Nepal Tour 2008 - Day 3

Where do I start?

As I type this, Brett, Lee, and Cornell are next door still revelling in the day over some Nepali Ice (local beer) while Evangeline is next to me checking her email.

We were greeted this morning with clear views over the Fishtail (Machapuchare) and the stunning Annapurna Range. Trying out a new site, we drove along steep, rocky roads through mountain villages to Dickie Danda, a high ridge that provides both ridge soaring and thermal flying.

My local friend/pilot/driver, Shyam, joined us and was first off, followed by Lee, Cornell, Brett, Jamie, Evangeline, and then myself.

Dickie Danda sits at the end of a long valley that heats up, providing a nice inflow of wind with which to soar its broad face. Unfortunately for us, high cloud moved in and blocked out the sun, so the normal convection didn't occur as well as we'd hoped. That being said, everyone did get a minimum of 30mins airtime with lots of good experience gained.
And it was worth it for the views alone!

After we had all landed, a blue patch opened in the sky so we hurried back to Sarangkot to see what kind of afternoon flight we could manage. Everyone got safely into the air and more flying hours were logged. Evangeline and Cornell again got high over the peak and everyone landed when then chose.

We might take a break from flying tomorrow to rest up but thinking of everyone back in Canada being groundbound might motivate us to have at least one flight.