The weather was looking good as soon as I arrived which meant that I had to get used to my new paraglider and also get some high altitude walks in to acclimatise quickly. (Acclimatisation is the process by which my body must adapt to be able to cope with the change in altitude – Mt Blanc is 4,810m).
Although tired from the journey, I was up early the next morning to hike up to the take off point with my spangly new impressive paraglider, Ozone’s Ultralight mountain wing. In order to give you some perspective on just how light this paraglider is my other glider, an Ozone Buzz, plus the harness all fits into a massive rucksack, is difficult to carry and weighs just under 20kgs. This one fits into a small easy to carry rucksack that is also the harness and weighs less than 5kgs! The hike to take off wasn’t difficult - it was a delight.
I was feeling incredibly nervous about this first flight. Believe it or not I always get nervous before I fly but this time I had the added concern of flying on a wing I’d never used before and it had been a while since I’d last flown. First, I needed to prepare the wing.
Unpacking the wing was like unfolding a silk handkerchief. Everything about it was much more delicate than the robust Buzz wing I’m used to flying. The lines on the Ultralight are so thin they’re almost invisible and the riser system on the wing is much simpler. Having checked the lines and laid out my wing I put the harness on and prepared for take-off.
As I ran towards the edge of the mountain I was very aware that I was using a lot less force to get the wing off the ground and that it was fully inflated above my head with much less effort. My heart was racing and I was holding my breath, as I often do on takeoff, then suddenly….. I was air borne! It seems mad that actually being off the ground makes you feel more secure but once you’re in the air the sensation is like you’re being held firmly in the harness. The wing flew beautifully it was really easy to control. After flying for only a few minutes I was very happy and feeling like this wing was absolutely perfect for the challenge that lay ahead. I dropped into the landing field about 20 minutes after takeoff and was so chuffed to bits with this first flight that I decided to do another.
In order to incorporate a little altitude acclimatisation, I hiked up a vertical climb of 900m to a different take off point which took a couple of hours. It was a good work out and another good flight.
Irwyn, my climbing partner and my paragliding mentor, had been watching the weather like a hawk and it was looking good for the next morning so we decided that we would to go to Mt Blanc. We set off at 5am and arrived in Chamonix just in time for breakfast!
There are several ways to climb Mt Blanc and it normally takes 2 days. On the first day, most routes start by taking a cable car or a tram some way up the mountain and then it’s a hike to a camp spot or a refuge for the night. There are several refuges on Mt Blanc and you pay for an evening meal, breakfast and a bed. The second day starts early around 2am where you make for the summit with about 1000 vertical metres left to go.
The aim of our first trip to the mountain was not to summit but was instead to get some experience and learn more about the conditions and what might be expected. We wanted to climb quite high to acclimatise, to see what the route was like and to do a flight with that all important first snow take off at altitude.
As we took the cable car up to 3,800m, I was thinking “‘hmmm, this is easy, the cable car gets you most of the way” but it wasn’t so easy! You forget so quickly when you’re down at sea level how being at altitude affects your physical ability. There is half as much air up there and immediately your normal walking pace is slowed down hugely and everything you do requires so much more effort. It can also affect your mind, it can make you into a bit of a space cadet removing rational thought and normal thought process’ (that is, if you have them in the first place!).
The first part of the hike we did was downhill along an arret that was no wider than half a metre. There was no room for putting a foot wrong along here as the sheer drop down either side was thousands of feet. Irwyn and I were roped together, had our crampons on and were carrying our ice axes. This meant that if either one of us fell we had the rope support of the other and the option of a self arrest (stopping yourself falling or travelling) by using the ice axe. On the glacier, there are many crevasses and it’s very dangerous terrain to travel on the glacier’s can move and open at any given moment.
We hiked up to Mt Blanc du Tacuil at 4,200m where we had hoped that we could have flown from but the wind was blowing down the mountain which made take off impossible. So we hiked back to the refuge where we stayed that night. The refuge was at 3,600m and staying there overnight was really good for our acclimatisation plus it was luxury; A 3 course cooked meal, a bed and breakfast! By luxury I mean the fact that you’re indoors however, the sardine style bed arrangement next to lots of smelly, unwashed people isn’t that pleasant.
The next morning we got up at 5am and luckily the wind had changed and was now okay for taking off just above the refuge at the Aguile Du Midi at 3,600m. The wind was still fairly strong and I was pretty terrified given the conditions and my first snow take off. I was only half way through attaching myself to the harness when the wind caught my wing despite having it anchored it using my ice axe. The axe simply pinged through the air with the force of the lift from the wind. My wing was now free and was dragging me backwards off towards the edge off the mountain. I managed to regain control by throwing myself down on the wing and stopping it from travelling any further. I had only a moment to pull myself together as it was vital that I got this take off right as the wind window was changing by the minute. Not only was I on snow but it was also a steep take off. Falling wouldn’t have been pretty.
I’m delighted to report that I managed the take off! The flight was amazing whilst the landing was interesting. Landing in crampons is not something you normally do. Normally you hit the ground running… in crampons you hit the ground and stop dead!
I’ve learnt a lot over the past few days. Not only have I done my first high altitude take off on snow and now have good idea of the conditions on the mountain but, kit wise, I know exactly what to take next time and what to leave behind. For now it’s back to watching the weather and as soon as it looks like it will be good up high, we’ll go back to the mountain!
No comments:
Post a Comment