14 July-1 Aug
C.J. at Verbier
7/14 Friday Up at 0340 to meet Bob Hannah and get to SeaTac by 0555 for a 0755 Continental flight to Newark then on directly to Geneva. Seats just behind the wing made identifying the route across the Cascades
and NY/NJ difficult. (Next time bring GPS with map). Eight separate pieces of luggage, more than we had ever brought before (necessitated by the new rules that no piece could be over 50 lbs or 62 inches in L+W+H), made the trip by train from Geneva to Martigny and Martigny to Le Chable (where we were eventually picked up by Mike of Verbier Summits) challenging at times. After arrival at the chalet and a shower, we walked into town with Jack Leiman to get money from a UBS Bank ATM and some lunch cheese, ice tea and bread. A shower soaked our drying towels while we were napping before dinner at 8 p.m. Awesome salmon w/pesto and parmesan topping was prepared (and cleaned up) by Leah. A big fireworks display around 2330 visible from bed was part of (we learned later) a wedding that Mike and Stu had participated in. Sometime around 10 p.m. James Bender and Pam arrived and had a late dinner. The other paraglider pilot at the chalet was Peter ___ from GB. (photo above left: C.J. at the Geneva train station)7/16 Sunday
Breakfast at the outdoor table was served around 0830 by the twins and Rachel, Mike’s girlfriend (also, like the twins, from GB) – cold cereal (3 varieties), croissants, fresh bread, jam, coffee, tea, OJ. Shortly after breakfast we were on our way by van up to Les Ruinettes, a launch (6800 ft) just below the terminus of one of the lifts from town (or, by connection, all the way up from Le Chable, a 10-min. walk from the Montagnier LZ).The 20 min flight was a “top-to-bottom”, or sledder for acclimatization purposes to the LZ next to the small church, familiar from the 1989 trip. The van met us there and we went right back up to Les Ruinettes for another flight with a short pause for a WC break and lunch at “Le Kiosque” just above launch. Stu’s plan was for us to get high behind launch and follow him up the valley (NE/E) along or above the mountain ridges and peaks toward the glacier at the head of the valley on Le Petit Combin, returning on the opposite side of the valley (Val de Bagnes) to the Champsec LZ located farther up the valley than Montagnier. [Valley winds in the afternoon usually make
Montagnier an undesirable place to land PG]. An accident involving a mountain biker below launch required a helicopter so our launch was delayed. When we eventually launched, Stu immediately got up at the house thermal to the left. The rest of us had to scratch around before getting up to 7500 or so, but not up to where Stu was hanging out waiting for us. I lost some altitude and decided to cross Val de Bagnes to the other side where lift was supposed to be mellower. I scratched around gaining and losing at around 5000 ft until lift improved. I followed Stu (who had also crossed over) to the W (down valley) losing altitude when suddenly lift got strong and rough. I decided to bail to the LZ.(photo left: Looks like Stu is swearing that we will have an XC flight today)
However, I hadn’t noticed the cloud development that had been occurring in that direction and soon found myself climbing in strong cloudsuck. Since the development was closer to Champsec, I headed out and down valley using big ears and bigger ears until I got out of the cloudsuck and could land in the Montagnier LZ in pretty light-wind conditions. Stu radioed to check on my location and, shortly after I
got packed up, the van picked me up. We all returned to the chalet until the weather might improve (with one stop at the boulangerie for a cake for us. C.J. and I also bought a loaf of bread and a cup of sorbet fraise). Around 1830 Rachel picked us up and drove us to the launch at Croix de Coeur where “the boys” were doing tandems. It was windy and surprisingly chilly, and there was big development to the east over Montfort. Only Pam and James flew. We stopped at a pub for a drink (paid by Verbier Summits) before heading back to the chalet for another of Leah’s excellent dinners (chicken stuffed with mozzarella and wrapped with bacon and served with a tomato-pepper-zucchini sauce). (photo left: "consolation cake" for being unable to fly a third time today)7/17 Stu sat with us at breakfast and talked about doing SIV at Lake Garda in Italy near Verona. [Not S Lake Garda which is very touristy.] Then
