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Northbound Again
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Queyras
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A much better day, today - we were able to
visit the Ecrins for the first time this visit. Again we flew down to the
Gorges de Verdon to allow the cloudbase to rise a little over the higher
mountains to the north. Back on the parcours the clouds were on the top of
les Trois Eveches but clear of Dormillouse and Morgon. With a base of 9000ft
the transit to Guillaume was easy and we climbed away at the tete de Lucy to
10,000ft. We chose the col de Terres Blanches to cut off the corner into the
St Crepin valley, but were unable to climb further until we retreated to
Prachaval which, of course, worked its magic back up to 9500ft. Then it was
north to Briancon and our furthest point for the day, Mt Chaberton with its
six summit turrets.
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Further north still, Bardonecchia was under
8/8ths and rain, so we flew back towards Briancon and then up to the col du
Galibier, passing Mr J. Wills on the way. Cloudbase was a modest 11,300ft
but adequate for a transit into the Glacier Blanc across the col on its
northern edge.
Time to go home - we wanted to exit the
Ecrins through the pas de Cavale and after some searching we got enough
height to reach a street that hung over one of the lead-in ridges to the col,
and soon we were through it for an easy glide home.
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"Soon be home..."
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Not so easy, as it turned out! To the south of
Gap the sky was very black and sparks were seen in the distance. At 30 km
out we were told that if we wanted to land at Sisteron, we had 10 minutes in
which to do it. At 28km out, we were told we now had 5 minutes. There was
much chatter on the Sisteron frequency as local gliders made it down, and
when local ace Jutte in her DG800 confirmed that she would be landing at
Gap, there was no justification for us not doing the same.
After landing we battened down the Duo and
sought shelter on the clubhouse at the other end of the field. The sky
tipped it down for an hour or so and we considered our options. The ideal
would have been an aerotow hop back to Sisteron, but as it was still raining
at 8pm, and there were other pilots wanting to get home (to Vinon and
Puismosson), we decided to leave 220 at Gap and launch from there the
following day. Robbie from Talgarth very kindly gave us a lift back to
Sisteron - for which, many, many thanks!
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Northern Ecrins
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