NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CROSS COUNTRY and SPRINT LEAGUES

by JUGDEEP AGGARWAL

: 2021 was a great year for the leagues, but 2022 was even better. In the Sprint League, we had nine tasks at Tollhouse, Dunlap, and Potato Hill, all averaging about 30 km in distance. Turnout was exceptional, with 34 pilots attending the first meet in March, and participation staying over 20 pilots for each event for the whole season. We had five tasks in the Northern California Cross Country League, which runs harder and more committing tasks. We tried to get a task in at Mt. Vaca but were skunked by poor weather on two weekends. Despite this, we successfully got new routes at Dunlap, taking advantage of the rare south wind, and ran a task from Tollhouse to Dunlap. The icing on the cake was a task at Slide Mountain, which had pilots fly as far away as possible before attempting to make it back to the LZ. If they missed making it back, they were heavily penalized.

Thanks to all for making this a successful year!

Although the Northern California Sprint League setup is similar to the Northern California Cross Country League, it better serves lower airtime pilots who have limited cross-country flying experience. The Sprint is designed to fill in the gap between P3/P4 pilots who have just learned to thermal and seasoned pilots who are familiar with cross-country flying. It serves as a training ground for future cross-country league pilots who fly EN-A and EN-B gliders with no requirements for satellite trackers or HAM licenses.

So why are the leagues so successful? Some unquantifiable aspects, such as the mentoring program, online tutorials, and additional web pages, are significant sources of satisfaction. The warm camaraderie helps create positive energy among participants. Whatever the reason, the format works, and pilots are having a good time while improving their skills.

Our pilot community also wants fly-ins to help develop pilot skills and explore the local areas of our flying sites. How better to do this than with friends? Once pilots have found the league meets, they continue to return. The camaraderie, the flying, the informal learning environment, and the chance to better personal distances all contribute to keeping folks coming back. With a goal of being a fly-in with a mission, these league meets provide a forum for training for larger sanctioned competitions.

With two leagues, it is easier to cater tasks to differing pilot abilities. The Sprint League conducts more modest tasks with distances of less than 35 km, generally around the 20 km mark. The Cross Country League devises more demanding tasks, with distances typically around 60 km but sometimes up to 120 km.

Attendees quickly get into the swing of things, substantially reducing the task load of the organizer. Waypoints can be downloaded before the weekend from the website. Participants sign in and pay by PayPal before the event and submit their tracklogs via XC Demon to be scored. This procedure has run well, providing a smoother experience for all. Keeping track of a large number of pilots is difficult; however, the buddy system has proven to be a success—it allows pilots to verify the safety of their buddy. Then the only issue is retrieval.

The dedicated website containing all information for the league, www.norcalxc.com, is a helpful resource for keeping pilots informed throughout the season. Several additions to the website—online pilot registration using a Google form, a page directed at first-timers about what to expect, and several pages on strategies and tips—have helped everyone.

Aaron Price, who runs the SoCal league, has been working on a software package called XC Demon to help with various aspects of the league, including pilot registration, event signup, scoring, pilot tracklog submission, and verification. It’s a fantastic platform, and I encourage those who want to run any type of race-to-goal event to use it.

I have been running the league for over 15 years. One of the most rewarding aspects is watching pilots’ progression. The league meets take over where formalized training stops by providing pilots a chance to fly with, and learn from, more skilled pilots.

I look forward to the organization of more leagues around the country. Such leagues can help pilot quality improve and reduce pilot attrition. With the 2023 season about to kick off, I hope to see new pilots coming out to the league to learn what they’ve been missing! Keep it fun, and see you in the air.

Stories from pilots

AMY POSEY It was the last Sprint League event of the year and a chilly and crisp October morning. We competed in the first event, so we decided to bookend the year’s league, convincing our friends Mike and Lauren to “tandem-tandem” the comp.

We knew it’d be a fun day and make for an interesting and friendly competition. They have a bigger wing, and although we were smaller, we had the speed advantage. As a group, we had flown together on a tandem-tandem adventure earlier that year in Colombia and wanted to recreate the fun of our trip with this last Sprint League event.

Flying in a competition as a tandem is ideal as you can divide the responsibilities. While Bob flew, I navigated so we wouldn’t hit anyone, paid attention to where others were finding thermals, counted down to when we’d get in the cylinder, and handled in-flight snacks and beverages. If Bob needed to adjust something, I’d take the controls and keep us going.

