Geoff writes: A classic Tramuntana day at Santa Brigida – a shame we messed it up, unlike some others!

We left home later than usual, for no good reason. Leaving Castellfollit and driving through Olot, it was howling, and north. In fact, it was north almost all the way to Santa Brigida. As we got closer, we could see a couple of paragliders high above – so leaving late clearly was a mistake. As we got into Amer, the village at the bottom of the hill, the wind dropped and became south, as almost invariably happens in Tramuntana. We rushed up, got ready, waited for a cycle (the gliders in the air were back at launch height) and launched.

I went forward into the valley, found a thermal and started circling, without really trying, assuming the day would last till dark. Meanwhile, back on the ridge, Xevi, Enric, Oriol and Judith were also climbing out. I flew slowly back to the ridge, and Judith left her thermal, whilst the others stayed in it. It started to get a bit more scratchy, and a bit bouncier, and I top landed. The wind dropped off to nothing on top, and west in the bottom, and Judith came in too. A few others went down to the bottom. A couple of minutes after Judith landed, the wind was strong north.

However, Xevi, Enric and Oriol were getting higher, and pushed forward, eventually hitting convergence. Oriol came back and bottom landed. Enric pushed forward (although probably downwind at the height he was) to La Cellera and landed there.

We waited around for an hour or so, but the wind never really came back on – it was very switchy, both on top and in the valley.

Really, we should have been there earlier, and not been so casual when we actually were in the air.  But having said that, it rarely switches direction so early, so it was a little unusual in that. Still, it was an exceptionally good day, at least for three people!

See photos of today.

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