Valle de Bravo is quite different from what most people expect of Mexico, no palms and beaches and humid warm temperatures. Instead it is situated on the central highlands with rolling ridges and hills covered by tall pine forests. The main launch at El Peñon is almost 2400 meters high, and Valle de Bravo on the shore of Avandoro Lake is at an elevation of 1750 meter. On less hazy days the silhouette of Nevado de Toluca (4691 m) emerges on the horizon. During the day the temperatures are warm enough for shorts and Ts, but in the evening you want an extra jacket.
After some pondering I decided to leave my trusty Sport 4 at home and bring the new Artik 2, and thus took things a bit slower at first. After getting up on launch I checked out El Peñon rock tower before cruising over to the Piano LZ. I was told it’s called ‘Piano’ because its shape resembles a Grand Piano, but later I heard a second explanation: the house thermals in front of launch are so consistent that only those who fly like a piano bomb out in this LZ. But the Piano LZ is rather attractive for several reasons: a horde of niños comes running to pack up the wings ‘professionally’ (although comparison with previous reports indicate a bit of a price inflation in the glider packing business). 15 peso beers are hard to beat, and tacos and other yummy treats are for sale. And last but not least, it’s super nice to sit in the sun, relax and chat with some fellow flyers. After a couple of successful ‘test-flights’ more exploring of the Wall and G-Spot Mesa was in order for me. Each day I pushed a bit closer to Valle de Bravo, first to the Penitas, then to Casas Viejas and on Friday I finally made the almost 20 km arriving 700 meters above Avandoro Lake, floated in a big circle over town and landed on the beach for my well deserved landing beer. Meanwhile Pete and Alex set off on longer xc flights from 20 km to over well 50 km to Los Saucos, Tres Reys, Divisadero etc.
In summary, conditions were excellent; every day of our stay was not only fly-able, but also xc-able, with occasional strong lift for my standards (max on my vario 6.4 m/s). Cloudbase was usually between 2800 and 3200 meters, not as high as it gets in January and February, but perfectly fine for us first-timers. We had two flights every day. On the days when lift was a bit disorganized, the gaggle-flying at the launch was challenging, with 20-30 wings in the air. But away from launch other pilots were a rare and welcome sight, as by the time I made my escapes from launch, Alex and Pete were usually long gone, depriving me of their presence as thermal markers.
Definitely a sweet place to visit for pilots with some thermaling experience! With careful timing, the lower air time flyers in our group also made amazing progress, including first long thermal flights. Next time we may try for a late November trip, hoping for fewer pilots and less fireworks. And then there are a couple of things that may take a bit getting used to: the narrow streets often plugged with a stream of cars and the associated exhaust, the Mexican fondness of fireworks at all hours and church bells ringing every 15 minutes (bring ear plugs), and of course, the more rustic the eating places the higher the risk of an upset tummy (but with the help of some Cipro even Pete managed to fly every day).
More pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/WetcoastVi ... avoDec2011
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