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Col d'Etache
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This morning's forecast appeared to be
identical to yesterday's, but history has shown that this doesn't mean that
the conditions would be the same. Most of those clustered around lunch at
the Pegasus were undecided as to whether a couple of hours scraping away
from Authon was worth the effort, especially in this heat. And
then I decided to launch.
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Happy Ari
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Over the Queyras
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Jurgen, my Dutch friend with the motor Janus,
wandered over to me and asked me why I thought now was a good time to
launch. "Because I see cumulus and I saw a glider soaring high over the
Gourras", I told him. "Ah...", he said; "You are like an
eagle - you are always watching". Ariane
was the sandwich-bearer in the Duo today. Michel, one of the day's tuggies,
advised that there was no lift between Malaup and Trainon, so again we took
a long tow past Trainon and started battle with Authon. Like yesterday, it
took an age to reach the top, but soon found a thermal to take us to
Auribeau and then Blayeul where, again like yesterday, we faced a barrage of
gliders all trying to get away from a mountain that hadn't yet started its days
work. Ariane counted seventeen of them; I was kept busy not hitting
them. Eventually we reached the mast,
and I tentatively set off, at 7,000ft, in the direction of Seyne, above
which lay a very high cumulus. I was concerned that the thermal producing
the cloud may no longer have been connected to the ground, so it was with some
relief that we found 6 knots and a climb to 9,000ft. Phew!
It had taken 2 hours to get away, but we'd now done the hard part.
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Col d'Etache
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We headed for la Blanche for a much needed breather. Then we
crossed the Barcelonnette valley and flew along a magnificent street that
led to the Grand Berard. We crossed over the col de Vars to the western
Queyras and took another strong climb to 12,000ft. It was most
comforting to have escaped the mayhem of Blayeul and to have only one or two
other gliders to avoid per thermal.
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Pic d'Agneaux
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Onwards, then, to the col d'Izoard, where cloudbase had
climbed to 13,000ft. This was now a far better day than yesterday, and we
carried on northwards towards Briancon with the Maurienne in my sights
although, as
we had taken so much time to get away, we had to content ourselves with
turning the col d'Etache. We took another climb there and then headed for
the glacier Blanc, managing to arrive at the pics d'Agneaux well above the
tops, which was a much welcomed contrast to yesterday's effort.
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On to the Glacier
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We took the pretty route home, past the partially cloud-laden
Barre des Ecrins, behind Mont Pelvoux and along the spine of the Ecrins as far
as the pas de Cavale: not that we needed the gap in the mountains as we were
well above all the tops.
Arriving back at the site we landed and put the gliders to
bed, in good time for an evening out in a selection of Sisteron's best
restaurants.
Now that's what I call a good day out.
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Barre des Ecrins
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