everywhere. We take a very stimulating meal, swallow a camomile tea and go to bed for the night.

Results of the day: 70 kilometres on foot, 1980 meters of d+ – no way to speak about d-! – some foot blisters and a slightly inflamed tendon. Tomorrow, a visit to the pharmacy will be necessary to find something to calm it all, anti-inflammatory cream, straps, talc powder… we take everything!  Otherwise, morale is high, music and laughter.

X-Pyr  J+0   Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

That’s it, here we are, this is the big day, this is the start of the X-Pyr from the beach …  Who says new day of champion says breakfast of champion, and for that nothing better than a good dose of scrambled egg with acoffee. We then pack up the camp, set the van in order and head for the beach, where the race starts. There we meet Antoine Doumenc and his daughter who came to support Thibault and watch the start of the race and the arrival at the first turnpoint. From the finish, we can feel a slight tension among the competitors, a slight stress, we check the instruments again, is everything going well? Do I have the right track to go to the first turnpoint 25km away? And on foot too? On our side, we are ready, all seems well. I take advantage of this wait to prepare the lunch, on the menu, wraps composed of fresh cheese, cucumber, apple, salad and smoked salmon. The last minutes pass, the countdown of the last seconds is launched and bim the departure is launched in the general euphoria, all the athletes leave at the race pace, and it is left for seven days of adventures & 605 km as the crow flies. But let’s start small, first stage, the 25km and its 800m of d+ to reach the first turnpoint. While Thomas leaves with Antoine to join the rack railway station (about 50 minutes away by car), allowing him to reach the summit without effort, I keep myself busy with the last preparations such as paying the campsite, filling the water tank of the van. Once ready, I go in pursuit of Thibault on the course to bring him the necessary assistance such as water, snacks and of course the musical presence. After about ten kilometres I find him and it goes on; like dance steps; the “I pass you, I find a car park, we wave and do it again”. The crucial moment arrives, I cannot go any further. We take the opportunity to make some changes to the equipment such as shoes and walking sticks and we go to meet Thomas & Antoine at the summit after 800m of d+. As for me, I’m going to wait in the North East of the place, just where -normally- I should more or less find Thibault & Thomas on the top after their glide. On my little car park in the shade of the trees, it’s time to get acquainted with the assistant of Édouard Potel who immediately catalogued me: I knew it was you who was coming just by the ear. 

Thibault takes off before Thomas and I find them in a garden, where more or less a dozen pilots have landed … the owners quite not too glad about those intrusions in their gardens. And so begins a second walk with Rémi Bourdelle towards Mount Errebi (582,7m). The opportunity to visit the picturesque village of Ainhoa all dressed in white and red. Thomas joins him for this climb while Rémi drops the watts on the way up. On my side I’m going to wait in Espellete, the occasion for a second picturesque visit but a little bit disappointed, it’s still all dressed in white & red, but they sell here all the victuals of the world … with chilli pepper of course. I pick up Thomas on the road while Thibault does a mini glide “Objectif Fougères” with Rémi. Second departure from Mount Atxulegi (616m). During a few minutes, the hope of a good flight is perhaps felt once the Mount Mondarrain is bypassed, but we face our biggest default to all: the lack of patience; and whereas some manage to get out of it to glide during some additional kilometres (not tens nevertheless…), we touch the ground in the surroundings of Itxassou. Thibault barely has time to fold his sail when we arrive and a team of X-Pyr Race reporters jump on him for an interview straight off.

