Two Air Masses Meet

Saturday's forecast had strong S winds aloft, but they seemed well above the top of lift (around 2200m). I hoped to have a flight around St Andre - it didn't seem likely I could go very far. But as I headed up the hill, I met a local instructor driving down. He told me the wind was too strong - his intended tandem passenger was sitting beside him in the car.

So plan B was a long (9 hour) circular hike, involving climbing Cheval Blanc then continuing N and then E along a high, sharp ridge. The hike was long and scenic, but it was most interesting from a weather perspective. There was moist air to the NW but the wind was strong from the SE and these two systems met exactly on the ridge. For almost all of the hike, I had sunny conditions and a blue sky to my right and clouds below and above me to my left. The wind was too strong to be flying a paraglider, but the clouds would definitely have been 'ridge-soarable' in a hang-glider or sail-plane.

At the very end of the day the SE wind weakened and this allowed the moist air to spill over the crest.

Pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/DMMullin/ChevalBlanc12June2010Sel#