Geoff writes: The day started off a bit grey, but gradually got better. The wind forecast was for south, or some component of south. Judith was still suffering from her cold, and was willing to drive for me, so I decided to fly the hang glider at El Mont, the very high (higher than Snowdon) mountain just down the road from us. We drove up (at high speed, being a bit late setting off) and found (bizarrely) that it was north on top – not very strong, but the clouds were north west too, certainly not south. We phoned Nani, who earlier had said he was going to Sant Pere de Rodes. He said it was south there, and looked perfect.

So rather than sit it out hoping it would turn south at El Mont, we drove – again at high speed! – to Sant Pere de Rodes. This has to be one of the most beautiful sites there is. A spine back ridge, with sea on both sides, and a north and south launch. A ruined castle just above launch, at the top of the spine back; and a ruined monastery just below the north take-off.  And views of the snow covered Pyrenees in the distance.

Unfortunately, when we got there it was north, and clagged in with orographic cloud. Some people had launched earlier and had a really nice flight, landing at the beach. Nani and another pilot hadn’t managed to get off, and were waiting on top for something to happen. It duly did – the orographic cloud cleared, it went south, and they launched. Nani did get up for a while, but they gradually lost height, eventually landing. I launched about ten minutes after them, maybe in a better cycle, and had an excellent hour’s flying, getting around 650′ ATO, enjoying the stunning views. For a site that doesn’t work that well in winter, it was surprisingly thermic (cumulus still forming at nearly 5.00pm), and was possibly the best flight I have had there. A great day.

(Good in other places too around here – Jenny and Udo from Clear Skies had great flying at Puigmal – a ski resort where paragliders go up free on the chairlift! And are allowed to go straight to the front of the queue!).

See photos of today.

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