With paragliding being a conditions-dependent sport, days four and five of the X-Pyr were pretty hike-centric. Rob was faced with strong headwinds both days, making it tricky to fly, but he was able to cover a good distance on the ground. He was ushered into camp at the end of day four by a booming thunderstorm with some pretty dramatic lightning strikes. We posted up near Yesera, Spain, where we enjoyed some tasty pizza that was generously delivered by Keith’s friend Alex, a wingsuit athlete local to the area.
By mid-afternoon on day five, Rob had walked and run a good portion of the day, taken a short flight and charged through the town of Ainsa towards Peña Montañesa, which is TP3. The decision was made as Rob approached Peña to rally up a very direct trail with a lot of vert and tag the TP on foot, with the idea that we would make it back down to camp and set out east the next day to a different launch. Rob was able to tag the TP before the cutoff time for the day, but we didn’t make it back down to the car. Keith was a champ and hiked food, water, and camping gear up to Rob, and I made an out and back run to the car to grab more gear and join him for the night up on the side of the mountain, which was actually quite nice.
Rob has been playing leapfrog with a few other athletes chugging along in the same zone; it’s been fun to run into and chat with them and their teams, including Rich Binstead and co. Rob has been working really hard, never stopping, and has done a good job of putting himself in a good position to utilize XC conditions on day six. ‘Til next time!
