"Very good in the high mountains" was the forecast but... there is always a but! "But it will be tre difficile to come up from La Motte!", Christian said at the briefing. Right! So then if we can get away it's got to be Mt Viso on the Italian border or Glacier Blanc in the Ecrin as our goals for the day.
And difficult it was, M5 lucked into a 3knot thermal moments before the point of having to commit to landing, and climbed away to 2000m, JB was not so fortunate and after a second launch and an couple of hours trying to escape the mountains around La Motte, he decided to land and chill out in the shade.
Setting off from that first thermal, M5, decided to have a go at the task anyway and headed via the usual stepping stones of Juare, Authon and Auribeau to Blayeul, progressively arriving lower on each mountain before climbing to make the next jump. Level with the radio mast on Blayeul, the leap to the Parcour looked daunting but there were gliders visible, circling over the valley so there had to be thermals out there? Arriving on the Micheline lower than I had ever been before , I was relieved to find it was working well and turned north following the ridge and was soon back at a more relaxed altitude. Conditions were improving by the minute, with cumulus clouds starting to appear over a few of the higher peaks and the lift under them was impressive. I was soon crossing the Col de Vars, north of Barcelonette, heading east with the peak of Mt Viso, towering over the surrounding terrain, clearly visible in the distance. Beyond it, Italy was hidden under an 8/8ths overcast which was clinging to the eastern slopes of the mountains and stretching away to the horizon. Dragon country indeed! A couple of good climbs made it simple to follow the highest ridges and soon I was climbing up the western face of Mt Viso. The view was simply breath taking.
Looking East towards Mt Viso and Italy covered by cumulus merde-icus
Having topped out a few hundred feet below the summit, the route west towards Glacier Blanc looked pretty good so the next leg of the task was on, and about an hour later I was climbing the jagged rim of the eastern ridge above the glacier.
Going south along the King's Road from the Barre de Ecrin
The top of the Barre de Ecrin is at 4000m and from there I followed the King's Road (the route south) towards Lac Serre Poncon and the Parcour. The southern turn point was Cheval Blanc and back to Dormillouse before an comfortable final glide back to La Motte with an OLC distance of over 300km's.
