Training Day in the Owens/ Sept 13th

It was a beautiful day in the Owens Valley. Not an offical training day, but almost every pilot, many who had never flown here, headed up to Gunters launch in The White Mountains. There was no task really, just personal flight plans were the norm. My goal was to get high and go north to White Mountain which is a 14,000 foot peak and fly back to my car at the "offical" Gunter LZ.

Other pilots flew to the end of the ridge which is Boundary Peak in Nevada, and flew back to town. Some pilots were in the air for 4 or more hours. I enjoyed a two hour flight with a relaxing pace, about 25 miles.

The climbs were well spaced and fairly consistent above the ridges. Some pilots went to the top of the range to get some height. I stayed about 3/4ths the way up the range which was nice. I didn't get too cold. Some pilots complained of numb hands. My highest point was about 14,500 msl, and some pilots made it to the 17,999 msl threshold.

Some pilots flew from Walts Launch which is on the Sierras and east facing. About 6 pilots flew 100 miles. So the Owens valley shined big.

Tomorrow is the first day of the comp. Conditions look similar to today. We will be using a different launch then we did today. It's called Flynns. Gunter launch is almost an hour 4 wheel drive road. So logistically it takes quite some time to get up there and organized. Plus there really isn't a good turn around up there, and you can only lay out 2 to 3 gliders to launch. Not very friendly when it you need to get 80 pilots off the hill in a about an hour.

Stay tuned for updates. Cheers!

In Bishop/ Sept. 12

Made it to Bishop today. What an easy drive it is from Colorado. Even though you have to drive some two lane roads, the roads are so straight that you can cruise an easy 80 mph. So the time from Vail is about 12 to 13 hours. Not bad. What I love about the drive is the desert colors. Through Utah, right off I-70, the views are amazing.

I love Bishop. It is a small town that reminds me of Steamboat, CO. The Sierras are to the west and the White Mountains to the east. I took a picture of the Sierras where there seems to be a wildfire on the west side of the mountains west of Bishop. I hope this doesn't become a problem for us. We will be flying the Whites.

I drove up to the Flynn launch LZ, and saw a few pilots that flew from Gunter launch south, where the comp will be flown from. One pilot landed at the Flynn LZ. Conditions seem very stable with a big inversion but pilots looked to be up fairly high.

I am going to rendezvous with the Colorado group and hope to have a good training flight tomorrow. I will keep you all updated.

Cheers

Leaving for California

Lauren Flies Bellyache!

Vail Valley Paragliding has special fall rates! Call 970-376-0495, or 970-845-7321 for more info.

We have had some great flying here in the Vail/ Wolcott area. Just the other night, five of us went up to Wolcott, and only Phil Horsman got off launch and had a great flight to Avon, topping out at about 13,500 msl. Chuck launched right after Phil and sunk out. That evening was one of the strangest and fastest wind direction switch I have seen in Wolcott. What also was amazing was the convergence and dust devil it created in the valley which worked it's way right up to launch. A cool dust plume stretching to the skies moved its way right up to the ridge. Once it reached the ridge the wind went from south and west to hard north at 25 mph. Karel was trying to inflate right at that point. His glider would yaw wildly and he didn't launch, which was a good thing due to the switch that occured.

Getting ready to make the big drive to California for the US National Paragliding Championships in Bishop, California. The Owens Valley! I am excited to see and fly with friends that I usually only get to see once or twice a year at these comps. Tomas, Karel, and Chuck with be there from Vail as well, being wind technicians for the comp. They will fly before the competition to show the conditions to the meet directors and comp pilots. Pine, Cherie, Loopy (aka Jan), Andy, Chris (xc skies), and myself will all be there to compete. Team Colorado.

Stay tuned as I will try to update daily. I just heard that Jeff Wishnie flew 100 miles yesterday. It should be a great time.

Cheers

Wolcott/ September 2, 2008

So, it seemed it was going to be an epic day at Wolcott. The masses, all six pilots, met at the LZ at 2:30 pm hoping to get a long xc flight, maybe jumping over the Gore Range into Summit County. In the LZ the conditions looked quite favorable. Light cycles from the west and south west at about 5 to 12 mph. Optimistically, we loaded up headed to launch.

