6 years ago (2017-05-23 17:07:40) :
     It appears that Joanna wasn't the last pilot in the air. A blue Gendarme helecopter has just loomed into view bringing last pilot Federico Nevastro home, having spent most of the afternoon extracting him from a tree. We would like to thank the gendarmes and the local mountain rescue for their 'tree to door service', without their help and support competitions of this level would not be possible.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 16:56:11) :
     Last pilot in the air Joanna Di Grigoli is doing a lap of honour over the beer tent before landing in goal.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 16:50:33) :
     Joanna's just got end of speed, not far to go. He's done some great XC flying recently.She hit the 2017 XC season running with a flight of 111 km from M

6 years ago (2017-05-23 16:48:46) :
     Joanna Di Grigoli is nearly at the end of speed 800m above ground. Joanna's dream was always to fly. As a child when she was asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she answered 'a bird'. Let's hope she can fly like a bird to goal.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 16:37:50) :
     Has just made goal to a round of applause from his friends in the goal field

6 years ago (2017-05-23 16:34:12) :
     Jang Wooyoung from South Korea has just made goal, over very different terrain to her home

6 years ago (2017-05-23 16:31:59) :
     Joanna Di Grigoli works as a paragliding travel writer and an English/Spanish translator for our partner XC magazine, which is also translated into Portuguese. There is an excellent flying culinary travelogue in the March 2017 edition of XC Magazine about Joanna's recent trip to Inner Mongolia.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 16:31:50) :
     Lars Budack took part in the X-Alps in 2013 and the X-Pyr in 2014 and 2016 - good practice for todays 96 km task.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 16:31:44) :
     The last three pilots (Jang Wooyoung, Lars Budack and Joanna Di Grigoli) are trying to make goal to join the 108 pilots already there.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 16:18:01) :
     For Jared Anderson, how was today, in a word 'stunning'. It was one of the top 3 flights he has ever done. Jared is a self-confessed paragliding addict, he even sold his dental clinic to chase his flying dreams. He was placed an impressive 3rd overall at his first PWC in Argentina in 2014.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 16:13:22) :
     For Torsten Siegel and Ulrich Prinz it was the right length of task which spread the field out, but it was possible to catch up, which made it a real race and very exciting.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 16:11:21) :
     For Maxime Pinot (currently lying second) it was great conditions with big strong thermals. I asked him whether he was conscious of marking other pilots ahead of him like Luc and Aaron, but he said it was still too early in the comp to do that.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 16:10:37) :
     Lots of happy sweaty pilots are coming into HQ with their trackers.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 15:21:59) :
     Todays task saw pilots having to chose between snowy summits or taking a lower line along wooded spurs.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 15:20:52) :
     Brendan Reid has just summed up the day. 'Stunning scenery, great route choices - in front or behind La Tourmettes. Great clouds. Very well set task'.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 15:18:47) :
     Lots of well earned beers are being consumed. It's amazing how far some people will fly for a free beer.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 15:12:53) :
     And still they come, an endless procession of gliders making their way in to the rather flattened long grass in the landing field at goal - 72 so far

6 years ago (2017-05-23 15:11:08) :
     Will the top overall wing be an Enzo 3 or a Boomerang 11 once the score have been tallied tonight?

6 years ago (2017-05-23 15:09:54) :
     Current leader Luc Armant was 7th into goal today. Maxime Pinot currently lying 3rd was 2nd into goal and Luc's main challenger.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 15:06:30) :
     Another big group are coming in over the trees to join the 45 already in goal. The field is alive with the sound of beeping live trackers.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 15:05:36) :
     Clement Latour Maxime Pinot and Torsten Siegel have just 1 2 3 into goal

6 years ago (2017-05-23 15:01:51) :
     The sky is full of swooping gliders skimming the cow pats as they come into the goal field!

6 years ago (2017-05-23 15:00:50) :
     M

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:59:52) :
     M

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:58:37) :
     Next into goal Joachim Oberhauser, Julien Wirtz and Thomas Gury

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:57:47) :
     The next ones in are Charles Cazaux, Alexandre Jofresa, Jose Rebelo and Luc Armant

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:54:27) :
      Clement Latour takes the end of speed section followed by Maxime Pinot and Torsten Siegel

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:52:12) :
      Maxime Pinot and Thomas Gury are hot on his heels

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:51:39) :
      The first pilots led by Clement Latour are about to cross end of speed section

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:48:53) :
      Now the pilots are taking the final turnpoint

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:47:54) :
     The biggest lead point baggers so far this comp are Luc Armant, Honorin Hamard, Ulrich Prinz, Maxime Pinot, Nicola Donini. Keep up the speed well done to all five!

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:47:46) :
      The pilots are now visible from the goal field Clement Latour is in the lead and about to take the final turnpoint

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:44:53) :
     Lead out points are playing a big part in this comp having been increased by 50 pts to a maximum of 167 for this comp.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:43:16) :
      The lead is cycling between Clement Latour and Alexandre Jofresa Anything could happen!

