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Passing the col d'Etache
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Lasham pilots John (150) and David (406) arrived yesterday and brought
with them the sort of weather that we have so far been missing during our
visit - well done, boys!
Following an early-ish launch, I found that Hongrie managed
to deliver 5 knots to 6,000ft, and
Trainon did the rest, allowing an easy exit to the Blayeul and la Blanche.
Not all the cumulus was working, though; especially the
one at Morgon that would have made the crossing to Guillaume a little
easier. In the event, a few passes below the top of Guillaume were needed to allow the
next thermal to brew up and launch itself. Back at 10,000ft, my next climbs were at Clotinaille
and Furan, which gave me enough height to cross to the tete de Peyron and
across the valley to Chaberton.
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Glacier de Rochemelon (near Charbonnel)
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The conditions at this point were a cloudbase at 12,000ft and
slightly more cloud than I would have liked, with some slight distortion which
seemed to me to be wave influenced. The meteo forecast had predicted a sharp
increase in wind speed above FL100, so the observations fitted the
forecast.
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Vanoise
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No problem reaching the col d'Etache, with good cumulus over its eastern
peaks. I followed another glider as it headed off to the eastern,
higher part of Mont Cenis, but as it was an ASW22 and mine wasn't, it
managed to cross over the next ridge while I had to work a bit harder.
Finding a climb at the northern tip of Charbonnel was
tricky, so I crossed over the valley to the edge of the Vanoise and caught a
cracker to 12,500ft, which put me on course for the col de Carro.
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En-route to the col de carro
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I suffered a bit of a crisis of confidence here: cloudbase
had dropped a
little, though 12,000ft was still 2,000ft above the col. I think I was put
off by the
amount of non-convective cloud that lay ahead, plus chat on the radio
requesting information regarding whether or not the col was still passable. Another thousand feet would
have made the difference, but in the end I decided to turn back and make
something else of the day.
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Lac Cenis
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I followed the ridges westwards along the
southern edge of the Modane valley as far as the Aiguilles d'Arves, to
reacquaint myself with the return route from the western Vanoise, and headed
back to the Ecrins via la Meije and one of the low ridges to the north of
the Glacier Blanc. Again, I wanted to
return via the pas de la Cavale, but it was difficult to see any
reliable-looking clouds ahead. I effectively ridge soared on the
north-facing slopes of the Pointe des Querrettes before arriving at a good
height above the col. Suddenly, I
encountered the most severe turbulence I have ever experienced in the Alps
(or, indeed anywhere else). Keeping the LS6 more or less straight and level
while the speed swung between 45 and 80 knots was a bit of a challenge and I
became seriously concerned about the structural integrity of my glider.
Although it only lasted a few seconds, I was left feeling as if I had been
given a good seeing to by East End bad lad "Knuckles" Malone who was "not very happy".
Or maybe
Joey Barton.
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Evening Wave
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Then, as I recovered my composure, I happened
to pass in front of a cumulus just west
of the col, where I swung right and found a knot or so of south-westerly wave. I
concluded that this was an excellent opportunity to de-stress, so I stuck with
it, eventually climbing above its lennie cap to 14,000ft.
Then it was time for home, where I found
that steak and champagne had been laid on at Le Mas du Chene. So, all in
all, a very good day.
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