Flying conditions in St Andre continue to be poor, with a combination of wind and afternoon storms. There are little flights to be had but I don't like playing chicken as clouds start towering into the sky. Apart from 'staying current' with a fishbowl flight every week or so, I've found other things to do. But at last Saturday's forecast was tempting; potentially quite good, but with a high chance of strong winds in the afternoon.
I made sure I got up the hill early, worried it could blow out. The early clouds showed a strong west wind aloft. In the air by noon, I headed N and joined 3 other wings and a sail-plane on Cheval Blanc, all trying to get enough height to head to the Dormilliouse. No-one got high enough over the summit except the sail-plane (who, of course, doesn't need to get very high) and everyone headed back after maybe 30 minutes trying as the wind was getting stronger and the thermals bumpier.
I choose to head back to St Andre via Le Grand Cordoeil. I haven't done a Cheval Blanc to Grand Cordoeil transition before and was surprised at the amount of sink I encountered. I wasn't worried because I 'always' get up on Cordoeil. This time, it wasn't quite so easy, because the wind was blowing about 25K out of the west, making things very bumpy. Eventually, I got over Cordoeil, and had a relatively easy transition back to La Mure, but I decided it was just too windy to land in the Verdon valley.
Given the wind strength, the sensible thing was to land in the super-wide, friendly Thorame valley - so that's what I did. I got a lift straight-away from a local and was home just in time to watch the tennis.
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