Friday. Last day of the course and the Mistral is waning. An ambitious plan - St.Vincent to St.Andre, conditions allowing. I have not been an inch south of Dormillouse, so the flight plan briefing is a sort of Greek to me. The collection of town, valley, and peak names is lost in a Francophone alphabet soup. …
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A Hat Trick Paragliding Day with Jocky Sanderson’s EscapeXC.
Mistral, the saga continues. So we are going to ... you guessed it, St.Vincent. The previous days top to bottom proved to be a decent confidence booster for the crew, helping them realize that the LZ of death can be conquered. In my case, it opens up the possibility of making a few more higher risk/return plays in …
Continue reading A Hat Trick Paragliding Day with Jocky Sanderson’s EscapeXC.
Mistral returnth.
Full on Mistral, so not much to report for these days. Tuesday, after seeing a hang glider actually park itself above launch, the day was decided to be more or less a wash. Wednesday, a midday lull allowed for folk to try their hand at nil wind launches from St.Vincent. The alpine and tow trained …
Fishin’ in a gale.
Strong south with a taste of east. Looks like we won't be going far today, neither in distance to launch nor distance post launch. Atop Chabre the wind is whistling through the scrubby trees, varying from 15 to 25 kph. Ridge soarable if one keeps mind not to get blown over the spineback comprising Chabre. …
Leave no man behind.
Spent. That is the general vibe I get from the campground this morning. The Chabre Open has closed and folk are slowly pulling themselves free from bed to begin packing. The organizers start collecting up left over forms and swag*. Having packed up and turned in the key for my room, I sit outside on …
The ‘Happy’ Chabre Gaggle.
Task Day 3. Sunrise. The air is warm and dry today, haze enveloping the hills. Textbook inversion conditions. The question is, how strong and long lived an inversion? Fast forward 6 hours. On launch the task committee is taking a little longer than normal. The conditions are putting a hitch in the planned task. Plan, …
Celebrating mistakes during a Paragliding Competition.
It's cold and wet this morning. The forecast says rain, rain, short pause, then more rain. I am curious to see what the organizers can salvage of the day, otherwise it certainly looks like the comp will be a two tasker at best (Thursday looks good but Friday looks like storms). Another early trip to …
Continue reading Celebrating mistakes during a Paragliding Competition.
Off to the Races at the Chabre Open.
Brrr. It's cold and dry this morning. Sitting outside at 6AM for the daily Skype check in with spousal unit, I am bundled up in fleece, jacket, and balaclava. Cold morning means active air. Dry, active air means a task. And a task there will be. Inland flying comes with a certain degree of predictability weather wise. …
The judge declares a Mistral, the pilots appeal to St.Vincent.
Wake up to a full on northerly gale a blowin'. Wind blades a whippin', trees a bendin', and lenticulars a formin'. The Mistral is paying us a visit. You can guess what that means... No task. Chabre 2014 - the comp that never was? But the organizers have a plan to salvage the day - …
Continue reading The judge declares a Mistral, the pilots appeal to St.Vincent.
Storms a brewin’.
Low rumble off in the distance. A minute passes. Another, closer. Another minute. Yet another, nearly overhead. Pat. Pat..Pat. PatPatPatPatPatPatPatPatPatPatPatPatPatPat.... A quarter hour must have passed - one could easily keep time with the metronome like quality of the passing storm cell interval. During one deluge, I enquire at the restaurant downstairs as to what …
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