There is an excellent guide to safety in mountain flying
published by the CNVV at Saint-Auban.

http://www.cnvv.net/Programme_fr_CNV...stage/theoriqu
e/presentation.pdf/Securit%C3%A9volVSANGLAISE%20ULTIME
%20BD.pdf

John Galloway



At 13:46 25 June 2013, Mike the Strike wrote:
I fly a lot further away from rocks than I used to after a couple
of
soberi=
ng experiences with thermals. In thirty years of soaring, I've
had a
coupl=
e of frights, but a few years ago I got unceremoniously tossed
out of the
s=
ide of a thermal. I apparently flew into the rolling outflow that
was
stro=
ng enough to kill all my air speed (my yaw string reversed!)
and my glider
=
fell out of the sky until I gained enough airspeed to recover.
That took
s=
everal hundred feet of altitude and if I'd been close to a ridge
I would
ha=
ve been eating rocks.

I should perhaps also mention that, after flying at Logan
contest for the
f=
irst time, a couple of experienced pilots decided that the close
ridge
flyi=
ng was too risky and they packed up and left. I wasn't too
thrilled to
hav=
e pine needles tickling the belly of my glider either!

The short answer to the poster who asked what our approach
to ridge flying
=
is in the west is that most of us don't do it. With all the strong
conditi=
ons we have, why push your luck on a weak day?

Mike

Mike