March 2010
Monthly Archive
Wednesday, 17th March 2010
We woke up today to find it windy! We were a little disappointed, but at least this would give us time to check out the accommodation for the women’s comp. By the time we had breakfast and checked email etc. it had settled and the conditions seemed ok, if a little east.
I wanted to fly the Vega II again in more bumpy conditions so we got to the top for 12 noon. Since I was stealing Mark’s glider he was left to drive and kindly sacrificed his flying for my benefit. Geoff was wind dummy so I could make sure I would get more than a top to bottom. I needen’t have worried – it was very thermic. With it being east it was again advisable to head out to the lower ridge and I did so. It was bumpy in places, but the wing behaved impeccably, even flying close to the monastery gully and along the rocks I couldn’t get it to tuck more than a tiny bit of tip. Forty-five minutes into the flight the glider was sold.
After lunch we looked at some lovely flats and then had another evening flight. It’s been a lovely two days – four flights, accommodation sorted, good company and more nice food to look forward to tonight. And it may be a double celebration in the bar… if the local Irish guys are there and if Barca win tonight.
Tuesday, 16th March 2010
After spending the evening with my dad having a farewell dinner, I dashed back this morning to pack for the next escapade. We set off for Ager at 10am and met up with Nicky and Mark at 1pm.
Conditions looked perfect in the landing field – warm, sunny and little wind. At the top it was SE, despite the SW forecast. An easterly component isn’t good on the top launch as you can get a bit of rotor blowing round the rocks. Mark was off first and I followed a little later. It was a bit hairy – I got off nice and easy and then had a big collapse straight away. I’m sure they could hear me squealing like a girl in town a couple of thousand feet below. Once out over the lower ridge it all calmed down, although Nicky and Geoff decided to go to the lower launch to be on the safe side. I had a nice flight, thermalling around and enjoying the scenery. There was some good lift, but predictably also some big sink. In the end, I got flushed.
We all packed up quick and headed back up, so that I could fly again and try the Axis Vega II. It was 5pm by this time, but still very nicely thermic. I got to test out the glide and speedbar, as well as checking out how it turns. I liked it!
Then off to the Bar Torres for plenty of wine and some food.
Monday, 15th March 2010
Geoff writes: Judith wanted to fly the Artik one more time, so we went to Santa Brigida for the convenience of top landing, and a quick retrieve if anybody went down. Nicky, who stayed with us last night, came too.
It was an OK day, though a bit gusty at times. We sat around for a while, though some others did fly. Eventually Judith had a couple of flights, and I flew the Aspen. We both got flushed, and bottom landed, so Nicky came to pick us up, before we went to Niviuk to return the glider.
Off to Ager tomorrow for a couple of days, to fly, and to look for some accommodation for the Women’s Paragliding Open in August.
Sunday, 14th March 2010
Geoff writes: A nice, warm sunny day, probably flyable in most places in our area. In the end, we went to Bellmunt, meeting up with Nicky Moss (for once, we were acting as tour guides, since this was Nicky’s first flight there). Judith wanted to test fly the Artik 2, so we exchanged gliders, and I flew her Aspen. Launch still had some snow on it, but it was clearly a very thermic day. We hesitated for a while, letting some others fly first, since it looked a bit rough, but eventually Judith decided to go, followed by Nicky and me. It actually wasn’t rough at all when we launched – just easy flying, plenty of thermals. Later on, it did seem to get a bit rougher as we climbed out – there was maybe a small inversion at around 1500′ ATO. But nothing very serious at all. The thermals were very strong at times (but in a nice way!), and all in all it was an excellent day. Judith really likes the Artik! (But tomorrow we have to take it back).
After we landed, we drove back up for a picnic, and to recover the van, and had a walk round the viewpoints on top.
Bellmunt is a stunning place to fly, and rapidly becoming one of our favourite sites.
Saturday, 13th March 2010
The forecast wasn’t promising in the mountains for today, so we headed back from our holiday last night and arrived home late in the evening. East was supposed to be best today, but of course the forecast changed, so it was probably fine at Organya or Berga too. Never mind. Instead, we had more test flying to do and wanted a top-landable site so we could swap gliders. The forecast was good for Santa Brigida, so we headed there.
