The team assembled at Heathrow Terminal 3 at 1630 to fly to Santiago Chile via Madrid on Iberia. Expected total travel time around 17 hours, including a 1hr stop in Madrid. Due to a late departure from London we arrived with only 30 minutes to spare in Spain. This proves was not as much of a problem as we first thought it might be and we arrive at the next flights departure gate in good time.

Pictured: The team at LHR

We arrive at Santiago on time and are met by Chilean Airforce pilot 'JP'. We board the bus to the hotel, a 30 minute transit from the airport, and have just enough time to unpack, shower before being collected and taken for lunch at the airfield.

Pictured: The team with JP at Santiago airport.

Day 3 – 29^th Jan 2012

We arrived early at the airfield this morning after a light breakfast in the hotel to allow plenty of time to sort out maps, GPS devices and loggers. As usual the club officials where thereto greet us and following met at 12 noon lunch was served at 13:00. We were now ready to take to the skies for day one of flying!

Olly

Today I flew with Fernando, one of the Chilean pilots I had flown X country with when he visited the UK in 2010. Last to launch (Fernando was flying one of the glider tugs before hopping into our Janus) we released off tow at around 700m and walked into a 9kt thermal off the local hill of Manquehue. A nice start! Thermals where tight and could by bitey low down, but once established at height, or when not being effected by the inversion, they were generally manageable!

We flew north to the “cement works’, an area of rock which literally looks like someone has pored cement onto the hill side, and played around in an area know as the Lagonas. From there we turned west and pushed into the higher ground, before turning south and taking a 100km glider past the Glaciers Olivares Beta and Juncal Sur. Continuing the glide 50kms south of Santiago to rock Blanco and then turned for home. All in all an excellent day!

Roger

An excellent day all told. Bit of a shocker to find I was first off but launched more or less on time after a bit of a cockpit faff and tugged to Manquehue just north of the airfield where we managed to establish straight in to a thermal where, shortly afterwards Phil joined us. In fact we crossed paths more or less all the way around the task. Apparently the weather was better than usual so we were able to get straight into the inner mountains where we were able to climb to around 16,000 ft (EW Logger did not record and Oudie ran out of puff a third of the way round). Still managed to push north for 50km to Las Luganes after which we turned inland to Glacier Juncal Sur and then took ridge and thermal lift as required as we meandered our way through stunning mountains till we got down as far as the ‘Muela’ (the Tooth and 100km SE of Santiago) from where we wended our way back Vitacura. All in all, a huge lesson in mountain flying – although I had been briefed about the ‘sloping world’ and the difficulty in keeping a steady speed while thermaling I still found it extremely taxing. That said Felipe was very forgiving and we enjoyed our 4½ hour ‘orientation’.

Carl

An excellent day that was briefed as a low-key practice day! However, with building conditions, we flew for just over five hours and covered approximately 485km. An indication of how busy I was getting used to a Nimbus 3DT in the mountains was that I forgot to raise the undercarriage for the first 20mins. Top height was 6200m although the rocks were still close below at my highest point. After reaching the Cement works (Lagunas) to the north, we turned south and got inside the Olivares Valley and continued to run further south to cover three volcanoes, which included seeing a green steaming sulphur pool at Tupungatito. At the end of the southerly run to Ventisquero Palomo we turned north and had 164km to run back to Vitacura. Despite this distance, we didn’t turn once and just managed the ridges to support us all the way home. It’s quite a surreal experience to fly a glider uphill for tens of kilometres at a time! The only difficulty I had during the flight was a dysfunctional oxygen mask that wouldn’t allow me to breath out. Arturio, who didn’t have the distraction of flying swapped with my mask with his. This allowed me to concentrate on flying whilst he overcame the problem by repeatedly dropping the mask down from his face when he needed to breath out. Los Mechanicos have since tested the mask and confirmed the problem and I have been assured a new one will be fitted by tomorrow.

Phil

A very good run to Lagunas, arriving at the top, which allowed a quick transit with Roger inside to Saladillo, where we waited for the others and climbed to 5500m amsl. Andres, the leader for the day decided that the weather was unusually good enough to do a tour of the volcanoes to the south. So we crossed the Junchal Glacier into the Olivares valley and visited volcanoes Tupungatito, San Jose, and the approach to Maipo, before turning north for a romp home. It was good to be back in the Andes!

