21/07/18
Seb arrives!
The weather was still looking best down south so I binned off my flight back to Bishkek and Seb came south instead (minus his luggage but thankfully it caught up the next day).
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| Lets go! |
After a day in Osh we got on our way with a shared cab to Gulcha, looking for somewhere with a wee bit of height to help Seb acclimatise before we hit the southern plateau at 3000m. We identified a nice looking plateau not far from a summit we could fly from in the morning. A wee negotiation with a couple of locals hanging out got us a ride all the way up the hill and we found a lovely camp spot on cut grass looking out over the valley. An old couple and their grand daughter came and said hello, bringing a delicious bottle of milk in an advanced stage of fermentation as a welcome gift. The watermelon I'd lugged all the way from Osh was much better!
22/07/18
We hiked up to the ridge in the morning, eventually taking off around 12.30 into blue skies with the odd cu coming and going. It was working nicely and we climbed out easily enough before crossing the valley to the east. Looking for a climb on the ridge on the far side, I had a nice frontal as I hit the thermal and then a big asymmetric as I popped up through the inversion at around 3500m, into much cooler, clearer air. Base was around 4200m and we continued on our way. On the next ridge Seb got a bit low and much to my frustration headed back towards Gulcha (following the ridge as it got lower!) looking for a climb. He found one though and eventually we were back together and pressed on. After a long glide which offered nothing, we just didn't have enough height to connect with this big enticing limestone face we'd been aiming for, and with disappointingly little coming off the lower crags, Seb had to slope land so I came down to join him. Not an ideal finish but a cool area to fly, a Kyrgyzs St Andre with a very French look about the limestone crags.
We tried kiting up and then just slogged up the hill, water the key concern and positioning ourselves for the next day. Seb had a bit of a meltdown in the heat, and in the face of walking down to find water, made the grand suggestion of flying down. The wind was coming up the valley and there was a chance it would be soarable. And it was! We had a lovely evening cruise with a few thermals knocking about, above big grassy slopes with the steep, triangular mountains of the Pamirs for a backdrop.
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| Seb feels the strain |
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| Camp and water this way |
My flight:
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