The track is nearly clear of snow, but we couldn’t make it up the last bit without a bit of slipping and sliding, so we parked up and walked the rest of the way. Tanz, Albert and Enric were already there. It was strong and a little off to the east, and Albert didn’t make it look a great deal of fun. Enric thermalled up high, but had to go and land at the bottom since he had left his car lights on (maybe another XC tip in the making?). The wind seemed to be picking up and the thermal gusts were very strong, so I decided I would probably not learn too much test flying in those conditions, so we waited. A whole bunch of others turned up and Marc and Sergi went into orbit and floated all over the valley. Oriol also had a really good flight and Geoff, Andreu and I launched at 3pm, when things had calmed a little. Still thermals everywhere and easy to get high. Geoff top landed to be able to swap gliders, but I had some trouble locating any sink and missed two landing slots when the others sneaked in before me and I had to go round again. As I finally found some useful sink I looked across to the monastery flag and saw it was due east – 90 degrees off. Hmmmm. And that was that. I had a bumpy ride being drilled all the way to the bottom landing field.
I got a quick lift back up with Joan, Albert and Pep, but it was so far off it didn’t seem sensible to launch. So what usually happens when the locals think better of it? Yep, a bunch of tourists arrive and take off anyway. This group was from Belgium on a trip to test Niviuk gliders. They had an excellent flight at Santa Brigida yesterday and good flying at Puig d’Afrou this morning and were keen to get some more. The first plummeted, but the second went up. Geoff followed in hot pursuit and was rewarded with a nice bonus flight, before top landing again for a well deserved beer.
Friday, 12th March 2010
Judith 12 Mar 2010 | : Holiday, Skiing
We left Andorra this morning and headed back into Spain to ski at Port del Comte. We drove there via Organyà and checked out the accommodation while there. The drive across the pass towards the ski resort was breath-taking. Razor sharp crags and steep valleys. I was so awed by the scenery I forgot to take any photos.
We’ve had a free pass for Port del Comte for the last few years, but never went. It always seemed too far, or we ran out of time, etc. What a mistake. It’s a brilliant place. Great facilities, nice runs, loads of chair lifts and very, very good piste grooming. Oh, and deserted. We had a really nice day, working our way from the furthest section of the resort back to the car, via every single red and blue run in the whole resort. Unfortunately, it was a little hazy and then clouded over a bit, so the views were not as good as they may have been, but no matter.
We’ll definitely go again. 8/10!
Thursday, 11th March 2010
Geoff 12 Mar 2010 | : Holiday, Skiing
Geoff writes: after skiing at Puigmal, we drove up the road to stay in Andorra. We’d booked a hotel over the internet for the night, right in the centre. Nice hotel, cheap, and offered parking and internet access. What it didn’t say was that the internet access was one euro per 15 minutes; and the parking cost a staggering 19 euros. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much choice – the hotel was in the centre of Andorra La Vella, and there isn’t much parking there at all. Andorra is just steep mountains, with not much space for anything else – it’s amazing they manage to fit a whole country in there.
Anyway, the skiing there is excellent. Today we skied at Arinsal, which is apparently the Brit hangout in Andorra. The French go to a different part. Not sure where the Andorrans go. Even the woman selling the ski passes was a Brit. It was a beautiful day, nicely groomed pistes, good, fast skiing, and not too many people. We had a great time, and it was far better skiing than Puigmal. We did a lot of runs, but nowhere near covered the whole resort of Vallnord, which Arinsal is part of – you’d need a few days for that. There was one particular black run I spent some time contemplating – looking at it from a distance it seemed really easy; looking at it from higher up, it seemed really steep! I was also put off by a sign on the button lift leading up to it, saying that the button lift was difficult, and the piste was really difficult. But in the end, we went up and did it, and actually it was fine, no problem at all. Glad I didn’t wimp out.
Andorra seems to be one of the main destinations for Brits going skiing. Parking apart, it is much, much cheaper than France, as cheap as Spain (maybe cheaper for some things), and, in our limited experience, seems a really good ski area. Apparently there are also a lot of Brits who live there but don’t ski – presumably for tax reasons, though I don’t know what they do with themselves all day, since apart from the mountains, there doesn’t seem to be much else there. Maybe they just get drunk on the cheap alcohol, and count their money (actually, not necessarily a bad way to spend your retirement).
In the evening we met up with with our friends Jessica Love and Ivan Ripoll – both paraglider pilots, though Ivan is in Andorra teaching speed riding. A great evening, and we stayed that night in their flat. Really nice to see them both.