|
      
| |
|
 |
|
|
Passing les Aiguilles d'Arves
|
|
Wendy has arrived with her ASW27, eager for seven days of
Alpine airtime. The forecast was for another good day, with the risk of showers in the Briancon area. Launching was delayed while the club changed launch points, but I was soon on my
way to Trainon, and an easier escape than yesterday's.
There were enough cumulus at around 8000ft for an easy run to la Blanche and then Guillaume. A bit of traffic
on the slopes and Flarm pinging me for a collision risk coming from behind persuaded me to try nearer to the tete de Lucy, which worked a treat. I was careful to avoid Prachaval today, climbing at the tete de Vautisse and flying direct to the tete de
Peyronne - far less stressful.
To the north of Briancon lay a 10-knotter to 13,000ft, which was a pleasant surprise. I flew to
the edge off the Maurienne, but saw few opportunities further north, so I
went for Plan B instead. Perhaps my go-for-it gene is missing.
|
|
|
Lac du Verney
|
|
|
I had never flown along the col de Lauteret valley from Briancon to Grenoble
so, as conditions looked acceptable, I set off towards the col de Galibier. It turned out to be a very pleasant section of my flight, with great views of Alpe d'Huez and its
notorious mountain airstrip. There was plenty of height in hand to reach the hills to the south of Grenoble, and I set about flying the reverse of the western Ecrins leg that I had flown earlier in the week.
|
|
|
Lac de Sautet
|
|
|
A good climb on the first mountain got me to within gliding range
(theoretically, at least) of Gap, but the next few mountains, despite the pleasing display of cumulus above
their peaks, failed to deliver; I reckon the northerly wind chopped the
thermals so thoroughly as to render them virtually unusable (by me,
anyway).
With some trepidation, I abandoned the mountains and struck out across the flatter lands towards Gap, hitting sink that further eroded my safety margin. At one point I thought I might have to "do a Gibson" and land at the col de Bayard, but rescue came in the form of a relatively small hill near the col, which I was able to work back to cloudbase.
With that drama concluded, I searched for an easier life by staying near cloudbase until the cumulus ran out, somewhere near la Bigue. Back northwards again, I
returned to the Ecrins, flew a portion of the route royale, then onwards to
the pic de Bure and finally headed for home.
Except there was a large storm cloud dropping rain over the Sisteron valley, with accompanying radio messages about ground conditions. I decided to
avoid a panic landing by parking for a while under a selection of nearby cumuli
in order to monitor the situation, although the impressive amount of lightning
nearly made me reconsider. My estimation that the storm was moving south proved correct, and I was able to delay my landing
for an hour or so until the showers over the airfield had dispersed.
|
|
|
Reallon from the tete de Lucy
|
|
|
|
|
|