we drove up to the top of the Savoleyres lift and hiked along a ridge a short ways to launch. [Looking N from the ridge one could see down into the Rhone valley far below.] Launch overlooked the Verbier sports center way below and the Val de Bagnes even farther below.(photo left: C.J. at Savoleyres launch)
We launched and went right, along the ridge face to a point below the rocky peak where the slope was covered with steel avalanche barriers. I didn’t like the lift near the face and went down the treed ridge and caught some ratty stuff and climbed back above launch. Then I headed across the valley and worked light lift on the slopes above Bruson watching farmers raking and turning hay on the slopes. I landed (last) at the Montagnier LZ for about a 50 min. morning flight. (After landing we heard that Jack had been injured while launching and had been taken to a medical center in Verbier for x-rays, then sent on to Sion hospital where he was diagnosed with a shoulder dislocation and something broken in the shoulder (?). He got picked up and returned to the chalet late in the evening. [I volunteered to go get him but no one had insurance to cover an additional driver.]) We drove into town and Pam and James and the rest of the group went to Le Farinet for lunch while we ate our bread and cheese in the village square. After lunch we went up to Les Ruinettes with Rachel and got set up to launch while waiting for Stu and Mike to finsh their tandems and take the lift back up. She pointed out that conditions were much better and no overdevelopment was forecast so we should try to do the circuit of the valley again by getting high and going back to Mont Gele and follow the ridge from the Bec des Rosses to the southeast. I cut the circuit short by leaving the strong lift at over 3000 m and heading SE, along the Bec des Rosses face instead of over the top, to the narrow part of the valley, crossed to the Petit Combin side and flew back towards Champsec in light lift. From below 5000 ft I eventually got up to 7500 ft but not quite to the top of the ridge, still the scenery was great with trees giving way to meadows and rocky cirques. The valley wind had picked up, there was overdevelopment spreading toward us from the W and the valley was lifty. I cored sink to get down, did one 360 too many and landed on the backside of the LZ for a 1 hr 10 min flight. On the way back I bought some cheese and yogurt at Migros and walked back up to the chalet. We didn’t go out to fly in the evening because Leah had to take the van to go pick up Jack (and dinner was a bit late as a result). [Even though there was overdevelopment and anviling, we could see a half dozen paragliders ridge soaring at Croix de Coeur.]
7/18 After breakfast we went up and launched from Savroleyres again. I got off about 1045 and climbed back to launch level above the ridge in front of Pierre-Avoi and crossed to the other side of the valley. Arriving a bit higher this time I was able to scratch up higher than yesterday, finally getting above timberline on Six Blanc. I crossed the big canyon below Mont Rogneux and crossed the valley again to the N all in light lift, landing at Montagnier. (1hr 10 m) After picking up the twins and their tandem passengers from the LZ, we went back up to
Croix de Coeur (after a quick stop for lunch at the “mushrooms-for-sale” place, Café de Carrefour). C.J. asked Stu if she could fly tandem with him and we all launched (1345) intending to climb high on the ridge to the left and get over Les Attelas (above Les Ruinettes) and Mont Gele and follow the line of the Bec des Rosses to the end of the valley, cross over and get up over the glacier below Gr. Combin.(photo left: lunchstop at Les Carrefours on the way up to launch)
C.J./Stu were successful but I could not get high on the first ridge and had to take the low route across the ski slopes to the Ruinettes launch where the house thermal pushed me to 9600 ft over the Mont Fort lift and about to the top of the Bec des Rosses. I headed SE along the ridge sinking, crossed the valley at the narrow point again near the Cabane Brunet (hut), and tried to get up again. I moved W (down valley) into the sunshine and climbed above the same point as yesterday.
