Last updated 9 September 2010.
The New Zealand Paragliding Cross-Country Champion for 2010 is...
Robert van den Ham!!!
Believe it or not, this is the first time he's won the XC Champs though he has had a number of top five placings over the years.
Rob's best flights for the 2009/2010 season were:
4 February: Treble Cone - Raspberry Creek (West Matukituki) – Albert Burn Saddle
(East Matukituki) - Treble Cone. FAI triangle 82.4km = 164.9 points. Big walk
out potential... Have a look at the web site and spot the nearest road to the
Albert Burn turnpoint.
6 February: Treble Cone - Omakau. Open distance was 81.2km; plus 3 turn points
gave 95.6km = 143.4 points. Big walk out potential, and a blue day.
22 December: Treble Cone - Fruitlands (Alexandra - Roxburgh road), via Cadrona
and the Kawerau Gorge. Open distance was 84.8km; plus 3 turn points gave 94.6km
= 141.9 points. Not quite such a big walk out potential, but no driver and
gravel back-country roads would have made hitching tricky. Cleverly he has an
air band radio and got clearances for Queenstown airspace too.
23 October: Treble Cone - French Ridge - Wanaka. Free Triangle (out and back),
80.5km = 140.8 points. Big walk out potential... And super-styley flying over
our heads (Bryan Moore and I were walking across the glacier on our way to Colin
Todd Hut on the side of Mt Aspiring).
There were many more too... Rob was out chasing some wilderness this year, with
many of his flights having the potential (seldom realised though) for some
serious walking.
Kussy Gomez was the top woman pilot on the table, in 10th place overall,
so she gets the NZ Women's XC Champion award. Her longest flight was 45km
straight line, but add 3 turnpoints = 76km. Impressive. Congratulations Kussy!
Once again the top placed pilots were all South Islanders. Shaun Gilbert
and Evan Lamberton were the lone North Islanders in the top ten. Good
effort guys, pleased to see you are doing your bit to stop everyone moving
south.
A mixed bag of weather for the summer meant that you had to be quite flexible
with your flying time. It started well, then got a bit windy for a few months.
But then February turned it on for a lot of people. We had 14 days in a row
flyable in Wanaka - now why can't it do that when there is a comp on? By the end
of March not a lot was happening, back to windy again.
So that's it for the XC Competition this summer, keep and eye on the web site
for anyone sneaking in a quickie over the winter though!
For the full flight information and standings see the
2010 PG XC Champs Table at Leonardo.
Kat, NZPCC, April 2010.