A long walk begins with the objective to reach Saint Jean Pied-de-Port for the evening. I swap the accelerator and brake pedals for my trusty Vibram FiveFingers and walk with him. On the way we take the time to observe what the others are doing in front of us, some take the option of walking on the flat, others climb towards the south pillar of Baigura.  The latter option could take us 8 to 10km further, but this would mean having to do another 900m of d+. In view of the weather forecast for tomorrow, Monday, which is likely to be the same as today, we’ll stick to the first option; after all, we’re not Chamonix mountaineers; even if the possibility of climbing remains in mind until the last moment. After the last junction, the choice is definitively made, we swallow the kilometres one after the other at a good pace of 6,4 km per hour while having the opportunity to cross our goat fan club cheering us as we pass.  The hour turns, it’s slowly time to think about finding a better bivouac for the night. We find a good opportunity: a basic campsite -certainly- is located at good distance, which should make us close the day between 8:30pm and 9:00pm. The camp is set up nicely by Thomas, shaker of recovery swallowed by Thibault, position foot up to make go down the lactic acid (well, I believe) and on my side I take care of the meal. For this evening we will have on the menu rice with chicken, soy sauce marinade, fish, ginger and pan-fried small vegetables; onions, garlic, zucchini, eggplants, carrots and mushrooms. After a good shower, a moment of relaxation with chamomile tea and comforting chocolate helps us to think slowly about the next day. We have two options: go north towards the Chrigel Maureroption or continue south-east towards the Maxime Pinot option. No decision for this evening, it will be for tomorrow morning according to the evolution of the weather forecast confronted with the reality… Wake up at 6.15am, the coffeepots are ready, we go to sleep for a few hours, and hope for nice and pretty dreams.

Hondarribia, Espana

Wake up at 8:00 am and guess what?  It’s raining… First breakfast “as in a race”: banana, muesli, yoghurt and coffee to get into a good habit from the start. It’s still raining … time for me to switch to Vibram FiveFingersV-trek instead of V-Run, the holes are nice, it’s airy, but not very waterproof. Just to get going, to motivate ourselves, we take advantage of the hot showers of the campsite and then we leave for the first meeting of the day: the collection of X-Pyr “goodies”. Top Secret design cardboard, like children at Christmas, we tear off the tape that closes all that to discover a strange surprise … at registration we had to give the sizes of shoes, t-shirt, shorts so that the organization can prepare all that, and then … the sizes have neither tail nor head obviously. Small example, Thibault finds himself with a t-shirt size XL after a bit of bartering for an element or two, here we are with good sizes, even if some things look a bit doubtful. It’s still raining… An hour to kill before the official race briefing, we head for a small bar on the Place d’Armes for a cappuccino for some and hot chocolate for others. It’s raining … 11:00am rings, we go for the briefing, it promises to be long, Iñigo (the GO of the X-Pyr) tells us that English is not really his thing, but it’s going to be ok… let’s be patient. The different rules are reviewed, the obligations and duties for the pilot and his assistant, detailed review of the course and the different airspaces, etc … in short administrative part. Interesting reminder: this is a race that is not only won as a driver, but in teams with his or her assistants. Humorous point about the videos, don’t shoot vertical, shoot horizontal please. Humans are not Instagram.

We finish on the reception and control of the trackers. Phew, finally free. Casually it’s already 1:30 pm and breakfast is far away now. And guess what? It’s still raining… We headed for a small tapas restaurant in a hurry. Well … once we found one with space and dry.  All that’s left is for us to “keep busy” for the afternoon. After some food shopping to be autonomous for the next two days, we head to Decathlon for some additional accessories given the ambient humidity gloves, a third poncho and an umbrella come to join Thibault’s team while Thomas is already replacing his mattress which gave up the soul the first night. Back to the campsite to get back to the heart of the matter, to examine the different options for tomorrow according to the possible evolution of the weather, to check our communication elements such as Zello and XCTrack. It’s time for me to take advantage of this early evening to perform a very critical task: washing my hair … no idea when will be the next installation with shower & hot water to do this properly, believe me, it’s not with 30 litres of water for three that we get there.  This is followed by a relaxing evening over pizza so as not to think too much about tomorrow. It’s all very real now, so there’s no need to fill your head with details before going to sleep.  If you want to follow us, go to LiveTrack24: https://www.livetrack24.com/events/xpyr2022. Other tracking methods such as Flymaster or SportsTrackLiveare possible, you can find them directly on the X-Pyr website: https://x-pyr.com.

