St Arnaud Paragliding League - First Briefing, Comp Message Board etc.

Righteo - we're getting very close - it must be time now for an update on the St Arnaud Paragliding League regional competition.
1. Confirmed Dates and First Briefing
The St Arnaud Paragliding League regional paragliding competition will be held over the dates Friday, February 17 to Sunday, February 19.  First briefing for the regional competition will be at the comp HQ, 125 Main Road, St Arnaud, on Friday morning (17th) at 9:15 am.  Registration, to fill out competition entry forms, begins from 8:15 am.
2. Competition Message Board
Daily information on both the St Arnaud Paragliding League and the St Arnaud XC Camp will be published here: https://starnaudxccamp.wordpress.com/
(note that this is a different web location to what was detailed in Airborn magazine).
3.  Update on the Sites for the Regional Competition
Mt Murchison is available to us.  Strictly 4WD only.
Inwoods Lookout and Blowhard are available.
The Hanmer Springs-Wairau Hydro Electricity Road is currently open to the public (road toll $25).
4. Competition Waypoints
You should endeavour to load the Nelson area competition waypoints into your vario and/or GPS before the event.  Make sure you bring your own cables, and any fancy software you might need to download/upload your tracks, with you.
The competition waypoints may be downloaded from the Paragliding Competition Downloads page of nzhgpa.org.nz, look for "Nelson Competition Waypoints 2016". (Note that the waypoints are unchanged from 2016).
There are four files:
Nelson Competition waypoints 2016.wpt”.  The waypoints in GPSDump/OziExplorer format.
Nelson Competition waypoints 2016.gpx”.  The waypoints in .gpx format.
Nelson Competition waypoints 2016.csv”.  The waypoints in a simple, comma-separated formatted (useful for importing into a spreadsheet application).
Nelson Competition waypoints 2016.pdf”.  A .pdf format list of the waypoints for printing. It's useful to have that on hand for reference.
5. Topographical Maps
I have a limited number of colour map photocopies, left over from the 2016 Nelson Open, which will be distributed on a first come basis for a $2 donation to the Tasman Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club.
If you were just purchasing one colour, paper-printed map, then Topo250 Map 18 – Murchison, 1:250 000 scale, is a good overview map to have.
Of the 1:50,000 scale topo maps, NZTopo50-BR25 Tophouse and NZTopo50-BS25 Severn would be useful. Or, instead of those two you could look to get the St Arnaud National Park map which I think is 1:100 000 scale.
Note that image files of Topo maps can be downloaded from Land Information NZ.
6. Safety
A reminder that all pilots attending the XC Camp and/or regional comp should have the following equipment: reserve, back protection, GPS, UHF radio and maps. A GPS is still mandatory, even if you aren't entering the regional comp, because you really need to know what the winds are doing when flying in mountainous terrain.
7. Weather Outlook, three days out
At the time of writing the weather forecast for Friday for the Nelson Lakes area suggests that Friday will be taskable with light northeasterly winds forecast.  Perhaps it will be a day to fly from Mt Murchison.  The forecasts for Saturday and Sunday seem to be changing daily, so I think it's best if you check the forecasts again later in the week.  I have been looking at the MetVUW 7 day forecast.
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Please do not hesitate to contact me directly for any specific queries.
If the weather cooperates then I look forward to seeing some old and new faces visiting the Nelson region for some of the flying that is on offer  :)
Cheers
Tim Percival, St Arnaud League Organiser
47A Brook Street, Nelson
ph: 03 548 7397 or 022 646 3864