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With a forecast of northwest winds at eight knots at launch level (4000'), the meet organizers say that launching at Laragne-Chabre will not be possible (for 120 pilots) so we headed to the southwest facing launch at Aspres. The idea was that the winds will calm down and turn west during the day.

We took a 40 kilometer drive to the Aspres launch, a launch that we haven't see so far, and what do you know it was beautiful, far nicer than the Laragne-Chabre launch. Covered with grass and wildflowers, huge, top landable, and with a nice steep launch (after a long less steep launch) with grass and not scree.

It was blowing lightly over the back, but it was also coming up the face. This leads to "dust" devils, which they say never happen at this site. Later gliders will be spun around, and one pilot, Radek, will be flipped over while hooked in rupturing his ACL.

The task committee called a 130 km task back to Laragne LZ at the campground. Not way up into the high mountains, but high enough. The forecast called for strong lift and cloud base between 8,000' and 10,000' depending on where you were (this proved to be quite accurate).

I got off second in my line (there were three) and as I got up it was great to see the whole launch was covered with almost 120 gliders. The lift was a bit weak out in front, but as soon as I got over launch it was more than strong enough. I had been told that this is not really a cross country site, but it must be under different conditions than what we experienced yesterday.

I was off an hour before the first start time and the air was soon filling with competitors. We spread out along the ridge line and there were cu's every where. It was easy to repeatedly get up to cloud base. I noticed that pilots kept out of the clouds. Perhaps they were concerned that the height limit restrictions rule would be implemented if they didn't. Any way it was nice to be able to see every one.

Almost every one took the first start time as we were all high (7,800') and it had been good the whole time. Ten minutes before the start window opened I couldn't get back right to cloudbase after spending most of the time prior to the start window just staying out of the clouds, so I started a few hundred feet lower than the top most guys. Why does this happen?

It was a race to the east northeast to the next mountain range and when we got there the lift was a bit too strong and rowdy for me. I hung on for a few turns before going for smoother stuff down the course line.

As we progressed east along the range the conditions were strong and we were diving into the mountains getting up pretty well to 8,000'. It was 22 km to the first start point just west of the town of Gap and as I got there there were pilots every where. The second turnpoint was out in the flats east of Gap, but we worked a low ridge line and then a nice rock face north of the course line to get high enough to make it and have some extra altitude to get to the next hill before crossing a lake. The lift in front of the rock face was strong and broken and you didn't want to get too close to it.

I headed for the hill past the second turnpoint before the lake and just got over the top at 5,000'. There was an exposed face to the south and Scott Barrett, who started twenty minutes after us, had caught me and we were climbing together over a high tension power line just below the lead gaggle. This thermal got me to the highest I was all day at 9,300'.

From that altitude it was a quick jump over a large lake (Lac de Serre-Poncon) to the ridge line to the south east (Dormilouse). We'd been told that the ticket was to fly down this ridge line even though it was way off course line, and don't worry about turning. I climbed up the ridge, got on top and headed straight for the next 5 km. But where were the pilots on the ridge? They were all to my right out in the valley more on the course line. What's with that?

After 5 km there was no one in front of me on the ridge (and me in a new and strange location) and it was clear that the pilots were flying along the course line which takes them over an unlandable canyon. I turned right and joined the other pilots. What a fool.

It was a fourteen mile glide with a little stop to try to get higher into a large mountain, Blayeul, with a tower on top. The safe landing areas had long gone by the wayside and now it came down to getting over this mountain. But just as I got to the side of it, the shadow from the large high cloud (output from a towering cumulus) shaded the mountain side and everything around it. I found lift on the north side but the air was tossing my glider around and I was just barely holding on at this point.

Scott and all the lead gaggle was just above me working their way high enough to get over the mountain. They would make it. I would get as high as the top of the mountain (7,000'), but not high enough to fly over it. I tried to climb up it, but got flushed.

I climbed up again and tried to run around it following three other pilots but again got flushed into the unlandable canyon. I found a stream bed that was plenty wide and landed in it downwind up hill without damage to the glider and only a few minor scrapes for me.

I got a ride out from some forest workers and found Natalie on a hill side in the valley that I landed in and then another pilot in the creek bed. It turned out that there was a couple of other pilots nearby, including Derrick Turner. The unlandable canyon turned out to be pretty popular.

Natalie had aimed for a small landing field, but couldn't get the glider down, so went up the hillside at the end of the field and landed in the bushes. We scrambled up the hillside on our hands and knees to get to her and her glider. Amazing.

Jeff O'Brien made it over Blayeul as did Zippy. Jeff Shapiro landed with nine other pilots in a field on the north side of Blayeul. Lots of broken aluminum. Jack Simons was further back.

After Blayeul Scott stayed in the sunny areas (there was lots of shade from the high level cloud) to the east of the course line and took his time getting to the last turnpoint past Blayeul, near Digne les Bains. After the turnpoint, those pilots in front of him were low while he, Gordon Rigg and Gary Wirdhan had preserved their altitude by going slow and staying in the sunshine.

The last leg of the course was cross wind and over a difficult forested section that stopped most of the pilots who made it that far. Scott went on final glide at 15 to 1 and made it in twenty minutes in front of every one else.