There is a definite end-of-holiday feeling amongst the British pilots who all decided to fly on a day that had been forecast to produce storms in the valley by the evening. There was little expectation that we would be able to go very far and, sure enough, by the time we launched, after the competition grid, storms had already brewed up across the Ecrins and to the east of the Barcelonnette valley. Cloudbase was still high at 13,000ft and the lift was a moderate 6 knots, but the strengthening westerly wind caused severe turbulence in some areas. Martin and John avoided much of this by spending an hour trying to get away, including an extended period at 3500ft asl near St Auban.