With enough altitude I crossed the big canyon (with a lake in the cirque at its head) and found lift on the far ridge which got me up above timberline on Six Blanc and over the ridge with a ski lift terminus to the NW. The clouds were starting to overdevelop so I headed for Champex and had to core sink to get down (1h45m). We went back to the chalet around 1600 for some lunch and rest. Around 1800 we were all asked if we wanted to go up and fly again.. Everyone passed (and later we found that flying was not possible any way as a storm came up and we had a little bit of thunder and rain at the chalet). I helped Jack pack up so he would be able to get all his stuff on the train from Martigny to the airport.(photo above left: C.J. and Stu reached the glacier below Gr.Combin)
7/19 We left at 1000 for Savoleyres and launched at 1100 into ratty thermals over St. Christophe ridge. I headed
for the other side of the valley at 7000 ft and found enough lift over there to get back to 6400 ft (?) and cruise around above the chalets and forest for an hour.(photo left: G flying the slope above Bagnes valley)
We had a lunch break back at the chalet while Pam and James and Peter ate at Le Farinet salad bar/BBQ. Then we said goodbye to Jack, picked up Derek and Christianna from S. Africa and went up to Les Ruinettes. I launched at about 1500 and found lift to 8300 ft. Then James radioed to ask if we knew Peter was down in the trees below launch. No one knew until then; apparently Peter’s radio would not transmit so he could not report that he was OK until he got his mobile phone out. I flew over to mark the location, and then went SE sinking below launch level and crossing the valley to the cloud-shaded other side, where I was too low to utilize the lift that Pam was working. I landed in the Champex LZ in switchy conditions (0h30m) which later became a down-valley flow. [Pam landed into the wind after a radio call but the SA tandem landed downwind in a heap but without injury.] Rachel picked us up and returned us to the chalet, or to Migros to shop for dinner which James had volunteered to prepare (it being Leah’s night off). And he did a very good job with grilled marinated steaks, grilled potatoes, and fresh salad. We owe him a dinner. I bought some more cheese and ice tea at Migros while we were there. Peter’s wing had two brake-line attachment points ripped off and possible other damage. He’s going to fly a Firebird Spider loaner for the rest of the time.
7/20 The prevailing wind was forecast to be from the NW so over the back at Savoleyres. We went up to Les Ruinettes for our morning flight with students and 8-yr-old Marguerite Tong, a tandem passenger. I launched at 1100 and, finding no lift, crossed to the far side of the valley where I scratched around for as long as the light lift held out over a house above a rocky cliff(around 5000 ft) with some hawks (0h40m). I landed in Montagnier with no wind. I was asked to move my wing to the S side of the signboard where the LZ part of the field ended (Wonder why no one told us about that). We stopped in town at Le Farinet for lunch and Peter bought us a drink.
Then we went up to Croix de Coeur for an x-c flight – Stu would launch and lead left and get up over the next peak then cross back over Savoleyres to Pierre-Avoi and get even higher then cross Val de Bagnes and get high above the ridge there (4000m) then cross NW and fly the far side of Val Vicheres(?), (Val d’Entrement?) or Orsiers(?) which continues on to Italy. Stu and Pam got off in lee-side thermal and both got high but not at the same time. Peter, C.J. and I did not feel good about launch conditions so packed up (especially after Peter’s wing took off with his harness in a gust). After some discussion with Stu and Mike we went back to the chalet. Around 1700 we drove back to Croix de Coeur with a bunch of students and flew what should have been the evening ridge lift. My wing came up crooked and I flailed around before getting off. There wasn’t quite enough ridge lift (“dynamic lift”) to soar so I went L towards the sunshine and climbed a bit on a rocky spur. But soon enough we all were sinking. Stu radioed us to land at the LZ above the golf course because it appeared to be storming in the main valley. Landing was tricky with 8 or more gliders landing in a small sloping field crosswind. (0h15m) Back at the chalet, Leah presented us with a spinach-mozzarella lasagna. (photo above left: Flying above Sarreyre village)7/21 We were up on Savoleyres with a bunch of students around 1000 and the conditions seemed to be lee side thermals. I launche