Last briefing tomorrow morning at 8.30am and then departure at 10am. And it’s always in the rain that we slip into our feathers. 

It may be hard to believe, but there is really not much time to write many sentences during the race, and in the evening there is more than enough to do. Sleeping early is almost impossible.

Coming back to day 3, we started from what looked like a great spot to get directly to Accous (TP2) and so we began the ascent. We took a smaller path which ended up being a mix of mud and cow poo, turning into horse and goat poo in between high and wet grass. At the same time, clouds were building at multiple altitudes fully covering our summit.

After a long traverse and seeing no perspective of launching, we started a steep descent until the cloud base, where it was possible to take off. Unfortunately, I was short of the TP by only a few meters. The lift indicated by the birds wasn’t enough. Having no other options, I had to land in bushes that hid some rocks.

Time to hike up to the TP and next take off, and finally, the sky cleared and beautiful cumulus clouds came up. However, flying from Accous is far from obvious. From the south it is blocked by airspaces, cloud base is low and the valley is extremely windy. In big parts, there are no landings. When I found myself on a lee side, I decided to not risk further and land in a last big spot, without cables.

Now the real Pyrenees start – marked paths vanishing, blocked by bushes and barb wire. It took me 40 minutes just to get back to the road!

After a long walk, it is clear that I am 20 minutes short to still fly down the valley. The forecast for day 4 is clear: strong winds, 40km/h or more. Once again, we see those in front gaining a lot of ground from what started as a tiny difference.

During my first take off, I dropped my variometer, gained some meters without it and had top land to get it back. One vario lost less, and we would sleep 30km further. The funny part is that I’ve never dropped my vario before…

We woke up into beautiful morning under Peña Montañesa and had nice hike up. Sometimes it was also climb.

At the top we had to wait at the top until the thermals start work. Meanwhile David Corpas came and we flied together to France. Nice flight, nice thermals but at the French part the condition changed and we were pushed by North wind to topland. Than some jumps towards TP 4 Arbas with evening sprint up and back to base where my support waits me. Happy for nice flying day and ready for another rainy day in France.

Searching where to launch in Pas de Salontere

Getting into France on the way to TP4

After a good day of flying, a small incident without consequences for me but some injuries to the paraglider.

Tough luck with takeoff time. Going ahead has hurt him and ends the day discouraged.
Jordi Vilalta is doing a great X-Pyr with four days to go. 306 km to the finish.

Since the beginning of the race (okay, maybe day 2), we wanted to treat ourselves to a pizza in the evening and never found an open restaurant. The despair was great! Today it was finally time – after 1 week ofpasta finally some pizza! 😉

But now to the important things: after yesterday’s flight in the evening we were in a good position to fly further towards TP 3. The wind was quite strong early on, but seemed flyable.

In the air, however, it became very uncomfortable (very windy), so Patrick and Rich (Team Australia), who had started together, decided to land early.

Some teams took high risks today, we decided for more safety and took 3 passes on foot! And when the supporters called to say there will be pizza waiting at the sleeping place Patrick could even jog again. What a day! For us a day full of responsible and smart decisions, tomorrow is a new day – maybe a day to fly.

Jordi summarises today’s day, in which he hasn’t had much luck, and tells us his forecast for tomorrow.

Day 3 started very cloudy. Together with Patrick Sieber we hiked up to Cap de Leuba, where we had to wait 2 hoirs in the clouds. Finally it cleared up and we could gly to TP2 and headed to the south. Sadly there was no chance to cross the wild protection area by flying, so we had to land and hike again. 

Day 4 started with a nice hike to „Pico de las Tres Guegas“. In the air, thermals were very good, but the South wind was also very strong – to strong for me. I decided that it‘s not safe anymore to fly and landed at „Sallent de Gallego“, not a good position for the race progress but a safe place to land. Well, we really hope for some good flying weather 🤞

Ok Tuesday morning we had to hike fast from Accous to the Col de Somport to reach the spanish side of the pyrenees. The weather there was 10 times better, perfect flying conditions. This allowed a 6 hour flight back to France by almost reaching TP4 Arbas.