Ted

This was supposed to be a gentle introduction to flying in Chile with a chance to get to know the local area – so nearly 5 hours and 500km later, with a high point around 20,000ft and a couple of “interesting” moments, it certainly met the requirement. We launched about 2:30pm and the basic route was to the north and then make a decision about pressing on or going east. We went east, out towards the Argentinian border which is marked by a line of volcanos – some extinct, others definitely still smoking. Once we were close to the border, we flew south, hugging the line of volcanos and kept going for about 200km with very few turns making best use of the 30kt wind at height. Turning round, about 160km away from home after 6pm, we then pushed back against a reducing breeze, cruising over ridge after ridge with barely any turns as we gradually lost height towards Santiago arriving with a couple of thousand feet spare to look around the very local area.

Teds flight: here

Day 4 – 30^th Jan 2012

Another fantastic day of Chile mountain flying, another 2pm launch and again the duty thermal was exactly where it was expected. Result. 8kts to 1600m before pushing off Manquehue and heading to Gordo and Laboritorio. Some scratching around above the sandy open areas of Gordo led to a half decent climb to enable us to reach the northern portion of Laboritorio (toilet in Spanish!) to get a great climb to around 2500m. Then a glide across death valley… and onto Las Lagunas and the cement works (aka thermal factory…). From around 3000m we… (Fernado you have control…) had to bash the small and then grand Pyramid mountain to the east of the Lagunas range before getting a nice climb to above 3500m. With oxygen on we push north and paralleled the border of Argentina arriving at Inca lake before turning west and heading to Decocoen and the "white stones" ridges. Now some 120kms from home we simply ran the ridges heading south, via the ski village to the east of Santiago, and then on to land.During the evening we were hosted by the civilian potion of the gliding club at Santiago and attended their fantastic monday night tradition of dinner at the gliding club.

Phil

Another good day , but with a slower start in Potreros, where thermals were weak initially. Routed at 1800m via Maraco, and climbed well at Truchas to 2000m, and then ridge ran via Cathedrales to arrive high on Lagunas, where there were good climbs to 3500m and inside to the pyramid, and across to Alto los Leones up to 4000m. It was decided we would run North today along the border, so crossed to Inca lake, where we had a good view of the high pass into Argentina, which is used by a steady stream of traffic from Los Andes to Mendoza. Then, climbing at Parva to above 5000m, we had an easy glide up to Y, following Ted, and a fast run back south via Central, Lagunas and Espagnoles to Vitacura.

Phil's trace here

Carl

Today was my second day in the 25.6m Nimbus 3DT - and my arm still ached from yesterday's efforts to guide it round the mountains! Immediately off tow it was noticeable that the conditions were different and whilst we did 'get away' it took some time to find a good climb. Once clear of Manquehue we tracked north via the sunny ridges to the 'Cement Works' and Lagunas. Again, we struggled for some time just below the ridge top but eventually we got up on top to 'dominate the ridge' as Arturio describes. With a safe altitude to cross into the main Andes we moved up to Cerro Saladillo. My watch can display altitude and it was last set to zero whilst I was in our living room; it provides a useful reminder that even when there are thousands of feet of rock above us, I still need to put on the oxygen mask. I can measure my altitude in terms of 'RTS' - 'relative to sofa'. Whilst we seemed to have options to climb towards Aconcagua we stayed inside Chile rather than cross into Argentina. We tracked north until we reached 125km from Vitacura; the region of Paso de Ortiz seemed particularly barren and desolate so I was quite glad to turn for home. Ridge running all the way we didn't turn or stop all the way back to home and I enjoyed watching my shadow on the rocks as we cruised at 150kph home.

Day 5 - 31st Jan 2012

If i thought the last 2 days were good then today was amazing! 2.30pm launch and followed the standard routing off the local hill and north to Lagunas (although pushing out lower than i had on previous days- i was told to!). From the northern point of Lagunas we climbed with two of the other team members and all set off to the Pyramids at around 4500m. This was all very much the same as the last 2 days but today we turned south and headed for the Volcano region which maps the border of Argentina- fantastic views. The thermals felt very rough and you needed to fight the glider to get it to climb. We were rewarded by contacting wave at around 4300m and climbed to 6000m, sometimes at 3m/s. We ended up pushing some 174kms to the south of base and by 1830 decided to turn for home! This was the best bit of the entire flight, never turning we just ran the ridges and small areas of wave home. Outstanding!

