Piedrahita is just flat-lands flying over a desert isn't it, how hard could it be?
I've flown two competitions previously at Piedrahita: a round of the British Open in 2009 and the Pre-Worlds in 2010. Piedrahita is undoubtedly a tricky a site to fly consistently.
It all starts with the launch. While it's a massive take-off (apparently to be astro-turfed for the Worlds too!), it's a north facing launch which is weird in the northern hemisphere. It works consistently because it's a reasonably shallow slope in front of launch which generates anabatic flows up the face, but there is no mistaking it for a lee-side launch. Dusties regularly rip through launch, both comps I've seen gliders flying around by themselves. Once you're in the air there's no mistaking the lee-side feel of the flying.
Tip #1: don't leave your glider lying unpacked on launch.
People regularly fail to get away from launch, and the start gate is generally after quite a few kms of running up and down the ridge to spread the field out. The tasks start early to avoid the really strong anabatic flows up the face, perhaps a little too early on some occasions last year. There is no rush to get away, make sure someone is climbing before you launch, and head straight to your first climb! If you are getting flushed off the ridge, the towns below (including Piedrahita itself) actually work reasonably reliably and earlier than the face, sometimes it's best to head directly for them rather than getting a lee-side flush to the ground.
Once you've reached the start-gate, there's still more difficult ground to cover before you can really get flying. Generally the winds seem to be from the west in July, due to the heat low in the Mediterranean, which means you'll need to cross the infamous "pass" on the N-110 at Casas del Puerto. The first time I flew over it was at 3900m and I didn't notice it was there. The next few times I wasn't so lucky. Generally the start gate is before the pass, so it's important to set up with a good gaggle because the thermals out in the valley tend to move around. Choose a side (north or south) to cross the valley and find your next climb, I've had to ridge soar right into the pass, which is best avoided on a windy day because of the venturi effect and the lack of good landing options. Going across too low can easily see you getting flushed on the lee of the pass.
Tip #2: cross the pass as high as possible, and exercise caution to make sure you can to the next climb.
Tasks tend to head out to the east and generally run up to Avila. This can be a very quick section, with a convergence line regularly setting up on the north side of the valley leading to Avila. It's a great time to really push-on if the day allows it. It would be great to continue to follow the convergence if you could just follow it along the range, but airspace intervenes around Avila and the tasks I've flown generally head north across a plateau from there, although some tasks will end around Avila or head back into wind towards the aforementioned pass. It's likely you will have to leave the convergence onto rising ground and then get away from the convergence to your next thermal, it's easy to find yourself and your entire gaggle on the ground wondering wtf happened. I wish I knew a consistent way to escape convergence, but the best advice I seem to be able to find is don't fly to the end of the convergence, exit well before the end. So that often means heading north a lot earlier than Avila. Again, a good gaggle is key to getting across this section, there is good terrain on the other side of the plateau.
If the task continues to head into the flats to the north and north-east then it's because it's a windy day. Clouds and thermals can be regular, or they may be streeting with local convergence. Obviously you need to fly the day, getting low is probably best avoid due to mechanical turbulence. It'd be great to top out all the strong climbs, but airspace is around 3000m, and with thermals exceeding 5m/s and over 1km in radius it's easy to get caught out. Flying is more typical of flat lands flying; features work, especially all the small villages. Later in the day it's possible to encounter mountains again, even though they may look enticing, my experience last year was the flats are consistent until very late in the day and it's probably better to stick with them. One key thing flying in Spain is the large number of soaring birds really help out, although none seem to climb as well as wedge-tailed eagles.
Tip #3: keen observation of the birds will help immensely!I've heard of competitions where the flying has been completely in the other direction, but I've only ventured out there on a few occasions, so I'm not sure my advice would be helpful :-)
