Patience - 21 Aug

My first flight at Annecy was like most - a continual chase. Mad Dog blasted from high above the Dents behind launch at Planfait, and I followed across the lake to Roc des Boeufs. Connecting to the base of the ridge was easy. The pitch is steep near the lake and with the exposed rock there, the lift is plentiful after the sink of the crossing. After the ridge begins to climb more slowly however, only "zeros" are offered with occasional thermals. In the back, even the zeros are hard to find, but when thermals present themselves, they are good ones. I was too eager to reach Mad Dog 1000 feet above me and climbing as I charged deeper and lower in the back. I crossed a fearsome power line that would not let me return when my windward scratching below the ridge line put me lower. Eventually, I had to give in to landing in one of the expansive pastures to the north. It was in the town of La Chapelle - St. Maurice.  I spent the next three hours hitchhiking along roads covered with Tour de France graffiti and waiting for a very late bus to take me to the Doussard LZ while MD charged for more than 3x my distance. His three hitches ended him up at the LZ 20 minutes before me. The beers were especially good hearing his story. My lesson: This was not ridge lift. It was ridge-induced thermals. I needed to stay at or above ridge height, returning to lower sections if need be. Expect zeros and troll for thermals.  Have patience. I suspect this is a common mistake for a monkey that's used to mechanical lift.

Via Ferrata - 20 Aug

Via Ferrata (Italian for "Iron Way") is a protected climbing route with steel cables, iron rungs, steps and other aids. This is an amazingly fun, no-fly activity, as long as it's dry. It's safer than climbing around on roofs and not much more difficult than climbing a ladder, but it's far more fun than what Reaper does for a living. Our first day in France was just this kind of day; dry and windy. You need a harness and a special two-carabiner, energy-absorbing arresting device. They are widely available to rent if you don't have your own. We had a great 2.5 hour climb on sheer vertical rock walls with tremendous views very near the La Clusaz monkey apartment. It was difficult dealing with the eventual flyable conditions at the top - with no wings on hand. Even more difficult was Aurelia's hike down. Laura had a double blow-out on the soles of her shoes at the top of the climb. For the hike down, Aurelia gave her the shoes she was wearing and hiked down barefoot. Amazing! On the climb:  Sylvain, Aurelia, Scrappy, JK, Laura, Don, Mad Dog & Jeannine leading the way. For the hike up: Serena, Tommy, Paul (Maui) & Yolie.

Driving and Phones - 19 Aug

Directions: Driving from Geneva Int'l to Annecy has a "gotcha" when driving a cheap(er) French rental car from the French side of the airport to Annecy. The FR cars have no Swiss vignette (toll pass), and it's 40€ to buy one (not worth it). The trick is to take a no-toll route to the French border and a toll-OK route in France (pay as you go). The lesson learned; do some route study prior to arriving, take a few notes and have an idea of the route through each country separately. That way, you can create two separate routes on your GPS: one to the border without tolls and one from the border with tolls. I screwed up the route "to" the airport and had to buy a 40€ 2013 vignette for the short drive from the border to the airport. At least I have a nice early Christmas present for Sylvain now!

Phones: We went to Carrefour on the NE outskirts of Annecy for our two phones. The sales clerk didn't speak much English and our French was horrible. It was difficult. However, the McDonalds there saved us with free wifi. We made contact with Sylvain and Aurelia who were planning to meet us and were very close. They stepped in and sorted out all the details. There are quite a few options with phones, carriers, and plans, which would be difficult enough with no language barriers. We got one phone with a 10€ card that calls in only for free and one 30€ unlimited in/out for the month. Don got the best equipment/plan (SFR) and suggested buying ALL the monkeys phones all at once next year. That way you can just show up and find Don for your handset. If we were smarter, we would have unlocked two of our older GSM iPhones that are past their contract. It's free and easy, but you have to do it on your home network. Scrappy went through a third party on line to get his iPhone to take a FR sim card (I think $50).

A Time to Reflect... - 3 Sept

It's tough to fly and write, with so much to see and do in such a beautiful place as Lac du Annecy. But now, in the glow of the memories of the past two weeks and with some time to reflect, I will try to put together a few thoughts that stick in my mind. Granted, there were no days like Mad Dog's big one last year to Chamonix (21 Aug 2012), but personal bests were attained and greats flight were had.

Annecy Day 1 Fantastic! - 17 Aug

Jeannine & I arrived Annecy at gite Bluffy 2pm unacked so by 3pm Don & I drove up to Plan Fait above Talliores to fly our first day! Don & I both climbed up to above Dents Lanfon in just 23 minutes & started accross the lake to Rocs de Boeufs where we immediately topped out to 6K altitude as we found our Maui friend Paul Smith thermalling with us! All 3 of us crossed the lake back to Col du Forclaz, Montmin launch & skied out to cloud base in minutes...
glided to Lanfonnet & without stopping headed back to our origin on Dents Lanfon in one hour flat from launching!
Then a short dash over to Mt Veyrier right to the corner of the lake above Annecy Ville & I crossed the lake again to Mt Semnoz, coming in a bit low & rushing to fast I only penetrated the ridge about 2 miles before dirting in a pasture next to the road. Don meanwhile dashed back to the Dents & crossed back to Rocs du Boeufs & was so high he glided straight back to land at Talliores LZ. Jeannine & Yolie were nice enough to abandond there beach walk to retrieve me. Big Bisou's for aiding me...
After a quick drive to launch to retrieve Dons car & watch the sun set in spectacular form in orange hues, Jeannine & I then spent a quiet peaceful evenning on the balcony of Gite Bluffy watching the moon rise over Plan Fait launch & looking up to the top of Dents Lanfon dreaming of tomorrows antics while having dinner with wine & cheese of course..
Till Tomorrow
Aloha from Mad Dog

PS: Any more whinning & we will ban JJJ from this blog & the peaceful country side of Bluffy

Annecy 2013 On Our Way Soon

Aloha all following Monkeys! Welcome...Bags are packed & I'm on my way Monday 12th Aug. Jeannine has been in France for 3+ weeks having a blast & says the weather is amazing! Here is my location if its your first time, Gite Bluffy 45' 52' 1. N / 6' 12' 48. E  Altitude 2000 ft. I'll be there Sat. Aug 17th around noon or 1pm then a short flight I'm thinking! Come visit any time, you can use my backyard as an LZ as I did last year! I will post my French SFR phone # here as soon as I get to France so you can call Jeannine & I, but don't forget we will only answer calls from a French line so go to any SFR store & buy a chip for your phone 20 euro for 30 days unlimited calls, text & I think some Data?

We can also use this blog to communicate in the chat box, Skype, or be on the radio 144.120 See you all soon

Aloha Mad Dog et La Peste

This was last years place in the middle, but this year we are in the chalet on the right just next door. dents Lanfon in back round & LZ in backyard if you wish.

Everyone post here on comments your French SFR phone # also put your address & GPS coordinates here so we all can come invade each other. Your Skype address will be helpful for chat also.