Phil

Off first as sniffers, with a fast run up to Lagunas, and inside to Alto Los Leones at 5500m amsl, where we waited for the team. We then flew south down Olivares valley, and crossed to Laguna Negra, where there was a standing wave in the blue which we used to top up, and push further south, via a wave climb at Bno Morales, past Maipo volcano along the border and past the Paloma glacier to Paloma volcano, where we met Carl and Olly for a 135km run home into wind. A great day, with tremendous views, and the furthest south I have flown to date.

Roger

0.13 cct to land!

3.15 200 km

A bit of a disaster when compared to the othersí achievements today. But I did manage to get 2 launches for the price of one! I was number 4 in the stream and all was going well till I tried to extricate the release handle from under my left thigh the net result of which was to experience a premature release from the tug at around 500m, well before Manquehue, and despite both of our best efforts we eventually landed back on after 13 minutes. Consequently, on our second launch we were well behind the others with no hope of catching them up so completed as much of the planned route as we could. After eventually getting to Las Lagunas via Labratorio and Maraco, we pushed east and enjoyed the terrific sight of the Olivares and Juncal Glaciers before we pushed south down the Rio Olivares. However, a large amount of cloud had accumulated on the top of the ridge which frustrated our progress but we persevered and eventually ran out over Laguna Negra before turning west and out to Blanco before turning for home. In the end we never got further than 50km away from Vitacura which pails in to insignificance with what else was achieved today.

Carl

With a less positive forecast than yesterday I think we were all apprehensive that the local conditions would be good enough to support our gliders in the local area. However I found a cracking 5 m/s climb straight off tow and climbed to 1200m before working my way to the 'fat hill' in Portreous. With another good climb I worked my way on to Espanoles. After another 15 mins flying 'up hill' I reached the Lagunas and caught up the other gliders that had launched earlier. In this area I was lucky enough to find another two strong climbs that allowed me to move in to the Olivaries Valley - almost 16000ft deep in some places, this valley must be one of the most spectacular places I have ever been. At the end of the valley we found wave that peaked at 3 m/s and topped out at around 19000ft above sea level. By now, my feet and lower legs were seriously cold and I spent some time with my feet right up in front of the instrument panel to try and warm them in the sun. A bit of Kendal mint cake helped! After about 25mins I could feel my feet and worked down to 135km south at Palomo. Again, the run home was completed without turning and the last 35km was spent racing Oliver who was flying the Nimbus 3DT. With his extra 5.6m span he slipped away to landed about two minutes before me but the competitive element was good fun!

Ted

Day 3 flying - Day 5 for the exped - and another spectacular day which saw ridge, thermal and wave in abundance and the obligatory 170km final glide punctuated by just 3 turns half way home to ensure we cleared a ridge. But it was far from easy with some of the roughest thermals I have every encountered and, when they aren't far from the rock face, they did focus my mind. The route followed the standard start up to the north and we then ran pretty much straight down to the south-east rather than following the first day's flight which took us east to the border before heading south. The route back was up the border and then breaking to the west whilst keeping in the mountains to use the copious quantities of lift that were still there at 7:30 pm. That might make it all sound a bit simple - but it was probably one of the hardest flights I've ever done.

Teds trace here

Day 6 - 1st Feb

Olly

This morning it was very cloudy (in comparison to the last few days) early in the morning. However, the 11am met brief still looked promising and a push to the north was suggested (not hint of a task just yet though!). First off the grid in the Nimbus 3dt we, as is now the accepted norm, launched onto the local hill and made good speed up the Lagunas. The standard milk run although running slightly “in” on Espanola ridge. This did not last long though, and it was back to the lower ridges for the remain of the thrung north.

We crossed over to the valley around the Inca lake area and on to Square lake before arriving at ‘Y’ rather low. “You have control” was my next shout and very nicely Alexander climbed us away from rather low to the basin floor. Good job.

From here a “Chilean” plan was hatched, push south at speed. We did this, despite the high amounts of cloud and even some rain further into the mountains, and arrived back in the local area in time to play with some wave up around 3500m – note to self, this was not next to (although near) the “white mountain” as I called on the radio. Apologies! . 4:00hrs into the trip it was time to head for home. Another long day that was completely different from the last. Good fun.

