X-Alps is over. Honza places 3rd!

CLICK ON GRAPHIC FOR LARGER VERSION

Well the Red Bull X-Alps 2009 is over and it was a great race to watch. As I said earlier, this race is quite an adventure. The sacrifices these athletes make to prepare for, and participate in, this race are much more than most modern citizens will ever endure. RESPECT to all the athlete/pilots.

Christian Maurer absolutely outran the field winning by almost two days margin. Alex Hofer placed second and was the only other competitor to make it to the raft in Monaco.

Honza Rajmanek made a late push beyond Aiden Toase and finished a respectable 3rd place. He covered over 1150KM and had an epic journey. I really enjoyed watching this event and am proud of them all.
The event website is HERE.

Tim

SPOT Improvements

I've carried a SPOT on my flight deck for 18 months now. It has never saved my life, but it has always been there, waiting to be activated if need be. In March I resubscribed for the 2009 season using a promotion that basically gave me a free SPOT unit for the cost of subscription (around $150). I also consider the $8/yr. GEOS SAR subscription a valuable bit of insurance that appeals to my sense that SAR service fees should be the responsibility of the adventurer who gets himself into trouble. To that end, I am taking the responsibility by insuring myself.

A new SPOT promotion is now available that will, again, provide the present SPOT hardware essentially free for the price of the services. The rub is that SPOT is now asking for a 2-year subscription to qualify for the $150 rebate. Should you make the commitment at this time? Well here's my take on it. . .

The present Spot unit is quite adequate. I use my SPOT unit in three circumstances:

as a form of 'catastrophic insurance' to send out an SOS, with GPS coordinates, even where cell service is unavailable. and,

as a means of communicating with my retrieval team when flying XC or in a competition.

SPOT-Tracking

SPOT is about to offer a "NEW" SPOT unit that is smaller, lighter, and integrates some improvements that those of us using SPOTs have requested. Improvements include a more robust GPS chipset and antennae, lighted buttons, additional message options, and a dedicated SPOT-Tracking button. In addition are some much appreciated indicator lights that indicate GPS acquisition and message sending lights.

These improvements address some of the 'limitations' of the 'old' unit. I, however, believe that the old unit is adequate for the basic catastrophic insurance that is my primary reason for carrying a SPOT.

So, should you upgrade to the new unit?
If you are a 'gadget-guy' who needs to have the latest & greatest - maybe.
If the unit is much better at sending messages under a canopy of trees - probably.
If the unit price isn't too much more - (I think the price point is $150 to $200)

Will I? Not for a bit. If you don't have a SPOT yet and have decided to get one, I'd think about the 2-yr. FREE SPOT Deal. I imagine that you will have the option of applying your subscription to the new unit in the future if you decide later to upgrade.

Hopefully I'll get to try one out when they become available.

Fly Safe -
Tim

Red Bull X-Alps 2009 Starts tomorrow

The 2009 Red Bull X-Alps begins on July 19th and 30 pilot/athletes from 23 countries, will travel 818 Km.(508 miles) from Salzburg, Austria to Monaco. The route takes competitors through the Alps on an amazing journey. Competitors will travel by foot or paraglider depending on their skills and the weather. Alex Hofer is the favorite with 2 X-Alps wins to his credit.

The live-tracking available on the X-Alps website and personal blogs of the competitors (see below) will allow a view into the epic adventures.

I am truly envious of these individuals who have interrupted their lives to embark on this test of their skills, physical strengths, and mental toughness. When I think about the explorers of old, Lewis & Clark, Stanley and Livingston, I am amazed at the personal suffering and commitment these men endured. The closest a 21st century man can come to this kind of adventure is a X-Alps type of journey.

Honza Rejmanek is a California pilot participating in his second X-Alps. In 2007 he placed in the top 10 even though he started the race with a terrible stomach problem that basically put him days behind from the beginning. Fly safe and have fun Honza!

