The last 2 days have been a lesson in hanging on to lots of string to keep the glider more or less somewhere above my head and glider shaped. In general its worked fine but does mean there is a distinct lack of photos!
It not exactly light and fluffy conditions ;-) - not that that was what I expected, but after one of the hottest driest summers in many years its exciting flying. There are lots of ratty, snakey leeside climbs where you'd expect them and then with so many fingers of the ridge leading towards the valley and the northerly meteo wind theres lots of them where you wouldn't expect them too, as venturies funnel through the gulleys and over the foothills. My motto has become: be prepared for the unexpected!
Climbs have been strong, up to 6m/s and quite broken at times but then smooth and silky in other places just enough to give you chance to get your act together before meeting another beasting. The local guys describe it as the pressure-cooker but I reckon its more like a lava-lamp. Bubbles break off and you have to stay with them or you taking a bit of a bashing falling out of the side or the bottom. Some of the wide comp wings are struggling to stay tight enough to keep within the small cores and its common to see pilots doing the 'funky-gibbon' with arms and legs going in all directions!
The pace of life here is very chilled in spite of the 9am ish arrival on launch. Its all early flying and early landing followed by lots of chilling. Tomorrow we move from the hotel in town and up to a finca on the mountainside - it will be nice not to be woken at 5:45am by the garbage truck!
I had better go and earn my keep and do some 'technical directing' now ....
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