Butterfly Dreams

X Monarca Open

13.01.12

I am already back in Canada. The last ten days have been a vivid overdose of screaming varios, wind noise, and Corona. Including the practice days, 800 km flown. And it is only mid January.

The final task began slow and tricky, but ended fast.

The podium finishers: 1. Josh Cohn 2. Brett Hazlett 3. Marko Hrgetic

www.monarcaopen.com

Awards ceremony in the town square

Thank-you, Miguel. Thank-you, Claudia. Thank-you Alas del Hombre. Thank-you, Mexico!

13.01.11

It was a full bore race from beginning to end. Full bar until the 65 km were done. Rolf Dale won the task, followed by Marko Hrgetic, and myself. I moved into first place overall, going into the final task tomorrow.

Tension.

13.01.10

The 80 km task began slowly as we struggled among the rocks towards Divisa, followed by a soft transition over the mesa. The large areas of forest and light lift across the mesa challenged many of us. At this point conditions began to strengthen to 3 m/s and cloud base rose to 3400 m. We gradually added speed until we were racing at full bar from cloud to cloud, only stopping to turn in the strongest areas. There was a turnpoint near the mountain where the Monarca butterflies congregate, followed by Elefante and La Casa. Our gliders hissed and surged through the rough convergence as we made the final sprint to goal. Josh crossed first, followed by myself, Ole Ronneberg, and Nick Greece. Only eight pilots made goal and there were perhaps three reserve tosses.

Feeling small in the presence of immensity
Photo credit: Ronny Helgesen

13.01.09

Risers vibrating, lines screaming, legs wobbling, kilometres passing, clouds towering, we flew the 60 km task in under two hours.

On a full speed glide from base at Aguia towards our last climb, Marko Hrgetic and I were level and flying wing tip to wing tip. We had a slight lead on Ronny Helgesen and Nick Greece and about three minutes on the rest of the lead gaggle. At this point we each made our critical route choice, Marko choosing the G-spot and I choosing Maguey. Marko's climb was ready when he arrived and mine took a while to develop. Timing is important.

Marko Hrgetic took the task win!

www.monarcaopen.com

13.01.08

We gave it all but nobody made goal. The leg with a 25 km/h headwind, lee side, shade, and uphill proved to be too much for even the best of us. The lead gaggle landed essentially at the same distance with Rolf Dale winning the task.

My friends and I had an emotive experience as we flew over an immense vapour mountain before the start of the competition.

Photo credit: Ronny Helgesen

13.01.07

Day one of the Monarca Open Pre World Cup: The 75 km task was won by Ronny Helgesen in about 2h 5min. The following few pilots were Marko Hrgetic, Brett Hazlett, Nick Greece, and Josh Cohn.

13.01.06

Today we had to register for the competition, which will begin tomorrow. But we still managed a 90 km practice flight before the registration deadline.

Arriving at the peninsula in Valle

13.01.05

Valle de Bravo delivered another magical day of cotton candy cross country deliciousness for all present. We flew an interesting and challenging 100 km task which included most areas typically flown during a competition.

www.bretthazlett.tk

Flying over the cathedral in Valle de Bravo after reaching goal

www.monarcaopen.com

13.01.04

We flew a 100 km practice task today, ending at the lake. This place is amazing!

High over Valle de Bravo

13.01.03

At 4 am I arrive in Valle de Bravo. Five hours of sleep later I am up and ready to fly. The 50 km practice task reminded how good the flying in Valle de Bravo can be at this time of year. 

Proximity

The Island of Gods : RAW

Paragliding World Cup videographer, Philippe Broers, challenged me to add live commentary to my videos. This is an attempt to do something highly unnatural for me: to verbalize every thought while flying a competition paraglider (EnZo) at full speed, low along coastal cliffs, during a 90 km flight on the island of Bali, Indonesia. In this video I philosophize about life, describe strategies and tactics, and observe my surroundings.

If you appreciate my work and want to motivate me to create more, you could buy me a coffee, by watching the video on Vimeo and using the Tip Jar.

Bali

Things happen for the first time, they happen for the last time. To me it is all the same. It is now.

Flying my EnZo at full speed over a beach more secluded than I have ever imagined, midway through a 50 km ridge run. To the left is the island of Bali, Indonesia and to the right is the Indian Ocean.

Ungala Cliffs

Araxa

"To fly is to touch the wind, smell the clouds, hear the sun, see beyond the horizon." Anonymous

Epilogue

Thirty six hours of buses, aeroplanes, and taxis brought me back to Canada, with Araxa clouds still dancing in my head.

Was I really there?

As I close my eyes to sleep, I can still feel the motions of my EnZo at full speed, G-loading fluctuating, risers losing tension, my wrists twitching as fast as Bruce Lee jacked on Red Bull to keep the wing open.

Yes, I was.

Day 7

Climbing EnZo

The final task and one that would allow a second task discard. Imagine flying the last day of competition knowing that if you bomb, it will not count. It will be as if it never happened, just a bad dream. We did not imagine it, we lived it.

It was last day discard mania as EnZos, IP6s, and Core2s raced pulley-to-pulley with nothing to lose. We would be on full bar even before leaving each thermal and would hold full bar through thermals that were not good enough. Speed-to-fly had no meaning today, neither did height-above-ground.

