A name that often pops up both in our Newsletters and as News on our web- and Facebook page is that of Daria Krasnova. Daria is UP Russia, but she's not home much. She flies all the comps she can, and has reached a remarkable level in a very short time. At UP we like to think of her as an example of a talented pilot being allowed an even steeper learning curve because of a wing that lets her concentrate 100% on the task at hand; the Trango XC2.
Daria has recently exchanged her XC2 for an X-Light 2, and she wrote us to tell of how happy she was (yes she used the L word, as in "I'm in love...". According to Daria and her man, the Trango X-Light 2 keeps up with a certain competition 2-liner named after a famous Italian sports car up until the sports car is doing 95% of its top speed - and Daria has been quick to capitalise on it, most recently coming first in the female ranking in the PWC Turkey, and 13th Overall in the Turkish pre-PWC in Kayseri, and before that 3rd Overall in the Pre-Europeans in Kopaonik, Serbia. At UP we really enjoy following Darias adventures, and her track record, although we do get a little envious some times... Keep up the hard work Daria!!!
Another go-get-it UP girl is Nanda Walliser. Nanda is Dutch but lives in Switzerland, and she was the second early adopter of the Trango X-Light 2 for full-on comp deployment. Nanda was in St. André (France) for the British and Dutch Open, and came home with the top Dutch female trophy.
In the same event, Alex Coltman from England won the Sports Class on his XC2, and when the Overall British results were tallied he was actually 8th Overall, after the two events!!! Alex thus beat very many full-on comp wings on his school glider, testimony both to his talent and to the performance of the wing. Alex doesn't get his pic in the News this time around, both because we don't have one and because this is a male-dominated sport and the boys love to look at the two soaring birds above, but let that be a reminder to Alex to send his portrait at some stage ;-)
