South Side 9/01/10

Pics from Saturday at the South Side.

Short Divide

Sunday as with every weekend this summer, the weather was hard to call. The day before was another skunk, so I was in no mood for any more bad calls - crap! Given the instability still present and possible over development lingering, we decided to drive north to the Short Divide, where there was less chance of OD.


Lisa V was set up and ready to go within the hour of arriving at launch. The wind at launch was strong but the site handles strong conditions amazingly well. However, after getting Lisa in the air I was a bit concerned about getting myself to launch, much less launching unassisted.


Cody called before I was set up to inform me that he was available for driving, and that he was on the road heading for launch. Since Cody lives pretty close, I was hoping he might be on top to help me into the air. He instead informed me he was an hour away and not to worry about the wind, "just inch your way down - you'll be OK".




It wasn't as bad as I thought, and soon I was launched and in the air with Lisa. To the south, in front of launch, the air was clear but over the back there were a few cells that were dropping virga - pre gust front conditions, not good. Once well established above 10 grand and well above Gunsight peak, Lisa headed north along the mountains on the east side of Malad Valley. I soon followed as it appeared the OD would stay NE of that area. We soon realized the wind at our altitude was out of the west, which typically makes for turbulent conditions. The air was quite textured with plenty of strong lift, as we made our way north under the building cloud development.

About as far as I got was Portage, about seven miles north of Gunsight. Lisa flew a bit further crossing into Idaho. In lieu of the strong conditions and fear of getting swamped by the OD, we both decided to call it and head back to the Short Divide. We drove back south and had nice landings in a field close to the Plymouth Chevron Station, thanks to Cody's guidence. As soon as we landed the clouds above Malad Valley were dropping Virga!

Even though it wasn't a long flight, the fun conditions made up for the lack of miles.

Cody At The Crawfords

One of my favorite pictures I've taken. Cody Dobson landing at the Crawfords. Hurry up and get well Cody!

This weekend was the start we've been waiting on. Saturday was one of those days that didn't look all that great from the info the soaring forecasts provided. Horse Heaven was the obvious choice for the day given the wind conditions. Even though the thermal index was mediocre, a few of us decided to make the drive south to Levan.



Lisa launched first around 2pm and had to do some groveling out front. Julian and I launched next and found solid lift immediately. By the time I was climbing through 12k, Lisa was at 15k+ and heading over the back. I was soon at 15k and made the jump over the back as well. Julian headed out front and landed providing a chase.



It was obviously one of the first great XC days. Even though the day could have easily yielded a 100+ flight, I ended up in Indianola for a meager 26 mi tour of Skyline, but a great season starter. Lisa landed in Mount Pleasant.

The Day

The day was........amazing. Driving in from the backside through Provo Canyon, the cumulus clouds were hanging low over the back of Timp and Cascade. Some of the cu's were well developed with pretty high cauliflower tops. As I continued through the canyon I had my doubts about the day. Once on top it was obvious the big cu's were drifting from the NE (the wrong direction). Cloud base was about 500 ft below the peaks, however as the day progressed the bases lifted a bit.

Set up! A truck load of panties arrived, which was cool because I was alone. amazingly the cu's coming over the back weren't penetrating to far west. Smaller Cu's were forming in front and drifting toward launch with nice accompanying cycles blowing up the face. I launched and to my suprise got drilled and headed out front. I found a bit of lift in Provo Canyon and drifted with it to the north side. It turned into something workable, but disappeared after a few hundred feet. Finally over the water tanks, above the soccer field, it came together. The lift was strong and disorganized, but cohesive enough to get me to cloud base. I tried diving back toward Timp, but that was poor judgement. Very ratty - still some lee side turbulence close to the hill. I flew back out front and was joined by three of the PG's. We all bobbled around close to cloud base for a while before they headed north. I flew out over Provo finding an abundance of lift. I played around over town for a while and landed in the soccer field. Airtime - 1.5 hours.