On Wednesday the cloudbase was very low, what made the transitions very difficult. And when once landed, possibilities for re-takeoff are sparse. Everywhere forest and the mountain tops in the clouds.

And no better weather forecastet, this will be a hard rest of the week. Keeping Tuesday in mind may help!

Today our plan was set. First a hike and glide from our base for the night. Then another hike as high as possible (still low cloudbase) with the idea to glide as far as possible towards Accous (TP2). These two steps went perfect, and I landed just at the foot of TP2 in Accous. 

A hike up to the main launch in Accous, then a quick meal, and I  launched in OK conditions. Cloudbase approximately 100m above the launch, and I caught a weak thermal that took me to base. Then glide across the valley where I was able to soar on the NW wind back up to base. Jumped over the ridge to the next valley. Flushed down due to lee side, but further in the valley local conditions were more dominating and I was able to continue all the way to the airspace restrictions. 

Now it was all about hiking again. First up to the Astun ski resort then across the mountains to Pourtalet. This last part was really exciting. More exciting than we wanted…

First issue: We just had enough time to get across the mountains before deadline at  21:00. Second issue: There was fog approaching from both the Spanish and French side of the mountains. Third issue: It was forecasted thunderstorms in the evening. We had no time to lose! Maps and routes were downloaded on the phone, extra battery, food, warm clothes, and raincoats were packed and we were ready to go.

This hike was epiq in many ways. The fog approaching from both sides with the sunny high peaks of the Pyrenees above, and a beautiful landscape made it really special. Both me and Knut enjoyed this hike a lot. 

When walking through the fog at 2500 meters altitude we suddenly hear these insane sounds of a predator eating on its prey. It was really close, and by the sounds it was something big. The sounds from splashing intestines went to deep and intense growling, and then suddenly quiet. In the fog. Only a few meters of visibility. Knut and I looked at eachother and we were both really scared. Intense sounds from a big predator this close, without any visuals, and then totally quiet. This was the moment with the highest pulse during the whole race. Definitely!

We slowly walked away without talking to each other. Only gestures. It was difficult to find the path in the fog, but the pre downloaded FatMap route was brilliant for the purpose. Once below the fog and a longer time without hearing any more horrifying sounds we needed to talk about this happening. What the f*** was this? Knut described it well when he said iIt sounded like something from a horror movie. We talked about how we instinctively reacted to how to survive. We both lifted our hiking poles up, ready to protect ourselves. But it would probably not help us much. In this case it would most likely be like carbon toothpicks for this creature.

We arrived in Pourtalet just as the thunderstorms bagan. We found shelter, and cell phone coverage. We had to search the web for which predators were living in these mountains. A quick search gave us the answer that this was an area with the most bears in the Pyrenees. And by the deep growling and intense sounds we concluded that we probably walked by a bear that had just taken its prey. We walked with headwinds and that’s probably why we got that close. 

Nikolas arrived with the van shortly after. A very needed shower and dinner accompanied by a light show from the thunderstorms nearby. A cool way to end this eventful day! And it’s worth mentioning that we did quite well in the competition today.

Those who made it early into Spain to utilize the the good flying conditions on Tuesday quickly raced away, and split the pack. 

Many of the rest of us left behind formed a close group scattered every few kilometers from Accous to the Spanish ski resorts.

Every small town or village, every road side car park. We’d pull up beside a van, share stories of exciting flights and scary landings, swap tactics, routes, plans and words of encouragement.

This is the beauty of a race like the X-Pyr. For some, it’s fiercely competitive. For most, it’s an adventure which you share with your team and you end with new friends from all over the world.

And my right knee said enough.

