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| Scenic
500 |
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Glacier Blanc
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| Today's forecast
was for a good day, and so it proved. I launched early (12:00 local), but
not quite as early as Bob who subsequently found himself on the Vaumuse
waiting for the thermals to start. Been there, etc...
The eastern end of Authon is the place to go when
starting early, and I managed a good climb from below the top up to around
7000ft, easily enough to search for better. My route to the parcours was
les Monges, Blayeul and l'Ubac, connecting with the ridge at la Blanche at
around 7500ft. I ran the parcours to Dormillouse, found a good climb north
of the ridge at Morgon and flew on to Guillaume. Bob had rallied by then
and had caught up with me. I took a punt on the pointy bits near the tet
de Lucy and caught a cracker under the watchful eyes of a local vulture.
That was enough to get me through the col de Terre blanches and another
series of climbs off the ridges to the west of the St Crepin valley. |
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Pelvoux
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| Not so good at the
tete d'Amont, with 9000ft on the clock and no usable thermals, though that
was made up for by the violence of the gusts off the mountain. I skipped
across the valley and caught some good climbs just south east of Briancon,
allowing me to carry on just that little bit further north. I turned the
col d'Etroit on seeing just a jumbled mess of clouds to the north and
east. |
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Behind the Barre des Ecrans
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| I went west for a
change, reaching the col de Galibier and then turned past la Meige and
into the Glacier Blanc, which looked spectacular with the summit of the
Barre des Ecrins in cloud. There was plenty of lift to be had as I
zig-zagged my way round the peaks - the south side of Pelvoux was
particularly good. |
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Pelvoux Snow
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| I decided to make
this a distance day, so I headed for the pas de Cavale and along the route
royale back to the tete de Lucy and an easy hop to the parcours. My next
climb was 70km away on the Montagne de Coupe. Once past the spectacularly
coloured lac Ste Croix, the clouds look better than the lift they
promised, but it was ok as far as Vinon, where I turned back to the north.
I had a couple of fumbles before connecting again with
the stronger climbs over the hills. Back to the parcours, all was working
as advertised with no need to turn until I reached Guillaume. It was now
18:20 and I had another 70km to go for an OLC 500km, so with an abundance
of early evening thermals there was every chance that it could be
achieved. A straight glide back to Sisteron left me 20km short, so all I
needed was to carry on for that distance after passing the airfield. Which
is what I did.
A really good day, here in the Alps. |
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Homewards via Chabriere
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