After a weekend of rainy, unsettled weather the blue sky returned here in St Andre-les-Alpes. I watched quite a few flights during the day, but it seemed too windy and unsettled to fly during the day. No-one was staying up for any length of time and (as best I could see) only bumpy sled rides were on offer.
Come the evening, I headed over to Aerogliss (the local school) and rode the shuttle up the hill. The winter has been hard here, and the road up to launch is like a trench in the snow. When we arrived, pilots were soaring a few hundred feet above launch, but they were 'on the way down'. It only took me a few minutes to get ready, but by then most pilots were around launch height.
Although the flying was pretty straightforward, the scenery more than made up for it. The snowy peaks caught the last of the sun as the valleys fell into shadow.
After 20 minutes of soaring, getting only 150 ft over launch, lift was diminishing and I followed a armada of wings to the LZ. I arrived high and found some convergence (the LZ is at the meeting of 3 valley systems) and boated around for 10 minutes. Everyone else had landed, it was getting dark, so I spiraled down to join them. As I got lower, things got a little bumpier, but no big deal.
All in all, a very pleasant, relaxing evening...
A few pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/DMMullin/StAndre05April2010Sel#
Although the flying was pretty straightforward, the scenery more than made up for it. The snowy peaks caught the last of the sun as the valleys fell into shadow.
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