Phoned Cookie this morning to be told...... He's gone to Abertysswg......on foot! Few minutes later he phoned to say he was at the quarry and it was bang on the hill but light. I said I would give Fochriw or Merthyr a try but as we were packing the van my windsock was saying PONTLOTTYN!!! When we got to Ponty it was cock on but shifting North and back. I gave Pete a bell and got my kit out and within a couple of minutes I was beating upand down the ridge. Only a couple of hundred feet of height, and when it shifted North all the lift went so I was only up for a 5 min go but it was fun. Cookie Monster and Pog turned up and had a little go and then Clive Jones turned up, it was good to see him on the hill. He said people were flying Fochriw and as Ponty seemed to have gone off we decided to change venue. I decided to hit Merthyr and when we got there it seemed okay. I dragged my kit out and shook it up and as it seemed good I was off. COR, if ever I did! I must have taken off in a bit of a lull, I beat the ridge a couple of times and gained good height but soon found it was quite strong. I did a 360 which took me almost over the ridge and called down to the two amigos that it was quite strong and then I turned out into lift that made my nose feel like it was going to bleed! I went up so hard that it made me feel a little dizzy, my vario was squealing fit to bust and the climb indicator was reading full scale! I didn't like that at all, it was a case of too much too soon. I could hear my sandwiches calling me so I flew over to our van and found a nice smooth bit of down. I was actually facing along the ridge but I came down gently enough and bundled the glider up without any drama. I had my sandwiches and a cup of coffee and went to the front to check the wind at 12mph gusting to 26mph, so I decided to leave my glider where it was for a while. Let my sandwiches digest like.
We stood for a while feeling the wind drop off to nothing as a thermal approached the hill, and then pick up very strongly as it went past us. This was happening constantly, and it made me glad to be on the ground, it must be like the inside of a washing machine out there, although to be honest, when I had been out there it wasn't really rough, just a bit extreme. Pog pointed out that people on Fochriw were doing well so once again we changed sites. When we got to Fochriw one of the back brake pipes on our van burst as I was turning round and I rolled onto the grass and got stuck, so I was not too happy about that. Richard and Carl I think it was gave me a push to help me get mobile again, cheers guys. Some one was flying so again I got my kit out and manhandled my wing far enough up the hill to get off. The fact that the pilot who had been flying had landed with big ears in and facing up the valley didn't really sink in till I got off the ground and found that the wind was well off and quite strong. I only stayed aloft for 5 mins, long enough to see Clive had climbed to the top of the hill and was sprawled looking quite comfy on his kit, and then decided that I had better land and go home and sort the van out. When I left, the Cookie Monster was still ground handling his Rush, but I thought it won't be long before he is flying! Three sites today...no wonder I am tired!! When I got the chance I checked my vario to find that I had gained height at 7 metres a second. Good enough.
