June
3/6/2024 Dodd Fell
Despite a forecast suggesting breezy in the Dales, Chris and I made our way over to Dodd. Further west the base was too low and further east was too far. It was still relatively early, about 10.30am and we wanted to be in the air as soon as possible. We made the customary check at the Wether roadhead which confirmed Dodd with its lighter winds was the place. There were a few pg's at Wether - but it seemed an odd choice and would soon blow out. Some hangies flew it later.
So it proved. We had a nice gentle breeze, an easy take off and the full ridge was working well. The sky also looking good, but base remained low at 3500' .... OK for the flats, but not for crossing the Dales in wind. We set a goal at Selby ... which seemed optimistic given we had the Dales to cross.
For a good hour and half we climbed to base, then lost it .... never quite convinced that it was go-able. For much of this time I was on my own as Chris ventured too far forward and found himself stuck and scraping the ridge in front - which wasn't working. Eventually, he would make it back onto Dodd - but just as I was leaving. A solitary Ozone wing joined me for a short spell then headed back to Wether I think.
One incident of note. My pod unexpectedly twanged and gave way! One of the internal closure lines had snapped and a cold draft entered. It took a struggle, some contortions to grab a loose loop, until I managed to fasten it over a buckle - it worked and I can't recall noticing anything untoward after that.
For the first 12k I hung onto every bit of lift, never feeling that high, even though I often was partly in cloud ... approaching Bishopdale I touched just over 4000' - reasons to be optimistic. Only, now a lot lower, at Bishopdale did I start to notice the wind strength and it was not a valley I wanted to go down in for a few reasons. A brief track north and I stumbled into a good climb that had me heading for Great Whernside. This is where the FANET screen proved useful - it told me Chris was 3k behind and gave me his height and vario readings. So ... I knew he was on his way. All other traffic had ceased.
I deviated to the NW face of Great Whernside - the wind now showing signs of veering from WNW. I've been here before and was mindful of the wind. Not far above ridge height I slowly eased west and picked up a climb on the very corner. Radio comms weren't great ... quite a bit of static, but Chris had now caught up only a k or so to the north. Now the errors crept in.
Given the modest base, my fear of a long moorland walk out and a questionable signal, I did my usual trick of stepping out of the line to crosswind south to easier territory. Looking north it seemed the sensible way, as from my position Chris seemed really low and no more than skimming the moor top and descending into remote Lofthouse. I headed for Grimwith res ... when the clever track was over the moor towards Pateley ... the climbs were that way. I just wanted the comfort of a main road.
The ground was mostly shaded out, but odd sunny patches tempted - and almost saved me. A gentle, yet elusive cthermal saw me slowly climbing again. One minute it was there and strong, the next gone. That was rather the tale of all thermals on the day. I passed over Grimwith - busy with sailboats and my half thermal saviour disappeared.
A little further on the cafe at Stump Cross Caverns and a busy carpark tempted me. It was also a good open place to land given the wind strength. A good landing - a little bouncy on approach, but no problem.
(Only later did I learn that Chris had dug himself out of the moorland and made it to Killinghall. Fortune favours the brave.)
A coffee and cake followed by a lift in a Tesla (thanks Emma) to Bolton Abbey. Great sight seeing day - a drive to savour with excellent company. A 5min wait and another lift to Skipton station. Even better - another 15 mins and the 5pm train back to Ribblehead. Back home by 5.45pm . Maybe I should have gone over the moor.
Collected Chris later from Ribblehead- sorted cars and enjoyed two excellent pints in the Station Inn.
LINK (not a lot - I was too absorbed in staying up)
11/6/2024 Park Fell
At last, a flyable day .... although by no means certain with possible showers in the afternoon and a lot of cloud cover forecast. RASP didn't really rate it - but rasp is getting too unreliable to use. So ... back to working it out as you go.
Ribblehead is not only handy for me, but it's an excellent place to gauge the sky and the wind. I had a few options, but Park looked perfect; the right direction, strength and with a fair amount of sunshine. Following on just behind was Rob, Chris and John H. We had an easy low take off and plenty of lift.
