A Dream Come True: Flying from Annecy to Chamonix

Today started just like the previous days: a cool, clear sunny morning with no clouds. We drove together up to Plan Fait launch above Talloires, arriving to find very stable conditions. But some pilots were getting up by 3 pm, so we all launched into the blue as a couple cu nims were starting to materialize. I got lucky as usual, and after a slight struggle, I topped out on the Dents Lanfon. Then I thought I would wait for the boyz today, so I glided over to Lanfonnet.

There I specked out again, so I continued over behind Col Forclaz/Montmin launch to La Tournette. I had no luck there at all, so after just one pass I headed directly back over to Lanfonnet. The boyz were still trying to top out on the Dents as I was skying out at the Lanfonnet, so off I started, to chase a dream!!!

I drifted from Lanfonnet behind the Dents Lanfon to the Dents Cruet, and topped out there pretty good at 6,500’ or so. Still no good word from the other monkeys, so on to my first stop a bit over 4 miles on glide to Thones and the ridge above it, where the ridge lift from the valley wind was consistent and perfect. There I cruised easily down the ridge line 3 miles to the base of Mt Lachat. Here it was thermal only again, and I could not get high enough on the granite wall to hook one up, so 3 miles back to Thones I went to work the ridge lift some more and wait for the gang. While I was hanging out, I hit a killer thermal and up I screamed til I dropped out and was well high enough to speed bar back to Mt LaChat. I came in much higher on the wall this time to fly figure eights up the face to the top, and now I was on cruise control again, waiting.

Don, Jim, and Bill had all now reached the top, well above the Dents Lanfon. I reconfirmed great ridge lift at Thones, but they had no interest in coming my way so early into their Annecy vacation, and they chose to do some local crossing of Lake Annecy Triangle. So off I went down the Mt Lachat ridge to the far end over Suet, where I hit an unexpected steady thermal up from six grand to … over 12,500 feet of altitude!!! That's more than a six grand climb! I punched through the inversion someplace around seven grand, with a half wing collapse. I didn’t need that half of the wing anyway as I was climbing up like a Mad Dog! Little did I know but that was the last instant I would feel any semblance of warm air, as I would stay WELL ABOVE the inversion for the rest of the flight. Now I was freezing my butt off in shorts, a t-shirt and just one basic jacket on, but no way was I trying to put on my neck gaiter and ski gloves which are in my side pocket, because there is no way I’m losing this thermal!!! I had hooked the hugest Marlin and I was reeling this baby in! Finally I topped out at 13,000 feet and went on glide.

Now I had plenty of time to crack off some pics at 12,500 feet, and put on all the gear I had to stay warm. My original intentions were to cross from Suet to the other side of the valley, one and half miles to Charmieux Rocks, then continue scratching up to Pic Jallouvre, then possibly cross from the Grand Bargy Range over to the Aravis Range on the Aufferand by way of the Delevrets and Pointe Percee in the middle of the Aravis range. But now that I was this high, at 12,500 feet, I decided to beam straight at Pointe Percee’s 9,000 foot peak. As I dropped to ten grand of altitude over the Grand Bornand, I caught another steady thermal back up to 12 grand and continued aiming for the approaching Pointe Percee. I remembered in past trips seeing one pilot skyed out so high in the stratosphere I could not imagine where he came from, or where the he was going! Now as I looked down from above pilots launching and flying at the Grand Bornand, I thought, wow, I’m that guy!!! In heaven and chasing the dream of a lifetime.

As I was crossing high above Pointe Percee and into the Passy Valley, I hit the lee thermal of the Aravis range and climbed back up to over 12,500 feet. From there I went on glide across the vast expanse of the Passy Valley to the Aiguille Veran, some nine miles off in the distance. The whole way across I was taking video clips and pictures of the magnificent views of the Mont Blanc massif, with all the splender of its many glaciers. Then as I approached Aiguille Veran, arriving high up on its huge sheer granite cliff face at nine grand, I straightaway hooked another steady thermal climb back up to 11,500 feet. I drifted over the back and towards the Pointe de Plate, viewing the Flaine ski resort on one side and Plaine Joux launch on the other, and I hooked a mild climb to 12,500 feet again, cruising down the Chaine des Fiz Range in the Passy Valley. At this point I actually left a thermal just under the thirteen thousand foot cloud base and followed the cloud street that would lead me into the Chamonix Valley!

By this time I had the Chamonix Valley and the LZ in the town of Chamonix well made, as I glided in from over the back of the Brevent ridge at eleven grand. I was freezing big time now. It was 7 pm and I just wanted to get down to warm terra firma. So I fell asleep with big ears on, leaning to one side. I slowly circled down to the Bois du Bouchet LZ, descending for some 25 minutes into Chamonix town!!! My dream was now accomplished, three hours and 35 minutes after I had started. As I was packing up, I met a Suisse pilot who had top landed Mont Blanc twice in the past few days, and he'd overflown it on a third day, so I got his picture and called him my hero! I quickly walked to the train station in Chamonix, but I got there too late to make it home to Annecy. I called La Peste to inform her that I was checking into a hotel room. I got one with a corner balcony overlooking the main drag in Chamonix, where I sipped a bottle of Bordeaux red wine and relaxed, still in a daze over the flight I had finished only one hour earlier.

The next morning I woke early to take the 8 am train from Chamonix to Annecy, and I arrived at 10:30 am, in time to choke down some coffee in Bluffy with Jeannine and race out the door with the gang to … yep, go flying again! But that’s another story. Wow, am I tired now. Time for some rest!

Aloha from Mad Dog

PS: This was only the fourth day flying on this trip, and it was only my second attempt at a downrange mission to Chamonix! My head is in the clouds and my feet are in the sand, and I'm still dreaming! Here is the link to my track on Leonardo, also embedded below if your browser can see it.