Got out late this afternoon at Inspo just in time for conditions to go south - litteraly. Just a short flight, but still fun. Was joined by Tom and Lisa.



The new T2.



Tom, Bruce and Lisa.

Sunday At Inspo

I did get to fly Last Saturday at the South Side. OB was there as well as half a dozen other pilots. It was a bit of a raw morning. The typical glassy morning air didn't last long. The wind was bumping up to 25 by 9am, and by the time I was set up and ready to launch at 9:30 we were feeling gusty spikes close to 30. I was able to squeeze in a few sorties on my new T2 before it was blown out.

This weekend We had a friend out from Minnesota. Dan and I flew hangs together back in the day. For all His reasons, Dan gave up flying in the late eighties and never picked it up again. Dan has remained interested in hang gliding so it wasn't to hard to convince him to drive for me on Sunday. Inspo looked like the most obvious choice for the day. It was my third - launch in a good cycle, get drilled, catch something over the sub-station just before unzipping, work zero to 100fpm lift to 7000asl......this year. I am thankful for that flight, but man, this year has been a bugger!! Is it just me? I am getting in a few flights on the T2, and realizing what a great wing it is - solid!


Not the T2. A vintage photo of one of my first flights. Circa - 1976.

Men Walking On Water

I saw this on a FB post - worthy of sharing.

Catching Up

just a bit of catching up. Flying has been inconsistent lately, but I guess with a few broken ribs mending it's been a moot point. Last weekend I volunteered to drive for Lisa V, and it turned out to be a great day for Lisa and fun day for me being on the support end of things. Lisa launched from Horse Heaven and flew to Payson for a 40 mile flight.

Today I got to fly Inspo (ribs are good). I got there a bit early and worked on the Bailout LZ. The forest service closed the road to launch to do some brush removal, but not before Shadd and a few other pilots passed. They were able to launch early and thermal up to the top of the inversion, which was around 9000asl. The road opened at 4pm. I launched around 4:45 and found a nice thermal near the sub station that took me up to around 7100asl. Lisa V launched a few minutes after me, and found lift in the same thermal. I raced over to the foothills above the water tanks, but didn't find much there. I settled for a nice landing in the big green LZ. Nice flight!

Inspo Season 2010

Got a nice flight Saturday at Inspo on my new T2. I arrived at launch a bit early and ended up waiting out some pretty strong cycles. There were some 30+ gusts on launch, and it wasn't till 3pm that I decided to harness up. I Finally launched about 4pm and was rewarded with a nice 1hr flight on the new wing. Great glider!!



Just a random pic of the area around Inspo.

Kettle Squats

Here's a great lower body/core strength exercise that's easy, and you can do it at home with a barbell.


Use a relatively light weight to begin (15 - 20 lbs.). Start with your stance slightly wider than shoulder width, with feet turned a bit out. Hold the weight with both hands - arms extended down. Keep your back straight as you squat touching the weight to the floor (I used a kettle weight, which is a ball with a handle).




With the weight touching the floor, your quads should be parallel with the floor. Return to starting position. Do two reps of ten three times a week.

Thanks to Aaron Mathes (personal trainer) - Silver Mountain Sports Club, Park City, UT.

More later.

Hang Gliding Boot Camp

This flying season I'm going to do my best to get my mind and body in great flying shape before the XC season. Typically in the spring when the conditions are good, I just start flying. Slowly my body tunes in to what's demanded of it, and by summer if there's enough flying, I'm in reasonable shape. I talked with a personal trainer at my gym and described the different elements where specific physical demand is required as a hang glider pilot. Take-offs and landings are the most physically demanding aspect of hang gliding, and in certain conditions flying in and of itself can be physically challenging. The personal trainer gave me a series of exercises designed to address several deficiencies in my hang gliding fitness.

On a warm summer day at altitude in light wind conditions, a pilot might be required to accelerate his body and a 70 lb. glider from 0 to 10 mph in less than four seconds. Most of the time if there is a light wind coming up slope, launching is more about technique than physical training. However, there is an occasional launch in which a pilot will benefit from muscle-specific strength training. Landings tend to be the most physical aspect of hang gliding by a good margin. Having a strong core and a developed lower body could be the difference between landing successfully in no wind conditions and giving up prematurely, resulting in a hard landing.