For over an hour we tracked back and forth, finding good climbs but nothing much going above 3600' .... although occasionally I was tempted. Chris disappeared first off the north end and whilst flogging the ridge I switched to my FANET screen to watch his progress. At first - it was about what was to be expected - but he kept going up, and up and up. In fact FANET was soon showing over 6000'. That did puzzle me given the base and his climb rate seemed well above what we had been getting (5m/s). Anyway, back to flogging the ridge with Rob and John.
It was nice, but becoming a bit frustrating. Eventually John got away off the south end leaving just Rob and I. I decided that whatever the outcome I was away, and leaving Rob down on the ridge I set off with no great height. Over Crummackdale a climb of sorts appeared (they were all rather slow) and I took that back to about 3000' . A slide towards Settle provided a better climb as I passed over the town. This was quite a strong one for once, especially as I got higher. Usually clouds don't bother me, but approaching what I took to be base (about 4000') and zero escape routes I basically bottled it and set off, bar in, downwind. I soon regretted that hasty move and should have turned back.
Aside from the odd splodge of sun on the ground - they were always crosswind so with height draining away I made a move south for the main A65. I got the odd beep, the odd hopeful turn, but nothing to avoid terra firma. I landed just beyond Hellifield - missed a bus by 5 mins, but a pie helped me pass the next 55 mins until the next bus (with John aboard) took me to my door.
I'd set a goal at Colne. Coming back on the bus, John looked up and spotted a glider overhead.... under 8/8 cloud cover. Rob had eventually managed to get away ... in fact that glide would take him to my goal cylinder (which he had no idea of).
I'm going to mention a problem I have. I struggle to get the Photon to thermal, it just seems an effort to turn and always wants to open out. Now .... it may be me, but being used to agile gliders it doesn't feel at all the same ????
12/6/2024 Brigsteer
Chris and I had a short messaging debate about where to go ... with a few others joining in the loop too. The Dales was forecast windy, not OTT windy, but enough to give food for thought. The day had started blue, but by 9am it was starting to go a bit Marge Simpson and fill in. In the end we thought west is best and by the time we reached Cowan Bridge the sky ahead looked pretty classic - so we carried on to Brigsteer.
As soon as we arrived we knew it was the place, the wind was on and about right for the shallow take off. The sky looked great, you never get a high base here so need to go over the back with more faith than height. Within ten minutes Cefn and then Andy and Tom H arrived.
We set a goal at 62k (Leyburn) ... I think with the view there was a slight W in the wind, which didn't turn out that way. Easy take off (you never know here) and onto the scar. I fully expected to have a spell of soaring with the others, but having no sooner arrived on the main scar I was climbing in a solid climb to base - surprisingly with little drift which always tells me it's strong and solid enough to hold against the wind. The others seemed to be just scratching the scar whilst I went into orbit. So .... do I wait (probably lose all the height) or go, but without the power of the gaggle. In retrospect the wait would have been the best option as they climbed out only minutes after I left.
For a while I skirted with my cloud. The sky downwind was rather too blue for my liking, but the wind seemed to have a lot more south in it so it would have been the best way (after- thought). Instead I went directly crosswind on a long, slow glide that lost me 2000' to eventually arrive over the Helm and a decaying cloud. I desperately needed something if this gamble was to pay off.
At 1800' asl i found a weak climb, very scratty and broken and then stronger surges ... I made only 400' always finding bits that cheered me - Yes, out of jail, back in the game. Then it was gone ... so illusive. Further downwind - another, but that too was small cores to nothing. after three abortive attempts at getting up again, mindful of the wind and approaching HT lines I sought out a field and nice landing. Bugger! During the final struggles I'd watched both Chris and Andy 8k, to my NW, on my FANET, at a good height and with positive vario readings - if only I'd not hared off on my own. Double bugger!!
An easy retrieve in a smart BMW and I was back at Brig to see Cefn happily soaring - but under a rather grey sky. I opted to do retrieve duty. I spoke with Andy - down near the A6, but sorted by his wife. Chris, he said had landed near Tebay. So I headed for Tebay. The only thing was - Chris was still flying. I did coffee, sandwiches and sunbathing at Tebay ... Chris kept flying - an airborne photo came through which I instantly recognise as over Murton village. With no tracking it became guesswork and I had visions of a long drive towards Hexham. My xctrack screen was showing showers down the xfell range ... and a big one over Murton Pike (it was quite dry) Chris eventually landed near Dufton Pike and as he walked out I drove over and we met in the village outside the Stag inn.
