The monastery at El Mont from above.Hot, but not humid today. 27C. We decided it was about time Geoff got the hangie out, so we went to El Mont. I’ve been having trouble sleeping, so was tired. We hooked up with Nils and when we got to the top of the hill the car park was completely full, which is unheard of mid-week. There was nowhere to rig, never mind get a hang glider to the launch. We also discovered that the launch is overgrown with sharp thorny weeds which catch and snag your lines. It took me a few goes to get off and next time we go to El Mont, we’ll have some gardening tools with us to tidy the place up a bit. There was a lot of hang glider shuffling around as people needed to get their cars out and eventually there was enough space to rig and get to the ramp.

I launched straight into a thermal and pootled about at 800′ ATO, where it got a bit rough. I deal with roughness better when I am not tired and when there is a purpose to the flight (i.e. going XC), so I decided to fly out into the valley to the lower ridge which normally always works and where you can play around with the birds. When I got across the quarry there was nothing but strong sink and a stiff headwind and I descended the last 400′ nearly vertically. For the first time ever I didn’t make it to the landing in Maia and had to land in the forbidden field right at the bottom of the mountain. I walked back to the restaurant to get the car and drive to the HG landing field (saving a praying mantis on the way), where there was a strong easterly wind. It was so hot in the landing field that we decided we couldn’t wait for cold beers until we got back to the cool box on top of the mountain, so we headed for the bar, and then had a picnic back at launch later.

Geoff’s comments: I was last to launch, seeing Judith then Nils off. Either it was my incompetence, or they just launched at a better time, but they both got well above the launch, and I didn’t. I managed to maintain for a while on the lower ridge, and even climb a few hundred feet, but it was a bit disappointing for me, especially since the sky had promised a really good flight. Sometimes, you’re just unlucky! Nils did land shortly before me (through choice, unlike me), and carried his hang glider off to the side. As I was more or less at the start of finals, intending to land next to him, his glider ground looped a couple of times (without Nils, fortunately). Either the wind had picked up a lot, or it was a big thermal kicking off from the ploughed field where we were landing. Anyway, I changed my approach at the last minute, and landed slightly cross wind, but still on my feet. Could have been a bit tidier, but in the circumstances, OK.

See photos of today.

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