December
10/12/2018 Wether Fell
Had it not been for the presence of three airborne gliders, seemingly doing OK, I might never even have driven up from Hawes. The wind in the valley was barely moving any smoke and that indicated more katabatic if anything. Still ... you can't dismiss gliders flying so up we go.
At the roadhead the wind was on but surprisingly fresh - had I been on my own I may well have turned back. Take off was easy and the wind seemed actually very accommodating. As the others wings landed I gave it a go and expected an easy soar - didn't work out that way.
It was very scratchy, a bit off to the north and a few beats later I landed. It then got quite light, a bit weird and the earlier reserve deployment seemed to put people off. A few one or two beat flights and more side landings just below take off or at take off.
Towards the end of the afternoon it settled and everyone got a decent flight of about 30-40 mins. At least we got out for a spell.
24/12/2018 Yarlside/Cautley
Christmas Eve turned out to be a surprisingly lovely day. Walking up the south face was quite a sweaty affair in the almost warm sunshine and the visibility was superb - right into the Lakes one way and the Dales the other.
Mark Gravestock, John Hamlett I decided we didn't have to drive far to get a decent site for the day. It looked very light but by the halfway point it started to look soarable - later even the lower take off would have worked OK. We enjoyed a great hour and half of smooth, easy soaring that just didn't quite provide enough height to head across the Spout to the bowls to the south - although we kept trying. Later we were joined by a Skywalk - not sure who.
Starting to feel the cold in our fingers we landed, packed - walked to the cars in the pleasant sunshine and made for the only cafe we could find open in Sedbergh, which made for a nice end to an early Christmas present.
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