A day I could have done a lot more with. Repeated failure dents the confidence (a big element of xc flying) and I need to reflect on why. Impatience? Too much 'lone wolf' flying? Poor decisions? Bad luck? And I'm finding thermaling the Photon a problem ... either me or the wing has a problem.
15/6/2024 Brigsteer
A very, short and sneaky flight before the wind picked up. Quite gusty and unpleasant.
The best bit getting to try out Cefn's electric bike/retrieval system.
17/6/2024 Three Men
The inclement weather is starting to make us desperate.
Baz, Geoff and I arrived at a sunny Three Men at 8.15pm. Yes .... that is way past bedtime for Baz. Ignoring the late hour, it was sunny (setting), blue and the wind had eased to maybe too light - and dropping? We walked up the short 10 mins to take off on the mid slopes.
It was soarable, but on the light side, however, once airborne very bouyant and beautifully smooth. Shortly after Geoff followed and from that single beat or two and the odd video clip, I never saw him again until he landed. The evening now rapidly developed a mind of its own, Initially blue, a small, thin streak of orographic formed towards the south end - by the time I'd got there it was more extensive. My focus turned to a glider trying to launch at the very point - I suspect it had come from Tow and not quite made it. Above the cloud had continud to grow until it extended the full length of the hill. The 'unknown' glider launched and went down for a walk out towards Tow.
The remainder of the flight was mostly a lonely, somewhat surreal experience with no sign of the others. Occasionally clear, but often flirting with the orographic, now forming in front, with the sun always there for reference and increasingly no more than a vast glowing orb as it sank below the horizon. The landscape below more orange than brown. As the orographic dropped ever lower, below take off, the beat became further out, but the lift went with it. It even felt possible to climb again, even though low over the road.
Baz landed, I followed and shortly after Geoff appeared, quite made up by his multiple brocken spectre displays. Pub time arrived late - about 10pm.
Three Men never ceases to amaze with it repertoire of experiences - it stunned and surprised us yet again.
19//6/2024 The Magnet
For once not a difficult site choice ... this was easily the best option for the day. Rob, Tom S and Tim O met at my place, piled into one car and we drove up Kingsdale. There were already pilots there and some in the air. It looked to all set for a good day.
By the time we got to take off all the other pilots, about five, had launched - in fact a couple were heading out to land at the bottom (?). I activated a route, checked it ... only to realise it was in Leeming ATZ. Bugger! I'd hurriedly done it on flyxc which strangely hadn't shown the ATZ/MATZ for Leeming. I thought I knew where it was .... guessed, and got it wrong!! I inserted the only other, shorter goal I had in the Skytraxx comp directory - it didn't seem to matter too much at the time.
A quick float across to the south end, only to find the wind a bit more WSW, than SW. it was working, just off a little, but at least it opened up the full ridge to the north. At this stage I realised I'd not set my tracker running and then.... I pulled the end off my stylus pen. A quick landing ...some sorting out and away again. It was working best in front so I headed out, got a good climb and joined Chris K at near base. He was away - I'd like to have been too, but my cylinder had to be retagged and that was a kilometre N near the original take off. Still, I set off as it had a good cloud over it. With the start tagged I was away again and high enough to get into to semi white room - about 4000'; spotting Chris a few k's downwimd over Blea Moor.
Chris's climb didn't seem that strong - or I couldn't find any core to it. Decision time. I could have hared off downwind, but instead chose to head towards Wold Fell (it's next to Brantside). This was a gamble - it's not a great face, quite short in fact, but it had something building out front and I'd found climbs there before from Brant. I was low! Really only a hundred feet above the very flat-topped ridge. I hung in there for 15 minutes or more ... finding some broken surges that provided only a single 360. The surges appeared to be getting stronger and the cloud in front had a solid look about it. More pushing forward - a stronger more consistent climb, a few turns, more turns, each time it felt better, until committed ... and away. Phew! Out of jail there.