d after the students at 1100 , worked the face a bit and flew in lift along St. Christophe Ridge until I crossed to the other side. I scratched around for a half hour before landing at Montagnier (0h48m). Then we had lunch at Le Farinet – our bread and cheese, their grapefruit juice. Afterward we headed up to Les Ruinettes. The prevailing wind was E and there was a good chance of a storm so the plan was the usual attempt to fly around the valley. I launched after James and Pam and found strong, sharp thermal lift so I flew SE along the face mostly in zero sink until just below Bec de Rosses where I crossed to the W side of the valley which was soarable over a wide area. I headed upvalley and worked lift near Cabane Brunet then returned to the ridge above the LZ and continued to climb as I crossed the big canyon farther back above the cirque and then worked NW above timberline until the lift stopped and I found myself far back and low over the ground. On the way out there was sufficient lift to ease the anxiety and I crossed the Val de Bagnes again and took some photos of Sarreyer, a village on the slope above the main valley, before returning to the LZ where a nice upvalley breeze made landing easy. Meanwhile C.J. had pulled her wing up for a second launch attempt with her risers twisted and been blown into the (stationary) chairlift cable and dumped to the ground, fortunately squarely on the back protection of the harness. As far as we could see the wing was unharmed, not even a grease smear on it. Returning to the chalet, C.J. took advantage of Leah’s other skill and had a massage. (photo above left: Stu describing the plan for the day)7/22 Saturday I got up around 0800, had breakfast, packed and went down to Le Chable with Peter to catch the train to Montreux. There I found the Hotel Montreux Palace easily and signed the paperwork for a diesel, Octavia model Spod that looked just like the VW Passat wagon I had reserved. The manual shift took some getting used to and I couldn’t find the connection to the motorway so I ended up on the road along the lake for
much of the way to Martigny and got back to the chalet shortly after noon. All of our stuff and Jame’s stuff fit inside the car and we were off with fruit stand and overlook stops along the way. It was a scenic drive between Martigny and Argentieres.(photo left: ruins of a tower in Martigny)
We bypassed Chamonix on the motorway and found our way to Chedde-Passy (LZ) and up to the launch at Plaine Joux where we had lunch and looked at the stormy weather – very few were flying and then no one, We ran into rain on the way down, continued on to Le Fayet and Saint Gervais which was pretty busy (a wedding at the church in the town center added to the crowd). We continued up the road toward Megêve and found the Chalet Renaitre. After settling into our tiny, hot rooms, we headed back to town and wandered around St. Gervais, picking up Euros from an ATM, Getting a slick paragliding site guide (free) at a sports shop, and getting dinner at Les Alpines-Capuccines: tartiflette for me, brochettes de Diot (sausage on a stick) for C.J. and lasagna for James – all 10.50€ each from “le menu”. After dinner we wandered around the center of town, stopping for ice cream, before returning to the free underground parking garage where we had left the car. We headed back to the Chalet R for a shower and sleep with the temperature finally dropping.
7/23 Sunday Breakfast was the same everyday – sliced baguette, jam, Nutella, honey, orange juice, and hot milk with mix to make hot chocolate. We drove down toward St. Gervais to find the LZ for the launch on Mt.
D’Arbois. It was behind the tennis courts and pool complex. Then we checked out the lift from the valley to launch –runs every 30 min, 8.30€ one way (5.90€ for seniors –over 60!). Then we drove to Megêve and found the LZ (using GPS and the site guide). We spent some time checking over C.J.’s wing for chair lift cable damage and James kited it several times. It seemed to be fine. We could see people flying, probably from Rochebrune, but they were landing in Praz sur Arly farther up the road that continues to Ugine and, eventually, Annecy. We drove in that direction and, after a couple of attempts, found the small LZ and watched a pilot land. From there we drove up to the telecabine for Rochebrune and had lunch, talked to some pilots but could not convince ourselves that it was not going to overdevelop or get too strong in the valleys, so we returned to the chalet for a nap – much cooler today in the breezy conditions. (Photo above left: James on the Chalet's balcony) On the way back we stopped at a kitschy wood carver/nifty gifty shop but found nothing we had to have. Around 1630 we went down to St. Gervais to see about wireless access for C.J. but the cybercafé did not open until 1730. We wandered around a bit, had ice cream, and bought a poulet roti and a loaf of bread and something to drink for supper. Then we drove up to Les Houches where we knew (from our 2001 trip) the tourist center had internet connections. Sure enough, and they also had wi-fi available for 3€ for 2 hr and C.J. was able to download a bunch