Today’s weather presented our task committee with a really difficult decision. How to maximize the day when the day is going to be so dynamic and potentially dangerous? With the likelihood for really big cells and lots of wind, especially up high they had to pick a task that kept everyone low, and out of the terrain. They ended up setting both PRO and ADVENTURE tasks exactly the same, which started with a pretty mean 12km pound and 3600′ of gain to the first turnpoint. Aaron Durogati once again led the charge and arrived in a remarkable 1:32, followed very closely by Tanguy Renoud-Goud and Erik Klammer. And that’s exactly where they would finish just a short while later. Aaron and Tanguy launched within seconds of one another and found a good lifty line to the Poverty Flat turnpoint and then they turned north where they had to tag the next turnpoint (X32) on the ground. Aaron was the only one in the field to pull it off, and once on the ground he zipped up the hill for a quick relaunch and landed within 3 km of goal, which he reached before 11 am. Meanwhile on the Adventure side Isaac Lammers and Will Buckner charged insanely hard, completing the physical course in 1st and 2nd and would have been in 4th and 6th respectively in the PRO class!
It was not a day to be slow on the ground as about an hour after Aaron launched the wind picked up fast and shut the door on those who arrived late. Today was shorter and more “local” than we hoped for but it was a safe and super fun task that we hope leaves some juice in the tank for our competitors for a BIG day tomorrow!
