FW: [Cloudbase] Jan Minnaar top Lands Mont Blanc. An Epic day
Dan Wells
From: clou...@googlegroups.com [mailto:clou...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Hilary Barlow
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 9:10 AM
To: clou...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [Cloudbase] Jan Minnaar top Lands Mont Blanc. An Epic day
WOW JAN! What an awesome memory! Well done – must have been scary at times though!
Thanks for sharing. Enjoy the rest of your time there.
Hilary
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 9:20 AM
Subject: [Cloudbase] Jan Minnaar top Lands Mont Blanc. An Epic day
I arrived in Chamonix on Saturday to stay with some Wilderness friends. The previous 2 weeks saw us flying every day bar 2 on the annual Smile While You Scream Tour.
There was possibility for doing the Mont Blanc top landing on Saturday, but Monday was the definite day.
This feat has previously been only on only 3 occasions and very similar conditions were forecast.
Francois Darbellay our Swiss Braai Master, said” the weekend is going to be atomic!”
In July August you may not fly the North Side of Mont Blanc due to helicopter rescue work (average 10 rescues a Day!) So there is a big no fly Zone.
To get to Mount Blanc you have to fly round to the Italian side. I guess if you could fly straight across it would be too easy. J
Will try get a map with the possible routes marked out.
Saturday at 12 noon we counted 80 gliders up at the Brevent. I was just chilling after the tour, so in no rush to go fly. At 1pm we counted over 100 gliders and getting high. At 4 pm I saw gliders heading to the summit from The Italian side.
Shortly afterwards the first one landed. The relaunch proved interesting as the wind was quite strong.
The local weather gurus said that Monday is the day and the call out list had 200 names on it!!
Sunday forecast was very stable with an inversion at 1600m. No one was getting up. At about 11:30 I noticed the local tandem guys were getting strong thermals and a call to them confirmed this. I hurriedly got ready, then I got an Sms from Darron Guberman in Tignes to say he had the family and it WAS a Good Idea. But logistics!
When I left the chalet to go to the cable car, we counted over 100 pilots in the air.
At launch I counted another 100 +. It was like a World Champs scene.
After launch I found the pilots were not World Champ wise and some scary moments thermal ling close to the rock face with gliders oblivious to right of way , and more important, airmanship!
I was thinking of calling it a day. Then I found a small , rowdy thermal that took me too 3500m and suddenly I was on my own.
Then it was a glide down and across the valley, to another climb at yet another glacier. Here it started to look like moon country.
I could see the others high above the ridge, not realising that that was the summit. Philippe and Trudy were watching from the Chalet and informed me the first pilots had landed.
I was climbing again in a gaggle, and they must have had turn point fixation as they left the climb at 4500m. I climbed to 4900, a 100m above the summit then went on glide.
When I got to the summit at the same height it was mayhem! Everyone trying to land asap. So it turned into a bit of a circus. I set myself up in a circuit and waited for a good time to land.
It was still hectic with guys doing acro in front, some trying to land, gliders just left on the slope.
As I set up, and coming in feet in the snow, I had to avoid a glider being relaunched, so snowboarded to the left, leaving a track between lines and pilots, then I was airborne and climbing out fast. Does an extended touch and go Count?
Sometimes the saying “ there are old pilots and bold pilots but no old bold pilots” flashes through your brain.
I climbed out to over 5000m and felt, Yes that was great! Took some more pics and left for the long way Home.
For most of the flight I was on my own, I did not get any advice as to where to go, I just followed my instincts. It worked!
Darron had an epic flight as he took off from Tignes, 45 km away and top landed very late. Then flew back! Fantastic.
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