[Nicole]

Yesterday we called a task, but nobody got out of bombout distance (7 km) so it wasn't scored (invalid task). The sky looked spectacular, but the instability was up higher we figured, and there was a stable layer we couldn't get through. So that meant we had an early evening, and no scoring necessary by Bill, so he had the night off too (we watched Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, for Sink Out Cinema).

Today it was overdeveloping and forecast to start raining, so we set an early task to Harrogate (44 km). When we launched it wasn't very good-looking, and the only reason we launched was because it didn't look like it was going to get any better. Scratched our way around the corner to the gap between Mt. 7 and Pagliaro, and 6 of us made the crossing even lower than the first day (below cliff height!). Good thing it was cloudy since I don't think we would have dared fly that close to those rocks in sunnier conditions.

The flying, while scratchy and not that great, was still fun since the 6 of us were helping each other out, looking for any scraps of lift and being nice to each other in the thermals (giving space, turning the right way, agreeing to go on glide together, etc.). In this fashion we made our way around the Pagliaro cliffs. But around the corner it was pure shade, and the only sun was out in the valley. So 3 of us decided to head to the valley to look for a thermal out there, and the other 3 decided to stick to the mountains.

Keith, Greg, and I were the valley-group, and Will, Gavin, and Jeff were the mountain group. We didn't find any lift in the valley at all, just a lot of wind as the north wind was setting up. Gavin from the mountain group decided to join us, and shortly thereafter the 4 of us were landing within about 1 km of each other, at the 16-17 km mark. Got a ride back with some locals from Harrogate and back in the Nicholson LZ in time for some rain to start dropping out of the clouds.

The mountain group didn't fare much better, landing about the 20 km mark. There was a black cloud coming over the Bugaboos straight towards Harrogate, and the people that got to goal (3) had to land in the winds associated with that. Peter B. ended up in a tree at goal, after flying behind the range peaks and not being able to get down in time to escape the winds (he says he will now take a maneouvers course to learn how to spiral dive in case of emergencies).

Amir and Bill also made goal, but since so many people didn't get out of bombout, the day was only worth 490 points rather than a possible 1000. But it was nice to end the comp on a positive note (a valid task), rather than a cancelled day.

Final results:

Overall
1st Will Gadd
2nd Keith McCullough
3rd Gavin Zhaner

Serial (DHV 1-2 and lower)
1st Randy Parkin
2nd Nate Hoffman
3rd Dan Wells

Full results at http://gravsports.com/Paragliding%20Pages/willi_race/Final_results.htm

This was a really fun comp, and also happens to be the most valid PG comp in Canada for quite some time (even more so than the recent Nationals)!

There are still 2 more days for the Willi XC. Tomorrow looks like another early day before it OD's, and similar for Friday. Sat and Sun are looking spectacular for the Lakeside Event (Invermere).