Judith's blog

Friday, 21st March 2008

Windy everywhere and we were not hopeful, but Geoff managed to squeak in a cheeky flight at Sant Julia de Ramis before it picked up.

Thursday 20th of March 2008

We went skiing. It was crowded, slushy and full of stones. Two runs and that was it! We scratched our skis to bits. So much so that we had to take Geoff’s skis to be repaired, as they wouldn’t turn any more. If there’s no more snow, that’s it for the season.

Instead we went up to Targasonne to have my glider serviced. We spent the afternoon at the Chaos de Targasonne. It’s a huge area of boulders and is famous in bouldering circles. For us it was a mixture of a maze, adventure playground and climbing wall. It was brilliant. There were loads of people bouldering, hanging upside down and clinging on to tiny ledges.

We played around like kids for a few hours and then went to collect my glider. Clean bill of health. Phew!

See photos of today.

Wednesday, 19th March 2008

I wasn’t very well so stayed in bed and read my book.

Tuesday, 18th March 2008

Went walking at the coast. We walked from Port Lligat to the Cap de Creus, which is the most easterly point of the Iberian peninsula. All the spring flowers were out and it was a warm and humid day. We walked for 5 hours and had a nice cold beer as a reward when we got back.

Monday, 17th March 2008

We worked!

Sunday, 16th March 2008

We went to fly at El Mont. The forecast was great. Hot, sunny, cumulus… It all looked great until we got to the top, where it was blowing mostly north, when it came round more it was east. I didn’t like it. Aldric thought it was ok to launch in the bitty thermals which brought the wind on for seconds and he managed to get off ok. Matthias fared less well and put his glider in a bush before getting off the hill in an interesting fashion.

We decided to go to Santa Brigida, but should have gone to Roca Corba instead. It was gusty at Santa Brigida and we waited and got to fly late in the afternoon.

Saturday, 15th March 2008

We stayed at home and worked. Shock, horror!

Friday, 14th March 2008

Flying at Mare de Deu del Mont (El Mont). We hooked up with Jordi, Pedro and Jesus the HG pilots and Geoff took his HG too. I was the only one with a PG and I took off first.

It’s a tricky launch for a PG, although perfect for a HG. I fluffed my take off for the first time at this site and had to get Geoff and Jordi to help me get the glider back onto the ramp.

Once airborne, I climbed up to the inversion layer 700′ ATO where it got a bit rough. El Mont is a 1015m high, south-facing spine back and it can get rough; this never really bothered me too much on a hang glider, but I’ve seen what the site can do and I usually give it a lot of respect.

After the initial thermal I didn’t find much on the ridge and I headed out into the valley. All the usual valley triggers worked, so I thermalled around, playing on the lower ridges, heading off towards Besalu and coming back. I got beer suck in the end and landed next to the van. We spent the rest of the afternoon basking in the 24C heat, drinking cold beers and eating peanuts and then going to Banyoles lake for a snooze in the sunshine.

See photos of today.

Our friend Jesus added some videos of us to YouTube. See here for a video of Geoff launching, and here for a video of me flying.

Thursday, 13th March 2008

We hooked up with our friends Udo and Jenny from across the border in France and went flying at Sant Pere de Rodes. It’s a beautiful site; a spine back ridge with sea on both sides. Southeast you look towards Roses and north you look towards Port de la Selva.

On the north side of the ridge is the stunning monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes, lovingly restored and open to the public. Right on top of the highest point of the spine is an old castle ruin.

When we got there Matthias was already flying and doing well. It looked smooth and nice flying. After briefing Udo and Jenny, I launched first and got a thermal off the rock in front of launch. The thermal took me to cloudbase at 1200′ ATO, but this didn’t feel like enough height to allow me to fly into the headwind and get to the beach at Roses.

It was such a nice day, visibility was excellent and I was having such a nice time taking photos that I let myself get too low and sunk out. What a plonker! The others launched one after the other and all managed to get above the castle. Geoff flew for ages and had the best flight he’s ever had at the site.

After packing up, we drove back up to collect the car and we went to the bar next to the landing field for tapas. Big, tasty portions.

We spent the evening walking on the beach in Roses, watching the sunset and spotting fish from the pier.

See photos of today.

Wednesday, 12th March 2008

Went flying at Santa Brigida. Bit rough at first then smoother later.

Tuesday, 11th March 2008

We went skiing at Masella. It had snowed (allegedly) in the Pyrenees, but we couldn’t see much evidence of it. It was the by far and away the worst snow conditions I have ever had the misfortune to ski on. The snow was really sticky, so you would manage to get some speed up and actually ski and then you would hit a less steep bit and come to an abrupt halt and lurch forward. It was atrocious. We managed about 2 hours of this (and that included a long coffee break) and then we headed off. Some things just aren’t worth the trouble!

We went off to Targasonne in France instead to have Geoff’s glider serviced. A long lunch in Llivia and a snooze in the sunshine later, we were off home to sunny Spain.

No comments yet - please add one »