December is normally the best month in a very short 'hike and fly' season at St Andre. Stable air and a relative lack of solar warming provide smooth (if sinky) flying conditions - lightweight gear seems safe.
It doesn't feel like paragliding to me - it's more like an adventurous hike up a snowy mountain where you don't quite know how you're going to get down. You can fail to get to launch because of the amount of snow - never mind, it's a nice day out. You can get to launch and find the wind is too strong or from the wrong direction - well, eat your lunch, enjoy the view and follow your tracks back down the hill. Worst of all, deep snow and light winds could conspire to prevent you from launching, leaving you to pack up and hike down in the dark.
Forecasts don't seem as useful in winter. You can have light winds inside the boundary layer, protected by the stability. 100m higher up, you're out of the boundary layer and the wind can be too strong. When you're in tree-less Scotland, you can position yourself at the right height and launch. Here, you're normally in a forest (for terrain and avalanche safety reasons) and don't have that option.
It's also a pretty solitary activity. If you see any tracks, they're normally an animal's; if they're human, they might be yours of 2 weeks ago. Launch will be deserted and you're clearly making your own decisions (which is always the case with paragliding).
Today was the first flyable day for a week (because of strong mistral winds) and might also be the last for another week. A lovely hike, followed by a quick flight - my vario beeped twice, once on take off, and again in the LZ. It's hard to explain why it's so satisfying, so I won't try. A few pics.
