I couldn't help noticing that Klaus Ohlmann's Gang, forging
its way in the opposite direction, was now down to Three - the Darwin
effect, perhaps?
Using Grenoble Le Versoud as a safety airfield made the
trip easy. Only a couple of climbs were needed near l'Alpe d'Huez and I was
soon looking over the city of Grenoble from the mountains to the
south.
There were good cu all the way to the Vercors, but I
decided to get back into the Ecrins via the Valgaudemar to offer Ariane a
hand with a little pair-flying.
After that exercise was completed, I added a few
kilometers by flying up to Bardonnecchia and then across the Queyras, into
the Barcelonnette valley, across to Mt Pelat and the lac d'Allos, before
flying home via the Serre Montdenier. As an exercise, I decided to fly back
to Sisteron from 5000ft at the Vaumuse without using any thermalling turns.
No height was lost on the Vaumuse as far as Authon, where two or three beats
were enough to get me to 6500ft and home.
