18 Jun 04

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18 Jun 04

Vercors

Mistral

Conditions looked good for wave today with a fresh north westerly wind and good visibility. I will admit that I am not a great fan of wave flying (possibly because I find wave cross-countries something of a mystery) but it sure beats sitting on the ground. An easy launch onto the Gache (releasing at 3200ft) followed by a thermal to 7500ft was enough to get me to Chabre, north of which a line of cumulus led enticingly towards the col de la Croix Haute.

After reaching the col, another thermal to 10,500ft was enough for me to enter some weak wave that was being generated from the eastern face of the Vercors. Lyon's airspace has recently spread eastwards and the ceiling here has now been reduced to FL125; just before I reached that level I set off to the FL145 and FL195 areas closer to the pic de Bure.

Looking towards the Ecrins from Obiou

At Obiou, the secondary from the Vercors was in phase with the long north-west facing ridge and I was soon climbing again, this time to 14,000ft in perhaps 2 or 3 knots. It felt soporific in the warm sunshine with little external movement to indicate my progress and I was getting (dare I say this?) a little bored. I listened to the radio and heard that some gliders were having a lovely time in the thermals around Briancon and, in a moment of madness, I decided to drop out of the wave and head for the Ecrins.

I spent about 30 minutes getting thrashed around by violent, torn thermals in the Valgaudemar before deciding that on balance I preferred the wave. Wind speed was about 40 knots at 12,000ft and, with the mountains only a few hundred feet below me, there was considerable turbulence. I managed to find some respite at the point where the Valgaudemar opened out onto the main Gap/Grenoble valley, climbing in wave again to 15,000ft.

Crossing the valley once more I located some more wave in the lee of Obiou, which I took all the way to the upper limit of FL195, the maximum permissible in this area. The wind was north west 50 knots at this level but the climb rate was rarely as much as 2 knots.

Superb views ranged from the Mont Blanc in the north to the haze of the lower Durance valley in the south. Maybe there is a little magic in wave flying after all.

Looking north from the pic de Bure