HGFA Skysailor Magazine

6 SKY SAILOR May | June 2018 W e chose a blue day, avoiding the frequent overdevelopment that commonly engrosses the Himalayas. I hiked from Lakeside, through rice paddy fields, forests and villages to meet over a dozen eager pilots arriving to Sarangkot launch. Our excited vol-biv (fly & camp) discussions slowly evolved into frustration as the calm morning slipped by. The blue day forecast proved too true: the sky was clear but dead, as a 1500m inversion capped the weak thermals beneath launch and destroyed pilots’ enthusiasm and motivation. Nevertheless, out patience paid off. The inversion broke at 1:30pm, and a group of nine pilots launched simultaneously, working the small broken thermals. The climbs were difficult, but we managed to top out at 2100m before gliding over the back towards Dickie Danda. The second thermal was tough, as we scratched the mountainside and chased every small bubble triggered off. The challenging conditions caused many pilots to return to Pokhara or bomb out in the valley, but Gabriel and Annika, two intermediate pilots on EN-Bs, showed strong resilience and excellent technical flying skills despite their low airtime, as together we managed to climb the Green Wall to 2400m and glide to the Korchon ridge. The thermals strengthened with altitude, and the day showed some promise, allowing us to climb to 2700m in the Korchon Ridge’s aptly named ‘Hand of God’ thermal. Westerly clouds quickly formed and now completely shaded out our planned route to climb up Mardi Himal spur, likely shutting down all thermic activity. We abruptly changed routes and stayed east of our planned landing and pushed up the Korchon ridge towards Fishtail. The higher we pushed up the ridge, the better the day evolved. Wispy clouds marked out consistent climbs of up to 5.8m/s. We were carried up to the top of the world, a surreal landscape of fluffy cu’s, towering snowy peaks, fierce rocky slopes with lush green forests beneath. Over Korchon, Gabriel and I reached cloudbase at 4100m, estimating our glide over to Mardi Himal, Mardi Himal beckoned; a tiny 5587m peak in the shadows of the towering 7000m Machupachare (Fishtail) Mountains. by Shane Tighe The M ountains are Calling A Mini-Expedition into the Himalayas Sunset over Fishtail from Mardi Himal Thermalling up Fishtail