We

planned to fly down this morning from the hut, but we found that the wind

was blowing downhill at 10km/h: far too strong to be able to launch, and

the pass is quite flat so we would not have out-glided the mountain.

So, we hiked across the mountain at 2800m on frozen snow with Aintoine

(FRA2). It was steep in places with rocks and cliffs below: any fall would

have resulted in serious injury. On the steeper section I cut steps into

the nevé with a sharp rock so we could cross.

Finally we found a place that was protected from the north wind and I

helped Jon and then Aintoine launch by holding the middle of their wing to

stop it sliding down the slope and tangling with their feet. Both launched

safely and on their first attempts.