‘So I’m going home, regardless of the decision of the CIVL and the meet organisers later today.’ Mads Syndergaard blogs from Piedrahita, following the tragic deaths of two pilots in Task 2
• News report: Tragedy hits Paragliding World Championships
Eitel von Muhlenbrock, left, and Francisco Vargas. Photo: lacuarta.cl / jornadaonline.com
The morning meeting is just over, and as expected most teams were for continuing the event.
On a rational level I am almost with them, the argument being that compared to the day before the comp nothing has really changed, on a global scale; we knew then, just as we know now, that this sport is dangerous.
BUT, and there are some buts: If we do continue, will we then stop if there is another fatality? If yes, then that extra one will have been a waste. If no, then we might as well dispense with all the hypocritical mourning days right from the beginning and simply say that the show goes on regardless.
The next but, for me at least, has to do with the 2-liners. I simply LOVE my wing, it is by far the finest wing I have ever flown – but it does seem that there are just that little bit more situations where these new 2-liner wings become unrecoverable.
In a game where the odds are already stacked against us to an almost intolerable degree, that little bit extra, which may be simply down to extra top speed (although I think it is more than that), is more than what I, as a father of two little ones who seem to quite like daddy, am prepared to accept.
So I’m going home, regardless of the decision of the CIVL and the meet organisers later today. I still think they’ll call it off, but I won’t wait for them to do it.
I still love comp flying, I am stupid enough to still want to do it even on a 2-liner, and I simply don’t know what the next step for me is, but for me this event is over.
Mads S, signing out from Piedrahita.
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