Sunday 4 October - proper wave

Today we had fantastic northwesterly wave in glorious sunshine, which didn't unfortunately stop feet getting very cold. Denis read the forecast and decided that the next two days were no good for cross country so he left. Geoff GA arrived last night and not having read the forecast set off round Cairnwell and Cairngorm, about 120k. The rest of us didn't venture quite so far, the scores are as follows:

Bob 279 - 21,000ft, Loch Muick and Balmoral
William 987 - 17,000ft, Feshiebridge
Chris 318 - 16,200ft, gold height, and all without a breath of oxygen
Steve JDV - 16,000ft
Jane 118 - 15,500ft, Loch Muick and Balmoral
Bob 208 - 12,000ft
Dave/Craig 315 - 11,000ft, Loch Muick and Linn of Dee
Barry JDV, Rolf 318 and Julian 987 were in the second shift and missed the easy wave but enjoyed the excellent thermals to 4500ft

A number of firsts for Craig - wave flight, cross country, Duo Discus - and he can now see why we drive all the way up here every year. And Chris with a gold height. Drinks on them then.

And for the food critics amongst our readers, yesterday 0ne party went to Spey Bay on the Moray Firth, where they struggled to walk in the howling gale along the pebbly beach. No wildlife to be seen, the seals and dolphins were sensibly keeping their heads down. The visitor centre has a cafe with excellent scones of all flavours, plus a warming soup. The other party set off for a walk round Loch Muick but after a while decided that it wasn't that much fun in the strong wind. Dinner at the Boat in Aboyne where the venison is recommended.