Task 4 PWC Chelan, WA

So Task 4. We have an ambitious task committee as they have a called over a 150 km task today. The weather for today looked great, but winds were forecast to be around 12 mph from the northwest. This made the task mostly crosswind, but it turned out the winds had a more northerly component and getting to the first turnpoint became very difficult. Most of the pilots landed in the vicinity of the first turnpoint. Jack Brown was the only one in goal before the 8pm deadline. He flew the task in a little over 6 hours.
I launched at the end of the pack today, but it was no problem climbing out from launch as I topped out at 8,300 msl and still had 30 minutes until the start. Once on course we crossed the river and ended up about 1,000 feet agl above the flats and several of us worked together to climb out and get established on the flats. Ironically we were south of the course line at this point, and fighting the north to northwest wind component we kept south of the course line for a long ways. We had some nice cumulus in the flats, but some of the climbs were broken and small cores. Cloudbase was around 12,000 msl. The first turnpoint was Barker, and Leahy was the town just before. Pushing into the wind I made ok headway, but at Leahy I got stuck, found a couple of climbs, and frisbeed back away from turnpoint 1. While I was climbing out of Leahy, several pilots were to the east, and I noticed one pilot having some action. Was it to be? Yes, another reserve deployment, as I watched the pilot have about a three minute ride from about 4,000 feet agl. I was worried he was going to land in the lake to the east, but ended up on land and ok. I would push into the wind and end up low where I had started the last climb. Around Leahy there is a big gap, and you go into areas where there aren't many roads. Not being high as I approached the gap and fighting the wind, I chose to stay near a road. After about 45 minutes of pushing and sinking. I landed near a retrieve van.
I got 50 km, and another great flight, and still learning alot about the new glider U4 2010.
Overall the US pilots are still doing well and there are around 7 pilots in the top 15. The top 15 pilots will go to the superfinal in Turkey. Josh Cohn is in the lead. Results and info here at http://www.paraglidingworldcup.org/ .
Today the 22nd of July was cancelled due to wind, but the next two days look fairly good. Stay close for more excitement from Chelan.

More pics from Task 3 PWC

We got to meet some great pilots from Germany, Jakob Hummel, and Gunter Klaus. Jakob took some pics from task three of the dark clouds and the rain. I will post them here!

Task 3 PWC Chelan, WA

Yes!!!! Another 100 km plus task. Another several hours in the air, and another great abdominal workout. Today dawned with some clouds overhead. The forecast for Chelan was supposed to be mostly sunny today, but it turned out to be over 50% cloud cover most of the day. On the NWS forecast discussion they did mention a chance of thunderstorms and showers over the eastern slope of the Cascades, and the central Columbia river valley. That just happens to be where we are. I was curious to see if it would overdevelop, because where I come from if it's like these conditions, usually is over by noon with big cumulus. There were cumulus around noon, but it did seem it might make for a great x/c day with some cloud flying.
So, they called the task and it was 129km triangle. We were to fly north to Brewster, then southeast to 'bump in the road". then southwest to Goran Peak, and then back to the Chelan LZ.
Since I was very low on the priority list, I decided not to suit up for a while, which was the right decision since it turned out to be another slow launch day. The line was getting shorter, and finally decided to get ready, and then everything shut down. No one launched for 45 minutes, since there was little wind, and what there was was coming from the northwest. Finally, there were cycles coming from the lake side launch, and a few of us went over there. I got laid out, tried to pull up once and had a ground tangle. Tried a second time, and not enough wind, then the third time got a decent cycle and got off. I surfed the front of the west launch, and then sunk, so I headed to a saddle to the south, and hook a great thermal of about 800 to 1000 fpm. I was pretty psyched since the task had already started and I was 15 minuted behind. As I was climbing out there was another pilot to the south climbing. At about 9,000 feet msl I am circling and he takes a full frontal, glider goes behind him and then surges asymmetrically and he gets a big cravatte. His glider immediately starts to spiral and he then goes through the maneuvers of stalling to get the cravatte out. After two tries with no results, he hucks and is under reserve for a long ride. He gets on the radio and says he is ok, and another pilot lands next to him. Whew!
So I eventually climb to 10,000 msl over the butte, and I am trying to decide which way to go. The flats or the mountains. To go north to Brewster you can go either way. So I stay over the hills as I go north and find a great climb with two other pilots near the Chelan airport. We climb to cloudbase at about 11,000 msl. The two pilots stay in the hills, I decided to cross the river onto the flats. There seems to be more cumulus developing there. Once over the flats I see other pilots and find a great climb to cloudbase and go on glide toward Brewster. About 9 km from Brewster a few us find this climb to this huge cloud and to stay out of it we have to take a detour toward the Columbia river. Once on the edge of the cloud we made good headway to tag the turnpoint and head back. There was a lot of blue near the turnpoint and there was some sink, but on the way to the second turnpoint there was some great climbs with a big darkening cloud overhead looming. Since cloudbase was about 11,500 msl I went on glide at 10,000 feet msl and was climbing about 400 fpm. At about 10,500 I pushed 3/4th speed, the fastest I had pushed so far, and maintained for quite a ways. About 8 km from the second turnpoint began to sink, and I was concerned because now almost the whole flats were in shade. Once at the turnpoint I headed to the rim and was getting low, below 5,000 feet msl. I saw a dust devil and decided I would go towards it. I found a weak climb that got me over 7,000 feet and then headed 0ver the river to the third turnpoint and then, with all the dark cumulus looming overhead, and fairly overdeveloped it began to rain. I got over the river, and began to climb out in thermal in the rain, and the organizers called the task for safety reasons. So I made over 70 km.
It was an interesting flight having to stay out of big clouds, and pushing more speed, with the added bonus of flying and landing in the rain. Andre Rainsford from South Africa won the day with Yasushi Kobiashi getting second and our own Josh Cohn getting third. Overal Josh is first with Nick Greece being in third for the US. Stay tuned for more excitement from Chelan.