of stuff to work on. We ate dinner on a picnic table in the shade of the church. James provided some tomatoes and peppers, and there were a few drops of rain but not enough to cut our meal short. On the way back to the chalet we did not see anyone flying at Plaine Joux (or anywhere that we could see) so we returned to the chalet to work and read.7/24 Monday We drove up to the Rochebrune lift in Megêve and checked out some fields above the lift station for possible landing nearby (The LZ in Praz sur Arly would require a ride from one of the local schools/tandem outfits or a couple mile walk). James said a couple of local PG guys told him that tomorrow will be SW and better (which is strange since Rochebrune faces N). We drove down through Sallanches and Cluses to Samoens,
found the LZ and drove to the top (Samoens 1600 “Les Saix”). C.J. and I flew while James drove, then we went back up and I drove while C.J. and James flew. Afterwards we drove into town and wandered around the old section of town which is pedestrian-only. Then we drove back up again and James and I launched again around 1830 in cross from the left (west) conditions. I tried a few passes on the left then flew across the valley in mostly buoyant air and made a few turns on the far side. The valley flow was pretty strong (My GPS over-ground speed was 40+ kph downwind and 12-14 kph to the west.)(photo above left, C.J. launching at Rochebrune)
[We noticed that there were people flying to the north much higher than anyone at Les Saix. Apparently there is a launch at La Bourgeoise on the road out of Samoens to the north. Possibly one can get a ride for 5 euros with one of the school vans. Or, you can get across from Les Saix if you get at least 200 m over launch.] After packing up we drove to Taninges and found a restaurant on the main street with a patio. C.J. and I had the fondue Savoyard. Our credit card did not work in the restaurant scanner and we had to pay cash, and later we found that none of our cards would work in the gas station at Sallanches Carrefour. [Later we found that only French cards with the embedded microchip would work at those self-service gas stations. Too bad, because that’s where gas was cheapest – diesel was close to $6 per gallon, gas the same]. We got back to the chalet at 2130 –time for a shower!
7/25 Tuesday After breakfast we drove up to Megêve where C.J. tried to get stamps at what turned out to be the Post Office Bank and I got 100€ out of an ATM. We looked in a Provence shop and a quincaillerie which had kitchen ware and stuff including a bread-cutting board with a removable plate with routed slots one slice
apart. Then we drove east a bit to a gas station and filled up with diesel at 1.18€/liter and put the total on our credit card (56.00€). By then it was time to catch the lift to Rochebrune.(photo left: G landing at Praz sur Arly - an LZ for Rochebrune
We all went up figuring that one of us could hitch a ride back to the car [As it happened, the Megêve Paragliding guys gave me a ride right back to the lift - at no charge.]. We didn’t wait around long because some earlier gliders were climbing to the left. However, we mostly got extended sledders although I worked a nearby point to the left for several minutes ending up with a big 15 minutes. After retrieving the car we had lunch along the stream and then went back to the chalet for a nap. The clouds were developing vertically and later in the afternoon we started hearing thunder. Around 1730 we drove back to Les Houches so C.J. could get some work done. I bought some more cheese, flavored fizzy water and cookies at the Shopi next door. We looked around Les Houches and noted that “Flyers Lodge” is now “Skiers Lodge”. Then we settled on a café/bar/creperie for dinner and had Gallettes (buckwheat crepes) (Forestiere-with ham, cheese, egg, and mushrooms, and La Houcharde with raclette cheese, ham and potato) and a shared Greek salad. It was pouring rain outside while we were eating. James had bought some éclairs at a patisserie in town and shared one with us back at the chalet (where it was still raining lightly at 2130).
7/26 Wednesday After breakfast we drove past Megêve to Flumet and took a winding scenic road over the Col d’Aravis [The route was one stage of the Tour de France this year and there were lots of bicyclists on the road, and lots of graffiti on the road surface.] down through Clusaz to Le Grand Bornand. We found a place to park near the lower LZ (le patrinoire?)– not easy because it was market day and found a local pilot who told us how to walk to the lower lift (Rosay). Tickets to the top were 6.80€, no geezer discount - and we had to change at the top of the telecabine to a chairlift (Lachat). There was a big cloud above the top but people were launching in no wind or light downwind and getting up over a lower point out in front of launch (Roche de Arces?).
