HGFA Skysailor Magazine

16 SKY SAILOR November | December 2018 After a spectacular few hours, I scratched low in an area that wasn’t working so decided to top land at 2000m next to an alpine hut. The tantalising lunch location also sucked Allen out of the sky for sandwiches and coffee overlooking the stunning 2884m high Midi d’Ossau. Our brief lunch proved detrimental, with low clouds filling the valley as we rushed to the nearest suitable launch. Allen launched into building cloud as I quickly set up, confirming cloudbase with Allen and a clear landing. I then hesitantly flew into white-out, blindly navigating using only topography maps. A darkness flashed before me. A short, unexpected glimpse before the mountainside rapidly revealed itself. Mind on overdrive, I turned aggressively to avoid collision. I jumped out of my harness, flared hard and managed a heavy cliff-face landing. Shaken, adrenaline racing, but lucky to land without injury, I quickly packed up and hiked down the steep rocky mountainside, shaking off the harrowing near miss. We continued hiking through cloud andmountain passes to a nearby hut for beer and dinner, before setting up camp at 2020m overlooking misty alpine lakes and craggy mountains. Progress: Flew 24km, walked 13km – 321km to go. Day 5: Majestic views from cloudbase The cold and wet weather continued through the morning, with us waking to thick cloud and foiled plans of gliding down. We patiently waited for the clouds to part before launching into a strong north wind. We joined friendly vultures soaring the 2700m mountain range for over an hour, struggling to gain height above the high range and making no significant progression east. The increasing wind and growing cloud cover forced us to top land and hike over the mountains into Spain, protected from wind and developing cloud. We flew south across the deep valley towards a heating scree slope and soon rocketed up in a bumpy thermal to 3100m. The viewwas spectacular, overlooking the now thick cloud engulfing France to the north and stunning high alpine regions of the Spanish Pyrenees National Park to the south. We pushed south east, drifting with the intruding north wind towards a sky dotted with inviting cumulus. Incredible flying with climbs up to 3600m took us over unforgettable landscapes of deep gorges, waterfalls, rapid rivers, steep cliffs, green pine forests and alpine lakes. After 3.5 hours and 65km, the day slowly calmed and thermals slowed. Allen flew down the narrow valley to land next to a small village, but encountered turbulent north wind swirling through the valley. Watching Allen luckily allowed me the decision to land high, avoiding the messy air, and we met halfway in an abandon hay shed, quickly drifting off to sleep as dormice scampered through the rafters. Progress: Flew 66km, walked 6km – 249km to go. Day 6: Landing for churros and beer We set off early for the 8km hike to the 2500m Pico de Chia. Expecting an early morning glide, Allen opted for just a T-shirt, but the small morning thermals quickly carried us to a freezing 3300m. We easily made the glide across the large valley crossing to Castlejon de Sos and, through fear of hypothermia, Allen landed to gear up. X-Pyrenees Day 6, landing In Organya Clouds mark the way over the high ground on Day 5