Paragliding in The Lakes

On the saturday Andrew and myself decided to put our faith in the Met Office and headed to the coast at Whitehaven to wait for the front to pass through around midday. At 1:15pm we launched from the cliffs to the south of the town at a site called Haig Pit. The winds were at our top limit of 20mph. We soared around for about 2 hours dodging the in-coming Cu-nimbs and riding sea thermals up to about 800' asl (above sea level).

Andrew at Whitehaven

Sunday dawned looking like the perfect paragliding day. After a full dose of lard we headed off to a site on the south side of Skiddaw. Things were not happening here so we followed the advice of some local pilots and followed them to Cat Bells.

We launched from just below the summit and after 1/2 hour of boating around the summit I decided to try and make it back to the hut. Having set off down the ridge I soon hit "wave" which is very unusual on a paraglider as normally the wind would be much too strong. The wave lift took us up to 4800' by which time the hut was within easy reach. Both Andrew and myself made it there.

As we were discussing where to land, Andrew suggested that I try and fly back for the car. Andrew landed in the field next to the hut which we had checked out before leaving in the morning. I made it back to the car having flown 17km mainly above the clouds.