2nd task Chelan PWC

Wow, another 100 km plus task. This one was a triangle with two turnpoints in the flats, landing back at the soccer field which is the butte LZ. Since I was low priority I had to launch later, but that meant I didn't have to circle in the air for an hour before the start. Conditions were light on launch and a little switchy, so it was taking pilots a long time to get off the hill. It took me three tries today, along with many other pilots. Today was awesome over the butte. The start was right over the butte, and the climbs were great with pilots getting to 10,000 msl. It was easy crossing over to the flats and get established.

Once over I set myself up with several pilots. Of course I am one of the slow guys, as I enjoy just the sheer excitement of going x/c. I wasn't pushing much speed. The first turnpoint was Farmer again. It was a little easier to get there as we got climbs to 10,000 msl on the way. Once there we headed north to Leahy, which is about 40 km from Farmer. I ran into a little trouble on the way there, and got low. Finally getting a climb we passed the town of Mansfield which is halfway between Farmer and Leahy. From 11,000 feet msl, I headed to Leahy only to get drilled close to the turnpoint. It took me close to 45 minutes to climbout finally getting the turnpoint, and go toward goal. Lot's of late pilots like myself were looking for climbs to get out of there and make it over the rim to goal. By this time it was 5:45 pm and the thermals were beginning to get light, but also much smoother. I got a climb to about 7,500 feet msl ,and saw a group going up toward goal, so I headed toward the pilots, and we climbed up to about 10,400, and thought we were going to get close to get passed the rim and make goal. But, of course there was a lot of sink still and could not find another climb to get back up. A few pilots I was flying with made it passed where I landed by working the light lift, but being this late it was going to be hard to make goal. While packing up I saw two pilots, really high, and thought they were going to make it, but they dirted just before the rim. I made a little over 89 km. Not good for score, but a fun x/c.

The US pilots are doing awesome with Josh Cohn winning the day Dean Stratton getting third.

So the top four pilots overall are all US pilots after two tasks. Let's hope we can show the world we have amazing flying, and great pilots here in the states.

The weather looks great for the next 4 days of the comp. Stay tuned for more blogging.

