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When we arrived at the launch site, it was obvious that it was still quite windy from the southeast. After looking around the first launch, we went further up and around to the west facing launch, where the wind was OTB (over the back). This is where we found what was later to become the obvious sign that the wind was indeed much more than we bargained for. There, crossing the trail to launch, was a thirty foot line of 'drafting caterpillars'. Each worm had his or her nose up the butt of the one in front of them. If this isn't a sign of high winds, I don't know what is. Nevertheless, we headed back to the first launch, where a group of unsuspecting paraglider pilots (who had not seen the drafting caterpillars) had arrived. They proceeded toward the layout area, and we followed - hoping they would go first. "Looks good!" we said, as we considered letting the worm out of the bag, "You go first!" The wind had abated a bit, and the smoke from town was drifting lazily upwards, so we set up for a flight as well. I launched first, and after working a few little piffs over launch, headed out over town towards the LZ. All was well as I crossed town, but as I approached the hotel at the far end of the LZ, the wind began to buffet me. As I looked towards the lake, I could see the signs of more wind to come, so I kept the glider pointed straight toward the landing zone. At this point, I stopped moving - both forward and down. For the next few minutes, I fluctuated from going up and backwards to making slight progress forward and down. I finally made the LZ and quickly deflated the glider, glad to be on the ground. The smoke from the fire nearby was now being pushed along the ground toward the gap SW of launch where Dick was. He reported making slight progress with 3/4 speed bar applied in smooth air. Quite a change from the punchy air I had been in. Alex made a perfect descent, from almost 200 meters to the ground with no turns - like a helicopter! Hans got dragged around a bit while he was kiting in the LZ, but only his watch was scratched. The next few days were spent travelling around the area seeing some of the sights, since the SE wind was too strong to fly. Entrevoux is a drawbridge protected fortress that is quite old, although some of the prison cells were constructed much more recently. The next stop was Moustiers, another of Dick and Paulina's favorite towns. Since the wind was still blowing, we found lots of interesting things to do, like walking down from launch on the old roman road, eating more food and drinking more wine. There's so much interesting history here, that I won't even go into it, just visit sometime and experience it! Gran Monte and Lake Annecy St. Hillaire du Touvet St. Andre, Entrevous and Moustiers Cloudbase in Chamonix |
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