I reached base approaching Dodd - now lifted to 4500' until it got misty. Dodging in and out of the side was fun. The drift was quite slow, the wind speed never going over 18kph. I meandered over Wether - no one in sight, nor on Dodd, but a little chatter from Stags pilots on the radio. In paragliding, one minute you're high; then it becomes a bit fraught as the height winds down. I headed over the flat moors towards Bishopdale, it was shaded out with sun towards the north end - so I veered that way. Nothing - then I dropped into Bishopdale seemingly unable to even reach the other side. The sink relented to zeros ... so I just managed to cruise onto the top edge. The wind was across the slope, it wasn't soarable ... and the turns I hung onto were in rough, strong bullets along the crest. It moved me down the valley a bit anyway.
I was now into extreme gambling mode. Giving up the ridge line - which fades away at this point anyhow, I headed out and across the valley to the other side - always with an eye on a landing field. The last gasp target was a decent cloud I placed a lot of faith in. At 600' agl I found weak lift .... it was gentle, flat circling - maintaining, then gradually it gave me 300' and allowed a little exploring for the core. Then ... relief, I found the core and back to base over Pen Hill. The wind drift was now showing more SW.
From this point things got a lot easier, which after two low saves was a real relief and I could relax a little. Ahead lay Leyburn - and I saw 19k to goal pop up ... oh dear! I was now rather hoping for more. Once out of the hills and entering the VoY ... with the ground dropping away another 1500', it felt so much easier. The clouds were now lining up nicely and best of all they were working well. I pushed on towards goal, tagged it and found another climb. My focus now moved to ... so what to do now? It was 4.15pm .... no buses cross the VoY from Northallerton, and the last Hawes bound bus from Leyburn left at 5.17pm. I wanted to be back for a footbal match; I had to be early to the LCC next morning - the excuses came easily. I turned back and decided to try to make Leyburn.
Despite being at 3500' - it was slow going against 12kph of headwind. The climbs were there under clouds, but weren't worth turning in, given I'd drift back downwind. I made about halfway then had to land. Probably not a good plan. Neither was the road I found myself next to.
It looked OK from the air, but was minor and fast! Seven cars and not one showed any sign of stopping. I walked for 40 minutes to a small crossroads, sat down in the grass and tried to work out my next move. At this point a car stopped - a woman emerged and asked if I was OK. I was perfectly OK - but on hearing my predicament she took me to Leyburn apologising that she couldn't run me up to Hawes - but she had a party at Sutton Bank to attend. I don't attend parties - back to walking. 40 minutes later, sat at another road junction Tim O appeared out of a car window and joined me. Then .... we failed! Karen agreed to come out and collect two OAP's if we bought her a pint.
And we made it back for the football.
22/23 June 2024 LCC Grasmere
During the Thursday set-up conditions were good, after a very unsettled few months the jet stream had suddenly jumped well north and summer put in an appearance. Early arrivals were able to get some flying in. However, Friday, whilst sunny and pleasant, dawned with too much wind so the day was canned early and various alternate activities took place. This didn't deter a small number visiting the seaside and experiencing Silecroft - a few probably wishing they hadn't! Meanwhile, X Lakes competitors were were having a gruelliing foot-race around the fell tops. Later, Jacob Aubrey would tell me he'd covered 62k that day, all on foot!
Hopes were pinned on Saturday.
Saturday dawned bright - the concern again being what the wind strength would do. Direction-wise it looked set for W to WSW, so ideal for the short walk from the base field up to Alcock Tarn. By 11am everyone was gathered for a briefing - both the A and the B comps, and tasks were set. I can really only comment on the A comp, but the B's also had a tasty task up the ridge to Clough and back. For the A comp a bigger xc type task ... up the ridge to Helveylln before heading over the back to a goal outside Appleby at the gipsy field - a total of 44k.
As usual, in the Grasmere bowl, the wind was more on the light side ... with only thermic gusts. Despite walking higher I still had to wait a while for enough breeze to inflate the wall. The sky looked superb and it was soon evident that everything out front was working well - so it was just take off and head forward. The climbs were there, good solid ones and with lots of gliders marking them. So ... take your pick.
