After six months of break, it feels good to take the dust off the Gun! Nothing is as good than the old North Ramp of St Hilaire! Two Step and off we go!
The good thing with my homesite, is that it alow,to take off pretty early as it's a East face ridge. I wish we could go even earlier, but for this we need to find a higher take off! Also it works very well in spring time, so I was kind of aware but we really get a great week with good conditions every day!
Monday was maybe the best day, with cloud base at something like 3000m and Cloud streets formed to the south and to the
north! The North west wind was present so I decide to stay on the ridge for a big out and return: I went down south in the begenning of the Day,pushed by the wind, then I U turn at the best of the day,head wind, but with strong lift everywhere! Then at the end I was tail wind again when the conditions started to slow down!
The Vercors Ridge (south of Grenoble) was like a big Highway, straight on! Same for the Chartreuse and the Bauges, there are all pretty similar Range, but still Different and it's great to cross it all in one Day! I went to the north of the Annecy lake where conditions are always great, with lots of pg flying around! Then I decide to try to make a triangle for the way back, so headed East, to see how it goes in the higher mountains! It was also pumpin, naturally but i couln't go as East as I wanted, due to snow falls under some little congestus clouds in the Maurienne valley...Anyway It was time to go back home! I finished the flight on Belledonne, the range in front of St Hilaire, where I was playing a lot this winter, Ski touring, Speed riding and Snow Kiting! There is still plenty of snow so it's really funny to see all the ski touring traks every where! We don't leave any tracks with our wings,only on the GPS , happily, otherwise it would be a big mess in the sky! This week, because of the volcano Smoke, there is only us flying, no plane: the sky is pure! I managed to come back to the landing place with lots of altitude after a 7h flight and 289 Km flat triangle! What a great day!
Photo: Annecy, my turnpoint is behind the paraglider.
Photo: Grand Arc and Grande Lauziere, my East turnpoint.
Photo: La Lauziere, we can see why it was so pumpin and also the snow fall!
Photo: Pass of la Perche, the key of my return! Little soaring with the Chamois (kind of mountains goat!)watching at me! Magical!
The last picture of the Day: Les Grand Moulins-Belledonne.
The Next Day was a little bit overcast so I stayed home with the family, every body is happy and it was good to rest a little
bit! But on Wednesday I could feel an other good day!There was some cirrus, but the instabillity looked great! The Wind was
more West, still quiet strong (20km/h at 3000).I took off maybe a little bit to late to optimise, but it was hard to say...anyway, the begening of the flight was so good,
so easy! I never had to Cross over Grenoble so High!
Then the Vercors highway was not as good as the monday, but still working. I was carefull not to go down on the lee so I
tried to stay high.Also because I had a plan: I wanted to go West in the Dioi Area! There it was just amazing! Thermalling
with sailplanes, facing the flats, easy!
On the way to the East I was pushed by the West wind, the thermal where powerfull and the base, almost 3500m! I enjoyed the ride!
The View at the Pic de Bure is Awsome! I flew here for the first time during
the worlds last summer, but this time it's still full of snow! It looks even bigher! I was a litte bit worrying about the
Wind, because i knew that to come back home I will have to face it. Also the cirrus where really present all the morning on
the South of the Ecrins...will it work?? I had to try anyway! I was pretty close of the Serre ponçon Lake when I decide to turn, facing the wind I was still going pretty fast but I realised that the wind was even stronger down low in the valley, due to the breeze. I had to stay high, the air was messy and turbulent, once or twice, I thought i was going to land there, but managed to get up again,arrgh!It was definitly the hardest part of the flight, Arriving to the coiro, the Cirrus where doing lots of shade, there was no
more CU, only one little forming on the lee, so I decided to go and see! It pays off! As I get a weak lift in the shade, A big Royal Eagle came to say hello! We turn a little bit together, he show
me the good core and go away! Thank you my friend!
After That, it was all easy and a pure happyness in the sky! I went deep i the big mountains, on the Taillefer! Looking East, I wonder if I'm flying in the Himalaya, or just 40 kms from home!! Now the wind is much less strong, and even start to come from the tail as my way turn more north! Again, I finish the flight on the Belledonne range where I meet some friends, flying Paragliders! The view was great again!
No much cu, so I can see the mountains far away! The light starts to be really nice as the sun goes down,and the light wind helps to soar smoothly on the peaks!I had a great experience when I was soaring the top of a peak called Les Grands moulins: I wanted to take a picture of my shadow on the summit when I saw this two big eagles sated on the Top watching at me!Then one of them toke off and came to me, and the other one as well, it was so magic! Flying with them, after such a long
flight, knowing that I was going back home, with such a nice panorama was just unbeliveable, I was dreaming awake!
I think that this is the kind of moment that makes me possionated about flying, more than the
preformance itself, but only to be in places you couldn't reach if you where not flying! Its Even stronger when it's flying without using any other power than the natural energy! I just love flying in the mountains!I landed after again more than 7h and a nice FAI triangle of 281 KM! I'm sure that with a little bit better day, with less
wind and more Cu, taking off a little bit earlier, this triangle can become really big, going further on every legs! Looking forward the next good day!
From Low, Scratching with Vianney Tisseau on his Atos.
Charteuse!!
