14 Jun 08

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14 Jun 08

Ecrins

From the Glacier Blanc

Lac Ste Croix

At last, the sort of day we had all been waiting for. Light northerly winds were forecast to go round to the southwest to give a good chance for the south-westerly ridges to work as they ought. The only slight problem was the cloudbase - adequate for the local area but we would not be certain until we launched whether it would be any better further north. We decided to let the base rise a bit by flying down to the lac Ste Croix and then head back up along the parcours.

It was an interesting trip; the clouds were not much above the ridge tops, except for the area around the Trois Eveches, which had their peaks well into the cloud. Still, it was clearly convective all along the length of the parcours as far as Dormillouse where, with cloudbase at 9000ft, we bounced off Morgon and straight onto Guillaume. A modest climb there was followed by a more robust one at the tete de Lucy, giving us enough height to cross into the St Crepin valley via the col de Terres Blanches.

ASH 25 at Cheval Blanc

Why we are here

The tete d'Amont was working well to 11,500ft, so we paid a visit to Plampinet, a village to the north of Briancon, and then to Mont Chaberton, before flying back to the Glacier Blanc for a ramble amongst the highest peaks in the Ecrins. We reached 13,000ft running in to the Barre des Ecrins and the panorama from that altitude was stunning, one that never fails to impress. Our intended route home was via the pas de Cavale, but we were concerned about the low cloud spilling through from the west.

It was only during the final couple of minutes that we could see our way through the col, a small slot of clear air between the mountain and the cloud.

The remainder of the trip home was fairly academic - having got through the col we were in gliding range of Sisteron.

"But what about the evening's entertainment?", I hear you ask. Well, for the first time ever we actually found ourselves at Valernes at the same time as the village was holding its annual paella party. Two large marquees had been erected in the square, a free bar had been set up and three huge pans were bubbling away by the fountain. Our 15€ entry fee included all apertifs, several helpings of paella with wine, a cheese course, a dessert and coffee. They do things well, here in the sticks.

To entertain us, a band (one female, four men) had set up their stage on a flat-bed trailer next to the bar. Despite the regrettable Johnny 'Alliday fixation of the male members, their performance was nevertheless excellent.

Paella Party

"Je m'appelle Johnny."
"Moi aussi!"
"Incroyable!!"