Great Thermal Flight
Trip Start
Jan 03, 2007
1
6
18
Trip End
Jan 21, 2007
Cotopaxi,
Ecuador
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Today was our first PERFECT day! We got to the Quito East launch around
10:00 and the wind was strait East, the sky was clear with the
inversion layer slowly rising and the thermals kicked in around 11:30!
The two first flights were short and pleasant (we are finally getting a
hang on the tight landing zone). However, Martin came in too fast and
had to perform an emergency PLF (parachute landing fall) in order to
burn the energy gained by his wing. He is OK however, the PLF worked
like a charm
Cotopaxi Valley Sunset
. Around 11:30, my colleagues Michel and Benoit took off inthe newly formed thermal conditions. After a few passes, I jumped in
and we flew together all along the ridge for about half an hour. There
were thermals everywhere and the wind pushed them up the ridge where
they all sort of blended into big hot rising air pockets right on the
top of the ridge. I even managed to snap a few pictures (see in the
attached gallery). It was one of my best flights ever and I practiced
my weight shifting (which still needs work) and I had a pretty good
active flying technique all the time. We were all gliding side by side,
above or under, etc. The landing was good, but my wing managed to get
tangled in the only dead tree lying on the field! Nothing got damaged,
thankfully and the same local kids surrounded us once again... This
time, more impressed by our long and wide flights
Llamas in the Yard in Front of the Hostel
.After that, we got back on the road and left Quito for Mount Cotopaxi:
the world's tallest active volcano and also the closest active volcano
to the sun! We ate on the way and are currently staying at the Crescent
Moon Hostel: an old hacienda in the middle of the valley that has been
transformed into a very quaint hostel. It reminds me a lot of the El
Pueblito in El Bolson, Argentina (see my previous trip). The building
is build with big wood beams and clay. Each room has it's own washroom
and tiny little fireplace at the foot of the bed. I love it... The
internet is slightly pricey and charged at 1$USD per 15 minutes via a
cell-phone, but considering where we are, it's worth it!
Tomorrow morning, we are going to hike up part of Mount Cotopaxi and
try to get a nice long sled run (30 minutes apparently) all the way
down one of the flanks! That should be quite something... So far, it is
the first mountain we've seen with a snow covered peak.
