I am heading out tomorrow for the Chelan XC Open. This competition will act as the Canadian National Championships and is also a Pre-Paragliding World Cup event. It has attracted pilots from all over the world. The conditions look good for high & long tasks so it should be a very fun meet.

The drive to Chelan (Ctrl-click for a map of the area complete with waypoints) is over 1000 miles and will take two days. Our plan is to stop in Klamath Falls for the night. Tom from the Bay Area will be sharing my truck for the trip.

I'm hoping to get 1 or 2 flights in before the competition begins on Monday since I don't have a lot of experience in flatland flying and no experience in Chelan. . . getting familiar with the area will really help my flying.

I'm feeling ready though. My gear is dialed in. My batteries are charged & I'm feeling good physically, so no excuses ;-) This will undoubtedly be the biggest comp so far this year. It is subscribed to 120 pilots. The WCPC in June had only 50 and the Rat Race, earlier this month, had 88. Lots of talented pilots on the list too.

I'll be blogging as best I can - I don't know the state of cyber connectivity at our camp and/or competition HQ, but will blog as opportunity allows.

If you'd like to see my SPOT in action, you can visit my Spot Page and view the "spot tracking" as I fly.

I hope you all get some air. Wish me luck!

Tim