Françoise Dieuzeide-Banet and Gil Souviron are here and flying on Wednesday. Here's the hill (pictured after 6 PM on Wednesday evening) that serves as the launch :

The darkest cu's are over this hill and there are scattered cu's around throughout the valley. The forecast is for good weather for the next four days. You're seeing the east face. The hill wraps around to create northwest and south east faces further to the west.

Thursday morning, and Gil is set to try for a 300 km triangle in his VR.

5:00 PM Thursday: We have flown.

The hordes did come and the hill Laragne-Chabre, was invaded. I figured out that I could get a ride to the launch in the shuttle for all of eight Euros, well worth it. The driver was very careful and nice to us. Taking my glider bag back to Belinda.

The road up goes right out of Laragne and is paved almost all the way to the very top. Paved to a lower launch. It is a lane and a little more wide, so it assumes that you will work it out with oncoming traffic. It is well marked. It is also hanging on the edge of a canyon at first which gives one quite a thrill, especially hang glider pilots who are known to be afraid of heights.

It's a long way up and when we got to the top, after turning around at the lower launch, it was time to hike our gliders further up the hill. Good news for 64 year old Bernard with his Stratos (ATOS like rigid wing). Of course, he flies here all the time (as he says he can't find folks to fly with him at St. Andres des Alps, and there are lots of folks flying here).

Jesus had to stop fourteen times while carrying the cross. I made it with three stops, but no one was lashing me. The hill side is a sharp ridge line. The ground made up of loose small gray clay like stones (chalk?), which make for interesting launches. The south facing side is somewhat flat, although not nearly as flat as Mt. Borah (Upper Manilla, NSW, Australia), and covered with loose rocks. The north facing side is steep and grass covered ending in a cliff.

When launching the south side you need to wait for a "cycle" as it is the thermals coming up the south side that provide the wind in your face conditions that make for a higher probability of a successful launch. The wind was forecast to be northwest at 8 knots during the day, and when we got to launch it was blowing as forecast.

The local knowledge states (Bernard Kurtz, local instructor, for example) that the south face heats up, the thermals start coming up and you launch the south side before 2 PM. After that the west wind kicks in drawn by the high mountains to the east, and you can't get off.

After about an hour setting up on launch the flags showed south after showing north for the previous hour. Gil got off, found a light smooth thermal right out in front and just lazily circled up as other pilots waited for the launch conditions to get right for them.

The launches thereafter were sometimes dodgy, with weak incoming winds, and not great runs before letting the bar out. Then someone tripped and smacked in after a few steps just to my left. No dinged down tubes and the pilot was fine so they just moved him back up hill. Then an ATOS pilot had a poor run, let the glider mush off the hill, it turned and he cut through a bush with the tip of his left wing, but got away with it as most the glider was now flying out over the hill. Pure luck.

We waited and waited for a little wind up the hill as it got later and later. Finally at 2:10 PM, the winds were strong from the northwest, so we turned around, walked up about ten steps and noticed the nice strong wind in our faces. We also noticed the glider with the broken down tube below us with the pilot standing nearby. It seems that when it is westerly you need to go up to the right (easterly) to the top (a mere 20 yards) to get the better direction and clear air for a launch. I proceeding in that direction with wire help from Bernard.

Getting to the top the pilot who had tripped and bonked in on his nose was just in front of me. He took off fine and then it looked like he had a right turn as he was too close to the hill. He hadn't inspected his glider after his crash. He was able to keep it off the hill side and didn't crash into the cliff and flew out east toward the camping ground LZ and other open fields.

I took off right behind him, but my mind must have closed down on launch because I don't remember anything about the launch, other than it was steep and windy and I was excited to have these launch conditions. I sure wish I had taken the time to remember if I had properly leveled my wings (must have) and got my nose down so that I could run okay (I'll ask Bernard). I got off fine and zoomed down to the east to find a good thermal that was smooth and large and welcoming. I watched the "crashed" pilot go out and have a semi decent landing in a field just below me on the north side of the Laragne-Chabre ridge.

The north winds drifted me back over the ridge line about a kilometer or so east of the launch. Then the upper winds switched and the thermal drifted me to the north and then to the east. I was happy to be climbing to over 7,5000'. The lift was basically smooth so it invited me to stay in it.

I had a plan to fly northeast 35 kilometers to Pic du Bure, the milk run here. We could see the remaining snow on its flanks. You cross a few valleys and a couple of towering ridge lines to get to it.

I was going to fly with a well known local (and international) pilot who's name shall not be mentioned until later (so that he can contact his significant other first), but he crashed on launch. This was after an English pilot crashed on launch on the south side. The pilot I am referring to crashed on the north side with a good wind in his face. He doesn't know why yet. His glider is still down the north side a ways, and he has to get a rope to pull it out. He was unhurt. Luckily his glider came to rest before the cliff down below.

So, lots of poor launches. Numerous crashes on launch. Poor launch conditions. Not a real friendly launch on the south side. Continual switching between north and side sides. Attempts to launch the south side even with a northwest forecast and northwest winds. And soon there will be 120 "world class" pilots here for the pre-Worlds.

I flew around for almost two hours but didn't go up to the Pic du Bure without my local guide and encouragement. I was plenty high enough. Gary Wirdham, from England, is here and he said he went that direction but turned around when he thought about how rough it would be in a north wind next to the faces of the mountain.

This is a huge area with many open valleys, hills, peaks, ridges, cliffs, grass, wheat and alfalfa fields, rivers, many fruit orchards with gauze covered trees (thankfully for the local farmers it is hard to import fruit from China). No wonder folks like to fly here.

Gil was able to fly 180 kilometers. he said that the wind to the north was too strong.

An Oz Report reader has raised concerns about the LZ: http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12306 I found lots and lots of lift in the valley today especially over and east of the LZ, downwind of the town. Plenty of good strong lift. It was hard to get down.

The landing zone was fine (especially compared to the launch). I saw two glider land down wind, when it was clear it was down wind. I wonder what their story was. I landed into the wind along with five others at near the same time. No worries. I came in fast and was ready to land when at five feet the bottom fell out and I just flared for a no stepper.

I saw two ATOS pilot come in into the wind flying way way too slow and they both had poor landings, totally due to the slow approach.