1st task PWC Chelan,WA

And so it was, my first PWC task. The task was over 90 km with launch at the butte, start was just over the rim with Farmers being the first turn point, then to Coulee city, and goal being at Almira. I had been this way before and made goal, so I was hoping for a repeat. Crazy as it was, I got off launch safely, and there was great excitement, as we did not have to stand in line for 30 to 40 minutes. Since there is no priorityon the first day, there was a great free-for-all. While in the gaggle, with over an hour to start and a weak climb to get above the butte, pilots were at times flying pretty close. Next to me one pilot touched his harness pod to the trailing edge of another glider. It was ok overall, but I always tried to position myself in the thermal or the gaggle so I would have an out if I needed it.
Once above the butte, several of us left to get to the flats. It wasn't the best height to make the crossing, and arrived on the flats fairly low. There was still plenty of time for the start, but weak climbs and struggling I was worried. I saw a couple of pilots dirt just over the rim. The start had an entry cylinder and we could get some height above the flats before going for the first turn point. Just before the start I found myself inside the start cylinder and had to fly out of it, and back into the cylinder to get my start. I lost a little time, but not much. As the day was setting up, I was experiencing difficulty, either it was me or the thermals I was finding, because I wasn't getting as high as would have liked. It was a little turbulent, but I saw some pilots quite high, and somehow I was flying with a group that was stuggling. The thermals were broken, climbing at times at 800 fpm then sinking in 200 fpm down. So it was up and down. It was hard to make a symmetric circle to get a decent climb.
So, made the first turn point at Farmers, and found a climb right around the turnpoint with a few other pilots. Getting to about 8,300 msl glides were filled with a lot of sink. It was difficult to go on long transitions with so much sink. Just before a big crossing over a large canyon, a few of us got a climb to 10,000 msl. On glide I lost 6,000 feet in about 6 minutes. Low and in wind, short of the second turnpoint, I was getting drilled. Now what was difficult was to try to stay on course and find a climb without drifting with the wind too much. I was finding weak climbs and trying to drift a little and then fly upwind, find another climb and step up. Eventually I got back up to 6,000 feet msl. But I was off course line that I did not want to cross Banks lake without a little more height. I ended up landing about 10 km from the second turnpoint.
Well, made a little more then 59 km. Unfortunately, another reserve deployment. Pilot seems ok, but has a few broken ribs. Still Chelan is showing it's true colors and game on flying. No complacency here. Tomorrow looks a little better with a good lapse rate and less wind. Stay tuned.

Practice day PWC

Today was the official practice day for the Paragliding World Cup, and we couldn't ask for better conditions. The official task was to fly to Mansfield and back to the Chelan LZ, and it was 55 km. Cloudbase was at 11,000 msl, and very light wind from the west. What was the biggest treat was to fly at my own pace, thermal with few pilots, which made it easy to core any thermal you found. It took a mere 15 minutes to climb to 7,500 over the butte to easily hit the flats. Once established there we were just hoping thermal to thermal to Mansfield. Climbing to 11,000 msl it was fun to fly into little cloud wisps, as there was just enough moisture to form small clouds at base.

The flight took about 2 hours 30 minutes. Thermal climbs were about 1,200 feet per minute. I wish every day was like this, but then again, variety is good too.

Tomorrow is the 1st comp day. Looks like it may be a little windy.

We had our offical meeting tonight with live classical music. Wish you were all here.

Day 3, 4,5,6 Chelan Nats

I finally have a chance to update my blog. It's been quite the whirlwind event with long days, not much sleep, late dinners, and mayhem. I had some great days and some bombouts, but that's ok, as I reached some personal best during comps, and it's always fun hanging out with pilots you only see once a year. It's also nice to fly solo as most of the year I am on my tandem glider sharing the air.

So day three, dawned as forecasted. Winds were nuking at 5 am, and no one had to meet at the LZ to discuss the cancelling of the day. Sleeping in was great, and hanging out by the lake, getting some errands done, and driving some of the lake roads allowed for some recharge. In retrospect, the second task in my previous blog turned out to be a 600 point day, so just for launching you had over 150 points added to your score. So, if getting a good score in these comps is important to you, even if the conditions are deemed marginal, it's worth it to launch. And, many pilots did launch because they did not call the task. These pilots did not want to launch because of the marginal conditions, and would not have if it wasn't for the comp. Not good for safety.

So Day 4, task 3,opened as post frontal type of day, with winds coming from the northwest at launch, which is not typical. Usually we are launching east or southeast in the morning. The forecast were for the winds to pick up later in the day, even though the front went through. They called an early task to a town called Wilbur. It was over a 100 km task with a couple of turn points. They moved up the usual start times a half an hour because of the conditions. What has been frustrating is being one of the later pilots to launch. Sometimes it hasn't been a problem, but this week so far being later has been more challenging getting above launch then being early. The only problem if you launch early, you have to hang out in a huge gaggle for 30 minutes or longer waiting for the start to open.

