Mont Viso, in the south-east corner of the Queyras range, on one of the very rare occasions when the summit is clear of cloud and the Italian plains behind it aren't hidden by a sheet of low stratus. We are about 100km north-east of Sisteron, sitting at 16,000ft in warm September wave, having used the traditional technique of thermal soaring our way into the higher mountains and taking our chances that the north-easterly that had been forecast would yield results.