A nice lake, not far from our landing place, was in
fact shining on the flat land far below, while on the other side,
Mt. Terminillo was basking in the sun, very inviting yet still far
away.!
A long drive from the Rome Airport took us to the mountain town of Ovindoli, nestled at 1350 meters above the sea, near the edge of the wide "Delle Rocche" highlands. The crispy, dry air of the evening was the first thing hitting us, used as we were to the comfortable Malta temperature.
We quickly run inside, checking in at the Park Hotel and getting ready to meet the rest of the gang for dinner. It was only when the waiter took us to two large tables that we realised how big the group would be. In fact, soon the rest of the Pilots arrived, we made presentations and met new and ol' good friends. All in all, 16 Pilots from Austria, four from Sicily and… two from Malta had convened there, counting on good weather, nice sites and the precious guidance offered by the local Instructor Danilo.
It was nice meeting again friends like Gudrun and Robert, from Austria, and Luis, Marzia, Salvatore and Nicola from Sicily!
The smoke trail of the factory gave our guide a precious indication as from where the wind was blowing from and the decision was taken on the spot.
"We'll go to Gioia!", and the convoy headed west, towards a line of high and steep ridges. A stop at the landing place near the town of Gioia dei Marsi was a must, with everyone staring at the hill towering some 600 meters above us.
A long drive took the group up to the hilltop, where everybody quickly alighted and swamped the take-off field. The place was great, the day was bright, the scenery was just breathtaking however… one thing was missing… THE WIND!
Chiara was confident that the wind would start blowing, as it never fails to do so in such a place, so we patiently waited and waited. True enough, thermal cycles started to develop, but they were very light, due to the high air stability. A Pilot volunteered a launch, struggled for a while and then had to glide down to the landing…
Time was passing and on seeing no further improvement of the conditions, I decided I might as well make the long glide down, rather than doing nothing on take-off! A good wind cycle helped my inflation and off I went, slowly climbing in the good wind…
"This is not going to last!" I was telling myself while making the best use of the unexpected lift. At 20 meters above take-off I was still repeating the same thing, at 30 meters, however, I decided I'd better stop that, I had made it!!
A while later I was thermalling some 50 meters above take-off, with the rest of the people below me rushing to their wings and launching as well. A nice half-an-hour soaring followed, over the rounded and green hilltop and near the long slopes until, in the middle of a low wind cycle, I top landed.
On my second flight I did even better, climbing to 250 meters above take-off and circling for a long time over green pastures and enjoying the breathtaking view of the whole "Piana", with its long line of ridges all around it.
Towards the evening, the thermal activity which had supported us so well started fading away. I went low over the take-off and then slowly went down, gliding over the long, steep slopes and then heading for the landing field. When I finally touched down, I had totalled more than two hours of nice flying.
Not bad, as a first day!!
Instead of driving down to the "Piana", this time we headed straight across the highlands, passing by the two picturesque villages of "Rocca di Mezzo" and "Rocca di Cambio", where the "Delle Rocche plateau" had taken its name from. These two mountain villages were among the first settlements in the highlands, at a time where warriors coming down from the North had chased away the population of the lower lands. That explains why these two villages were built right on top of hills and cliffs - their little houses clinging to the rocks in search of security.
At the end of the plateau, the Aterno valley appeared in front of us, with its towering Gran Sasso massif in the background. A photographic stop was requested, with everyone taking good shots of the large valley, with the capital city of l'Aquila at its bottom and the huge massif towering above it.!
Our convoy kept going and soon reached the bottom of the long, steep slopes running straight up to the Gran Sasso mountain. A survey of the landing field was pretty straightforward, as that is just next to the car park. The cable car unfortunately - a very convenient way of getting from landing to take-off - was not in operation so we had to endure the extra drive to the top...
It was nice however crossing the wide, green fields, where herds of cows, horses and sheep were peacefully eating away the good grass, with the rocky Gran Sasso peak high above them. On the last part of our drive, we passed by a cluster of small zinc huts and I asked our guide what kind of mining place that was. She looked at me in surprise and explained that it was the site of a European Research Centre instead, with its huge underground Atomic Particle Accelerator, completely dug in solid rock!
After a light snack, some sightseeing and more photographs, we all walked to the take-off, conveniently located next to the cable car arrival point. Wow, what a view! We were standing at the edge of that flat top, 2100 meters above sea level and with our landing field some 1000 meters below.
The wind was still low but with clear signs of picking up and, not before long, some pilots were already venturing out, gliding over the steep slopes. Our instructions were to fly along the deep valley in front of the take-off and to turn left at the end of it for thermals...
So did I, losing a good deal of height along the deep valley. As I turned left over the steep slopes facing the sun, I found myself so low that I was already considering a possible glide down to the landing field. I had however under-estimated the potential of that place! Good thermals, released by spurs and little valleys, soon gave me the opportunity to climb back up, with a long sequence of spirals - the more exciting ones being. a bit too close to the steep slopes!
Finally, there I was, circling high over the take-off, in that amazing scenery and in good view of the rocky peak of the Gran Sasso!! Half an hour later however, I felt like going down for top landing and lost height with large spirals until I happily touched down on the field right behind the take-off.
