On our first morning in Chamonix we were planning on hiking up the north side of the valley to Planpraz as the lift was shut and it didn’t look like there was any availability on the lift to the Plan du Midi. While we were eating breakfast in Chamonix the motivation for the walk after some wine the previous night (and Alex’s hike the previous day) was low. We decided to head to the lift where it turned out we could in fact take the lift to the Plan du Midi, the only downside being that we had to make the long glide over the valley to the south facing slops which meant waiting until the day was definitely on.
After getting to the Plan du Midi we enjoyed another coffee before heading to launch and wanting for the day to really get going. This ended up being a longer wait than expected as glider after glider was just bombing out, or fighting for a long time on the other side. Eventually we decided to go for it, and by the time we launched it was actually possible to climb on our side of the valley. It was a bit chaotic at the start with tandems and beginners, but after a few turns Alex and I were higher than the others and we quickly climbed up.
This first climb was really beautiful as it gave us great views, but also made the first glide much more enjoyable as instead of arriving low on the other side of the valley and grovelling to get high, we arrived at ridge height. From here we hugged the terrain and headed north and then west towards the Aravis. The first section of this towards Passy went very easily, with good climbs and wonderful views. Unfortunately after long valley crossing to join the Aravis we ended up in some fairly horrible air and both took a while to climb out. During this we ended up separating, and I joined another team as we headed south down the Aravis.
We had set out turnpoint further south but when I got to Mont Charavin the clouds further south didn’t look good, i.e. non existent on the next section. So I decided to turn around and head back to Chamonix. Rather than following the Aravis, I elected to follow a nice cloud street which took me quickly to Passy, although at times the glides between the clouds were longer than I would have liked and ended up pretty low a few times.
From here I thought I could comfortably glide to be back on top of the Aiguillette des Houches, and if not then I would be in the windward side of the valley wind as the valley below turned. Unfortunately I didn’t quite make the glide I was expecting and arrived a bit below the summit and discovered that Mont Blanc was pulling so hard that the valley wind wasn’t actually following the valleys, but just being sucked from the north. This made the climb out particularly unpleasant, but eventually I got above the ridge and then could cruise all the way east along the Aiguilles Rouges.
My plan was really to head east and then land near our accommodation, however I could see lots of gliders high on the south side of the valley and when I was at my most eastern point I released that I could possibly get a 100km triangle if I headed back to launch.
This last section of the flight was pure joy, taking thermals high down the entire south side of the Chamonix valley with wonderful views into the high peaks and up glaciers, which I have walked up as a child and climb as an adult. This last 40 minutes was a really special part of my flight and is something I will certainly remember for a long time.
Once I had closed my triangle I decided that I would just go and land in Chamonix, which took a long time as the valley was releasing a lot of thermals and I just couldn’t loose height once I was 300m above the landing, I was also very surprised that there was a north wind at the landing in an east west valley, just showing how strongly Mont Blanc was pulling all the surrounding airmass.
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