On the fourth day of the X-Pyr we abandoned “very much” to my regret. A right knee injury that hadn’t appeared since 2017 and that I had completely forgotten about, started on the second day of the race. Even so, I continued on every climb and above all on every descent, like the one this morning to the 📍Tobazo, where I had to go backwards down a lot of slope. We think that this has also led to an inflammation of one of the tendons in my ankle. The pain hasn’t stopped these days and making the decision is not easy. I climbed the 📍Bacún with the idea of being able to fly towards Peña Montañesa, the third of the waypoints. But the pace of ascent was getting slower and slower until I reached the refuge before the peak and I called my support Nacho Recas to see how he could pick me up. A race where we have poured a lot of energy and enthusiasm, making this decision is not easy for me.

Today Noé Court, in the early afternoon, climbed up to 2,000 metres at Plo del Naou, at the east of the Col d’Aspin, to take off in an attempt to escape the thermal immersion layer. His intention was to glide through the cloud to the end of the valley and then gain height to go directly to the Midi de Bigorre.

At 20:00 he is 38.30 km from TP3 (Peña Montañesa) 443.86 km from the goal.

David Corpas | Day 4, yesterday he finished the day on the slopes of Tp3, and he had to climb it to try his first flight. Cheer up David.

After the first days it was hard to believe our eyes when we had seen the sun for the first time during the race. The race was finally on! After a morning group hike with Noé, Maxime and Chrigel we got airborne, flying in tough conditions yet covering a lot of ground in the air. Some tough Lee side thermals at TP 4 made us lose sight of Maxime and Chrigel, but the outcome is nowhere near decided.

Finally I arrive on the mountain by walk. My dad was tried to follow me. I could say the son surpassed the father for this time 😛

Thanks to my dad to support me at every time!

We were able to do 5 well deserved glides and some walking that allowed us to cover a bit less than the 40km that we needed to do to reach TP2 (Accous).

The conditions were still very humid and we had to wait quiet a long time on the take offs for the sky to open, the good thing about this is that it gave us the opportunity to join Ignigo and Greg and walk / fly together!

Eventhough we had hoped to fly more we are happy to hit TP2 flying and to finally not be at the very end of the ranking!

We hope that the forecast will change and that we will be able to have some proper flights before the end of the race. We are still motivated so, until then we will keep on walking !

Things are getting spicy. As most of our group lost the best flying day walking or in the clouds, we started the day high up in the mountains with a forecast of 30 km/h+ winds.

We decided to climb the nearest hill anyway, but up there we measured winds up to 13m/s – def too much. However, lower down we found a “protected” spot and after “quick” one-hour contemplation, I decided to give it a try. Should I have known it wouldn’t be the sketchiest take off spot of the day, I would have taken off immediately instead of waiting for one hour… 😀

Conditions were smooth and nice, lifts everywhere. I got some additional height and then I hit the wall wind in the valley. After that, full bar, a sketchy landing and barely any distance at all. We gained nothing, asphalt was the winning option again. But hey, at least we’ve got some nice shots!

Then it was just too hot, too far, too windy and too tiring. Spain as I imagined. Our next selected take off laughed at us with gusty wind. But the way down was long and would take ages. In between the cycles, we measured around 7m/s, so I decided to give it a try.

I walked down a bit and opened the wing. The cycle came brutally, I had to knee down holding the Bs. But well, I’ve done that before, in Chile, South Africa, Brazil, so I count on my experience. I pull the wing up, the lift comes immediately. I’m traversing the slope, twisted. I can still stall it, I think… I manage to turn around and try to get to my speed bar. My always peaceful Scala seems to be mad. I sort out a cravat, push the bar and try to calculate how much altitude I need to jump behind the ridge. There are no landings in front and I can barely move forwards – sideways it is then.

I take some lifts on the way and clear another ridge as I can’t seem to fly along it. After the next one, there are only high mountains. I’m not taking chances, so I decided to escape all the lifts and move towards the main valley. The valley is calm and there are big landing spots there – I like that. I guess I could have pushed further… Still, I gained some positions, found some limits, and most importantly, flew over really slow terrain.

We finished the day early, at 20:10. As the storm approached, it made more sense to fly down in the morning than to descend that late.

Overall, that day 4 was a good day.

