Big Day at the Short Divide (for some)

Set up area at the Short Divide - pic courtesy of Matt


Friday turned out to be a big miler for Cody and Matt. I had a great flight, but ended up on the short end of the stick mileage wise for the day. The crew convened at the Short Divide around 12:30pm on Friday. Cody, Matt, Greg and I were set up soon after arriving at launch, as the south winds were picking up. On the way up, we were worried the high winds in the Salt Lake area would manifest in Plymouth. The winds stayed below 25 mph as the last pilot (me) got off the hill. Cody and Matt launched 30 minutes or so before Greg and I were in the air. As I launched, Cody reported climbing up through 13 grand and that he and Matt were turning down wind. They were on their way! Soon I was in the air and high enough to consider going over the back and on route. I was just below 13,000asl as I drifed over the back in strong lift. Greg had been feeling out of it before launching and ended up landing in the bailout LZ 20 minutes after take off. An hour and a half after launching, I was setting up to land north of Preston, Idaho, just around 30 miles out. I had an uneventful landing in a steady, smooth 20 mph wind.

Matt and Cody were crossing into the Grace Valley as I landed. Cody ended up with a 70+ mile flight. Matt went on to complete his longest (84 miles) and highest flight (17,000asl+) - without O2 or a vario!! We ended up with a time consuming retrieve, as Cody landed out in a remote valley. Stinker!


On route - pic courtesy of Matt


All in all it was a great day of flying. check out Matt's flight details on his blog - http://mattsbigadventure.blogspot.com/