The start SS was quickly tagged, climb to base (just under 3800') and head north with a stream of other gliders. The Helveylln TP was also soon tagged with a decision to make. Quite a few continued north - but base looked slightly lower, there was more cloud/shade and gliders heading that way were sinking lower. I decided to head back south to better clouds and the higher base. In front of Seat Sandal I made, in retrospect, a mistake - I simply hung around too long, enjoyed the climbs (strong) and set 4000' + as my marker for going over the back towards Place Fell. Eventually, at 4100' and losing sight of the ground, I did - passing along the spur of St Sunday Crag, sinking, but not too badly and seeing a few other gliders get sucked into Patterdale. The rest of the flight was quite fast once I'd lost the 20 minutes dithering on Seat Sandal/Fairfield.
Immediately I approached Place Fell I found another climb, below a Gin wing (that had arrived VERY low and scratched up) joined me. Again, a misty base arrived quite quickly and off again towards Loadpot/Barton. The Gin wing, although not high continued on, sinking and would eventually land near Bampton. I didn't have to wait before latching onto a good climb to base that took me out into the flats of the Eden valley with 22k to goal. It looked shaded out all the way downwind to Appleby ... bugger! However, sunny, cumulus skies to the north and south suggested this was the Eden valley convergence - and perfectly placed. A climb off the old training scar near Lowther, then on again - just another half climb required to bring the LD down a bit. I found one, took it for 500' and In the end it was an easy glide in with height to spare.
I'd seen a few gliders going down near the M6 - or lost sight of them and assumed. I actually felt quite pleased until I saw the goal field had a number of gliders landed ... and three more setting up to land. Not so clever afterall and the lack of speed cost.
It was a really enjoyable task, great conditions and a nice mix of mountains and flatland. Looking back I rather wish I'd got in the air sooner to tag the start - it being a race task, and that I'd not hung about so long before leaving the main ridge. From that point everything fell into place bang on cue and was fast.
The evening meal was followed by presentations - a bit like the Oscars and lasted until 9pm and took on a distinctly chilly feel as the sun left Grasmere in shade.
24/6/2024 Windbank
Why did I do that?
It was far from defeat snatched from the jaws of victory - but inexplicable certainly.
As many times in the past on this site I plugged in a triangle - 38k this time. The usual thing - up to the head of Oughtershaw, then behind Buckden and back to Windbank. It's a nice task, the lay of the terrain helps, I'm familair with all of it and I've both done it and failed on it previously. However, I have a recurring bad habit of getting to the first TP and abandoning tasks. The sky downwind always calls me away.
When Rob, Glenn, Chris I arrived on top of Windbank it was moderately busy. The day looked superb, the sky tempting, a nice breeze on the hill. Chris was soon away - I chat too much. By the time I followed he was well gone. The first climb out came immediately, barely a beat of the hill, then south 300m to tag the start and back for second helpings before heading north up the ridge. Some gliders were high - others scratching, even landing at odd places. it wasn't a day to get cocky with ridge lift - stay high if possible.
I pushed further and further north, the sky starting to overdevelop, the sunny patches fewer and smaller. I didn't put this down to convergence at the time, rather just the early afternoon shutdown hour. Only one glider followed up towards Halton, with a second, braver pilot much lower. Initially we struggled to find a climb, but a single bird out front didn't, so I joined him and he proved a reliable companion at finding the cores. The other Ozone wing came in below. Base reached I set off across Yockenthwaite valley.
It took a while to cross - probably the light drift. The Ozone wing followed. The ridges on the others side are big, shallow and stepped, but face the right way. Again, lots of shade. After searching a little I found a climb that strengthened and got me back to a very dark and murky base at 4100' (this was the one disappointment - it never felt enough to take chances with over high ground). I was 1k from the next turnpoint, high and an easy glide away. The Ozone wing was already there - but low, and the slope becomes even shallower. Still ... I could have tagged and made it back to the climb.
I simply can't explain why I decided to just go rogue from the task. The sky downwind wasn't great, little sun on the ground and the line lead across the Semer Water sink hole. Perhaps the lure of a much sunnier Wensleydale? An idea to cross to Stags and then head down towards Nappa and over to Richmond way? It could have been the SSW wind and having to make long into wind legs back? Although the wind was light, less than 12kph. But whatever, I went AWOL from the task.
