Duran Swooping a Hotel

Randolphing

Tuesday 25 hangs made the drive to Randolph from SLC and the surounding areas. I believe, 25 hangs had great soaring flights over the Crawfords.

I launched around 4pm and soon after a litteral swarm of hangs followed into a premium Autumn sky. The wind was perfectly T-boning the hill at 18 to 20mph, with nice thermals that topped out around 9000asl.



Dave Holmgren passes beneath me.



Flying out over the flats.




Looking down at launch.



The LZ after most everyone is down.

Fantastic Video

A great base jumping vid. Thought I'd share.........enjoy!

Last Walk Around Mirror Lake - Boom Bip (Boards of Canada Remix) from FroschYankee on Vimeo.

Just Good Fun (part 2)

Once again, the Crawford's produced! Eight pilots converged on one of Utah's favorite and most scenic flying sites. The day began with less than great looking conditions, with light winds and almost 80% cloud coverage. Once set up on top, the wind picked up and the clouds began to dissipate. Dave Chapman launched first in light winds and immediately climbed out. One by one, all eight of us launched and found great soaring conditions. I ended up spending most of my flight over the flats. The lift was just abundant everywhere. I climbed to cloud base on three occasions, one of which was right over the the town of Randolph. I had to fly south of Randolph a few miles, and away from the cloud coverage just to get out of the lift.......cold!!


Looking back toward the Crawfords from the valley.



Dave, ready to go.



Jeff Sharp, a Colorado pilot, finishes setting up.

A few pics from my glider.

Just Good Fun

A shot Ryan Voight took of me launching at Heber.


I've been so pigeon holed with XC on the brain, I forgot how much fun it is to just go flying without the expectations of big miles.

Friday was a great day at Randolph. Liz, Berg, Greg, Steve and I had one of those days. Steve launched his new Atos, and what a beautiful wing. We all had great local flights. There was one mishap on launch (no injury), that prevented liz from flying. Liz came back Monday and had a good flight.

The new T2's are so nice, especially in stronger conditions. Greg, Steve and I penetrated up wind into a strong WSW flow at will. The abundant lift was topping out around 10.5. Steve and I shared one of the strongest cores of the day, averaging around 800 fpm. One minute Steve was there, the next he was a shimmering thin line a quarter of a mile out, then gone.

We all landed, then off to Don Pedros.

A Few Flights to Mention

This summer has been slow coming, with few great flying windows. However, there are some mentionable days to account for.

In August, A new sight called Red Cliffs produced a few spectacular flying days. On one particular day, I was the first to launch among five other pilots. In the first half hour of my flight, a nice organized cell landed me at 15k. With a brisk southerly component, I was able to cruise downrange toward Salt Lake and make Mt. Nebo in minutes. I have always wanted to soar Nebo. The mountains around the Nebo Area are some of the highest and most majestic peaks in Utah. There was a cloud street pushing northeast from Nebo all the way across the Spanish Fork area. The street looked like it dissected the Wasatch and extended into the next state. I ended up getting flushed and landing close to Pason for about 23 miles. My flight was eclipsed by John Glime and Shadd Heaston. They were able to fly back toward Salt Lake. Shadd flew to Provo for 50+ miles, and John almost made the point for 60. I was just happy to get on Nebo and enjoy the grand scale of the area.

Heber produced a few disappointments, as well as a few fun local flights. On one particular flight, I got the opportunity to fly a few miles east of launch to a mountain I have thought about pioneering. The lift on the mountain was workable and actually sustained my flight for ten minutes or so. I landed in a nice big field just below a possible launch.

Yesterday, Ryan V drove for a few of us. Kip, a pilot from the East Coast, Brian from SLC and myself had nice flights at the Crawfords. I was able to work some interesting wave type lift out front. After launching, I drove forward toward Randolph climbing through light patchy lift. As I continued there were short cycles of sink, then back into lift. This cyclic lift continued a few miles to the west. I dove back toward the ridge and enjoyed the rest of my flight thermaling on the Crawfords. After landing, Kip and Brian went back up top for a relight. The wind picked up a bit and we had to wait out until the anticipated glass off happened. They ended the day with rewarding sunset flights.