Right from the start of the task, we fell behind. The day’s thermals had just started to heat up, and the launch gaggle was crowded. The start time passed, and as we got low out in front of launch, we saw Mike and Lauren circle up and head on course, well ahead of us. They were finding lifty lines, and we kept them in our sights.

It was a challenging day to fly. There wasn’t enough lift to go around for all the pilots, and once we made the large crossing over to the ridge, we struggled to find any thermal that would take us to the top of lift. The course was also a contributing factor, with many back-andforth valley crossings that provided challenges in finding lift after sinking out, and we found ourselves looking for rocky terrain to eke out thermals to take us back to the ridgeline.

We spent most of the day enviously following Mike and Lauren. They’d cross over, get low, find the tiniest of thermals, and squeak back up. We’d follow their line, sink out, look for landing spots, and then, with steely determination and encouragement, find the lightest puff of a thermal to

Open Class

Winner: Mike Cozza

Second: Jugdeep Aggarwal

Third: Joe Seltz

Sport Class

Winner: Jugdeep Aggarwal

Second: Zane O’Conner

Third: Chuck Leathers turn and turn and turn. Working hard to check off each of the waypoints, we had several points in time when we thought we would not complete the task. But then, suddenly, we saw it—the opportunity.

We had flown a thermal to the top of its usefulness and saw Mike and Lauren in the distance. They were well on their way toward the end of speed waypoint, getting somewhat low, when, suddenly, we saw them turning.

It was our chance. We tucked into the most aerodynamic body positions we could on a tandem and charged ahead. We found a lifty line (thanks to the solo glider above us) and beelined for the waypoint and Mike and Lauren.

Not sure we could catch them, we saw the ground zoom past our feet as we got closer.

“Gooo! Gooooooo!” I shouted, and within moments we had gained as the vario counted down the meters…100…90…80…70… Within seconds we found ourselves neck and neck soaring toward the waypoint, nearly directly over Mike and

Sprint League

Winner: Clemens Grosskinsky

Second Place: George Du

Third Place: John Luu

Lauren. We could hear each other shouting and laughing as we were all surprised we caught up after an afternoon of being well behind.

“We got it! We got it!” I shouted in chorus with the vario’s horn as we hit the waypoint directly above Mike and Lauren. We laughed and reminded ourselves we still had to land and finish the task. We were thrilled to have crossed the finish line simultaneously with friends we had chased all day.

After a smooth landing in the well-manicured LZ, we high-fived and danced around, thrilled to have completed a challenging task as a tandem-tandem crew, crossing over the finish line, nearly wingtip to wingtip. Although the scoring software said we finished 2 seconds behind Lauren and Mike, it was still a valiant effort!

SEAN AHRENS I entered the Sprint League as a fresh, bushy-tailed P3. The league provided an invaluable framework to advance my paragliding skills and a community to support me on that journey. Furthermore, doing competitions with the league taught me the joy of turning what had felt like aimlessly floating in the sky into a harrowing adventure of calculations, bets, races, strategy, wins, losses, and accomplishments. I loved it!

JENNIFER LAURITZEN Participating in the League events has been a wonderful experience; learning to strategize for tasks and timing has paid great dividends toward helping me improve my skills and distance for cross-country flights. I have also met a great group of pilots and developed mentor relationships through league events.

PHILIP MASSOUD This was my first season competing in the Spring League, and safe to say, it was terrific fun racing around multiple California flying sites. As a 100-hour pilot, these competitions were a great way for me to progress. Learning how to navigate tasks, implementing strategies to fly fast, and building skills such as thermalling, using speedbar efficiently, and reading instruments made every task a rewarding challenge. By using these newfound skills, I was able to win a couple of tasks and place fourth overall.

JEFF WORSNOP This was my third year in the league, and I was fortunate enough this year to compete in several weekend events. What a fantastic way to fly paragliders! Flying with friends is already awesome, but when combined with a little friendly competition, it’s next level. Not to mention the tremendous amount of learning that can be had! Sharing thermals, shouting across to your mates while on glide, and crossing the End of Speed Section neck-and-neck with a nearby pilot are the moments that stand out for me. The unofficial mantra of the league was “first muppet or last muppet, it doesn’t matter,” and that couldn’t be more true. Whether you are someone who will only be happy if you’re in first place or someone who’s just there for the good vibes and good retrieves, the NorCal Cross Country League accommodates all. Winning is fun, but what I remember most are the times shared with fellow pilots on launch, in the sky, racing to goal, or celebrating at the end of an excellent task. In short, I can’t wait for next season, and I hope to make it to as many meets as possible!