March 

3/3/2026   Gragareth

It looked and felt like the first day of spring.  Blue skies (completely), light winds and maybe some first thermals of the year. The ideal day for a Birthday treat.

I was torn between Whernside and Gragareth, but opted for Grag as the more interesting ridge - and  felt it was possible to avoid the full walk up by taking off near the bottom.  The earlier NE wind had come very much round to the SE as I prepared to launch ... sometimes light, then the odd decent blow. Thermic cycles?

I launched in a blow as the wind came more on again and initially went up ... but it was a struggle as this section of ridge is more ENE and being a SE wind with only thermals (as I discovered) allowing it to work. I gained 300' then landed higher to have a re think. At least it got me higher and nearer the more SSE section.

I re-launched and was soon above the top, discovering that it was mainly thermals and they often had a SSE drift along the ridge. I also found the ridge  lift was not that great and at one point sunk to part way down the ridge.  A fortunate thermal hoisted me back up.  I took things a bit more cautiously after that.

In total I had an hour and a half. The thermals at first were reasonable, slightly hard edged and I got up to 3300'.  I considered heading over to Barkin as Rob U showed (on FLARM) 3.8 k away and at over 3000'.  However, the thermals weakened gradually and were often broken.

Eventually, having had enough, I decided to call it a day and headed back to the car. The much lower limestone crags and edges above Kingsdale seemed to be working (easier than the main ridge) ... so I played about here for a spell. A nice smooth landing next to the car made for a decent enough day and a nice Birthday outing.

7/3/2026  Stags

Below: J36 A team setting up just along the ridge

Despite lots of negativity about the weather over the past six weeks (well it was winter) ... I've managed to sneak in odd days that were actually very nice.  Yesterday on Stags was the best yet ... I had thought it my best early March day ever, but on checking my log there were quite a few. As recently as 2023, on the same 7th March, I managed a decent xc off Dodd, so maybe yesterday was simply par for the course.

The forecast wasn't great ... maybe too light, no mention of thermals and it could cloud over from the west later. Stags being handy was a decent bet given the forecast SW drift ... but there was little SM chatter. As I drove over the sky cleared to reveal a lovely, blue day with scattered cumulus and clear summits ... in fact a beautiful spring day in Hawes. Arriving at Stags there were a few cars, a pilot carrying a bundled glider up from a shelf landing and there was ...wind!  A nice gentle breeze onto the SSW face. At this point I knew it was going to be a good day. 

I chatted to Simon on take off, he was on a short leash to be home but had flown and confirmed good lift and decent thermals. Minutes later Liam popped in a for a chat. It just felt really good ... a nice breeze and on the hill ... the perfect Stags conditions. Further along, four more pilots were laying out. They came over and it turned out it was the J36 A team (Jacob, Andy, Meth and Danny). They had a triangle planned ... which I thought optimistic (wrongly) and so opted to fly along to the Gamecock (their first leg), return and then head towards Leyburn. At this point the thermals were untested and I wasn't as convinced as Jacob (always very positive).

We took off roughly at the same time and explored the thermals. The climbs were there, they were solid, but never went about 3200' ... the drift was light. Eventually, after 30 minutes we all headed over towards Humesett, Jacob leading and hoping the thermals would be active there too.  Although we didn't get there much over the top, there were climbs out front and we didn't have to use the ridge. The crossing to Cotterside went OK and knowing how well Cotterside works I could relax on familair territory.  Soon there were five of us exploring climbs out front and having so many good pilots helped a lot.

It wasn't long before the others set off towards their next TP at Gayle ... meanwhile, now on my own I headed more west towards the Mallerstang road.   There was a decent cloud I hoped would allow me to head further than originally intended, maybe towards Baugh Fell, but it wasn't to be and I headed back to the ridgeline.  The ridge was a bit of a struggle, the climbs were bitty and weak, the ridge lift poor and I was often not far above the top. Calculating how much I needed  to make Humesett I took the second climb in a while which had gained me a mere 700' before losing it.

The crossing looked OK, but the ridge wasn't required. As I approached a strong climb soon lifted me to 3'200 and I simply carried on back to Stags at height. The ridge was fairly empty of gliders ... maybe the odd wing laying out. I persevered for a spell, hoping for a good climb and part two of the plan, but thigs were now much weaker and the cloud development was dying away. 

I landed just as Jacob and Andy made it back from their triangle ... a great effort.  I believe the final section was a bit of a struggle.

A really enjoyable day, a good work out and over 2 hrs in the air. I celebrated with coffee and flapjack (x2) in Penny Garth.

I was rather unprepared for the day with my GoPro charge being v low. Hence it gave me about 5 seconds and then packed up. Hence ... just the one photo approaching the Gamecock (below) and one on take off (above).