June 2009

May has been a challenging month after an epic Easter in April. Strong winds and poor weather has provided limited opportunities for flying. A window opened up on Friday 29 May when a brilliant day was marred by strongish winds from the SE. Oportunities were available on Blease Fell and Barkin Fell. Dave Horne was flying on Blease and caught this picture of Malcolm Grout. Clough Head is on the left of picture and the Helvellyn ridge is behind Malcolm. Dave reports that it had been lively before this but it was settling down nicely when the picture was taken.

May 2009

Man of the month for picture of the month! Alex Butler has had a stormin' April culminating in a 106km flight from Parlick (NE of Preston) to north of Weardale on 26 April. This picture was taken on 19 April in Langdale. Lingmoor Fell is in the background with Blea Tarn just showing over the shoulder of Side Pike. Alex, flying his Gin Zoom Race, flew from Langdale to Dunmail Raise, up the ridge to Helvellyn, back south to Fairfield and then over to Shap - a total of 46km. Photo by Ed Cleasby

April 2009

15 March 2008 - John Hamlett took this superb photo looking north up the Lune Gorge from Whitestones. The start of the month didn't provide many opportunities but this Sunday was the first really good day of the year. As a result Whitestones was a bit busy! The colours are all a bit flat as Winter comes to an end.

March 2009

February has been a cloudy month with lots of grey skies. However, some opportunities were around for some good flights. Pete Rycroft and Dave Horne were out on the 10 February. Dave reports that "Pete Rycroft found a light thermal above Wanthwaite Crags, enough for a quick 360, and is flying high for Feb. Had well over 2 hours in the air but perishingly cold. Enjoyed it so much that I didn't notice the uncontrollable shivering until after landing!" The photo was taken by Dave Horne and is looking south down the Helvellyn ridge.

February 2009

The crisp air and clear skies at the beginning of the month were replaced by generally poor conditions. However, if you could be flexible, you could get a decent day out. On 28 January 2009 Gordie Oliver was speed flying on Raise over very hard snow. Photo by Bruce Corrie.

January 2009

6 December 2008. The first weekend of December gave us a superb Saturday of sunshine and snow. There wasn't much lift about but this had a major advantage as you didn't have enough time to freeze to death on the way down. Malcolm Grout Was on the top of Clough Head - not the normal take off area which is lower down - with the training school and one of his students launches off the NE face into nil wind conditions.

December 2008

5 November 2008. The eastern flanks of Cat Bells put on a magnificent display this autumn. Steve Thwaites on the left on his new Sigma is joined by Steve Giles on the right. Photo by Gordie Oliver.

November 2008

5 Oct 2008 - Action on Wolf Crags. A dreadful Saturday was followed by a brilliant Sunday so the PG/HG community decamped to Wolf Crags. Doddick Fell on Blencathra in the background which is 4 miles away! Photo by Heather Stevenson.

October 2008

XC coaching day at Clough Head - Sunday 28 September. Fair conditions led to a number of traverses of the Helvellyn ridge. Photo by Heather Stevenson

September 2008

Fun and games at the August Grasmere Show. Audience participation with lift! This year Dave Robinson flew the Olympic flag into the arena.