Winter Returns
Atrocious weather. Best place to be is probably Pocos de Caldas in Brazil for the 2010 Paragliding World Cup.
Only Steve Etherington is listed, for the Brits, but not confirmed. On the French side of life, Elisa Houdry, and Mathieu Vermeil are up and running. Elisa was getting her harness tweaked for this event, it seems. We met Mathieu on the landing field here, before he was jetting off…
We will be keeping a close eye on the Tasks as they unfold.
Meanwhile, not much happening here, although, an extremely active cold front has arrived bringing with it, thundery showers, howling winds, rattling shutters, and various other interesting phenomena that stormy conditions produce. The snow limit is forecast to drop to 1000 mtrs. overnight, with approximately 15-25cms at 2000 mtrs. We’ve got strong Southerlys, and it’s not looking to improve until maybe Thrusday, and then it’s forecast to be ‘Unsettled’, with only a slight improvement later in the day, so it’s not looking too good. Winters returned, although the Sun did decide to show up late this afternoon.
Meanwhile in Pocos de Caldas, the weather is looking interesting. It looks like there may be windows of opportunity in the early part of the week for the PWC and maybe getting better later on.
Rain, Reigning Champion, & Getting Stitched Up!
Streaming Clouds in a Brief Moment,
before Clouding Over Again
Woke up to heavy grey skies this morning. Had my first shoulder massage session, it was very relaxing. On the way home, it started spotting with rain, within half an hour it was blowing the shivers off me timbers, and hammering down. It seemed like a good day to sort out the little niggle with my flight deck that revealed itself on launch the other day. Dennis also needed a bit of work on his set up too. We checked to see if Denis Kortella was available, and luckily enough he was. It usually works out that way when it’s pouring down.
We were there at 10.00am and Denis very kindly made some minor adjustments with a bit of stitching here and there, and presto job done! Whislt we were there another ‘para-celeb’ face arrived, funnily enough I was reading her interview in XC Mag only yesterday. Elisa Houdry walked in (the current Womens World Paragliding Champion) for some minor adjustments and alterations of her own. We chatted about the upcoming Polish Open in Levico Terme, in Italy. Both Dennis and me, have enterd, but are having diffuculty with other commitments, dog sitters and other issues, so it is looking more and more likely that we wont be able to make this one. Such a shame it looks like a beautiful place. Elisa was saying that the French Team do a lot of their practicing there, so that’s how good it is! I know a lot of French Pilots have entered it’s a very popular one. Drat… anyway, it was interesting that she used to fly a Gin Race, but it seems has since defected to Kortel, it turned out to be quite an eventful busy morning.
We had a little clearance in the sky, but it was short lived and the rain returned. Snow level is down to 1300 meteres, so it’s looking decidedly more like the skis maybe resurfacing. We’ve both got Transfers later this evening to different destinations, Dennis to Megeve and me to Les Houches…. The weather isn’t looking particularly promising for tomorrow but we’ll see.
Flying in Foehn is no Fun
High Cirrus & Foehn Cloud
Early morning, Dennis and Nick raced up to launch to squeeze a flight in before it all goes ballistic. Foehn was forecast with more deterioration and increasing winds. I decided to stay at home and get on with other things. Dennis said he’d give me a call to pick them up if they both flew, then we’d go back up to launch to collect the bus, and Nick could fly again if it was flyable.
Dennis called, they both flew… Looking towards the mountain, foehn cloud was pouring over the top and the sky was looking increasingly unsettled, with high cirrus and plenty of stretched lenticulars filling in the gaps! My phone rang, and the verdict was ‘very roly’ so not so nice. I drove over to landing, where they were both packed up. That was it for the day, no more flying. The foehn was here, the wind was picking up all the signs were saying that flying was done for the day, and probably for the next couple of days according to the forecast.
The picture looks a bit dark, that was the mobile phone shot, it wasn’t as dark as it looks. The launch area wasn’t looking bad early on, but deterioration can be really rapid. It was safe to do an early top to bottom, before any of the weather had established itself.
