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| Grrr...Grande
Berard |
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Early cumulus on Hongrie
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The weather is starting to settle down
again after yesterday's storms, although it appears that only the Brits
seemed keen on flying today. After dispatching Jim to the Charbre, I opted
for Hongrie, which provided me with a 6 knot climb to 7000ft and an easy
getaway to the north.
All went well until I reached Chabriere,
which managed to maintain its reputation as "unpredictable". I
couldn't make it work and I wasn't overly keen on entering the darkness
over the tete de Lucy, so I decided to head west for some sunshine. |
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Pic de Bure
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| There was a lot of
cumulus on track, most of which were working well. I skirted past the pic
de Bure, its summit still in cloud, and carried on towards the Glandasse
on the western edge of the Vercors. Cloudbase dropped a little as I
approached the mountain and I didn't see much future in carrying on
further north, though that man Jim, along with Mike and David, made it to Grenoble in what must
have been trying circumstances. Chapeau to them all. |
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Glandasse
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| So south it was for
me. Fairly easy until I was approaching Vinon where the clouds decided to
give up on any convective action, leaving me with the only sensible option
of heading back north. I was hoping for a run along the parcours but a
large area of rain had developed in that direction forcing me to detour
via St Auban.
Some lovely 9000ft cumulus streets led me to Dormillouse,
where I heard Jim reporting that the Barcelonnette valley was looking
good. I decided to have a go too, following the ridge on the north side of
the valley to the Grande Berard. Which wasn't working. And neither were
the cumulus just off the peaks. So, yet again, I had another struggle on
my hands, this time in trying to avoid landing out at Barcelonette. Thirty
tense minutes later I had unlocked the solution and scraped my way back to
9,500ft and, with great relief, flew home. Now, I need a word with
Jim... |
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Puismosson
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