February 2010
Monthly Archive
Saturday, 20th February 2010
Geoff 20 Feb 2010 | : Flying, Holiday
Geoff writes: warm, sunny, nice cumulus – driving to the site I was already writing the blog entry in my head, about the epic day it had been, flyable everywhere, great XCs. Except…. once I could see the mountains just past Olot, they were covered in the duvet cloud – where it spills over and rolls down a bit, very distinctive. This is absolutely guaranteed to mean that Santa Brigida will not be on, not even launchable. Being a bit stupid, I managed to convince myself the duvet was dissipating, so carried on. And, of course, at Santa Brigida it was strong and NW, and not flyable. I thought about trying Berga, but couldn’t get hold of anyone there to check the conditions, and it is a long drive from Santa Brigida. So I hung around for a couple of hours, as more people gradually turned up. I asked each one what they thought about Belmunt, if it would work, but no-one had any idea. In previous years we’ve rarely been to Belmunt, because it meant a long and tedious drive over the mountains. But now that they have very kindly driven a tunnel through the mountains, it’s much closer. So eventually, I decided to give it a go.
As I got to the other side of the mountains, I could see four or five PGs flying. I went straight up – stopping only to pick up two women paraglider pilots who had just landed. It had, apparently, been good all day. I drove up pretty fast, got set up and launched, and had a reasonable flight – never much above launch, but good soaring for a while. It is an exceptionally good site (though not top landable), and I’m certain had I been there earlier, it would have been easy to go XC.
I got a ride back up from Johnny (who had also been at Santa Brigida, with John, who had his first flight at Belmunt), and picked up the van. In the end, a good day out, and in future we will always go there if we see the duvet cloud.
Judith writes: My niece Maya was sick all night, so she, my brother-in-law and sick father stayed at home while the women went on a jaunt to Cork. Another Irish town I have never been to…
We shopped, ate and then Joanna took us to a church where you can do campanology (church bell ringing). We blundered our way through Oh, Susanna, The Blue Bells of Scotland and Doe A Deer, before we cracked it and ended with a bit of an ABBA medley. I believe house prices in the area are very cheap!
Despite it having been a sunny day when we set out, we were caught in an impressive snow storm on the way home. Snowflakes the size of my fist (well Maya’s really).
Friday, 19th February 2010
Judith 20 Feb 2010 | : Holiday
Today was a planes, trains and automobiles day. I travelled to Ireland, leaving home at 11.45am. The plane was late starting, so I missed my connection in Dublin. Rather than waiting for the coach for an hour and a half and then having to sit on it for four and a half hours, I took a bus into Dublin to get a train to Limerick. Despite having been an Irish citizen and passport holder all my life, I have never, ever been to Dublin. It’s nice. I think I’ll go back one day.
The train was packed (Friday and everyone is going home), so I stood all the way to Limerick Junction (2 hours), changed and was picked up by my sister. It was a lot easier when Ryanair still flew to Shannon!
Thursday, 18th February 2010
We agonised somewhat about what to do today, but in the end, decided to go skiing. The temperatures rose a lot today and this was the first time this year that it got slushy at the bottom. However, this also means you can sit in your shirt getting sun burnt while having a coffee break.
Snow was nice and we discovered some more runs we didn’t know existed. 70km of piste was open, which is about the max we’ve known at Masella. Despite the forecast, the wind started picking up and when we wanted to go to the top of the resort for the last run of the day the cloud came in and they closed the lift. We took the button lift instead (we were one of the last people to get on it) and arrived at the top in thick cloud. I’ve skied in thick cloud before, but not with visibility so bad. We had to ski from one piste marker to the next, hoping no one else was anywhere near you. Geoff and I lost sight of each other after about 10m. I got a bit of a fright when I heard, but couldn’t see, a skidoo until it was nearly on top of me. I loved it, but Geoff wasn’t so sure.
Lovely day out, unfortunately we had to end it in the Renault garage to have them check the clutch on the van.
Lots of people went flying and Nani said conditions were good – everyone had great flights, then had to get out of the way of strong lift with big ears and then all flew again for more fun.
Geoff writes: for some reason I don’t understand, anything to do with cars here is always more expensive than in the UK (except fuel), even allowing for the exchange rate. The repairs will cost a lot more than they would in the UK.
Flying here hasn’t been as good as usual this year, but it has, unusually, been far better in the north, where we are, than in Algo or Alicante. The weather patterns have been very different this year. We are here for another 7 or 8 weeks, and hoping for good flying in that time.
Wednesday, 17th February 2010
Geoff writes: after the rain (and snow) of yesterday, a much nicer day, but too windy, and the wrong direction, to go flying. So we did some work, which was fine after our series of house guests. A good day to catch up.
Temperatures are now getting back to normal. Should be around 16C tomorrow at the coast.
Tuesday, 16th February 2010
The forecast was looking a bit dodgy for the whole week, so we were trying to hedge our bets and try to eke out as much fun out of the week as possible. I thought the forecast looked better in the mountains than at home, so persuaded Geoff (against his better judgment!) to come skiing. It poured all night, so there would be lots of new snow. As we passed Ribes the rain stopped and the sky started to clear, but as we approached La Molina, it started snowing, and continued most of the day.
We met up with Kai and James, but the snow quality left a lot to be desired (small drifts across the pistes), it was very crowded and visibility was terrible. Three runs and Geoff thought better of it, and went home (the van was also playing up, and he needed to check it). I thought it would be useful practise, so stayed. It was good getting used to more difficult conditions and I did a spectacular splat, which both Kai and James failed to see. Highlight of the day was me falling over and Kai skiing past me laughing gleefully, only for him to splat right next to me in the same snowdrift. Schadenfreude is something best saved for when you’re away from the hazards that caused the damage in the first place!
Monday, 15th February 2010
Geoff 15 Feb 2010 | : Miscellaneous activities
Geoff writes: Richard left this morning, Wayne’s flight was later this afternoon. Though dull, it was almost certainly flyable, but Wayne opted for an easy day, and we did tourist stuff. We managed to go up the church tower, something we have been promising him for years. You get a nice view of the old part of Castellfollit there, and there are lots of old photos and maps, etc. The church is no longer a church, being badly damaged in the Civil War, and is now a cultural centre.
Then to Banyoles for a walk around the lake, and lunch in the old square (inside – it was still freezing). We went up Roca Corba, to see the hang gliding launch (a very steep and narrow ramp) and the views, but it was clagged in. Then to see the ruins of a Roman villa. We like to keep our house guests busy.
Finally to the airport. Wayne is back at work tomorrow, so can have a rest.
Sunday, 14th February 2010
Geoff writes: there was some debate last night about the forecast and what Wayne and Richard would do. Whether it was better to ski or fly, and if it would be sunny or cloudy. In the end, lethargy won, and they decided to lie in, and go flying.
Unfortunately, when we woke up, there was complete cloud cover. Nevertheless, we drove to Santa Brigida, and as we got closer the sky got better, the sun came out, and I was quite optimistic. And then was very surprised to see that the wind was completely the wrong direction when we got there. We debated moving to another site, but decided to stay there, expecting it to come on, as it soon did. Santa Brigida always works!
It was Brit day at Santa Brigida. As well as us, Nicky Moss drove up from Barcelona, and Mike Cluer drove down from France. We ended up having a good day. The wind was surprisingly strong at some points, and it was rough, but there was good flying and reasonable height to be had much of the day, with some strong thermals, ending with the usual smooth evening flying. Richard again flew the speed wing, and this time managed to soar it for a while, before choosing to go down to land.
We had the usual beers in the LZ – although this time we didn’t linger because it was so very, very cold!