Here is a map of the location of the HQ / Registration in Pedro Bernado.

Registration will open at 20:00 on Saturday 31st May.

On Saturday 31st May and Sunday 1st June, transport will be provided to take off Pilots should check with the organisation for further details when they arrive in Pedro Bernado.

Here is a little information about Pedro Bernardo which may help you in your visit. PB is within my home province of Avila, so please forgive my personal over enthusiasms about the area.

PB is on the south face of the Gredos chain of mountains dividing the northern and southern tablelands of central Spain. As we have had 9 British National events in Piedrahita, many of you will be familiar with flying on the northern side, with the high cloud bases and large scale convergence effects. The climate conditions on the south side of the Gredos are very distinct from that on the north.

The Valle de Tietar (that area to the south of the Gredos) is often named the Andalusia of Avila because of its warm climate. If you have been flying high in Piedrahita and look to the south east you will see a vast gap in the mountain range. This is the Puerto (pass) de Pico. This is the access down into the Valle de Tietar, down which the original paved Roman road winds alongside the new road.

If you approach from the north as I did this February, the change in the vegetation is dramatic, the warmer microclimate permitting the earlier arrival of a colourful spring, and a variety of plants more typical of the Mediterranean than the high cool uplands of central Spain. Although only 50km as the crow flies from Piedrahita, the difference in scenery, temperature and vegetation (and gliding point of view) is similar as travelling the 450km south to Algodonales in Cádiz.

The town of Pedro Bernardo is often called the Balcony of Tietar, as it on the steep sides of the mountain looking out over the river Tietar and the mountains of Toledo to the south. The principal west take off is above the town which you fly over on route to the landing field. Our competition base is overlooking the Parque de Rollo, both with great views over the valley.

There is a camping site (http://www.foropedrobernardo.com/turismo_camping.htm. Telephone 920 387 182) which is 700m from the organisation building. There are a number of rural houses for rent. These can be found on the following link.

http://www.casasgredos.com/catalogo.php As well as those in Pedro Bernardo, the village of Lanzahita is very close down in the Valley, so if you have a car, those are suitable too.

We have been warned by the town hall that the rural houses are normally booked up for weekend use well in advance of the summer months for weekend use. So, if you plan to stay in one, it is worth booking NOW. At the time of writing the houses Navasolana (s) and las Fabulas in PB are already booked for our competition week.

Here is the link for a hotel http://www.hostalelcerro.com/ the site has an English version.

The closest airport is Madrid (Barajas). Pedro Bernardo is 125km from Madrid, and will take about an hour and a half by car.

For a list of airlines flying to Madrid from the UK, Metro maps, hire car companies and other topics regarding your arrival in Madrid there is more complete information on at http://www.flypiedrahita.com/gettingHere/flightsToMadrid.php

If you are coming in a hire car from Madrid, the easiest route is to take the M40 orbital motorway around until you get to the exit which is the National highway 5 to Badajoz. Take that until you pass the Talavera de La Reina junction and take the exit of the motorway which indicates the three villages Cervera de Los Montes, Marrupe, Navamocuende. When you go pass Marrupe, you go towards Buenaventura, cross the Tietar river, and ahead is Pedro Bernardo. A shorter route is along the highway C-501. This follows more closely the south side of the mountains, but has more curves.

There is no rail service, so you would need to get the bus.

We can consider using one of our organisation buses for a shuttle to Madrid airport at the end of the competition if enough pilots are interested. The normal bus service will get you to Madrid at 20.15, which may be too late for many flights back to the UK

To get from Madrid airport to Pedro Bernardo by the normal bus service you need to get to the bus station, the Estacion Sur De Autobuses. You can take the metro, the nearest metro station in Medez Alvaro, see this link for a detailed map The website for the metro is http://www.metromadrid.es/redmetro/visor/plano.asp a taxi for this journey costs around 30€.

The Bus company which goes from Madrid to Pedro Bernardo is called Samar. (tel 91 4684236 for ticket sales in advance).

The time of buses from Madrid to Pedro Bernardo are the following.

10am Saturdays and Monday to Friday. Arrives 12.15

18.00hr Monday to Friday. Arrives 20.15

20.30hr Fridays (if not a public holiday). Arrives 22.45

The return times of buses from Pedro Bernardo to Madrid are:

6am Monday to Saturday. Arrives 8.15

Sundays and public holidays 17.45 . Arrives 20.15

Let´s hope this is not the case. However, for non fliers this is potentially a very interesting area. The hills around are full of bike, horse and walking trails. There are some impressive waterfalls.

Because of its special climate and low population density there is an interesting variety of plant and wildlife, especially amongst soaring birds.

For those who like to just like to laze at the side of the pool, the PB has quite a remarkable open air one

At the nearby Gutas de Aguila, there are some cave formations which eclipse those of my native Somerset´s Wookey Hole or Cheddar caves. http://www.grutasdelaguila.com/index2.htm.

I also particularly like the Apiculture museum at Poyales de Hoyos http://www.valletietar.com/paginas/empresas/aulamuseo/abejas/ver.htm

There are plenty of interesting villages to visit in the area including Candeleda, the village of choice of John Major for his Spanish holidays (don´t let that put you off). With the back drop of the Gredos Mountains, this is one of the most scenic regions of Spain.

Directly above the town is the access to three excellent take offs, facing West, East and South. All are eminently suitable for a large competition. Some 20km to the south is the site of San Vicente, in the Toledo hills, which we can use if there is a moderate northerly. (On any light wind day with a north wind, the anabatic flow up the mountain will bring the wind onto the hill). The south face of the Gredos is quite distinct from the shallow slopes many of you are used to flying in Piedrahita. Those of you who flew the route along the Cherry tree valley in the Open in 2007 will appreciate the higher mountain peaks of the Gredos. Hopefully, if the weather cooperates, we will be getting some more of that. (However, we will need east winds for this. The dominant wind in the Valled de Tietar is South West)

The Spanish nationals in 2003 were blessed with excellent weather and many days of light easterly winds. This is the optimal direction for flying along the Gredos. With westerly winds a downwind flight would take us to Madrid Airspace within 60km, so for longer flights we would have to detour to the north, where we may find ourselves latching onto the famous convergence so often used on our flights from Piedrahita. The large scale convergence effects have allowed us some of the largest goal flights in competition history from Piedrahita (170km in 1995 PWC and 153 in the Brit Open in 2007). However, the absence of that particular convergence phenomenon on the south side does not preclude large XC tasks being set at PB. A number of 200km flights have already been made from the site, and on light north wind days we can of course expect convergence along the high peaks of the Gredos. The dates we have chosen for the open are before the booming days of July, traditionally used for the Open in Piedrahita. During high summer the feed in from the southerly plains to the convergence setting up in the northern plains may make the conditions windier on the south side of the Gredos. In early June the vegetation will still be green and florid and conditions more spring like with less risk of wind pumping through to the northern plains. Just as in Andalucia, this area is most enjoyable flown in spring and autumn.

There is a lot more information on flying the Gredos on my website www.flypiedrahita.com. However, the focus is on the northern section. There are downloadable maps available in the navigation section which cover our competition area in Pedro Bernardo.

There are also maps and turnpoints which you can download on the website http://www.ligacentro.com/mapas.htm the home site of the Spainish paragliding league of central Spain. PB is a regular venue for the paragliding league in Spain.

I am personally very much looking forward to flying the south side of the Gredos. The Town Hall are very positive about our event and possible future events for the region. I hope the weather allows us to make the event a success and you all enjoy this new venue.

(Steve Ham. Feb 2008)