Barcelonnette, Southern Alps 3rd - 14th September 2016

After a very early ferry on Friday morning and a long drive south, Marie and I  arrived in the sunny Alps in time for a late supper.
Saturday saw clear skies and after a check flight, I took W7 for some local soaring - which reminded me just how turbulent the mountains can be.
Day 2 and there was wave around ! - and a 4 hour search found me at 13,000 feet, totally elated, but fairly exhausted.
Lac Serres Poncent (Wyn Davies)
 By Wednesday I felt like a total amateur, as I had failed to leave local soaring and struggled in the rough conditions to get confidently high enough to leave the valley, so I took another instructional flight to sort it out. After a good hour of working closer to the ridges with Antoine, I was set to go again.
Glacier Blanc (Wyn Davies)
 The following 5 days I flew every day for a total of 25 hours in W7. Exploring Les Ecrins with the lure of the Glacier Blanc and a sortie south to Dignes. Most of the flying was done under very strong cumulus clouds, with some ridge flying to climb away whenever necessary. The highlight as always is flying over the glacier - with a safe escape route to St Crepin- Mount Dauphin airfield 6,000 feet below and in easy reach.
I am taking a few days rest from gliding for some tourism. - Wyn and Marie-Noelle Davies