Roger

Today was a complete contrast to yesterday! First of all I managed to release at the correct point on the Manquehue (see yesterday) and instantly climbed from 700m to 1500m QFE (5000ft to 7200 ft amsl) in no time flat. From there we were able to ride the proverbial escalator straight up Los Espanioles to Las Lagunas without turning arriving at the summit at 11,000ft – quite remarkable! The plan was then to run north to get up to ‘Y’, a little under 150km from Vitacura, and we were able to get into the higher stuff on the way up. We eventually topped out at ‘Y’ having run the ridges and taking very few turns - all the while bolstering my confidence in route and thermal selection. Up to now we had seen no-one else but in the reverse we all seemed to stumble upon each other at various times and heights. It was around this time that I had a very surreal moment as Andres, well known for the music he plays whilst airborne, decided to play ‘Silent Night’ as we dodged around, over and under the various clouds that had developed over the course of the afternoon. That was after I was subjected the Clannad and before he played House of the Rising Sun! On the way back south we all seemed to follow the same sort of track albeit at different heights and after eventually getting to El Blanco, 45km south of Vitacura we ridge-ran all the way back to Vitacura. This a lovely afternoon’s flying which has exposed me to yet more experiences and situations that I am learning bucket-loads from. Bring on tomorrow!

Ted

Today was different; the morning started with an unexpected sight – clouds over the city. That suggested that it was all going to get going later and be a bit weaker. And then the Met man (and his assistant) suggested there would be orographic cloud at 4,000m. So the plan for the fourth day of flying was to go up north to the point known as “Y” after a later than normal flight. I was third off for the group and we did the normal tow to the duty thermal on the local hill – where we found 5m/s which suggested the day might just be better than briefed. And those climbs were repeated pretty much throughout the short day. So it became a bit of romp north via ridges and thermals, jumping across huge valleys where the cumulus suggested an energy line and running toward Y just needing a good thermal. We found one just in time after a gentle and rather low drift over some small ridges, and then we set off at a rapid pace to the south. Then a change of plan! Because it all seemed so good, the plan was altered to head to the east. When that decision was made we were not in a good position to change course. The result was we fell behind the pack – just as the weather changed and the east clagged in with orographic cloud as briefed – so just ran alongside the clouds trying to work out IAS v TAS at 3,000m. We cruised past a massive copper mine at (-33.14905,-70.265665) and then ran down to the south to burn of height and thought about catching some of the wave that was being reported. But the circuit beckoned – and the BBQ laid on for us by our hosts – so politeness brought us home after another superb day.

Carl

Today I had the pleasure of flying with Alex Kaufmann in his Nimbus 4DLM. This glider handled very much like a Ventus 2 although on two occasions I managed to get the rudder to over centre during thermalling. This provides an indication of how tightly I was trying to turn a 26m glider! Overall, the glider was in a completely different league to anything I have ever flown or been flown in; a pure pleasure in flight! Whatever the performance, it didn’t stop us getting stuck in a bit of a hole about 125km north of Vitacura. We had to try a number of the different slopes before getting a clear climb back into the upper weather system. At this point we knew that the others were heading south so we linked up with them and ran south with the rest of the team for 10-15kms. At our first turn, by luck, we climbed to the top of the stack and then set off parallel to the border with Argentina in the area of Inca lake. Once we passed the area of the Lagunas, we glide on and on (and on…) down to Blanco; this glide alone was over 100kms. We tried to find the wave that Oliver was reporting only to find that Olly wasn’t where he thought he was and we were nowhere near where the wave was. From this point, we cruised back to home for a BBQ with the military club and to discuss what we might do tomorrow.

Phil

I set off in racing fashion, trying to catch the earlylaunchers, but did not find lift at Maraco (there is a clue in the name) orTruchas, so had to climb at Cobre before crossing Death Valley at 2300m tolagunas. Thereafter it was a romp up to Alto Los Leones, and north inside toSquare Lake, and met with the others to run south high over the Disputada Mineand home.