Two days running in the rain, very hard and with some short flights to advance a few kilometers flying in the French geographical labyrinth, with countless valleys, small mountains, and small roads that connect almost everything, but a bad decision running or planning to another place can make you lose a lot of time or gain many kilometers on your feet.

The tiredness in my legs is already noticeable and an injury that I had in 2016 has also begun to come back. I have no problem climbing the slope but it is very difficult for me to descend it, so these two days I have noticed a lot of the kilometers accumulated.

Today is the third day in which we hope that the weather will be with us and we can make longer flights and to avoid kilometers on foot.

Happy about the flight yesterday.

Today under the sun, I enjoy the walk and I’m hurry to fly.

Good morning! We’re checking back in after days two and three of seven.

Day two again brought unfavorable weather for flying – this meant that Rob (and the entire field) was pounding pavement for most of the day, although he did manage to get in five short flights. Each of these was a welcome (albeit brief) respite from the monotony of walking and jogging the road systems. Some of his flights had shallow, sporty launches, but Rob did a great job navigating these and pressing forward down course. Both by air and on foot, he charged hard and managed to gain ground on those in front of him. In the evening, Rob tagged TP2 in Accous, France, hiking up to launch and gliding out to the main road to walk a few more miles and end the day in a great position.

Day three was a tough one. The weather was better and Rob was feeling good when he set out, aiming for a nearby ski resort from which to fly. Rob and Keith hiked up, found a good spot, and Rob set up to launch. However, they ended up having to backtrack and find a new launch, as it turned out that they were just inside a no-fly zone. Once back in flyable terrain, Rob launched and tracked east, but ended up back on the ground. He hiked up and took a couple more flights from other spots, but once the west wind set in, Rob found himself in a tough position and it was difficult to climb out. He ended up gliding out of that zone to meet back up with Keith and I at the van.

Although he didn’t make as much progress down course as he would’ve liked, Rob’s still in good spirits and morale is high. There are still four more days of the race and we’re confident he’ll get some excellent flights in the days to come.

The X-Pyr Adventure started this time very hard. The two days hiking were tough, so flying never felt better than on day 3!!! On top of that, it was possible to cross the border twice in a day. The flight over 8,5 hours and a cloudbase on 3400m gives us a beautiful view over the Pyrenees! On to the next one!! 

Impressions and flying pictures from the Jose Ignacio Arévalo team.

Day 3 – Urdos – Mauléon barousse

The team went to seek the sun on the Spanish side this morning!

• Pena Montanesa and Arbas tags checked

• 20 km on foot only

• 170 km flying.  A strategic choice to go further south this morning to take advantage of the low reliefs on the outskirts of the park.

 Objective of the day: stay at the top, swallow the distance.  It’s done!

Pierre finished in the top 3 today.

The pleasure of flying rediscovered for this 3rd day.

Tomorrow: tour of the garden for Pierre.  He is at home… On the program, then, a short passage to kiss the Pic du Midi and cut the road.

Thank you all for your support on the ground and on the networks.  The adventure continues!

After a difficult day with a lot of walking on the road and small glides in the rain, today Xevi has been able to take advantage of a good day of flying, with about 140km flown between the great mountains of the central Pyrenees and a few kilometers from the TP4.

We started the day with a 4h walk from Aretta to the summit Cap de Leuba. 1,500 metres in altitude later, we found ourselves in the fog…

Patience is a virtue and we waited a good three hours at the launch site until visibility slowly improved.

We hoped to take Accous while flying and then go straight on in the direction of Candanchú, because the group on the south side certainly wasn’t sleeping either… Luckily Patrick and Reto were able to take the turnpoint in the air- we were catching up!

Shortly before the pass up to Candanchú, however, we had to land and take another hike. It was already close to 6pm at the time. Up to the pass and ready for take-off in two hours? No problem!

And what a reward we got: a breathtaking evening flight of 15 kilometres until 8.45 p.m.!

But the Pyrenees are wild, let’s see what they have in store for us tomorrow!

Transition in Collarada