Perspective found.

Perhaps you’ve heard by now. During yesterday’s task a pilot somehow became detached from his glider and fell to his death. I won’t go into the lurid details; if you want them, I’m sure you will find them in the OZ report.

As a result of this unlikely and unfortunate accident today’s task was cancelled: Partly for his team members and fellow pilots to grieve and reflect, partly so the police and meet officials could have the resources that they needed to conduct an investigation.

Selfishly I was happy for the time to rest and catch up on chores after yesterday’s late return. I should be elated after my flight to goal, but the somber news tempered the mood. Also, so many pilots made goal (51) that it was clear that it was the spectacular flying conditions and not my skill and cunning that got me there. Making goal was the standard, not making goal was sub-par. In spite of these circumstances, but in a way because of them, today I’ve gained a particularly human perspective on what we are doing.

I spent much of the day doing housekeeping chores, but also spending time with other pilots. While I was having supper at my van Oleg came by to visit. It’s amazing to be involved in a sport where the current world champion drops by your campsite for a visit. I should probably mention that 16 of the top 20 ranked pilots in the world are in this competition, so you are always tripping over top pilots. (From that perspective 60^th doesn’t sound quite so bad.) I asked Oleg lots of questions about flying strategy and technique and shared with him my sources of frustration, anxiety and uncertainty in my flying. Invariably his answer was “ya, ya, it’s the same for me”. Talk about putting things in perspective!