Week 6 - Day 2

Awoke to a wall to wall blue sky, and the forecast from both TopMeteo and MeteoSim was for a borderline blue/cu day throughout, with a slight increasing humidity as the evening approached hopefully bringing with it a slight increase in cloud (Wind 230/~5). It seems (to a complete newcomer) that mountainous flying is a lot about getting up early and then waiting. And waiting. Briefing was at 10, and we were ready to fly by 11, but no cumulus had yet popped near to the airfield. By about 12 there were cumulus about 15km to the South approaching Riglos, but as the locals weren’t launching, we thought that we’d wait. By the time 2pm came and went I was beginning to wonder whether we’d fly at all, but we were offered to take a launch around 2:45, through perhaps a slight impatience on my part, we took off. Dropped at Stage 1, immediately it was a lot easier to find climbs than yesterday and slightly stronger at around 4 knots, with a much more predictable network in the bowls and ridges. We gradually worked our way up to Stage 2 (Approx 3,500ft QFE) and spent nearly half an hour trying to find a climb strong enough to punch through the inversion at 7,500ft amsl. Transiting to the valley just to our West, we found enough height to match the smaller peaks of Stage 3 (5,000ft+ QFE). With small but frequent bubbles coming off the ridges, we were able to do a lap and a half around Isaba to the North West and Canfranc to the East. Not a large task by any means, but gave some incredible photo opportunities, and once again, the vultures were a huge help in finding the strongest climbs.  

Forecast for Tuesday isn't great with a cold front passing through the morning, but potentially a window of a couple of hours of extreme instability, just got to be careful not to get caught out by storms locally.