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Foothills of the Vautisse
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The ASH26 boys, Phil and Jon, decided to go on a mission
today, off to the Mont Blanc on the understanding that they might not get
back. Roger "JAC-man" Barber looked set to join them, despite the
lack of engine.
The forecast looked favourable and it was definitely worth
some consideration, so I was determined to order a longer aerotow to
Trainon for an early getaway. So WHY did I release at Hongrie simply because
I felt a surge?
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In retrospect it was useful to find a new way
of escaping the cuvette. Today, I needed enough height to fly to the Gache
above the ridge top to catch the thermals flowing from the south side in the
southerly wind. This worked well enough for me to reach the good air near St
Geniez and I was quickly away, above les Monges, Oratoire and Clot Ginoux,
eyes set on the Dormillouse. There
was a bit
of wobble at Morgon. It wasn't really working when I joined it at 7,500ft
and I discovered after a few minutes it wasn't working that well at 6,700ft
either. After some serious applied sweating I found a strong thermal that
got me some sanity at 9,000ft, enough to get me to Guillaume, the tete de
Lucy and a tight squeeze between the cloud and the col des Terres Blanches.
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Chaberton
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Great
- away at last!
Well no, not really...I once again fell out as I tried to
progress up the ridges of the eastern Ecrins, and had to retreat to the
foothills below the tete de Vautisse to climb away again. Eventually, common
sense was restored when I realised that looking for lift on the western
Queyras was bound to have a greater chance of success in the light of recent
experience.
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Ridge-running, Ecrins
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Amazingly, despite all this hassle, I found myself not too
far behind the ASH boys who, as I was approaching Plampinet, had only just
crossed over the col de Galibier, 20 km away. From my perch at 13,000ft, it
did not look to me a promising day for heading further towards Mont Blanc (few
cumulus, not that high), so I abandoned that plan and headed for the col
d'Etache, just for a peek into the next valley, and began my retreat.
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After turning the towers on Chaberton, I looked for passage
through the pas de Cavale, which failed, and then across the col des Terres
Blanches after yet another save at Vautisse. Finally back in the Gap valley
I headed for the pic de Bure to take a look at the hills in the west. I
carried on as far as the southern edge of the Vercours before calling it a
day with a 50km final glide back to base.
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Evening Shadows, pic de Bure
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Obiou
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During that evening's regular club-offered
aperitifs it transpired that Phil and Jon had indeed managed to reach the
Mont Blanc, but their return was not that easy and they decided to fire up
their respective motors somewhere near Grenoble-Versoud. Roger was not so
lucky, and ended up landing at an airstrip at St Remy de Maurienne. A tug
was summoned from Gap and he made it home in time for supper, though the
cost of his retrieve is alleged to be eye-wateringly high. But
cross-country gliding should be about stretching boundaries, as ably
demonstrated by Phil, Jon and Roger so, as we say in France,
"chapeau" to them.
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