Yesterday, the wind was howling in Chamonix, so most of the Chamoyard crew were over here at Plaine Joux only one or two took off, it was just too windy. Mieussy was ok in the morning though as one of our friends flew and had well over an hours good flying. Today Chamonix valley looked like a bubbling pot from our end and was hoofing again. Snow is forecast for the weekend down to 1300 metres so we may be skiing…
I had some good news from the Doc, in Chamonix yesterday, it seems I’m as good as new although I’ve got a few sessions of pampering shoulder massage coming up starting in the morning, should be relaxing.
Highly Sprung Thermals
me!
The front had most definately departed. This morning we awoke to a new day! bright and cheerful. We knew it was going to be a good day’s flying. It was topping out at 2900 metres, (9514 ft) or thereabouts!, excellent xc’s were had and all in all it was fantastic.
I enjoyed my flying today, the air was definatly the most boisterous it had ever been since flying my new glider, I welcomed the ’dealing with it’ scenario, and acquired a confidence boost in the making, so was happy. Just a couple more flights and we should hopefully have completed our bonding!
Thermals early on were cut up choppy and in bits and pieces. You could certainly taste the potential in the air, but it was all down to timing. It was warm again 19.5° so distinct lapse rates which produced sharp lifty thermals with a bit of teenage angst about them, young spring thermals always have to be just that bit rebellious!
It turned out to be a busy day. The evening, brought with it serene flying, with hands off, relaxed glides…very sweet!
Dennis had the camera early on, so there’s a few pics of me… that’s a rarity! More in the gallery.
Warm Front, Congestion!
Roland Preparing to Test Fly the New Swing Astral 6...observe the clouds!
We arrived at launch, engulfed in cloud. The post frontal conditions were interesting, plenty of moisture evaporating… we could see it on the road on the way up. It was a good day, the cloud thinned and landing became visible whilst we were waiting. Without further ado, I got kitted up and took off, had a pleasant flight! Launched at 1380 mtrs, (4527 ft) and reached cloudbase at 1340 mtres! (4396 ft)
Roland, had a new glider to try, the Swing Astral 6 – EN – C, it looked very nice. Good inflation, nice action and Roland was impressed with the glide as well as the handling. As it was post frontal, the air still retained an atmospheric disturbance, as the day progressed a few congestus were forming… an added bit of wind was thrown into the mix, adding a little more excitment but nothing to drastic.
Dennis had the second flight. We both had a couple of good flights and our guest was very happy with his flights too.
It turned out to be an ok day… there was just a little too much moisture in the air for any ‘sensible’ xc’s although, ‘insensible’ maybe.
Some more pics in the gallery.
A Bright Carryong, with Heavy Precipitation!
Bright Open 2010
The snow is poor at the moment, wet, heavy, slushy and not particularly nice. Any decent skiing to be had now will be at high altitude. We don’t know if the skiing is all but over, as from past experience the snow has been known to return with a vengeance, around Easter time, so who knows?
Anyway, back to the flying… our friend down in Aus land, has just completed two comps. The Bright Open and the Carryong Cup, and he’s given us a run down on the experience and tasks. Apparently it was an all round excellent couple of weeks.
Here are the results Bright Open and the Ozone Carryong Cup
A Bit of a Cham-bles…
Transfers this evening, but we had part of the afternoon free… until 3.30 anyway. It was looking like it might be flyable, it was lovely and warm, 20° in the shade! virtually summer…
Sylvain Launching
The wind charts weren’t looking bad, nothing overly dramatic. After an early lunch, we gathered our gliders and headed for launch. On arrival, I was just about to set-up, but felt a tad uneasy. The wind fins were blowing from the west at the back, swinging ’round to the east, and at launch it was on face and gusting, the windsock was vertical on occassion, and common sense told me to hang on for a while, not being one to argue, I decided to sit it out. Dennis meanwhile was getting set up, whilst getting his kit ready another pilot took off, got hoovered straight up, hit sink like a plumbline, then got slurped up again like he was in a straw!! it was all a bit boisterous, wing tips flapping and getting pushed back, pinned, it looked like lots of fun if that’s your thing…!
