A little review of these two days of flight, a little less than 350km and a little more than 13h of flight.
Monday, a beautiful day is announced, a strong instability, some ceiling but a lot of East wind in the mountains and on the piedmont.
Everything starts rather well, I swallow the first 40 km in just 1h and I put almost 1h to make the next 5km… This flight will have been a real fight against a strong wind, but I don’t let go, I didn’t put down my day to give up! Finally after 6 hours of fight between wind and rain, I manage to complete a 140km triangle.
Monday’s track
So, a bit frustrated and angry, I put down my tuesday, cancel my appointments and think only of one thing, fly !
Appointment at 11am for the shuttle (Thanks Thierry Bohé) and gazzzz !
I take off a little before noon and start the cavalcade trying not to get too excited, because it’s a little early and my first bypass point will be a hang up on the West face around 1pm…
Contrary to my habits, I perch, roll up almost everything he passes like a real tourist.
In the end it pays off, I never bumper, I always arrive above the reliefs and my average speed is above 30km/h.
The ride continues and despite the usual low point towards Lourdes I am still in the right timing, I pass Campan still in perched mode, and at the level of Sarrancolin an idea comes to me, two messages to Benoit Fabre “200 or I’ll put down! I’m going to Oo”!
So, I fork in the direction of Luchon, no more foothills, the timing is good, I think the 200 is going to blow! Finally, I change my mind and aim for Antenac, my GPS shows 200, I just have to go back! But of course everything becomes complicated, it was necessary at some point… I get dripped and end up at the bottom of Oo (yeah I know at one point I had planned to go there) I look at Vincent Vincent’s terrace thinking that he will take care of me as always if I stop there, but no, no way, I get my finger out and even if it’s already 4:30 pm and I still have 70km to go back I don’t give up, but it’s going to be hot!
I pass the Peyresourde like when I was young, block in the pass and slowly go out on the west face, even if the hardest is still to come I already start to dream,
Now I’m going north to take back the piedmont and hope for 4 thermals to go back to push by the North-East.
I go slowly, I assure the ceilings, look for all the birds, look at the ground as never and finally touch the west face that goes up to Montaigut, it’s past 6:30 pm, I have 20km left, in my head I know it’s over even if there’s still a bit of work to do…But I can’t stop thinking about this teenage dream we had with Pierre Dejous for almost 15 years, Luchon-Accous return, and I’m going to do it, but without him ….
The emotion rises in this last slide, I slide as much as I can, touch the north face of the small Caba on the ground, I have 6km left, I know that it passes, I call my wife and aim at the landing where beers are waiting for me with Thierry Bohé.
It’s done, after 10 years of trying I finally managed to complete a 200km triangle on the north face of the Pyrenees in just over 7 hours!
Tuesday’s track
https://parapente.ffvl.fr/cfd/liste/vol/20320664
Pierre
