Pakistan revisited

02-06 Entry ten

Iv come to Pakistan with a wish list of flights I would like to do. The “security” situation here in Chitral has limited our possibilities somewhat and therefore we feel that we have done what we can around here, time for a change of scenery.

The last flight on my wish list here is a flight around Tirich Mir, the 7700 meter giant mountain about 30kilometer to the North of here. It looks like it is going to be difficult to do at this stage as there still is too much snow on the ground at higher altitude.

Tirich Mir seems to make its own weather, oftentimes it stands out like a white giant against the bleu morning sky to then wrap it selves in clouds around mid day that will over- develop and dump snow on the higher reaches and rain lower down that evaporates before reaching the ground.

We woke up to a valley breeze that put us of the idea of an early start. A morning ritual has formed itself whereby one of us walks across the yard to the kitchen to order the days number of boiled eggs, dhal, chapatti and sweet milk tea. When that arrives on our lawn we roll out of bed and eat breakfast in the shade of the big Cedar tree. Most buildings here are build with the provision for vertical expansion so after breakfast one of us will walk up the stairs and have a look at the weather from the roof which gives us a clear view of the sky. If flyable we call our taxi driver, who always seems to be just around the corner, and we pack our gear.

Today we delayed our decision till 11am and then I reluctantly come up as well. I had a nice flight yesterday and lack motivation to fly today. We are here to fly after all so I drag my sorry arse into the Jeep and of we go, minus Alex who is too sick to be persuaded.

We probably mist a good opportunity to get close to Tirich Mir. The clouds develop a lot later than usual which would have allowed us to get a lot closer as the wind in the valley appears to be a localized thing.

As it works out I have a terrible start and almost bomb out. I have to scratch close to the hill below the launch for a long time. I'm wearing all my clothes and drip with perspiration, it seems to take ages before I get some decent lift and then I have to climb up to the others, who are waiting around for me at 5000 meters. Grey is a little spec in the sky when he surfs up the side of a cloud to 6500 meters, well above cloudbase.

Glen is doing his own thing and flies away from us, Grey, Dimitry and I go on the big glide over deep narrow valleys onto a ridge that runs up all the way to Tirich Mir. Booming thermals make us puppets on stings at the mercy of the power of Mother Nature. I think it all got a bit too much for Grey as he comes over the radio and says he is bailing towards Booni. I lose sight of Dimitry and get hovered up further towards cloudbase. The cold is extreme and even with oxygen my hands go numb. Instead of holding the break handles I have to put my wrists trough them and push down with my arms as I cant hold them with my fingers.

The view into Afghanistan is beautiful, from this altitude I'm looking down over a sea of snow capped mountains with some really big ones in the distance, if only there was no borders and no Taliban….

One of the reasons I want to come to this side of the mountain is to try and use the updrafts on the windward side to get high enough to fly over the top. Today we started our flight to late and the cloud has formed around the mountain and the cloud base is too low. At 6700 I turn of my oxygen supply for a moment to see how I will feel. It doesn’t take long for the discomfort to set in and in panic I have a hard time pushing the” on” button with my senseless gloved fingers. I must not be quiet acclimatized yet or maybe turning of my oxygen supply is not such a good idea……

I go up a wee bit more and then decide that this is not the day I shall fly over the top. A long glide downwind takes me back to lower altitude and the feeling comes back in my hands. I make a half baked attempt to turn the flight into a triangle but this high altitude stuff has taken its toll and I fly back to Chitral city.

Grey has changed his plan and has flown back to town as well and lands some time before me on the polo grounds. I come over with lots of height and do a few wingovers and spirals which detract most of the spectators of the polo practice game to look at the bird in the sky.

Iv never had to deal with so many spectators standing so close around me. I don’t know if I could have coped without Grey’s help. He folded the glider while I got out of my gear. I flee up the steps of the grandstand but even there the crowd follows me and stands so close, I can hardly move. I wonder what goes through the mind of those people, what do they think of us and our antics.

Some people insist to carry our gear back to the hotel and on the way the procession slowly dwindles to a few, which stay behind at the gate of the hotel.

Check the track on Leonardo.

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/615521

Making the crossing over the steep deep valleys onto the snowy spur on the left hand side of the picture that runs all the way tothe base of Tirich Mir, in the center of the picture.