After helping C.J. get off, I set up behind James but he did not like the conditions so there was a long wait until launch. After he got off, I tried to launch but my wing did not come up clean. I had to abort which was difficult on such a steep slope. By the time I was ready to go again about 1300), the sunlight had hit the slope and there was some breeze up the hill. I found no lift from launch to Les Arces and ended up scratching in light, but rough lift between the rocks and the LZ. I had a couple of collapses and decided to just tour around a little. Finally I crossed the Le Bouchet valley and then headed for the upper LZ, Le Bouchet, up valley, which I expected to be downwind , but I needed speedbar to place myself above the field. I landed fine downvalley but that was clearly downwind (0h26min). I walked the 2 km back to the car and drove up to pick up C.J., James and our gear. Then we went down into town where the market day had wrapped up. We bought half of a boule paysane and ate lunch in the covered market place. No one seemed to be flying anymore so we drove out of town on the road to the north over Col de Columbieres, another scenic road which eventually came out at Cluses. On the way back I took the road to Passy just to see if Plaine Joux was working. It was not; no one was flying at all – so we headed back to the chalet with a quick stop at the little grocery store, Petite Casino, to buy some cold drinks. Around 7 p.m. we went up to Megêve and wandered through the pedestrian-only center of Megêve and found a more upscale than usual restaurant that served good food and had a nice presentation, Le Prieure. But we still stopped for ice cream cones on the way back to the car.
7/27 Thursday We got out as early as possible and found a place to park alongside the road not far from the valley station for the Aguille du Midi. We bought our tickets (36€ each) and during the 50 minute wait walked into Chamonix to the central square and back. The ride up was quick and very steep especially the second stage
approaching the upper station. We had an hour and a half and that was not really enough time to absorb everything. We saw people climbing the steep trail from the aiguille to the launch – definitely want crampons and ice axe, maybe even a short rope. It was a great day for views – few clouds and little haze. (Photo left: C.J. at L'Aiguille du Midi")
There were suspended catwalks that went from one viewpoint to another and one that climbed several flights up the outside of the aiguille on “cheese-grater” platforms. We had views of Mont Blanc, Dent du Geant, Bosson Glacier and other aiguilles and glaciers to the north and east. Then the view to the south had Les Houches, Les Prarion, the next ridge was Mt Joly and Mont D’Arbois; the next ridge after that was Rochebrune above Megêve. To the west we could see paragliders flying from Plan Praz and getting up above Le Brevent, others landing at the Savoy LZ and at Bois de Bouchet. Argentieres was obvious toward the N end of the Chamonix valley. We got separated from James and so did not stop at Plan de l’Aguille which looked like a nice place to wander around on the trails or just in the grass (or in the restaurants). From Chamonix we drove up to Plaine Joux and had an early dinner at one of the restaurants with a view of launch. Prices were surprisingly reasonable for such a scenic and out-of-the-way place, I had bourgnettes montagnard which was sort of dollops of seasoned (deep) fried mashed potatoes, two wedges of reblochon (?) cheese and several thin slices of smoked ham served with pickled onions and pickles. C.J. got her lamb chops that she didn’t order the previous night, and broccoli. By the time we finished it was a bit too late to fly as a storm was heading in and we could hear the thunder.
7/28 Friday We went to the weekly marche at Megêve – fun to browse and we also bought bread, sausage, tomette cheese, 3 jars of honey, an herb grinder, and paid for 1.5 hrs of parking.
