Friday, 22 July 2011 08:35
Red Bull X-Alps takes no prisoners
by James Braid (South African Pierre Carter's support crew)
Well the last few days have had weather of all seasons and many changes in positions as well as several withdrawals and eliminations from the race.
Day 3 started clear but with a strong wind forecast. Honza and Pierre set off on foot up the Embach valley (parallel valley to Zell am See and the Grossglockner) but instead of following the path of the race leader, Maurer, they climbed up the side of the valley to try and sneak a flight to the top of the Grossglockner pass. Unfortunately, the strong wind forecast was correct and shortly after, the wind was pumping down the valley, so once again, they were on foot, to the crest of the Grossglockner pass. At the top, the wind was far too strong to fly (the pilots who arrived there earlier that morning were rewarded with a long easy glide) and so they had to walk down the otherside (again) and into the turn point cylinder. By now, cloudy and wet conditions were rolling in. Most pilots who were on foot, took the long route via Lienz to Sillian, However Honza and Pierre decided that the up and over route would be more adventurous. They set off at sunset up another 2000m pass, and slept in a mountain hut on top. This put them in a high position for a long early morning glide into the Kalz valley (one valley short of Sillian).
Day 4 started with cold weather that brought snow and rain, but they were rewarded with a very long glide towards Huben. Pierre landed just short of town, whilst Honza landed half way up and relaunched from the summit, to extend his glide into the next valley. And so they became separated. From there, it was more miserable hiking in wet conditions. Pierre took a forestry road up to the summit above Hofgaten which, if the wind had not been so strong, would have given him a long glide all the way to Sillian. Honza took the long route around the mountain on tar. Since Pierre was forced to walk down due to unfavourable conditions, Honza gained extra distance. In this case our tactic had not worked despite it being the most direct route.
At Sillian, we met up with a good paragliding friend, Stef, who gave us dinner and a shower. It had been a long day, and a much-needed shower did both of us good. Our tactic to catch up lost time was to cut off the dogleg that the others had taken on foot, via Innichen towards the Tre Cime (TP4). This meant a sunset hike up the mountain to the Leckfeldalm hut, high above Sillian, and within easy glide of the edge of the Dolomite National Park.
After a very cold night on top of the mountain, day 5 started with Pierre doing an early morning glide, over the Italian border, and over the heads of many who had been walking most of the night. This tactic worked well and earned us positions.
From there, we were back in the race, with fresh legs. The hike up to Tre Cime was quicker than expected. The flying conditions were looking good and almost everyone took to the sky. Each pilot chose a different route, some going south and some going north. Unfortunately, the sky quickly over developed and storms forced the wise to land at about lunch time. The weather to the west was far better and Maurer was now almost 100km ahead of everyone, on his way to Piz Palu (Switzerland) for TP5.
The heat and exhaustion started to take its toll, Pierre suffered heat stroke this afternoon and was told by the race doctor to stop and rest for 6 hours. We are now in Brunico and Pierre is almost ready to start hiking again. We have lost several positions in this time but we should be able to make them up. Our plan now is to follow Maurer's route towards Merano, which avoids the large airspace restrictions around Bozen. From there, we'll see what happens.
Several pilots have pulled out of the race due to injuries and fatigue, so I guess, to avoid the same fate, we'll have to take it easy for the next few days, at the risk of losing some places. In general, flying conditions in the western alps are better, so that will be a welcome relief. The longer term forecast is also looking a bit more promising, with fewer strong valley winds predicted. In the last race, about half the field retired before the end of the race due to injury or exhaustion. The secret was to slow down but to keep moving, preserving one's self for the full duration.
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