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!
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