There is a reason I'm not flying in the French Nationals. Shalom Amir <<email>> writes:

After three windy days with no tasks, we finally got a chance today, Wednesday. A 107km task for flex. The air looked stable and the quiet air picked up a bit before the window opened. Two starts: 14:30 and 14:50.

Weak climbs, and low altitudes made me feel uncomfortable in the air. The valleys are narrow, with not many landing areas, and as I flew to Chaval Blanc, I encountered rough air.

At the north west side, as I climbed 150 meters above the peak, I hit the roughest air I've ever hit. The bar was pulled out of my hands as the glider almost tumbled, the right wing went down and under. I grabbed the bar, pulled in and leveled the glider, and it picked  up speed, came out of the sharp right turn, and I avoided the mountain, almost in a tailwind. I looked around, and decided that this was enough for me. I left the mountain at 2,300 meters and went for a landing.

At Thoram Bass, I heard of an Aeroes that tumbled, the pilot tossed the reserve, and the pilot was ok. Ron Richardson (who has tumbled here twice) and Kathleen Rigg made the same decision I made. The pilots who made goal and others may have a different opinion about the day, but I make my own safety decisions. Tomorrow is another day. Just to emphasize, I have never had the bar pulled out of my hands as brutal as I've had it today.

As a flying teacher, I keep teaching my students one of the most important sentences: "It is better to be on the ground and regret not flying landing than to be in the air and regret taking off not landing".