(photo left below: epices et herbes at the Megeve market)
After dropping James off at the
chalet with an achy lower back, we went on into Chamonix to check out the Brevent telepherique and the two valley LZs. We found roadside parking near Le Savoy LZ and walked back up to the Brevent lift station (where we found that you could park all day for 1€) then down into town for a hot sandwich lunch. We browsed through the town a bit more, had some ice cream and walked back to the car, drove to the other LZ, Le Bois de Bouchet and walked from there to the long, narrow hang glider landing zone. Later C.J. got some work done at Les Houches visitor center while I bought some eggs, zuke and tomato for dinner, and dropped in at the church for a private organ concert. We tried to change a travelers check in Chamonix, Les Houches and St. Gervais with no success – I guess the old travelers check is no longer a good way to deal with carrying money to Europe. Maybe we just chose the wrong banks – we can try again in Chamonix tomorrow if we go there to fly. The sky today was partly cloudy and there were scattered showers but when we returned to the chalet around 1800, a real storm started with thunder and lightning and hard rain. We cooked up the eggs, sausage and cheese, tomatoes and zucchini for supper.7/29 Saturday After a day off from flying we were ready to try a new site. We drove in to Chamonix as early as we holiday-ers could manage and caught the lift to Plan Praz, and walked up to the NE-facing launch, about a 10 to
15 minute walk uphill. We had lots of company as there were many French pilots and students laying out on the grassy launch. I finally got off after C.J. around 1045 and found some light lift to the right near the top of the telepherique. Then I went L (north) about half way to La Flegere in zero sink, then back to the Plan Praz lift line to scratch around for a while. C.J. and I both landed in Le Savoy LZ lightly downwind (upvalley) along with almost everyone else (0h30m).(Photo left: NE-facing launch at Plan Praz)
I walked back up to get the car at the lift station garage. After picking up James at Le Bouchet LZ we drove around and returned to the LZ to have lunch and watch the landings. [There was a marche in Chamonix so parking was even more difficult today.] Then we went back to the chalet to drop James off to pack and relax while we went up to St. Nicholas de Veroce and up to the Croix plateau above it. From there we drove a gravel track higher until we reached a trailhead below the Porcherry launch. The trail climbed steeply up a ski slope and then along a ridge and we continued up until the weather began looking threatening. On the way down we stopped to talk with a French pilot laying his wing out on the launch (just above the roadhead). Conditions were getting stronger and gusty so he probably did not fly. We headed back down and over to Les Houches so C.J. could check mail and get some more work-time in. We returned to the chalet around 1830 and went with James’ suggestion that we try Restaurant “Robinsons” just down to road a little way. It was okay but I had too much “charcuterie”, some with C.J.’s menu Savoyarde and more with my “La Boite Chaud” which was a round box containing a small (200g?) Reblochon-type cheese heated to melting. It was served with potatoes and slices of jambon fumeé and sausage. C.J. and I also ordered glasses of kir. Late in the evening we were awakened by explosions so we got up to check out what was happening. There were fireworks from the direction of Sallanches and from other directions in the mountains. Apparently it was a feast day being celebrated mostly in Sallanches.
7/30 Sunday We went up to Rochebrune pretty early (1000) and waited patiently until someone other than a tandem showed up to launch. Two of the tandems launched from a NE-facing slope very near to the “Super-Megêve” lift station. From there you could see the “altiport”, a small airport in the head of the valley below. It was quite active. I launched (at the usual N/NW launch) after C.J. at 1158 and tried the point to the left and then crossed the valley to the W where C.J. was scratching. I got to the ridge just enough later or just a bit higher so I was able to hang in there in very light lift until I stumbled into an actual thermal that I could turn in. Nothing got me anything like “high” but I was able to scratch out 43 minutes before landing (making this one of my longest flights in France). By that time James had gone to get the car and we went back to the chalet so he could check out. Around 1330 we headed down the A-40 to Geneva and after fumbling around for a bit with directions designed for arriving from Verbier/Lausanne we got James to his Holiday Inn Express right near the airport. Leaving Geneva we drove the highway towards Annecy considering the wings over a windy Saleve but opting for the Semnoz ridge. After trying to buy gas at an automated station in Annecy (wouldn’t take our cards) we drove up the long, winding road to the launch at Semnoz with the gas gauge showing we had 120 km worth of gas. By the time we reached the parking lot, maybe 20 km later, the gauge showed 0 km remaining! A couple of pilots launched as we arrived joining the five or six who were already pretty high in the air. However, there were a bunch of pilots who were not launching. We had some lunch and thought about the conditions (and the emptiness of the gas tank) and decided that it would really ruin our day if we ran out of gas. Besides, the sky was cloudy and unsettled and some of the gliders were “parked” facing into the wind. We watched a couple of toplandings that seemed pretty rough as we went back to the car. We drove down (with the gas gauge showing more and more gas available) and took the road around the south side of the Lake, noticing that the clouds had now become very ominous lenticulars. I skipped a couple of gas stations and by the time we hit Faverges we were almost empty again and could find no regular gas stations. We finally stopped at a “Champion” super store which had card-operated pumps and no attendant. Our non-French cards did not work and we had to ask a fellow motorist to use his card and take our euros. Feeling much relieved, we drove on to Ugine and found that the main road to Megêve was closed and we had to take a mountain road deviation to Flumet. When we got back to the chalet (1930?) we fixed our own dinner with the chicken and salad we had bought yesterday.