Redbull X-Alps 2009 - Teaser
by Petzl-crew

To follow the action you have many options:

X-Alps 2009 official website
X-Alps mobile live (for mobile communication, without flash)
X-Alps RSS Feed
X-Alps Facebook
X-Alps twitter
I can't figure out why the gap below. . . scroll for individual blog links. Thanks to Otto Schulz for putting this info together.
Tim

Country	Flag	Athlete	Age	Supporter	Glider	Personal blog / website	prev. participation
AUS		Lloyd Pennicuik	43	Lewis Nott	Axis	link	2007 (17.)
AUT1		Helmut Eichholzer	32	Andreas Neubacher	Advance	link	2005 (4.)
AUT2		Christian Amon	38	Manuel Goller	Swing Stratus Proto		2005
BEL		Thomas de Dorlodot	23	Maxime van Dyck	Gradient Avax XC2	link	2007
CAN		Max Fanderl	43	Penny Powers	Nova Factor	link	2007
CZE		Jan Skrabálek	38	David Bzirsky	Gradient	link	2007 (11.)
ESP		Ramón Morillas	41	Juan Morillas	Advance	link	2007 (7.)
FIN		Jouni Makkonen	37	Toni Leskelä	Gradient Avax SR7
FRA1		Vincent Sprüngli	43	David Bibier Cocatrix	Gin Boomerang		2007
FRA2		Julien Wirtz	32	Adrien Vicier	Ozone	link	2007 (12.)
GBR1		Aidan Toase	35	Charlie Merrett	Ozone	link	2005 • 2007 (6.)
GBR2		Tom Payne	33	Aley Raymont	Axis Venus II light	link
GER		Michael Gebert	28	Florian Schellheimer	Gradient Avax XC2	link	2005 (5.) • 2007
HUN		Pál Takáts	23	Mauritz Volkmer	U-Turn	link
ITA1		Leone Antonio Pascale	41	Maurizio Dalla Valle	Gradient Avax	link	2007 (10.)
ITA2		Andy Frötscher	40	Raphael Graetz Murphy	Skywalk	link	2003 • 2005 • 2007 (14.)
JPN1		Kaoru Ogisawa	49	Masaru Saso	Gin Boomerang X6		2007 (5.)
JPN2		Masayuki Matsubara	37	Tetsuo Kogai	Nova Triton
NED		Ronny Geijsen	30	Hugo Robben	Gin Boomerang
POL		Filip Jagla	31	Piotr Goc	Gin Boomerang X6
ROM		Toma Coconea	33	Vasile "Gigi" Trifan	UP X-Alps Proto	link	2003 • 2005 • 2007 (2.)
RSA		Pierre Carter	43	James Braid	Gradient XC
RUS		Evgeny Gryaznov	36	Dmitry Gusev	SOL Torck
SLO		Primoz Suša	31	Igor Erzen	MacPara Magus 6	link
SUI1		Alex Hofer	32	Nicole Schlotterer	UP Trango Xlight	link	2005 (1.) • 2007 (1.)
SUI2		Martin Müller	42	Fabien Zuberer	Gin Boomerang 5 light	link	2007 (3.)
SUI3		Christian Maurer	26	Thomas Theurillat	Advance Omega	link
SVK		Peter Vrabec	36	Tomas Bernat	Axis Mercury 2008	link	2007
USA		Honza Rejmanek	33	Dave Hanning	Axis Mercury	link	2007 (9.)
VEN		Raul Penso	35	Ismael Penso	Niviuk		2007

Progress check

Well let's see. . . "The guy who has the most fun wins."

I try to live by this rule. . .er, recommendation.. . . ah, tenet.

But it's not easy. I mean, I AM having fun most of the time. But I'm a competitive guy, and I'd like to stand on the podium as much as the next guy. It's not that I want to get a trophy (although it's nice, before paragliding, the last I got was when I was 12). And I don't need to win so I can swagger amongst the launch queue. But I want to do my very best at the sport that has my attention.

How do I do that? In short - Practice, Practice, Practice. I need to make good decisions and learn from those that aren't. One of the reasons I started writing this bloggage was so I could relive the tasks that went bad, as much as those that went well. The only way to learn from the bad decisions is to remember them.

In order to plot my progress I've built a crude Excel graph of my placing in the last eight competitions. No compensation has been made for field quality or for the fact that I was on a DHV 1/2 and 2 for most of these comps. My present wing, a Gradient Avax XC2, is an EN-C (almost a 2/3) that I am very comfortable flying. I don't have any qualms flying it in angry conditions because I know what it is saying and how it will react. I also own a Boomerang 5 that I have flown a few times now. The Boom 5 has obviously better performance but isn't a wing that I enjoy flying - right now. The handling seems unresponsive and almost untrustworthy. I imagine that I will get some confidence on the Boom, with time, but until then I will be competing on the Avax XC2 - that includes the U.S. Nat's in Inspo UT in August.

So - looking at the graph, it seems there has been some progress. I'm happy competing and learning while flying in the Serial/Sports class. I'm also getting a taste of the Boom on days that allow some altitude.

Looking forward to Utah next month.