May 2012

And off we go! The site is Burnbank looking down to the Loweswater valley and this was the first coaching day of the season. Conditions were variable but improved as the day progressed

April 2012

The Wainwrights comp reaches the sites that other beers don't! After a rubbish start to the month, spring suddenly appeared in the second half of the month and the 2012 flying season started. Here your webmaster launches off Stony Cove Pike in a vain attempt to get above takeoff. Thornthwaite Crag at the southern end of the High St plateau is in the background. Photo by Heather Stevenson

March 2012

February has continued the challenging winter with limited opportunities for flying. John Hamlett took adavnatge of a midweek opportunity and took this picture of Ed Cleasby over Barbondale on 7 February after taking off from Barkin Fell. John reports that "We flew for over two hours with Geoff Moss and Pete Southern. I got just over 20km with turnpoints. Ed will have done better still. Not bad for early February."

February 2012

A gap appeared on 14 January after the relentless New Year offerings of wind and rain. Blease Fell provided good conditions and Al Westle took this photo looking south from the fell. Note the absence of snow on the tops - unusual at this time of year. Meanwhile down on Red Screes at the same time on the same day, the wind was roaring past at 22mph!

January 2012

Happy New Year to all! Lets hope that 2012 is a better year than 2011. The consensus view at the AGM was that 2011 was a great year if you could grab every opportunity; if you couldn't, it was a rubbish year! December continued with strong winds and rain with a brief respite on 18/12. If you missed it, you can find a video here. No photos have been submitted this month so it's back to December 2009 and Dave Horne flying on Clough Head with the North Western Fells in the background.

December 2011

November hasn't been a great month for flying. The month started with very warm and sunny but windless conditions; the end of the month bows out with strong winds. Wednesday 23 November started off with murky conditions but a cold front was clearing to the south. Chris Scammell and Stuart Holmes snatched the opportunity for a flight from Wastwater Screes to Keswick and were rewarded by magnificent lighting conditions. Stuart took this shot of Chris above Scafell Main Crag. The summit of Scafell Pikes is just visible in the clouds and Great Gable is on the left. Photo by Stuart Holmes, you can find his web site here

November 2011

To say October has been a challenging month is a bit of an understatement! At least its been warm. To remember what conditions can be like in October, we go back to Sunday 5 October 2008 when a superb day followed a dreadful day on the Saturday. The wind was from the north so the PG and HG brigade decamped to Wolf Crags. Here a pilot soars in front of the crags with Skiddaw and Blencathra in the background.

October 2011

September has come to an end with some golden weather but the majority of the month has been cold, windy and wet. A short gap of good weather was available on 15 Sep when the UB40 brigade took advantage of the gap. Vicky White took this photo of Ben Keayes (we believe) looking south east from Coniston Old Man. Coniston lake is in the foreground, the Levens estuary in the middle distance (high tide) with Heysham power station in the far distance

September 2011

The Met Office says that August 2011 has been the coldest for 20 years - I think I've forgotten what the sun looks like! John Hamlett grabbed an opportunity on 17 August and flew from Clough Head to Stavely - 34km. Here he caught Jim Kenyon against a backdrop of the North Western Fells with St Johns in the Vale in the foreground.

August 2011

July's coaching day was held at Whitestones. Here, Tim Oliver prepares to launch