Day 7 - 2nd Feb

Roger

Although we were scheduled to be 4^th off, we did not get airborne till an hour after the others because of 3 other intervening launches that delayed things. Undeterred we stormed up to Las Lagunas via Los Espanoles and managed to get sufficient height to push east to Alto Los Leones from where we tracked up the Chile/Argentina border up to Square Lake passing Parva and Geroglifico on the way. There was loads of energy on the ridges and under the cumulus making the flight as rough as old boots at times and my Camelbak, which was behind my head, twice bounced onto the canopy and disappeared in to the rear cockpit! The thermals were extremely strong and tight and were some of the toughest I have ever flown in and I had to keep the stick buried in my stomach with a significant angle of bank just maintain centre and not be spat out. It was an ‘education’. The run home, 120km over the high ridges, was made without a single turn whilst losing only 1000m which meant we arrived over Vitacura stupidly high at 2500m so did a sightseeing tour over Santiago to get a few photos. After seeing only Phil for fleeting second over the entire flight, as I was setting myself up for the circuit, Carl came blundering through which meant I landed in 30 sec stream behind him. Anyway, safely down and on time ready to go a party in town. This has been exhilarating, strenuous and confidence building flying but I am ready for a down day tomorrow.

Ted

Today was my chance to fly the Nimbus 4DLM – the L being a few extra inches of leg room for Alex Kaufman my Chilean pilot for the day and the rest of it describing 26.4m of fantastic wing supporting two pilots and with an engine to get it airborne. The plan for the day was to gain energy as usual about 50km to the north and then, almost certainly, head far south. As might be expected, things didn’t quite proceed to plan. Firstly, we didn’t get airborne till 1540. That was an experience in itself because Alex likes to have options on take-off so he takes an aerotow but also has with the glider’s motor running at full power – contrary to popular belief, the glider does not overtake the tug and the rate of climb was far from exceptional. Straight into the duty thermal (with quite a busy cockpit as the engine is cooled and then tucked away inside the fuselage) and, after some stunning climbs and runs up to the north, we were ready to head south. But then the second snag - word came back from those who had launched earlier, that the valleys were clouding in. So, Plan B came into action – go as far north as possible. Navigation was becoming easier with features becoming more familiar and stunning visibility – genuinely hundreds of kms – and the rest of the flight was a real romp up to the Pelambres mine – for those interested look uphttp://www.mining-technology.com/projects/minera_los/. We took a climb to 14,000’ above site some 20km short of the turn and hoped we might do the rest of the flight – 220km – without turning. As it was we took one climb half way home and finished up running the last 100km at around 90kt increasing to Vne for the last 30km. Another fantastic trip - 480km actual distance with an average ground speed of 91kts – and just 6 minutes of engine time.

Phil

Allowed to fly Alex Chanes’ Ventus today. Off third in line,with a good run north high to Lagunas and inside to Pyramids, and north pastInca Lake to Parva and up to Y. I did not quite have enough height to reachPelhambres mine, so turned at Totoral, and ran south on top of the ridges pastthe col at Amenita to Lagunas and home.

Olly

A booming day to say the least! The met looked very good with no inversions above 1500m which led on to an excellent day with some fantastic lift. I was flying the Duo Xt and was first of the grid, off tow and into a belter of a climb straight up to 1700m, it was then north using ridges further into the mountains as we had extra height. And thats how the rest of the flight north went, we never got very low and there was always stacks of lift around! We ended up 220km north of base at 17:00... Turning south we only stopped once in a 4m/s climb to top up but the remains of the flight was wings level following the ridges. A fab run out again! Many thanks to Andreas for the glider :) My flight is here. We spent the evening being entertained at Helmut Peterson house near the airfield, fantastic food and wine.

Carl

The plan for today was to push as far south as possible but once we reached the Lagunas the Olivaries Valley was full of cloud and unsafe to enter. As a result we decided (in a mixture of very rapid Spanish and loud English) to push north as far as we could. This meant we followed the border with Argentina and we had to work had to make sure that we didn’t cross the border; the clue is which way the water flows but at 150kph and only a few hundred feet above ground level, working out whether the border is on one ridge or the next was hard work. To make sure we didn’t inadvertently cross into Argentina, we moved a little further west and continued north all the way to Pelambres and the vast open cast copper mines. At just over 200kms north of Vitacura, we turned for home and attempted to glide all the way without turning. However, after some heavy sink, we couldn’t get over the ridges around Batuco and we had to stop to top up. After a good climb we then decided that we could manage it and at 4200m and 165km we pushed south again. This time, we managed to get all the way to Vitacura in one single glide. Overall, 420km in 4:18hrs for another grand day out although not without a few stressful moments 200kms north and only a few hundred feet above the ground.

