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Sunday 27 January 2013

Snow Scar

Well after heavy snow on Friday night, the weather improved with Westerly winds forecast to go South, so we gambled that Tow Scar might be on and with the sun shining in sunny Lancaster I set off hoping for success. There was little snow left on the ground around Lancaster, but as soon as I hit the Yorkshire Dales everything went white pretty quickly.

The first challenge of the day was that the trusty Fiesta car started slipping and sliding at the start of the climb to the hill, so I had to reverse up and leave it at the bottom of the hill and proceed on foot. The road had a thick covering of snow only marked by farmers landrover tracks and footprints from other hardy souls.

Eventually I got to the gate which was the start of the path up to the slope, here the path was hidden by deep drifting snow several feet deep in places, the virgin snow was undisturbed so I had to remember where the path was under the snow, until half way up I met a woman with her dog who had trail blazed a path for me.

I was tired when I got to the top, wading through deep snow really takes it out of you. I sat down and had a quick cup off coffee from my flask to revive myself, Vicky and Paul turned up just as I finished my caffeine fix and it was time to assemble gliders.

First up was the Cyril, the wind was off to the right but blowing about 20 mph so plenty of lift and she carried plenty of ballast with ease. Landing was a bit abrupt, but the soft snow provided a gentle landing. Paul soon had his Needle 124 up in the air carving through the sharp cold air in the lovey bright sunshine and blue skies.

The Xenon was re-maidened after a mishap last year, a few clicks of trim and she was back to her old self, its nice to fly different gliders as they all have their own particular flying traits. The Xenon is smooth and stable compared to the Cyril.

Vicky amused herself with building snowman, a few more flights later and the bitter cold started to set in it was time to make the long trek back to the cars. On the way back it was noticeable that the snow had lost some of its depth, so the thaw had already set in, roll on spring!




Snow Scar from Tom Foreman on Vimeo.


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