Bwlch flying trip - June 2013

Bwlch lies midway between the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains in south Wales.  I'd heard that it was a particularly good place to fly with superb lift and parking near the flight site, so I thought I'd give it a go.  The actual recommended flight site is on the edge of a large bowl, a couple miles west of Treorchy. By chance, my trip just happened to coincide with the the National Slope Soaring Championships which turned out to be something of a mixed blessing; on the one hand it was interesting to see the pros flying their super-fast carbon fuselage gliders whistling through the air at astonishing speeds, while on the other hand it meant that I had to fly further along the bowl so as not to infringe their airspace.  Still, the weather made up for it, as did some phenomenal lift.  It was a fair distance to go to fly the slopes of Bwlch, but it was worth doing, and I camped there overnight.

Looking east from the flying bowl towards Treorchy.