Jaca Week 2 Day 4

Today was billed as the day of the week and the gliders were on the parking before the briefing just as the first signs of cumulus were appearing. Gonzalo and Bob towed to the fire break and were soon followed by Paul and Merv. Although starting an hour earlier the first thermals were stronger and easier than previous days and we were soon heading for stage 3 at a more comfortable height just for a change. Cloud base was only 7500' but Bob managed to climb to 8500' at Colorada and continued to the east. As Paul approached Colorada, Merv decided to venture towards some nice looking cumulus to the north of Panticosa for a change and was rewarded by good climbs to cloudbase at 11300'. Today was one of those unusual days where the conditions on the French side were much better than the Spanish.

Unusual view of the Biescas Valley from the north looking south.

As Gonzalo and Bob returned for a crew change, 776 circum-navigated the Aragon valley taking in Ordesa and Oriel on the way. Shortly after launching Andy and Bob were enjoying cruising along the convergence at stage three, however forty minutes later was a completely different experience for Bob A and Merv who had climbed well off tow then conditions changed. The sun was still shining with plenty of blue sky above but it started raining heavily which did not help our situation. The forecast showers were starting to appear and the sun was obscured by the cloud tops that were spreading in the local area. Bob A and Merv perservered but were unsucessful in being able to soar away to the better conditions. Meanwhile Andy returned the longest flight time of the week of just short of 3.5 hours.

 

With the cold front on its way, tomorrow and Saturday's conditions will depend on the timing but we are hopeful that there is still more flying to be had.