Dennis, was set to launch, the glider was snaking and thrashing about, resulting in a variety of omnidirectional inflations… it was all looking a bit too unruly for my liking. After deciding it was a ‘little on the strong side’ Dennis sat it out a while. We didn’t have all day so were hoping it would calm down soon. Whilst waiting, and watching a few die hards take off, there was a thunderous rumbling behind, it was one of three avalanches we saw cascading down the Fiz range. Quite spectacular, I took some pics, but they look a bit tame.
A blue day with extreme temperature differences mixed in with wind, an approaching front, and spritely spring thermals, make for a diverse concoction, and a recipe for some exciting flying. We watched the inversion form and felt the air all choppy and cut up. I didn’t want to suffer indigestion after such a belly full of ingredients so was content to wait a bit longer.
It started to calm, and was beginning to feel ok, the wind lessened and relaxed. As it improved a few more pilots arrived. Problem was, time was getting on, if we were going to fly we’d better fly now, so we’d be back in time to do the transfers. I wondered if it was worth it. If we didn’t have time restrictions it’d probably have been ok, but as it happens we did, so I decided to stay grounded and drive. Dennis, flew and said that it wasn’t very pleasant, lots of wind mixed up with thermals, not very nice, but ok. Anyway, he landed out in Batistock, as it was looking a bit rough at Chedde.
All in all, it was an excellent day’s flying if you were above the inversion and really high but inbetween, and getting up there was accompanied by an argument from the elements. Where we are at Plaine Joux, it can be smack on the inversion level, so it’s usual to get some crappy air at that altitude, occassionally. Chamonix would have been good, having the extra height above the inversion level would have been an assest. I should think there were probably some good xc’s, if you’d got the time, the inclination, and been in the right place! We’ve since heard that there was hardly a breath at 2200 mtrs at Aiguillette des Houches, dag nabbit! should’ve gone to Chamonix, I knew it!! 
Tomorrow, we have our first official flying guest arrive, so we’ll be out every flyable day whilst he’s here. It’s good when we have flying guests as we take our weather charts and information much more seriously instead of ’looking out the window!’ we’re obliged to find the best and most appropriate places to fly, which is beneficial all round…if he was here this morning, we’d probably have gone to Chamonix!
Some more pics in the gallery.
A Late Launch…
Dennis just Launched
Well, we didn’t expect it to be as good as it turned out. We did have chalet work to do, and new appliances to install, in the shape of a microwave, various crocs, utensils, kettle and whatnot for our recently updated self-catering friendly accommodation, so the morning was quite busy with re-arrangements and all.
Para-perspective!
It wasn’t looking to good for flying, and we havn’t had a decent snowfall for a while and neither of us fancied skiing on crusty old snow, so we thought we’d just see how the day develops. We kept an eye out towards launch and it wasn’t looking too promising, a bit of southwesterly in the valley can really put the kybosh on the flying, and there was, what seemed a relatively strong southwesterly making an appearance. We didn’t see anyone flying all morning, then after lunch, we saw a couple of tandems take off, and fly into the valley, it looked like they were getting pinned so thought…nah! but you know how it is, just can’t help but keep checking. It did seem to ease off a little later, eventually much later in the day we decided to go for it.
When we got to launch, it was amazingly bouyant, there were a few out already flying, it looked perfectly fine, in fact it looked pretty darn good. There were a few locals on launch, who we met for the first time this year. Nice to see them, and catch up on the local news, including various misadventures encountered during the winter sports season! A few broken bones and strained ligaments here and there…. (ought to stick to paragliding, much safer!) all things considered, everyone was well.
Some nice flights were had, easily climbing out and about above take off. Mont Blanc did look spectacular this afternoon/early evening… It really is such a majestic mountain, I managed to grab a few pics, but was faffing about pressing buttons on the gps… to remind myself what page/button does what. Haven’t used it for a while, so thought maybe I ought to try and get re-acquainted with it, as will hopefully in the not too distant future start logging some flights, well you never know?
Transfers again late this evening, but no complaints!
More pics in the gallery.
