Yes we are. This morning we woke to the sound of little birdies which makes such a nice change from the sound of wind rushing past the chalet. Launching didn't happen until 1200 when the cumulus started popping in the Serres valley. It has to said there was a little hiccup with launching as we have two problems. One: a lazy Parisian tug pilot who needs 240v across his tender parts to WAKE HIM UP and Two: only one tug as the second tug - a very asthmatic Rallye was feeling under the weather. This is not so bad as tows behind it really can be character forming.
Anyway, we got away on the local ridge and quickly climbed to 8000' and pinged onto Pic de Bure to climb to the 10,000' cloudbase. From here we crossed into the Ecrins where some did well (Ben), some didn't (me). Ben romped North East up at 12,000' and had a really good run to just 20kms short of the Matterhorn.
I scrabbled about under a stubborn inversion near Prachaval and took ages to find a punchy thermal that let me get back up. Most of us went up to the Gran Paradiso before turning to head South. We stopped off at the Glacier Blanc to give it a little seeing to and carried on South. Jay and I ran down towards Nice and stopped around 1845 to head home.
The valley breeze was working nicely so there were plenty of places to top up on the way home and still have plenty of energy for the mandatory beatup. Averaging 6 to 7 hours a day leaves minimal processing capacity in the evenings so once again we were in the Hotel du Nord where Steve Ell had the opportunity to try and work out just where the hell he had been during the day.
Anyway, we got away on the local ridge and quickly climbed to 8000' and pinged onto Pic de Bure to climb to the 10,000' cloudbase. From here we crossed into the Ecrins where some did well (Ben), some didn't (me). Ben romped North East up at 12,000' and had a really good run to just 20kms short of the Matterhorn.I scrabbled about under a stubborn inversion near Prachaval and took ages to find a punchy thermal that let me get back up. Most of us went up to the Gran Paradiso before turning to head South. We stopped off at the Glacier Blanc to give it a little seeing to and carried on South. Jay and I ran down towards Nice and stopped around 1845 to head home.
The valley breeze was working nicely so there were plenty of places to top up on the way home and still have plenty of energy for the mandatory beatup. Averaging 6 to 7 hours a day leaves minimal processing capacity in the evenings so once again we were in the Hotel du Nord where Steve Ell had the opportunity to try and work out just where the hell he had been during the day.
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