Malvern - 16th February 2008 (2)
Was straining to see if I could spot any wings in the air from the moment I saw the ridge in the distance but was quickly becoming certain it was a wasted trip over as I couldn't see a thing. Still, I was going to have a nice days walking even if there was no flying.
As I got closer I started to be able to pick out a few gliders in the sky but by the time I was near the the hill I could see plenty in the air - but it looked cold.
For once I managed a (nearly) perfect launch first time after waiting ages for a lull in the medium-strong conditions on take-off. Everyone seemed to be maintaining height with no problems at all and even pushing far out in front of the ridge.
It was freezing on take-off but once I was in the air it was surprisingly OK. By the end of the days flying I was well and truly frozen - or my fingertips were at least. I seriously started to wonder whether it was posiible to get frost-bite from a few hours flying! Letting go of the brakes and dangling my arms down seemed to restore some blood flow which helped a bit.
Deciding to land I discovered a problem...there was so much lift it was impossible to top-land. i tried so many times but just locked onto the magic staircase every time and just couldn't get down. Eventually I decided I'd better head for the main landing field before the light went and on landing quickly packed up as I needed to find a lift back to the car park on the other side of the ridge. Luckily one last pilot was waiting for a lift round and his mate dropped me off too - thanks very much whoever you were!
