Judith's blog

Lots of agonising this morning about where to go. David T. thought Snowdonia would be the place to be, with light winds, better cloudbase and mountains to play with. Elan Valley was also a possibility, but after phone calls to half the population of Wales we decided on the Glydders. Martin and Mick decided to come along too.

There was high cloud when we got there, but there seemed to be a blue hole developing over the site. Two pilots had managed to scratch up and were high above the top, sporadically pushing forward or to the west. David set us a triangle task of Glydders – Llanberis – Snowdon and back. He got straight in the air while the rest of us where still getting our breath back from the walk up. He got up and started to test the air, while everyone launching subsequently struggled to get above launch and had to bottom or slope land. I got off and had a valiant scratch, but couldn’t turn in any thermals because I was just too close to the ground. I managed to slope land just below launch, so I got a second chance.

Meanwhile, David came down for a revised task briefing. The wind was flowing up all three valleys so it was going to be tricky to do our triangle, so the new task was get up and see what’s possible – which by a lucky coincidence is the standard task I normally set myself. Since David seemed to have trouble getting down to top land, the conditions were obviously lifty, so Geoff launched and easily got up. John Sylvester, me and another pilot followed and it was a hard, slow scratch up the face. I worked my way into the bowl, but spotted David thermalling out front, so I skipped 400 feet of scratching by jumping into his lift. We eventually got over the top of the ridge and what stunning views! Snowdon, the sea, steep valleys. It was just breathtaking.

High cloud came back in and it was a big rough in places and I decided I didn’t have the height to jump onto the ridge behind, so we decided to try to fly to Capel Curig and beyond. The valley wind had set up, so the ridge didn’t really work, but we got blips on the way down and I managed to thermal off the end and onto the next ridge, but from there it was either get up high or land with the others outside the pub. Prospects for a thermal looked bad and beer looked very good, so I flew down to land with Geoff and David.

Mick, Martin and John Thompson came along and we had drinks and then coffee and scones with jam and cream. Lovely.

Geoff writes: we should have gone to Elan Valley. At least one person went XC from there, and in light SW, it seems a much better bet for a good XC than Snowdonia does. We’ll definitely go there on a similar forecast in the future. Shorter drive too.

See photos of today.

No comments yet - please add one »

Geoff writes: a pretty good day on the Long Mynd. We had been quite optimistic about doing our first XCs of the year, and so it turned out. The Long Mynd was very busy with lots of visiting pilots from as far away as Scotland, and, of course, including the usual lot from Derbyshire and the Pennines. We launched around 11.15, and it was easy to stay up, and stay reasonably high, though it wasn’t about 12.30 until we decided it was worth going. It was very slow going, and quite weak at first, and as always it helped being in a gaggle. Judith and I were with Barney, Andy, Phil, the Gants, Martin, and various others. At one point I held back and lost them all – I wasn’t really thermalling that well, getting used to the new glider (that’s my excuse), but eventually a few thermals later, I managed to catch up the gaggle again, which is something I certainly would not have been able to do on the Hook. As the day progressed, the thermals got stronger, and more organised, with cloud base rising to about 5300′ (1600 metres), though progress was very slow overall.

Airspace was a bit of a problem, and we all tracked south around Kidderminster to avoid it, cross winding. Judith had gone first, on her own, and went down at 58km. At this point I was getting more and more desperate for a piss – stupidly, and unusually, I hadn’t gone before launching, but after nearly five hours in the air I really needed to, and this was making me lose my concentration a little, resulting in my trying a long glide over shaded ground to a cloud , and not making it, putting me down just north of Worcester for about 70km. Personal bests for both of us on paragliders.

Martin, Barney, Helen and Phil continued going (Simon landed just short of me, I think), and must have done 100km or so, which will certainly be a personal best for Martin. And the last I heard from Andy Wallis he was near Stratford.

I hitched back as far as Craven Arms, with my last ride from James Davidson, who was on his way back from the hospital after rushing Tammy there to give birth to their new daughter. Perfect timing, and very considerate of Tammy to arrange the birth so James could pick me up.

Judith writes: The forecast was for strengthening winds and over-development in the afternoon, so we anticipated an early day. The buzzards were already out in force when we got to the hill at 10am, so we got ready after a few ‘hellos’ to friends not seen for months. Once in the air, the thermals were weak and while I managed to stay high most of the time I was on the ridge, I had great trouble getting more than 2800′ AMSL. There were loads of pilots flying and the XC crew were really giving it their all. Still, it took over an hour of trying to get a good enough climb, and more importantly, to finally get some cloud development over the back. Once the cumulus started to build over Ragleth, we set off in a big group, heading for the lower pilots who had found a thermal between the Mynd and Church Stretton. The climbs were weak and at one point I thought we would be doing really well just to get to Wenlock Edge. It took three thermals to get there!

Beyond the Edge, it got easier and we worked well together, with lots of motivation from Barney on the radio. I haven’t flown in a group of so many pilots before and it was interesting to see some falling behind and then suddenly catching up again. I was in the trailing group before Kidderminster, but then found myself ahead of everyone except Andy, who had pushed on and off ages before. I got a good climb over Kidderminster and this took me to near base. Geoff and I had made the mistake of not checking the height of airspace properly before launching. I think subconsciously we didn’t expect to be flying either that far or in that direction, so we just skirted over the issue, hoping just to avoid it. This was a fundamental mistake. As we all got closer to the airspace we were trying to debate what the restrictions were over the radio, but since we all couldn’t agree I decided to fly round it. I would have been clear of the airspace, and able to fly down wind again at Droitwitch, but I couldn’t hang around that easily where I was without worrying about getting too high and being drifted into air space. I could see a wisp forming, so decided to go for it. As I went on the glide I passed my personal best mark. And at that point I decided that the wee I needed for ages was becoming more urgent, and I was tired and I’d done my bit getting my PB. In other words, I gave up trying.