So once in the air on this day, I flew to where most pilots were climbing out. Since we were launching on the west side of the butte, and the thermals were on the east side, you had to ridge soar up and catch light thermals until you were over the butte and then catch the lee-side thermals from the east side of the butte. Pilots that launched early had favorable light conditions and found the climbs fairly smooth. Once I was out there the winds had picked up a little so once over the butte I found the thermals trashy and very turbulent. I was trying to circle and just managing to keep my glider open. I did manage a climb to above 7,000 feet msl. I then decided to head to the flats, and could not find anything. I crossed with my friend Rob Sporer, and both dirted just over the rim. Many pilots thermalled to find themselves out of the start cylinder, and could not get back into the wind to make the start. Even tough it was an interesting day, many made goal, and some pilots, like my friend Muzzi, made there first 105 km task. Jan(Loopy), and Casey from the the front range both made goal that day. Jan was flying well with the R10.2, and was scoring well.

Day 5, task 4, turned out to be a light wind day, and so a 106 km triangle was called. The day was forecast to be high pressure with very stable conditions, and a blue sky day. Climbs were not to really get above 8,000 feet msl. The task was to go from the butte to Leahy, then Withrow, then back to the butte LZ. I launched early this time, and had an awesome quick climb out. So, there were about 80 pilots at about 6,500 feet msl (3,000 over launch) circling for about 45 minutes trying to work together to stay up and get as high as we could to make the start and reach the flats.

I had a good start with most of the gaggle, and reach the flats not to high. But we had a big group on our side, and we were able to climb out nicely though not very high. At this time we were finding out that flying with a group would be helpful due to the stable conditions. The going was slow, as we would get a little low, about 2,000 feet agl, which meant it was time to find something. I choked my way to Leahy and made the turn point, finding the climbs snakey. You would core a thermal, and then it would be gone, and you had to change you circles all the time to find where it went. Thermals were topping out at about 7,500 msl. Just before Leahy, we found the best thermal of the day so far. Climbed in that, made the turn point, and then came back to it. It got over 8,000 feet msl from this one, and now it was a headwind to Withrow which was about 30 km away. Casey had landed around Leahy as there was huge sink over the turn point. I even thought I was going to dirt here. So I got to hook up with Bill Hughes at this point, and Cliff Curry from Salt Lake. We wtuck together pretty much until we all dirted after the Withrow turn point which was awesome.

So from Leahy we got to Mansfield, and I was finding that we would thermal, and drift further away from Withrow. Frustrating since we had to push into a headwind. I finally found a decent climb with my friends, and we pushed on, trying to core anything climb we could find. At this time it was after 5pm and we had been in the air for 5 hours. Weariness was setting in, but we were pushing hard. Goal was closing at 7 pm so there was a point Bill and I push hard to the Withrow turnpoint, and found ourselves low. It was about 6:30 pm and the thermals had faded. Plus wind had picked up, so I dirted about 14 km short of goal. Over 6 hours in the air, a personal best for me. I did have to relieve myself quickly once on the ground. Awesome flight 90 km, and a flight worth the trip right there. Jan did well, and made goal 5th. He was in goal an hour before I landed. Go Jan!

So, one more day, day 6, task 5. They forecasted some wind again, and today it was found to be way more stable then the day before. Since it was the last day the task committee decided to call a short task. 59.5 km with and entry cylinder from Withrow, to Mansfield, to Sims Corner. Everyone thought it was going to be a short day, but low and behold, it turned out to be interesting. Winds were south on launch so we were launching the side called the green monster. It seems that when we have to launch this side, getting up can be difficult. I got to launch within a reasonaable time, and like everyone else, yoyoed above, and then below launch height several times. Finally, I boated around for a while with the other pilots looking for something, and then decided to head toward the normal LZ where my friend Cherie was hanging out. By herself, she began you work a thermal very low. I hooked in with her thermal and it turned out to be a screamer (1,300 fpm) back to about 5,800 and enough, so we thought to make the flats. No way. Everyone except maybe two pilots, who had the luck of the day, scrapped and ridge soared trying to get on the flats, getting weak climbs on the rim, and getting sucked back into the river valley. Many pilots chose to land, and I just hung in there. We finally found a thermal and climbed over the rim into the flats low, but it wasn't enough for me. I lost the thermal, and dirted right on the rim. The pilots I were with made it a little further, and Cherie made the first turn point. Some pilots got the climb out and several made goal. Today was some luck, some excellent thermal skills, and all patience. Great experience!

So there you go, the end of the first round of the US nationals. I didn't score well, but had some great flights. Made goal one of the days, my longest time in the air, and learning to fly a new glider. Next is the Paragliding World Cup. Many phenominal pilots will be here. I will try to blog more regularly, since now I have wifi where I am staying. Cheers!

