Written by: Jeff Shapiro
7/5/2009 12:07 PM 

We drove from Laragne to Chamonix yesterday after the awards ceremony and arrived at our home for the next two nights around 8:30 pm. We are staying in a Swiss style chalet that is a short walk to the village. It is the weekend so the village is full of international tourists, climbers and locals. We went out for food last night but we were all very tired so it was pretty easy to crash early.

We woke up this morning to blue skies with just a few cu's popping above the high peaks of Chamonix, had some breakfast and coffee and were feeling motivated to get in the air. Breakfast was really nice. I feel satiated on mornings like this morning. Having breakfast with good friends in the sun in a place like this, with nothing to do but to drive into the mountains and fly a hang glider is a bliss that is hard to describe.

We drove up to the perfect launch on Plaine Joux and the clouds had started to dominate the sky. I would say that at least 75% of the sky was covered in heavy looking black bottomed cumulous congestous. It looked as if it could rain but didn't seem to have any power in it to gust front so we were all keen for a fly and set up. Dustin hadn't flown here yet. He, Zippy, Jeff and I were looking forward to flying in these mountains. Although we all love the competition experience and how it changes you as a pilot, I think we were all pretty psyched to just go for a free fly with good friends.



Dustin launched first, with me just behind him. I got a couple of circles off in light lift before Jeff and Zippy launched one after another and came over to join us. We spent maybe a half an hour scratching just above the tree tops, trading who was on top and all searching the ridges and peaks for lift. I was really enjoying the going with these guys. We were all current and felt comfortable in the light lift.

Dustin found something that turned into a solid climb over the LZ and as I flew over to him, I found a little better value. He came over above me and we climbed until Jeff and Zippy joined us. It was so cool turning as a group of 4, all at close to the same altitude, in the same light thermal. It was so relaxing and mellow but we were all trying with intention. Just when I started to laugh out loud a bit, Jeff came over the radio to say how stoked he was. I could tell all were enjoying the climb.


Dustin on glide


We worked our way back over launch and took turns strafing and interacting with the people on launch. The air was so nice that we could take turns blowing though the set up area and over launch with 5 feet and 65 mph of airspeed. I saw Zippy do a really nice wing over right over launch, strafing down the launch at the back side of the maneuver. I was stoked.

After the round robin, we tried hard to climb higher with hopes of making it back into the Chamonix valley. If we could make it, we would land close to where we were staying but cloud base was so low and storms seemed to be brewing so we were a little dubious. I took some video while I was thermalling close to a huge limestone wall with the top completely obscured by a cloud bank. Here is the video. Unfortunately, I held the camera pointing a little too low so you cant see the cloud except in a very quick flash. Right above [in this video] is a solid bank of dark cloud right up against the rock, completely covering the ridge. The video starts out with us climbing together close to the beginning of our flight and transitions into climbing against the wall.



We reached a surreal, dream like place at the bottom of the cloud (or just in it if your Dustin) and flew back into the green, alpine, hanging valleys in the highest saddles. Zippy said that he and Dustin were going to try to make it back to the Chamonix valley LZ. I didn't feel like I had the altitude so I peeled off with Jeff just behind and a little lower. He came with me and on our glide toward another peak with a rock face on it that faced the sun, we saw Zippy and Dustin there already. We joined in trying to gain some height but it was really soft and scratchy. Dustino ran around the peak looking for lift and promptly got hammered by switchy winds and rotor and had to land on a plateau between the lower and upper valleys leading toward Chamonix. I climbed in light and broken conditions just high enough to make the glide back out to the front of a peak that overlooked the main Plain Joux LZ. Jeff came with me but was lower and wasn't sure he was going to make it. When he got around the corner, he found a bubble and quickly climbed back up to me. Zippy was still working it over the peak that we had just left.



We decided that we would have a bit of an expression session. I flew out over the LZ after about 1:40 in the air and did a couple of loops into a spin. I am really liking the spin entry from the tail end of a loop. It feels really good and seems like a good way to enter clean. Dustin advised me on a better way to exit and I tried it. It felt safer than what I had been doing and I was stoked. Got one more spin in before setting up to land.

It made me smile and giggle a bit, like when you giggle before going over a drop in a roller coaster, to watch Jeff and Zippy do steep maneuvers into the LZ. In good conditions, some of us have all been trying a low down wind, full VG, full speed approach pattern in ground effect before turning into the wind and ground effect for a flare. I've witnessed Dustin do it with perfection. Zippy told me a couple of days ago that he wanted to try to dive into ground effect going upwind, then climb a turn into a diving down wind and completing the approach by climbing into a turn for an up wind leg to flare. When I saw him diving up wind, full rope, I knew he was going to try it. He pulled it off with Jeff and I laughing. What a cool last flight in France. We shared a couple of bottles of wine in the LZ while breaking down and then Katie drove us to go get Dustin.

When we got back to the hotel, Dustin and I walked into town for food. Lightning started to flash and it down poured like I've rarely seen. We walked back (actually we took off our sandals and ran back) the k or so to the hotel feeling satisfied that we got to fly for almost 2 hrs on a day that was now unleashing torrents. We were drenched but happy. Life is good.

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