Day 8 - 3rd Feb

Day 9 - 4th Feb

The forecast was for a relatively difficultday (I say relative as I felt we may have been spoilt rotten over the last fewdays!). A strong inversion andminimal heating made it just as tricky as the met man said it would be. The usual romp on the milk run to the northbecame a crawl and I was unable to get above 2300m for the first 90 miniutes ofthe flight. However I eventuallymanaged to find a decent climb and shot up to 4000m, enabling a push to thenorth east to be made. Playingalong the Argentina border around the lake Pelado some 150kms to the north ofthe field it wasn’t long till 5pm came alone... best we head for home then! The usual downhill glide with no turning was initiated (especially easy in a Nimbus 4DLM...) and I arrived back at the airfield (now in deep murk) with height to spare. A hard day but still fun! Thanks Alex!

Ted

Today proved to be a real challenge, making yesterday’s rest day all the more valuable. The plan was simple enough – up to the north then off to the volcanos. But that needed enough height, which was in short supply today because there was a strong inversion at around 2,300m which we failed to punch through until about 3 hours into the flight. Prior to that, having been first off with nobody calling conditions ahead, we struggled. Being in the Nimbus 3dT didn’t help either – not just because I was working off a 57mm Winter vario – but because the thermals that were around really did not benefit from the Nimbus’ less than ideal rate of roll. Nevertheless, with a combination of decent thermals above ridges and more rock polishing that was comfortable, we eventually cracked the inversion. But then it was clear that going east was not a good option so we aimed north. And from there on, it was really plain sailing up around “Y” and back down along the westerly side. Total distance of 558km in just about 5hrs 30 mins was still fairly respectable – and a great deal learnt about getting to the right height before pressing on.

Roger

This was another day of learning experiences and hard work. The forecast was not particular special so the plan was to head south from Lagunas to the volcanos or, if the weather was not fit, go north, so anything could happen. In the end Felipe and I spent 2½ hours scratching around 2000m trying to get up high enough to dominate a ridge to further to the north. We eventually bounced up through Maraco, Cobre, Copin and Morado where we ‘figure eighted’ for ages before we got a decent climb which allowed us to get ‘inside’ and, finally, up to ‘Y’. Then it was back more or less the same way keeping to the ridges and working our way to Vitacura. What did I learn? It takes and good deal of patience, determination and skill (mostly Felipe’s) to get the altitude required to achieve something meaningful. Listening to ‘the chaps’ on the radio it was obvious that they were having similar problems. Additionally, on the way back, flying below ridge height, I gradually reduced my MSD from the rocks from ‘not very much’ to ‘very little’ as I got up close and personal. I think I alarmed some folk who were working on an aerial as well! All told, another exhausting day (everybody yawning on the bus on the way back to the accommodation) but terrifically rewarding.

Phil

A much harder day with a strong inversion limiting climbsabove 2700m amsl. For me it was a tale of 3 Condors, on the route north to Yvia Copin and Guanacos ridge. The first helped me on Manquehue to get the altituderequired to start. The second helped me when I searched for lift at WhiteStones, and the final one saved me by marking the lift on the way home when Iwas low and late.

Carl

Today was completely different. On the ground it felt stable and slightly stuffy. Once launched, we found good lift on Manquehue although it was broken and difficult to centre in. As soon as we could we moved to Portreous and searched for a climb to take us higher. This didn’t work initially and we had to take some weaker climbs to sustain us in the area. Eventually we moved north but, for the first time, on the outside. We tracked north via Marako to reach the Lagunas but, for the first time, via Death Valley. I did wonder on the logic of crossing into such a named valley several thousand feet below the top but Fernado assured me that we were still 200m above the minimum safety height to enter the valley. A difference in height of 200m above the minimum level for the valley when the tops of the hills are close to 3000m didn’t seem much to me and I was glad to find a strong climb near the bottom of Death Valley and be able to climb close to the top. From this position, the lift began to falter and we pushed on; this began to be the theme for the day. We ridge ran to the white stones at around 85km north and then pushed forward to Morado when we meet Ted in the Nimbus 3DT. We picked off a good climb from the top of Morado and made a dash for Square Lake at 125km north. In line with the rest of the day, this didn’t work and we had to scuttle back and climb again. However, in the end, we got just north of Square Lake before turning for home. A hot day an hard work!