Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 3: March 2014 | Page 49

301 Tracklogs
112 Registered Pilots
76 Participating Pilots
4187 Total Miles Flown

D

espite having lost access to one
of the main league sites for half
of the year, 2013 was still a
crazy good season for the Northern
California Cross-country League,
with newbies coming out along with
the stalwarts.
But what made it so fun? Was it the
record numbers that came to almost
all of the events, the record number of
pilots in goal, the record total distance
flown? Maybe it was the unquantifiable
aspects of the league that made it such a
huge success—the mentoring program,
the online tutorials and additional web
pages—or maybe it was just the oldfashioned camaraderie that keeps the
energy so great amongst participants.
Not sure what it was, but the format is
working, and pilots are having a great
time whilst improving their skills.
There is definitely a pilot community that wants fly-ins that help push
pilot skills and explore the local area of
our flying sites. How better to do this
than with your friends? It also seems
that once pilots have found the league
meets, they just keep coming. Whether
it is the camaraderie, the flying, the
informal learning environment, or bettering their personal distances, folks
keep coming. With a goal of “a fly-in
with a mission,” these league meets also
provide a forum for training for the
larger sanctioned competitions.
Task-setting has always been difCruising over Gravelly Ridge | photo by
Reavis Sutphin -Gray.
LEFT

ficult when the pilot skill levels range
from skygod to muppet. This year the
league reduced the focus on the racing
aspect and pushed the distances. I am
still not sure we have it right, but it is
important to make the tasks doable for
most pilots, so it becomes a rewarding
experience instead of an endurance test,
only suited for the very best. There were
over three tasks with best distances
over 60 miles and three tasks where
the best distances were under 20 miles.
The variability of the weather and the
sites result in a huge range in flown
distances.
The tasks are built in three parts