Inside the Gaggle, by Claude Fiset (Task 7, 7/21/97)

After launching, Canadian competitor Claude Fiset flies toward a "gaggle" of other gliders all circling in a thermal.

Claude approaches the gaggle. The tension is high as each pilot pushes his/her glider to its limits. Mid-air collisions are not uncommon.

Here Claude is high in the therma, getting ready to "go on glide" and leave the top of the thermal to make some distance toward the starting tarp of the 79km task route.

The view from Claude's paraglider as he follows the other competitors on glide toward the start tarp.

Claude Fiset runs ParaWest Paragliding at Whistler ski resort, British Columbia, Canada. Check out his website at: http://www.parawest.bc.ca.

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