A plan was hatched to do this ridge run the night before. Forecast suggested a fairly strong wind and I was taken aback at the amount of wind blowing up the valley at 8.30 am to the point of holding back for a while.
Fred keen as always was still game so we walked in along the Southern upland way and made our way up onto the ridge from the back . We had also made the decision to go the longer route which is easier in the long run, it also puts you at the West end of the ridge. This was to work out perfect for us today.Arriving on top at the West end puts you on the bigger, steeper faces right away and the breeze felt perfect.
So myself Fred and Dudley launched of to find really nice easy soaring. Fred wasted no time and made his way along to nearly the base of Ettrick pen and back.
I really like flying here as it's a massive collector of all the wind, it has to pass over the ridge. The terrain has it all, big faces at the west end and scratchy little faces at the east end with gullets and interesting parts that seem to work very well.
We messed about for ages keeping an eye on the wind speed. It had started around 10 mph but it was increasing slowly until we were in the low 20s.
It felt fine and we flew around for a while longer when a figure appeared along the ridge.... Dave Lyal.
I decided to go in and land beside him and say hello. Very lifty and not long after Fred came in too. Dudley stayed out for another 10min before joining us on the top at the lower end of the ridge. We had a break and felt it was getting windy. I was close to launching again but decided enough was enough.
Am easy walk of from the east end of the ridge back to Potburn.
Another successful day in great company.
Tommy.