Once at launch, conditions looked similar to what the LZ was doing; however, we noticed cumulus clouds in the distance all around us with a big blue hole over us. Cycles were consistent, but many of them cold, so we anticipated a lot of sinking air. Tomas, (Czech militia), got ready and launched. If anyone could climb out it would be Tomas. He worked hard, but unfortunately found sink, and ended up flying toward the paragliding LZ. Low, it seemed he was finding some small bubbles that may get him to climb out, but there was just too much sink and ended up in the LZ. Karel (Czech militia) was next. The lulls on launch, between cycles, were getting longer, but the cycles that came through launch were consistent and stronger. Karel launched right into a thermal and began to climb out. Karel flew in front of launch for about 5 minutes, and then to the north, of launch hooked a nice thermal and began to climb out. The thermals were there after all. Alex was next and had the same fate as Tomas. Timing seemed to be the issue. Bobby then launched and sunk out not making it to the LZ.

After Karel was in the air for about 20 minutes the valley started to show signs of wind, and the prevailing wind seemed to be kicking in. This should make it easier to soar in the ridge lift while waiting for a descent thermal to climb out.

Flynn, a new local pilot, was kind enough to pick up the pilots that sunk, so they were on their way back up to hopefully have another stab at it.

Once I noticed the ponds in the valley showing texture, I decided to suit up and hopefully be lucky to get up with Karel. By this time Tomas was back on launch and willing to give another go.

I got a descent cycle and launched into a thermal and began to climb in broken lift. The air felt broken, with holes in the lift and it wasn't easy to stick in the thermal. It felt like right off launch you were climbing through an inversion. Tomas came up to join me and with a little help from each other we found the climb to take us above the broken lift. At 9,500 msl the lift smoothed out, got broad, and was easier to core. We topped out at 14,500 msl. You could really see where the inversion layer was as you could see the top of the brown haze.

Not getting high enough to think about hoping the Gore Range. We all decided to hang around the valley. Up high there was tons of lift and it was easy to stay up. Bobby had come back up and was now soaring. Flight times ranged in the hour to two hour range. It was another great night.

August 30, 2008/ Steamboat Fly-in/ Day 2 P.M.

After lunch, we went back to the LZ, and waited for the afternoon depart to launch. Some of us were a little skeptical since the winds did seem strong and launch was now blowing in at about 15 to 25 mph. However, what was interesting, the winds were now blowing in from the Northwest which is perfect for Mt. Werner. Just maybe we were going to get lucky.

We all met at the LZ at 4 p.m. and loaded up. We got to launch and winds were still quite strong with some cycles to 20 mph. After about 20 minutes on launch, lulls were getting longer and the cycles did seem to be diminshing in speed. So guess who was up first. It was Chuck again. This time he was graced with good lift off launch and proceeded to climb out for an awesome evening flight. What seems interesting at this site is the launch cycles diminish quickly, which makes it more difficult to launch and possibly miss the soaring potential. I launched about 6 p.m. and climbed about to about 1000 feet over launch. Views were amazing and the air smooth, I began to shoot some pics. It was fun to fly over the mountain with many of the other pilots, and finish with a nice evening flight before the party festivities.

This site is 3,500 vertical feet from launch to landing. We figured it is about a 5 or 6 to 1 glide from launch to the LZ. None of the pilots had any problem making it to the valley. What a phenominal site.

After flying we all went to Mark Cahur's for some apps and a keg, and enjoyed a movie Marks girlfriend, Debbie, put together for the group. Great camaraderie, and fun. It's not just the flying that makes these events, its also the gatherings after.

Unfortunately, the weather did not turn out favorable for flying the next two days. So Karen and I took a drive north toward Wyoming to check out Steamboat Lake and Pearl Lake. It is tucked in hills very much like the landscape in Montana and Idaho. It is a beautiful area to get away with lots of options for fishing, hunting, camping, etc. And of course you can't forget the pig roast at Eric Olsons ranch to finish the weekend. Unfortunately it rained, but the bonfire still raged. The rain stopped at about 10 p.m. and the band soon kicked in with some awesome music.

You got to check this event out next year. It is one of the flying highlights of the year.

Now being back in the Vail area it is time to get ready for the Paragliding Nationals which will be in Bishop, CA starting on the 14th of September. The weather does look good for some flying before then, so I will keep you updated often. Cheers!

August 30, 2008/ Steamboat Fly-in/ Day 2

Day 2 of the the Steamboat Fly-in dawned a beautiful day. Many of the pilots were anticipating long flights with maybe a little cross country. However, when we got the winds forecast, it wasn't as promising as the day before. The weather gurus were forecasting stronger winds and from a more southerly direction then what is favorable for Mt Werner.

