20.2. Nepal Open Task 1

Today first task of the Nepal Open. Conditions were, lets say, different. Lower cloudbase than the days before, and no visibility (haze). I took off quite early, 1.5min after the window was open. Spent a lot of time scratching at the end of Sarangkot ridge, however, the goal was the goal, no worry. I was happy reaching finally the turnpoint near Dampus. Reaching the ridge of Korchon was OK, however, it took me a while to get height, again. I decided to fly back over green wall due to low cloudbase and not infinite performance of my glider. Crossing the ridge behind Diki Danda was RADICAL, only 1-2m AGL. The green wall was already quite dark, but it was not raining. Couldn't make proper altitude to fly back, and I was not able to get the lift under the 2 clouds on the way. I arrived pretty low at the ridge with the road and couldn't climb up anymore. However, a pilot with a green white Gin glider made it (Bastard ;-).
Today, I was way to busy to take pictures, and the haze doesn't improve quality. Below some photos from the training day.

Link to the tracklog.

Links to the much better blog from Stan.
13th Nepal Open 2012 here we go!
13th Nepal Open 2012: Day One: Race On.

Two pilots ended up in trees, but fortunately no injuries...