Great forecast and base at a good level in the morning - game on! Hairy and Jon force me to walk up to Plan Fait and i arrive in quivering sweating mess. Unfit as I have ever been. At least in the air i may feel more able to keep up!
In sparkling spring conditions with active clouds and with big streets leading unusual directions over the Bauges we climb quickly to the teeth at about 2pm before pushing into the NW breeze to Veyrier as we check out the day.
too much snow on the aravis - lets go to the bauges!
hairy ahead on the anteater as we glide for veyrier
cloud streets cover the bauges
Jon has set the task of going down to Dent D'Arclusaz, crossing to Grand Arc and then trying to find the way back to Perroix - a very tricky final leg based on previous efforts and I am not much enthused but in the absence of better suggestions we acquiesce.
Jon and I get a much better glide from Veyrier to Roc de Boeuffs than Hairy and he is trapped low as we surf up and ping out to over 2000m immediately.
hairy approaches beefy
High at the end of Roc de Boeufs I wait for Jon who is a glide behind but this almost decks me as i get trapped in sink cycle ending up way below ridge height in an awkward along slope breeze. It takes 15 mins to get back up by which time Jon has cruised over my head at base heading for the next mountain.
Now a glide behind Jon i see him skying out ahead and heading for Dent D'arclusaz but I miss the cycle and have to head to Colombier where a scratch up over trees leads to a ballistic thermal which cartwheels me into the sky sucking me up only metres from the rocks on the N face and exploding me up over the snowy summit bowls. No photos but images burned in my brain. Thinking i can see jon on Arclusaz I cut across but it turns out to be a different Mantra although i spot him far head on the next transition to Grand Arcs.
When I get there there is ragged lift but with the help of a couple of boisterous half thermals and another glider to locate the best lift I am back up to 1700m and am surprised to note a northerly drift has shifted me away from Grand Arcs. No sign of jon (turns out he pushed N along grand arcs).
I was expecting the southerly valley wind to dominate even at mid-levels here and this break from the brain model helps me make a snap decision to follow the wind and push South - there are great clouds to go for.
A sinky glide puts me back surfing trees and drops me into a weak low level southerly valley wind for a few minutes until I manage to push round a corner and get my reward - one of the biggest smoothest 5m/s climbs ever which boosts me to the base of a classic cumulus directly above 4 gliders laid out on Chamoux take off.
For the next 50k i fight a balance between staying on the lower ridges where the wind is 15-20kph NNW ( a quartering tail wind) and the temptation to go high on the snowy Belledonne. Every time I go high however the wind is directly from the W and is strong enough to severely reduce my progress to the S. The sail planes mock my lack of speed and glide performance from above.
A low save at Allevard (school gliders out ground handling by the lake) and a beautiful climb from a col just as I thought I was landing on the low hills between valley and Belledonne get me past Grenoble by about 7pm.
I almost cock it up near the end pushing for a few extra km and dynamically soaring a series of hills until I have nowhere else to go - my narrow valley is blocked by a lake and the potential of surfing the slopes in increasing winds looks dodgy. My chosen landing place proves less than ideal and some heavy bar not far off the ground is needed to help push back into wind to avoid landing in a deep bowl and I come down vertically rather close to some powerlines.
looking N to the conspicuous Dent Crolles on the ridge above St Hilaire from my rather windy landing place
A lorry driver late for work in Grenoble deposits me tired but happy by the train station but a rail strike means it takes ages to get to Annecy its well after midnight til i get a taxi up the lac to the maison du moulin where all is quiet except for Irwyn who has waited up to greet me with a dram by the bbq embers. Slainte mhath!
Track log
In sparkling spring conditions with active clouds and with big streets leading unusual directions over the Bauges we climb quickly to the teeth at about 2pm before pushing into the NW breeze to Veyrier as we check out the day.
too much snow on the aravis - lets go to the bauges!
hairy ahead on the anteater as we glide for veyrier
cloud streets cover the bauges
Jon has set the task of going down to Dent D'Arclusaz, crossing to Grand Arc and then trying to find the way back to Perroix - a very tricky final leg based on previous efforts and I am not much enthused but in the absence of better suggestions we acquiesce.
Jon and I get a much better glide from Veyrier to Roc de Boeuffs than Hairy and he is trapped low as we surf up and ping out to over 2000m immediately.
hairy approaches beefy
High at the end of Roc de Boeufs I wait for Jon who is a glide behind but this almost decks me as i get trapped in sink cycle ending up way below ridge height in an awkward along slope breeze. It takes 15 mins to get back up by which time Jon has cruised over my head at base heading for the next mountain.
Now a glide behind Jon i see him skying out ahead and heading for Dent D'arclusaz but I miss the cycle and have to head to Colombier where a scratch up over trees leads to a ballistic thermal which cartwheels me into the sky sucking me up only metres from the rocks on the N face and exploding me up over the snowy summit bowls. No photos but images burned in my brain. Thinking i can see jon on Arclusaz I cut across but it turns out to be a different Mantra although i spot him far head on the next transition to Grand Arcs.
When I get there there is ragged lift but with the help of a couple of boisterous half thermals and another glider to locate the best lift I am back up to 1700m and am surprised to note a northerly drift has shifted me away from Grand Arcs. No sign of jon (turns out he pushed N along grand arcs).
I was expecting the southerly valley wind to dominate even at mid-levels here and this break from the brain model helps me make a snap decision to follow the wind and push South - there are great clouds to go for.
A sinky glide puts me back surfing trees and drops me into a weak low level southerly valley wind for a few minutes until I manage to push round a corner and get my reward - one of the biggest smoothest 5m/s climbs ever which boosts me to the base of a classic cumulus directly above 4 gliders laid out on Chamoux take off.
For the next 50k i fight a balance between staying on the lower ridges where the wind is 15-20kph NNW ( a quartering tail wind) and the temptation to go high on the snowy Belledonne. Every time I go high however the wind is directly from the W and is strong enough to severely reduce my progress to the S. The sail planes mock my lack of speed and glide performance from above.
A low save at Allevard (school gliders out ground handling by the lake) and a beautiful climb from a col just as I thought I was landing on the low hills between valley and Belledonne get me past Grenoble by about 7pm.
I almost cock it up near the end pushing for a few extra km and dynamically soaring a series of hills until I have nowhere else to go - my narrow valley is blocked by a lake and the potential of surfing the slopes in increasing winds looks dodgy. My chosen landing place proves less than ideal and some heavy bar not far off the ground is needed to help push back into wind to avoid landing in a deep bowl and I come down vertically rather close to some powerlines.
looking N to the conspicuous Dent Crolles on the ridge above St Hilaire from my rather windy landing place
A lorry driver late for work in Grenoble deposits me tired but happy by the train station but a rail strike means it takes ages to get to Annecy its well after midnight til i get a taxi up the lac to the maison du moulin where all is quiet except for Irwyn who has waited up to greet me with a dram by the bbq embers. Slainte mhath!
Track log