I arrived at launch at about 10:30 a.m. and some pilots were hooked in and ready to go. Chuck Leathers was first in line. There were some fairly strong cycles coming up launch and as forecasted it had a southerly component to it. It seemed it would be better to huck earlier rather then later, as the strength of the wind was forecasted to be increasing through the day. Chuck took off and flew to the gondola with not much lift. He found some small bubbles but nothing really to bite into, so ended up flying toward the LZ. Unfortunately, he was unable to find anything over the valley and landed.

The more advanced pilots decided to hold off from launching as the intermediate pilots were now encouraged to take off as the cycles were getting stronger with a more cross for the south. The crossing from the south did make launching a little more sporty. About 6 pilots took off close to each other including Sam Crater, who is one of the front range pilots who takes excellent pics. They began to climb out so I proceeded to finally lay out and get ready. A few pilots were still waiting and I finally took off at about 11:30 a.m. My launch was quite amusing as I had a nice strong cycle on the inflation, but as I ran down the shallow launch slope the cycle had abated and then turned 90 degree cross. I had to run at least 50 yards before I got airborn with my wing tips flapping as if to say fly-fly. The wind definitely had alot of south in it.

So, thinking I would get something to climb out and join the pilots above me, I was gifted(ha) with a nice sink cycle and proceed to descend with nary a hint of a decent thermal to turn in. I got hit with a couple of sucker pops, but as I turned my sink alarm sang out. So, I continued toward the valley, being even with the gondola terminal as I went by it, which is low. Thinking this was going to be a quick flight I headed to the last trigger point, which is a hill southeast of the landing zone. There ahead of me I saw Rick from Grand Jct. working some lift so I went over to his area. Yep, there maybe some lift after all. By this time I was probably 1500 feet over the LZ, and began to circle in broken lift at about 300 fpm. The valley seemed to be working and maybe we will be able to climb out. The thermal took us to about 9,500 msl, and seemed to end there. A valley inversion was still there so I searched up wind for something to break through. The air felt strange with a lot of holes and switchy, twisty, lift and sink. Subsequently, I flew around the valley for about an hour banging my glider against this ceiling. Many of the pilots including, Marko decided come out from Storm Peak and land, and they had to use half speed to get over the LZ, losing a lot of altitude. Ross went from 13,500 msl to 9,000 msl in about 3 miles getting to the valley. Winds were increasing.

I decided land, and was happy with the hour and twenty minute flight. Time for lunch. Over all not a bad morning and some interesting flying.

August 29, 2008/ Steamboat Fly-in

Hi Everyone! Just arrived back from Steamboat from another awesome airfest and fly-in event. Friday afternoon and evening really shined and Saturday turned out to be quite nice as well. We arrived in Steamboat Friday, late afternoon, just 10 minutes after the hang gliding and paragliding group left the LZ. Since there are a few permits allowed to use the road to launch, I settled into thinking I would watch the festivities from the LZ. Karen and I decided it was a good time to get our condo situation set up and drop off our bags and belongings. We then made it over to the the Whistler Park LZ which was the designated landing area for the weekend.

Dan, who is a local and has been flying Wolcott with us for the last month, called me and said he could come down and get me so I could fly. It's a half hour trip down and and another half hour up. I told him not to worry and go fly, but he insisted. Due to Dan and Ken 's kindness I was going to get a flight in. It was Kens truck that Dan drove down to get me. Karen came up with us and was a sweetheart to drive Kens truck down from launch. From the LZ I could see pilots taking off as soon as they arrived at launch at approximately 4:30 p.m. Conditions were excellent and many began to climb out. It looked to be an spectacular evening of flying.

Dan arrived at about 5:20 p.m. in the LZ, and we made a quick turn around and made it back to the top of Mt Werner at about 6:15 p.m. By this time most everyone had launched except for two hang glider pilots that were just finishing up their pre-flight. Dan and I got ready immediately as Mark Cahur was very encouranging over the radio to get our butts up there. Cycles were light and were now crossing from the north. The launch directions on top of Storm Peak is from Southwest to Northwest. But even a little cross wind is OK. Dan and I took off, and there was not much lift, but the air was smooth as silk as we made some turns near the gondola to try to gain some height. Lift had shut down a bit by this time and we made our way toward the valley with plenty of altitude. Making some lazy circles and taking pictures of the valley we had a nice extended sled ride for about 30 minutes of flight time.

Pilots that afternoon and evening got over 16,000 msl. A beautiful evening and an awesome flight. The Steamboat fly-in weekend had started.