7/31 Monday Unsure about what to do with overcast sky and SW winds, we consulted the site guide after breakfast when the overcast began to break up. We decided on Mieussy and drove through Cluses and Taninges to the LZ just outside of the village. People were landing and the local instructor said conditions would be okay for the next two hours.
We drove up the 12+ km to the ski area at Sommand, drove in as far as possible and hiked the last quarter mile up to launch without our wings since the sky still looked threatening. We ran into a group of Dutch pilots who were going up also w/o wings but they explained that their vehicles were taking their gear to the top. [The road is 4WD and you need special permission.](photo left, Dutch pilot launching at Mieussey)
On launch it was not SW but more like E or SE but that was not a problem because the reverse slope of the ridge was an excellent launch as well. The group had mostly good, easy launches but no one soared. We were not enthusiastic about carrying our gear, the weather, or the difficulty of retrieve so we headed down just as a few drops of rain began to fall. [The instructor was quite accurate about it being okay for 2 hours.] On the drive down it rained for a while. We headed back to Sallanches for some souvenir shopping at Les Carrefour . We had lunch in Sallanches on a bench overlooking the stream that runs through town. Then we went up to Les Houches for a little work time. We drove down through Servoz on the way back and looked for a gas station in Le Fayet and St. Gervais before giving up and going back to Megêve to fill our tank. Back at the chalet we packed our checked bags and moved them to the car. We paid our balance to M. Azzegat, had dinner of whatever was left over – chicken, eggs, green beans and salade composeé – drank up the last of the flavored water and had cookies for dessert. We were just about ready to head home.
8/1 Tuesday Our host left breakfast stuff in the little kitchen so we ate bread, jam, Nutella and our cheese. And I heated milk for cocoa. We got on the road around 0640 which was later than I hoped but we made good time until we were almost to Geneva when construction necessitated a detour. I took the Geneve-Annemasse turn instead of the Geneve-Lyon-Paris direction and had to drive some surface streets and backroads until we started to find sign for Geneve-aeroport. So we were 30 minutes later than the two-hour cushion. Fortunately there was no problem returning the car, but there were no “trolleys” available so we had to unlimber the luggage carts and stack the luggage up. We used the elevator so there was less chance of a luggage avalanche this trip. The airport was pretty hot and we had to stand in a long line but we were in plenty of time to board early, although there was no time for duty-free shopping. We got full cans of drink and a pretty good lunch/dinner around 1130 (so maybe C.J. won’t have to eat the hard-boiled eggs, left over bread and etc. after all). We got another sandwich plate about an hour before we arrived in Newark (and another sandwich lunch on the EWR-SEA leg, too). There was less than an hour to make the connection and we had to wait for our luggage to show up and go through Customs so we were sent to the “Connections” desk of Continental. When we got through the line, the counter person told us to leave our checked bags and go to our original plane because it was still boarding. That was a bit of a rushed situation but we made it. The plane cooled off slowly from the 93 degree NJ heat and we passed over some interesting scenery from Montana on as we passed in and out of clouds. We landed about 15 minutes late in Seattle approaching from the N over Diablo Lake and the Skagit Valley. We waited patiently for our luggage but it did not arrive on our plane. The Continental luggage person arranged to have it delivered the next day and we went off to catch a taxi to Bob Hannah’s place where our car was parked.