Day 2 Chelan Nats

So Sunday looked like another great day to fly. Looking at the wind forecast, conditions looked favorable for a decent task. However, there were some reports that winds were going to pick up, but the wx service forecast said light winds to 12,000. Launch conditions were different today as winds were blowing from the south. It seemed there was a strong inversion at launch height, with no pilots getting above launch by noon, and smoke from a fire filling in the valleys below.

So, when the window opened a couple of comp pilots launched, but were not geeting any lift. The winds were increasing and it looked pretty stable for soaring. Eventually the inversion got higher, but that increased the wind and pilots were launching in 15 to 25 mph cycles. As pilots were trying to climb out, they got pushed back behind the butte, and would only top out about 1,000 to 1,500 over which makes it difficult to make the flats. Gliders were parked and some going backwards occasionally in the strong winds. I decided to hold off launching with strong winds coming through, and little glider penetration with the pilots in the air. Twice they closed the launch window because of many gliders in front of launch not climbing out. At 1:50 pm they decided to close the launch all together because getting off the ground became too dangerous. So there were several of us conservative pilots that chose not to fly. The meet director asked pilots in the air that were on the safety committee how the conditons were, and the concurred that conditions were a 2 out of a possible 3. 3 would have shut the task down. So, 2 or 3 pilots made goal. most landed in the regular LZ, we had a pilot air lifted by helicopter to Spokane after crashing in Leahy one of the turn points. So, true to strong Chelan condtions.

In two days we have had two crashes, and a reserve deployment. Today, Monday, we are completely shut down due to a cold front and winds 40 to 50 mph. Tomorrow looks breezy, but we should have a great lapse rate after the front goes through. Stay tuned for more excitment from Chelan.

1st day of Comp Chelan, WA

So, The first task for the Nats at Chelan turned out to be perfect. We had great weather though partly cloudy, which was good because it made it a little cooler. Even with the flats in the shade the thermals were still working. There were definitely less dust devils in the flats. The task was about 89 km which is 55 miles from Chelan butte to Coulee city with a dog leg to Almira. I had a late start as launch opened at noon with the start at 1:30. A long line started and I was just a little slow suiting up, so I was one of the last pilots off. I had to wait in line for over half an hour, and once in the air I had about 25 minutes to get high enough to cross the river to the flats.
I got to 7500 feet msl which was not as high as the lead gaggle, but crossed the river anyway and got to the flats low. That put me a half an hour behind at the finish. Finally finding a climb with a few pilots we started on course toward Coulee city. The sky was more then half full with clouds so I was worried that the shade would shut it down, but it kept working. I had once excellent climb to 11,500 msl and pushed a lot more speed bar and was able to catch up to come pilots that were well ahead of me. I made it to Coulee city with good altitude, and needed at least two more climbs to make goal. At this time becasue of shade the climbs were weaker and I was worried if I raced hard I would hit the dirt. So being patient just to make goal I took my time, and made goal. It always sweet to make goal, as everyone there is great spirits.
Today is another hot day, so I will post tonight. Stay tuned.

Chelan Training Day for Nats

Well today was for my first flight in Chelan, Washington 2010. Also my big first flight on the Aircross U4.

Conditions were very typical Chelan, with light winds on launch, dust devils pinging off the top, and super hot temperatures. But, as always, a great flight, longer then anticipated and almost a full triangle.

Once launched it took a long time to climb out above butte, and had a low crossing over the Columbia river into the flats. Once there we had an awesome gaggle that enabled everyone to climb out again. Winds were from the southwest, so my friend Jan, Casey, and myself headed to a small town called Withrow. I was slower then the boys, as I was trying to dial in this new ship, not pushing much speed. However, I was happy with the stability of the glider and surprised with this high aspect ratio wing. Not one collapse today. Once at Withrow we decided to go east toward Mansfield which was an easy glide since we had a nice tailwind. Awesome climbs to 12,000 msl with thermals pumping at 1400 fpm. What was amazing were the size of some of the dust devils in the flats. I saw a couple that were 30 yards in diameter or bigger. Cloudbase was 12,500 msl and reached it 3 times today.

From Mansfield the goal was to make it back to the butte, with a 15mph head wind it wasn't in the cards. So landed about 10 miles from Chelan Butte for a total distance of 30 miles. 4 hours in the air. Great training day.

Stay tuned for more blogs, and pics. I am hoping to blog daily.

Cheers, Greg