Jaca 2017 - Week 4 Day 4

The wave was predicted to need a long tow and so the tug trundled up the Hecho valley at a height which required the tugees just to hang on through the usual rough and tumble until it was safe to release. Passing the normal hot-spot near Hecho village the height still seemed rather low, so we and the tug carried on up the valley where it became even rougher. After casting off in some rotor we discovered how to lose all weight in 1 second. We went back to Hecho and after some messing around in some better-behaved rotor we eventually climbed up into the smooth lift and cruised about serenely. After feeling highly superior for a while, it was time to find somewhere to go down. Tricky, but we made it back, though there was a place where we were going up at 4 knots with half air-brake. The same trick on the second flight was not possible. We never connected and after valiant attempts in fleeting surges, we declined to the point where landing back seemed probable. At this point Jim Pritchard revealed his avian ancestry by climbing up in the valley to the inversion layer with his fellow vultures. A few fruitless attempts were made to get back up into the lumpy bits, but eventually the flight became local soaring. On one sortie northward, we hit a gust so strong that we even thought that we might have hit a solid object. Dinner and De Colores https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48vNfKUHWRw at Toya's tonight