I had a chat with David Thomson after and I remembered the fact the podcast we did on coaching 18 months ago actually explains about subconscious goals and barriers, so my subconscious goal of Kidderminster/my PB was set in the back of my mind and my brain just ticked the box and I went down. So I now have some new strategies to work on.

1) I won’t set my GPS to navigate to launch so I can see how far I have come, as my PB will probably only go up by three kms each time because my brain is perfectly capable of ticking that box again and giving up.

2) Set goals for what the day can yield, not how far I think I can make it.

3) Always check and confirm airspace.

4) Always bring out a means of eating/drinking/relieving yourself when it looks like a good day.

And a whole bunch of others!

Flight logs on the XC page.

See David Thomson’s photos of today.

1 Comment »

Lots of people were getting excited about the flying today, but I thought it might be a bit cloudy/breezy. It was flyable at Long Mountain in the morning, but the sky was completely overcast at home and there was occasional drizzle. We decided instead to go to archery and set up my new bow. We got as far as the Long Mynd where it was very windy and raining, so we headed back to work for a few hours. On our second attempt the sky had cleared and if it hadn’t been so windy, would have been an excellent day.

When we get back to wherever we are living at the time, there is always a period of readjustment and trying to find all our stuff. Routines that are established are forgotten and there is always something that goes wrong. Geoff had forgotten that he owns a bow and no longer needs to hire one. I did lots of eye rolling, until I realised that I had brought my bow but had left my arrows at home. Forgetting 50% of your equipment is pretty rubbish!

Thankfully Norman turned up and let us into the club house so we could borrow arrows, etc. My new bow is completely different and I needed Norman’s help to assemble it, never mind check it over. It’s far more powerful than my old one and I pulled a muscle in the first 5 arrows that I shot. Norman gave me some homework to do with a stretchy band and a mirror, so I will be working home and on the field to get back to full draw. Ho hum.

Since the archery club is below Caer Caradoc, we tootled off to the Lawley for an evening flight. It’s always stronger there than elsewhere and when we got to the car park it was clear it was too windy. We waited for Wayne and the three of us went up to the top to sit it out. By 6.45pm it was lulling, so we got the gliders out, only for it to pick back up a lot at 7pm. We packed back up and headed down for a beer instead.

No comments yet - please add one »

More howling weather so another day for doing jobs. We’ve discovered a vole infestation in the garden, so it’s all bumpy and full of holes.

LMSC committee meeting this evening, which was really productive.

No comments yet - please add one »

Geoff writes: one of the (sometimes few) advantages of coming back to the UK, is that we get to go to the live music nights at the Horseshoe Inn, Bridges, Rattlinghope. Every Monday there is a free open mic night, with a range of musicians, some playing for the first time, and some very experienced, and on Monday we went with Wayne and Andrew. On any given night, the quality ranges from OK, to absolutely brilliant, and last night was no exception. The nights are organised by Dirty Ray. Regular players include, amongst others, Beth Prior, Thom Morecroft, and Alice Challiner.

It really is extremely good (and free….) and well worth going along to if you are in the area. They also run lots of paid for gigs, and you can see the list of these on their website.

Other than that, a rubbish day for flying.

No comments yet - please add one »

Geoff writes: a flying day today, eventually.

We spent the morning doing jobs, minor stuff, which included Judith inspecting the septic tank, and doing some shit clearing (before she made lunch…). Hang gliders were flying at the Mynd off and on all day, so when we’d done enough jobs, we went out. I had a very pleasant hour on the hang glider, and even at 6.15pm it was still very thermic. Plenty of paraglider pilots waiting around for the wind to drop, which eventually it did, pretty late on. Judith and I – and the rest of the PG pilots – had a very late evening flight, but very pleasant. Nice to actually be able to fly in the UK, though the forecast for the next couple of days is poor. I’m sure the sailplanes went a long way today – it was very thermic all day. I was a bit surprised there weren’t more hang gliders out, just two or three, as well as me. 

Oh, and a week or two ago, Judith lost her camera case and spare battery. She thought she’d left it at San Pere, and even asked Nani to have a look for it when he flew there. But she found it today – she looked at her wing when she was flying, and saw a dark object in the trailing edge – her camera case and battery! A real shame, then, that she bought a new one this morning.

No comments yet - please add one »

Back home in the Limes. We spent the day unpacking boxes and getting our home back together and then did the usual homecoming things… favourite UK meal, pasta amatriciana and beer in the Three Tuns with Wayne, Andrew, John and Rich.

Twitter feed:

Now we are back in the UK, we have restarted the Twitter feed. This will give information about current flying conditions on our local sites (if we are out) and live updates on any competitions Judith is involved in, including the Women’s Open in Ager in August, the British Nationals in Slovenia and France and any comps taking place on Mynd sites. The feed appears in the right hand column, or you can follow it at http://twitter.com/judithmole

1 Comment »