École de Kortel
As you’ve probably guessed this weekend we were restricted by the vehicles again… in the form of Transfers, so no flying for us. There was flying, not an excessive amount but it was working well at Mieussy and Samoëns, driving past. It was blown out in Salève though, strong winds in Genève. There were a few flying at Plaine Joux too. It certainly looked xc’able but we haven’t seen any locals yet to find out. It did look like a nice weekend though, I have to say… through slightly gritted teeth!
- Early Cloud Formations
This morning, it looked like a possible good flying day, and we had the day off…. but we had a rendezvous with Kortel Design, and spent the day attending an amazingly in-depth look at the full range of Kortel Harnesses. It was so interesting, the whole concept of each individual harness was incredible, no stone was left unturned. It was a small attendence, with a Speedriding Instructor, Chantel (our friend/collegue) who works at the CEP Centre Ecole Parapente, and yours truly. The lecture was informative, and very particular. Just when you think you know about harnesses, there’s still more to be discovered. What Denis Kortella and Max Jeanpierre don’t know about harnesses isn’t worth knowing.
Max Jeanpierre, led the lecture/discussion, painstakingly explaining every aspect of the full range of harnesses, and their individual characteristics. Such things like, the ‘Karver’ speedriding harness, that is versatile, and can be used for various other modes of vol/ski has gel lock internal buckles, so they won’t freeze, at extremly low temeperatures. The way the Kuick harness, folds in on itself, and has a secret sack that you can stuff and hook onto the shoulder strap, the way the Karmasutra’s geometry works throughout the whole length of the harness, the stirrup attachment set up that disconnects and clears on release of the reserve.
We feel very privledged to have attended, and having a restaurant lunch included, was something we certainly weren’t expecting. During lunch I couldn’t resist but ask Max about his Mt. Blanc top landing!! It was absolutely fantastic listening to him describe how it happened, the fun, the disbelief, the incredible and unexpected height gains, the views and flying into Italy, the circling of the Mountain…. it sounded fantastic! and the guy who had the tandem flight… well the Tandem Pilot apparently said, “Perhaps, I’ll charge you a supplement!!” what an experience… takes my breath away… and that’s just listening!
It was an impeccable presentation. These guys work so hard on the designs, they’ve thought of everything!! We’ve certainly come away a lot more knowledgable and for some reason feel like we’ve only scratched the surface! Whilst we were in attendence a couple of Base Jumpers turned up with their wingsuits requiring some alterations?!! They did look impressive though, a bit like batwings! now there’s a recommendation for Kortel Quality stitching, if ever there was one!
Just before the end of the presentation, we saw Max’s plaque/trophy of his epic flight! 4807 meters, Top Landing on Mont Blanc! There’s not many people own those in the world! It would be nice to have one… don’t you think…???
Flying, Freezing, but Fun!
Busy Launch
Finally, took off! Feet left the ground for the second time this year. It felt good. It was the busiest it has been so far. The familiar faces have returned… All the local Parapente School Instructors were out, a couple with tandems, and the others flying solo, and a few local hotshots! including Mathieu. It was good to be flying with the merry throng again. It’s been quite a while since I flew, so was feeling excited. It does me good, not flying for a while, so when I do, I get re-motivated and want to get into it again. This time no sooner had I left the ground and caught my first thermal, not quite to base, it was perishing cold, and flying around admiring the beautiful views, it felt just so good to be back up there, re-aquainting myself with my glider, (as Dennis was flying his today!) and enjoying the alterations Denis Cortella recently made to my harness, it was sweet to get settled back in. It all felt
g-o-o-d 8)
The air was very inverted and quite feisty, in places which again was good for me to attune to my new wing. The thermals were strong enough to break through the inversion layers easily. Next time I certainly need my balaclava, heated gloves, and goose down jacket, was just not warm enough so was brought down by the cold after an hour. It wasn’t too long before the others followed!
Dennis also had an enjoyable flight, we could have flown back home, but having the vehicles restricted us a bit. The difficulty wasn’t in going up today, but maybe that’s just the amazing new wings!! tee hee 
It was a great afternoons flying, and the weather’s looking good for the weekend, but we’ve got transfers, so play may be put on hold for a couple of days now.
A few more pics in the gallery.
