The first led Intermediate this morning. It felt far less brutal for me this year. That's probably because I've been practicing intermediate all year, with the vinyasas. I went  up to karandavasana and it felt OK. Almost doable. Gregor Maehle's book on the intermediate breaks karandavasana into stages, which I think will help me conquer it. Sharath announced that anyone who missed a class would have to pay a fine of RS 2000. Everybody laughed and then he said "no kidding!" Imagine that, a yoga school where you could fine people for missing a class!