HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 15 November | December 2018 climbed above the mountain before gliding further east, landing along the popular GR10 hiking trail where passing hikers repeatedly commented on our oversized backpacks. A few more mountain hikes and valley glides followed, before afternoon sunlight finally broke through. We seized the opportunity and were rewarded with our first thermal! We pushed over a challenging valley crossing, connecting thermals and slowly climbing as the sun disappeared behind quickly-forming, thick, high cloud. The weather rapidly deteriorated along with our future landing options so we top-landed and trudged down through muddy forest tracks to meet our support van, finishing the marginal day with hot meals and hot showers. Progress: Flew 22km, walked 22km – 397km to go. Day 3: Soaring with the birds We awoke to rain and with quashed enthusiasm, we slowly meandered up the muddy mountain hiking trail to our planned launch. Low, thick cumulus clouds blanketed the sky while enthusiastic bird watchers gathered with large telephoto lenses and binoculars, fixated on the circling kites. We forward launched in nil wind for an expected glide to the valley floor, but instead slowly climbed with the soar of kites, all lenses focused on us, wing tip to wing tip with these majestic birds. We climbed to base and pushed east, now with vultures marking our future thermals up to the 1300m cloudbase. Soon we reached a towering col, forcing a top landing and hike over the mountain. Clouds enveloped us, quickly forcing a hike downwards until we reached below cloudbase for a clear, final glide along the valley. I buzzed the bell tower of an old Spanish church and landed in a field full of chickens while Allen landed in a paddock with a fast approaching farmer warning him of a dangerous neighbouring bull, a particular concern with our bright red backpacks! We finished the day with an exhausting 11km, 1100m climb in thick, cold, wet cloud, but arrived to our support and the friendly offer from locals for fresh fish cooked over the fire. Progress: Flew 15km, walked 23km – 359km to go. Day 4: Don’t fly into the White Room Finally, a promising day, but no launch options! Camped at 1700m, we assumed a short walk to a launch, and an all-day flight, but as we clambered over craggy limestone peaks, our frustration quickly grew with the lack of suitable launch options and waste of good weather. We scouted the peaks for hours eventually finding an extremely challenging cliff launch, but were well rewarded. We rocketed up to a 2800m cloudbase with an incredible view of the French flatlands to the north, covered in thick low cloud, and the Pyrenees National Park beneath, with high alpine lakes, lush emerald fields and grey, craggy sharp cliffs piercing the skies. Allen ready to launch for our first flight on Day 4 Above: Climbing out with stunning views of cloud covered France and craggy mountains and Day 4’s steep cliff launch Landing near a hut for lunch on Day 4 Finally some good weather: Day 4 wing tip with Allen