Everything fell apart, though, when the final glide along the Horizonte Perdido ridge did not produce the booming lift that it 'always' does in the mid afternoon. We found ourselves scratching our heads as we struggled to stay aloft deep in the low hills, among high tension power lines, coffee, and eucalyptus.

The moment we were back in the game, it was game on without hesitation. Full bar, no fear, and this time below reserve height along the 200 m high rocky ridge to goal. A moment came when I realized that I was between rocks and a single power line that went along the ridge, at which point I called time out, dropped bar, and narrowly crossed the power line, into the last landable field, which was inside the end-of-speed section but 1 km of forest from the goal line. A key player was 50 m in front of me and kept gliding at full bar and just a little further ahead hit a small patch of lift, dropped bar into it, and this gave him enough height to still cross the power line and also the crest of the forested hill into goal.

Such is the game and I accept it, as it is. But I play it as I chose.

Erico won.

Eight days of flying, 600 km flown, 30 h of airtime, 40 km/h average speeds, 3-5 m/s climbs, 3000-3800m cloudbases. Seven reserves. This was the most racey paragliding competition I have experienced.

It was the essence of racing paragliders, distilled into its purest form, and then delivered in overdoses day after day until we begged for the goodness to end.  

Frank Brown became Brazilian Champion for the 10th time.

http://www.cavl.com.br

Day 6

We had another glorious 80 km task, won in 1h 40 min by Washington. With shuddering risers, creaking pulleys, and tense grips, we navigated the course at full speed, blowing straight through any thermal that was not Grade A lift. Goal was at an airstrip at the edge of Rio Grande, which divides the state of Minas Gerais with that of Sao Paulo. Dry leaves  flew past us on final glide, warning us of turbulence and lift ahead. Most arrived at goal more than 1000 m above the ground. After reaching goal I decided to take a few pictures above the lake. When I was done I had gained another 600 m. It took forever to land.

Rio Grande is the liquid boundary between Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo

Day 5

Eighty kilometres in under two hours. Pulleys binding, risers wobbling, and lines screaming, the top Brazilian pilots felt no pain as they ambushed the task with 'faca nos dentes' (knife in teeth). There was no time to look around, every km/h was critical, and complete attention was required to keep your glider open. Bruno crossed the end-of-speed section with a time of 1:56:33.

http://www.cavl.com.br

The Lost Horizon ridge

Day 4

One hundred and twenty five kilometres of impossibility. We did our best but after 5.5 hours in the air, the headwind and lighter than predicted climbs left us 20 km short of goal. The flight took us over some dramatic terrain, a wide river with cloud reflections, and a hidden valley that was so beautiful that I was tempted to land there, instead of continuing the task. Frank and I landed in a coffee plantation. I learned two things today: 1. How to land in a coffee plantation 2. How coffee is made. Alfio killed the task, landing 20 km short of goal.

Junior, Vincenzo, myself
Photo credit: Zenilson Rocha

Day 3

Only nine pilots made the 110 km task today, which was won by Frank. With lots of ballast and lots of bar pushing I finished 11 s behind Frank and 15 min ahead the next group.

http://www.cavl.com.br

The goal bus waits for the sun to set before the trip back to headquarters

Day 2

A 90 km task took us into the flatlands to the northeast. Another classic Araxa day with EnZos and IP6s everywhere, whipping through the sky at 60 km/h. Felipe won in 2 h. Four reserves were thrown.

Tree, smoke, cloud

Day 1

We had an exciting full speed 80 km out-and-return in classic Araxa conditions. Climbing to 3800 m in 4 m/s steady climbs, Donizete won the task in 2 h. Tomorrow I will fly with more ballast.

A peaceful sunset in goal

I have wanted, for years, to fly the Lost Horizon in Araxa, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Today, I did. During a 60 km out-and-return  practice flight I climbed to 3200 m in the smoke of this bush fire. I will be filming during then next ten days, in an attempt to capture the magic of this place.

http://www.cavl.com.br

PWC Sun Valley

Day 2

An epic 200 km task was flown over immense and remote terrain. No pilot completed the task but many flew 150+km. We used oxygen systems and climbed to altitudes of up to 18,000 ft.

This video is a 3 min condensation of indescribable adventure.



Day 1

The 61 km partial out-and-return was stopped when pilots reported wind, rain, and hail. The task will not be scored.

I was already packing up near town when I heard the news on the safety frequency. The sky just did not look like it would main composure long enough for us to get through the course. It looked like it would hang on just long enough for us to arrive in the middle of it. I drove upwind and landed as close to town as possible. While packing up I watched the situation deteriorate and listened to the pilot reports becoming more anxious.

Despite finding a huge grassy area out in the open, it was full combat all the way to the ground. I was flying backwards in regular gusts and using most of my tricks to keep my glider open.

There seems to be a weakness in our competition paradigm for situations like this. Quite often a stopped task still results in one hundred pilots finding themselves flying in unsafe conditions. Unsafe to be in the air and equally unsafe to be trying to land. I have no idea was a practical solution to this would look like, but it would be a worthy discussion.