7 Jun 03

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7 Jun 03

Briefing

Weather briefings are given at 10:30 each morning and all pilots who intend to fly are expected to be there. Forecasts are no less reliable than in the UK and feature expected thermal strengths and cloudbases in the various areas in which pilots might intend to fly. Today's forecast was for a hot day (30°C) and good thermals until storms moved in from the French-Italian border.

To the Glacier

John headed north towards the Ecrins but decided against the regular route along the lac de Serre-Ponçon to the St Crepin valley. After passing to the north of the pic de Bure (left) he flew towards the Valgaudemar, a deep valley on the western fringes of the Ecrins. This valley is fringed by steep mountain ridges and today cloudbase (9,500-10,000ft) was a few hundred feet above most of the ridge with some of the peaks in cloud.

At the head of the valley it was just possible to pass over into the St Crepin valley and on to the Glacier Blanc, beneath the Barre des Ecrins near Briancon. Cloudbase here was 12,500ft with 6 knot climbs. Seeing storms from the east along the col de Vars, John decided to retreat to the south, flying along the edge of a series of storms to the plateau de Valensole and south of the lac de St Croix. He turned a small village called La Verdière (for some reason...) and made it back to base just before the storms arrived. Click here to see a map of the route and the logger file.