True to form it was fairly sinky over the back, but in front of the Semer ridge I found a climb - bitty, good in parts then gone. It's never easy on your own and it didn't prove the salvation I needed. I glided down Wensleydale in bright sunshine to land in a baking hot field. From this point the sky opened up to look amazing. If only I'd hung around instead of going on a death glide. The day now looked to have the best 3 hrs ahead of it.
An easy ... and rather surprising lift. Two lady wild water swimmers going from pool to pool and ticking them off. Until they showed me the north of England guide (a really professional and polished production) ... I didn't realise it was a big thing. One of the girls was Australian - and had come all the way over here for a dunk in our pools! They dropped me outside the Board Inn and we had a coffee.
Chris did his usual big flight - the thing that struck me the most was his 5hr+ in the air. Thanks to Rob for the retrieve - then I had a second visit to the Board Inn.
25/6/2024 Pen y Ghent
A long, hot walk to the very summit ridge. Too late! It had started to overdevelop; very shaded out with a little breeze on the point from due south.
Took off and basically a downer ... I tried to follow a nothing bit of lift towards a better bit of sky - the reward was a longish walk out. Pub for a pint and home.
26/6/2024 Semer Water
A day that deserved more, the last before the weather breakdown.
We started out with Widdale being the plan, however driving towards Newby Head it looked awful. The clag was right down, very grey and murky, and given the wind was forecast to increase and veer I was quite pessimistic. I ended up in the Pantry ... drinking coffee until Liam, Chris, Tom and Tim O and Alan O arrived (not related). More coffee until we decided to drive up to Semer - just to see.
Actually, it was OK - the wind direction and strength was good and the sun was even out. Today was a day I put everyone else off coming out (messages) and even convinced some to launch low. Despite the wind the lift was surpringly poor I went down! Others followed me down from that launch. So .... ball and walk up, but it's fortunately not far.
For the next two hours, nice as it looked, the ridge was just not producing ... you could stay up and as others joined in it got busy. Eventually, we got lift off and a decent gaggle formed. This would eventually get us all to cloudbase ... or about 4100' when it seemed to peter out. I wasn't really ready to go - but did. The problem was the gaggle rather shot off in various directions and we all ended up scrabbling around. I managed to find a climb of sorts behind Humesett - then thinking those out front had better (FOMO syndrome) ... I headed towards them. The trouble was they had nothing. The only other bit of excitement was two fast jets coming through Wensleydale. I rather wished I'd had the gopro out!
Sinking ever lower we all headed towards Cotterside - which had a crossed wind. Gave up the ghost and landed out front by the road. Thanks to Liam for the prompt pickup.
Beer and ice cream at the Board Inn, sat beneath a great sky (now cumulus everywhere) and wishing we'd stuck with Widdale which we were convinced would have been a far better option. The day had a lot of potential.
30/6/2024 Park Fell
Full 8/8 cover, not very inspiring, but the cloud was above the tops and the wind seemed OK. I drove over to Hawes - light winds until over Newby Head. I got out of the car at the Wether roadhead - to find it almost blown out, not impossible but it was chilly and felt and looked more like November. So .... back in the car and set off down with Park the only option in mind.
Park seemed deserted and the wind very light. I walked 50yds - then 100yds and almost turned back. It's fairly easy into the lower slopes - so just a look. As I hit the lower slope above the wall I spotted Chris doing a spot of GH tuition below. Still very little wind, but at least square on. I carried on up. About 2/3 of the way two gliders appeared overhead - soaring, but just above ridge height. OK ..... carry on a bit further which eventually became the top.
Still a bit light, but maybe OK although the other gliders scratched and then landed. A short 10 minute wait and I took off. It was OK, very smooth and possible to gain 200'. I had a nice spell - it got a little better and the other gliders headed down. Finally, I too headed down and landed behind the Station Inn for a cleaner, clipped packing area.
Chris arrived and sorted two pints (thanks) whilst I finished packing. Drove home to watch England play abysmally and scrape through in the final minute of extra time.
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