By then, the wind had picked up considerably - as it should be in such a place! - and elected to wait for some time, while Spedito had an earlier go. It was only a good while later that I launched again. Or rather, I tried to take-off.! A strong gust of wind picked me up right after the inflation and sent me flying backwards, in spite of my brakes fully released. In a matter of seconds, a side gust came in sending me drifting to the left until I touched down, tripped and finally collapsed the canopy.
Having learnt my lesson, I waited for a low wind cycle before inflating again! All went well at the second attempt and started soaring in the good slope wind, right in front of the take-off. I gained that way some precious height before embarking on the long glide down the valley, with the result of ending up much higher over the outer slopes and having an easier time to climb back up!
Later on, having gained a good 400 meters over the take-off, I ventured over the slopes on the right side of it, trying to make it up to the ridge top. That was not easy, though. It took a long series of tight spirals, pretty close to the long slopes, before I finally could get to the top. By then, I found myself just above a sharp ridge not facing the wind and partially shaded from the sun. I soon lost the top and started gliding along the side of it, trying to get around the rocky top of the ridge ahead of me.
I was however losing too much height, to the point of considering turning back, when I hit some lift over a small canyon facing the sun. Holding my breath, I started circling over it and, bit by bit, I could almost get back to the top of the ridge! But that was all. As I went further, I was again in heavy sink and had to turn back. Once more, the little canyon lifted me up, allowing for a decent crossing of the long valley below the take-off.
The evening sun however could not do much more to the slopes and this time I really had to settle for a long glide down, towards the landing. I happily touched down with the sun no longer in sight, after a nice one-and-a-half hour flight in that wonderful scenery.
Not bad, as a second day!
Along the way, our guide Chiara was giving us useful information, from time to time, about the x-country flight, pointing at the long mountain ridge running high over us. Later, we came by the outskirts of Rieti and it was a real pity we had no time to stop for a city tour, as its huge bastions and towers were certainly concealing a city full of traditions and history.
Soon we reached the landing place, in the flat land lying below the steep mountain overlooking the Poggio Bustone village, with Mt. Terminillo lurking in the far right background... At the end of a winding mountain road, we reached the take-off place, nothing more than a steep slope cut in between the thick forest covering the whole mountain and located at about 1000 meters above sea level.
The low wind there was a clue of the light conditions for the day. While waiting, I decided to hike up to the very top of the mountain, where I had earlier noticed a wider patch of grass. At the end of a good fifteen-minute climb, I came in fact by a nice grass field, fairly steep and with a wind streamer in the middle, a typical sign of a take-off! A nice place and view-point, but a little too far to be reached with a Paraglider sack on our shoulders.
As I came back down, I saw someone taking-off already and slowly working out some weak thermals. A good sign, which prompted others and myself to launch in spite of the low wind. True enough, as I left the ground I started climbing and soon I was over the take-off I had previously inspected and above!
I kept going up till I was over the top of a sharp ridge, releasing irregular and rather turbulent thermals. I then crossed a wide valley, heading towards a series of rounded hilltops. On a lower hill, I spotted a wind sock flying in the god breeze, clearly marking another take-off place!
The crossing had taken much of my height and I desperately needed to
recover. Over the hilltop, bingo! A good thermal started lifting me
up to a comfortable height, allowing me to relax and enjoy the
widening scenery. A nice lake, not far from our landing place, was in
fact shining on the flat land far below, while on the other side,
Mt. Terminillo was basking in the sun, very inviting yet still far
away.!
So much for "The best plans of men and mice!". I was finding it difficult to make enough height for the next crossing, let alone getting to the top of Mt. Terminillo and starting the planned cross-country journey! It was soon clear that I had to settle for some local thermalling instead.
I was over a nice place however, releasing good thermals and with a nice scenery all around and I just kept flying there, with Spedito and other Paragliding Pilots occasionally joining me. Later in the day, even towing aeroplane came to release their glider planes on the slopes below, an event that had to be recorded!
The evening was fast approaching and thermals had started going weak. Many Pilots had already gone down for landing - I could see their canopies spread on the field - and I myself was getting lower and lower over the hilltop. At that point, one last good cycle hit me and I took the opportunity to climb back to some 700 meters above take-off before starting the long glide towards the landing place. I ended up flying at some 1600 meters above the flat land, in what was certainly the longest glide I'd ever done. I kept gliding down for a long time indeed, in the smooth evening conditions, while taking the last photographs of the day and enjoying, for the last time, that amazing scenery!
A good while later I was touching down at our landing field, with just the time left for packing and a quick snack, before joining the convoy on its way back home.
Well, we had returned to Ovindoli by car instead of by air, but conditions weren't just right for that, considering the high pressure situation and the fact that the Month of October doesn't probably offer enough sunlight for such a long cross-country flight. I later met Salvatore at the entrance of the highway and he told me his cross-country attempt had ended halfway, due to the poor conditions.
So, all in all, the third day had been not so bad too, and the next morning Spedito and I could well take our trip back to Malta in high spirits and with nice remembrances of those wonderful flying days in our heart!!
Enrico.