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:43:05) :
     Yesterday Seiko Fukuoka Naville was first lady and Gin was the first team. Overall Luc Armant 1st, Aaron Durogati 2nd, Maxime Pinot 3rd. Laurie Genovese 1st woman. Well done all four.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:41:29) :
      M

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:39:10) :
      Clement Latour is in the lead but there are 15 pilots within a kilometre of him The race is wide open

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:39:00) :
     It'll be interesting to see how the scores change after today's task. Yesterday Maxime Pinot was 1st and Aaron Durogati 3rd both on Boom 11s and Honorin Hamard on an Enzo 3 was 2nd.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:38:44) :
      The pilots are all very close Now 30 pilots are past turnpoint 3 and are on final glide

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:33:43) :
     The first group led by Julien Wirtz have passed the third turnpoint OK

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:28:10) :
     'The PWC is the university of paragliding, where you get to learn with the best, there is a real willingness to pass on advice and information' Ceri Brown

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:23:56) :
     Talking of the amazing level of pilot here Ceri Brown summed it up really well at launch

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:18:57) :
     Kaoru Ogisawa was one of the few pilots who bet the formidable team Jessop in the 2007 X-alps. Todays task is obviously putting the best on the deck.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:16:07) :
     So what went wrong Ogi? 'I wasn't patient enough in the little thermals and wanted a big one which didn't happen, an easy mistake to make.'

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:13:13) :
     We've just collected Kaoru Ogisawa from a very pretty alpine meadow. Here's what he said about the task.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 14:13:08) :
     The start was very crowded then it was all fine until La Tourmette, which he went behind, that worked, the thermals were good, not too windy.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:53:58) :
     As Marco Busetta told me this morning converge zones are important, they may get a bit of convergence when they come out of the mountains into the main valley

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:49:08) :
     They will also have had great views into the jagged snowy peaks on the east side of the Bauges where they have flown for the last 2 days

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:47:03) :
     What an amazing view the pilots will have had of the monolithic block with its bare rock which is the famous La Tournette

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:46:38) :
     'It's been great to send the pilots into a totally different range of mountains, that's the richness of PWC tasks' Didier Mathurin told me this morning.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:46:25) :
     The leaders are at 2500m and taking the Les Saisies turn point

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:27:29) :
     They'll be looking at the wind direction and the sun. The spines and ridges are where the hot air is triggered, that's where they'll find the thermals

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:25:14) :
     The pilots will be using a real mix of topography and the sky today

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:21:40) :
     Sorry that should have been Col des Saisies

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:21:25) :
     The leaders look to already be passing Col des Daisies

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:08:12) :
     The conditions are still good and no problems with the wind so far

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:06:53) :
     They have just got to the Aravis with a nice cloud street, and already well spread out

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:02:51) :
     Meanwhile in the meet directors car we are thermaling a roundabout, 3 turns and we've got the right exit

6 years ago (2017-05-23 13:00:16) :
     After the first turn point they need to decide whether to go in front or behind Tournette Jacques Fournier told me before they took off

6 years ago (2017-05-23 12:57:35) :
     3 After the start the gaggle will be heading to a cylinder round Parmelan then turning south east.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 12:53:47) :
     Todays commentary is being brought to you live from the meet director's car which is a way more scary way of doing the task than flying it

6 years ago (2017-05-23 12:32:26) :
     The start was so dramatic, 12 little arcs each with a tiny dot, moving like a swarm out above the lake turning as one and off they went - fast!

6 years ago (2017-05-23 12:30:25) :
     On your speed bars, get set, go. The start is open.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 12:27:13) :
     There are 125 tiny arc shaped dots high up in the sky under a puffy cloud ready to take the start.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 12:03:18) :
     Like you don't have a 96km PWC task to do

6 years ago (2017-05-23 12:02:53) :
     Top acro pilot Jeremie Bailly is giving the spectators on launch a demonstration of what you can do with a wing when you don't have to go anywhere.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:56:51) :
     The pilots are all off and most are at over 2000 m on the Forclaz side of the lake waiting for the start to open at 14.30

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:46:35) :
     Luc Armant currently leading the comp 'this is a good task, with great weather and fantastic wings'. Thanks for your part in designing those fab wings Luc

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:38:55) :
     There really is no chance of having a quiet picnic in the woods here today.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:38:24) :
     Jean Marc Caron has just flown over my picnic table too making loud woops of joy - probably because he's remembered his tracker today.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:35:24) :
     Torsten Siegel on his shiny new Boomerang 11 has just flown over my picnic table too.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:34:07) :
     A wing with our partner Jack&Jones logo, the PWCs favourite clothing company, has just flown over my head to join the others in the first theral

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:32:21) :
     Emma Casanova is here, 'it's amazing to see the improvent in performance in the last 2 years, you keep thinking they can't get better, then they do'.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:31:11) :
     It's great to see so many spectators on launch today, some of them past PWC pilots.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:29:23) :
     Take off is a bit tricky but those who are off are getting nice climbs on the cliffs just north of launch

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:21:42) :
     South African pilot Stephan Kruger has just launched

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:19:50) :
     Maxime Pinot currently lying 3rd overall has just taken off

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:16:11) :
     The first pilots are now taking off.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:07:39) :
     The free flyers who have just taken off are not maintaining yet so a relatively late start has been set of 14.30

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:06:05) :
     The task will take the pilots behind the Forclaz launch onto the Tournette and the Aravis.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 11:04:53) :
     Today's start will be the castle in the middle of Lake Annecy at Duingt. The start time has yet to be decided.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 10:37:09) :
     A 96 km task has been set and the briefing is taking place.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 10:31:02) :
     The club/school Les Volatiles (Thierry and Patrick Berod and Patrice Bonnefond) then took on the site, and the rest, as they say is paragliding history.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 10:28:08) :
     Mr Henri Bouvier from the CAF in Annecy supervised the clearing and organisation of this world renowned site.

6 years ago (2017-05-23 10:26:10) :
     The new site was open to all. The Region and the Department invested lots of money in developing it.