More later.

Digging Out

Digging out. We got covered a few weeks back and expect more this week.





The last month has been interesting to say the least. Just when you think it's time for things to warm up, mother nature does just the opposite. Three weeks ago we got over four feet of snow over a four day storm cycle. My snow plow broke into the second day of the cycle, and I had a nasty fall in the driveway while shoveling and broke three ribs. I've broken ribs before, but don't remember it being so painful. In fact, a few days after my injury I decided to get a doc to check me out. The xray of my ribs showed three fractures of which one was slightly out of alignment. Anyway, three weeks later I am feeling like I'm mending well and even contemplating flying soon.






Something new on the way. My new glider (green and black), was test flown a few weeks ago.

AIRTIME!

Has it really been For months? I think the last flight I had was the Northside around the middle of October. This morning I got up at 9am and meandered around the house for a while. With coffee in hand, sat at the computer and clicked on the usual bookmarks across the tool bar of Safari. Yahoo, ksl, Salt Lake meso net.....whooo! It's soarable and over 35 degrees! In 20 minutes I was loaded up, second cup of joe in hand, heading out of the sub-division. It was a great day! Lots of hangs. I remembered how to do it!



Soutside pic from a few years back. John Lindberg in the foreground.

OK Things Aren't That Bad

So finally we have enough snow to cover the rocks, branches and bare spots - not bad!

Mid Winter (sucks) Reflections

Just a few pics to remind myself What I enjoy most about the west. It's been a cold winter so far, with little snow. Longer days ahead.

More Colombia Pics

Not much flying, none in fact. Winter is set in and spring is to far away - somewhere in between. Colombia! hmm.


Manizales from the observation building.



Bronze sculptures at the ridge walk in Manizales.



Great views from the ridge walk.


Dad, our host and me.

Tulua, Columbia 11.01.09

Taken from the air, coming in to Cali.


Yesterday we made the drive from Manizales to Tulua, Columbia. It's an unbelievable 2 hour trip that starts at 7000asl, and slowly winds through mountainous, tropical countryside. The highways are better than most rural American roads - clean and well maintained. Tulua is a city of 600,000, and appears to have more of an authentic Columbian vibe.



The street in front of the church we were at this morning.


The locals do double takes when they see us. The absence of Americans here, and gringo influence is evident. At first the reactions from the locals seemed negative, but I believe they really don't know what to think when they see us (more so here in Tulua than Cali or Manizales).




The Juan Maria Hotel (Dad in front).



Looking across the street from our hotel window.

Colombia 10.31.09

Hola from Colombia! We arrived in Cali, Colombia this past Monday. There wasn't much of a problem with jet lag, given Colombia is in the eastern time zone. We did however spend Tuesday as a decompression day. Wednesday we traveled by van to the city of Manizales and were blown away by the City's stunning beauty. Manizales is a city of 800,000, built in the mountains at over 7000asl. Impossible to describe. Maybe the pics will help.





Our humble abode while in Manizales



Lunch with friends in Manizales

Today we traveled to the city of Tulua. More later!

Colombia Man!

At Salt Lake International, pausing for a moment of contemplation. Tonight I'm flying into Oklahoma City to meet up with my Traveling partner - my dad. Tomorrow we're off to Colombia, South America for ten days.



As the trip progresses, I'll drop a few pics and more information about our travels.

Habits and Trends

Photo courtesy of Dale Covington


A few mornings ago I woke earlier than usual. As I went through my normal get out of bed routine, I noticed something interesting, while at the same time disturbing. I typically sit up in bed, rotate my torso and legs over the floor, lower my legs and sit for a moment running my fingers through my thinning hair before standing. I most always let out a sigh or muffled grunt as I slowly rise towering six and a half feet over the floor. Then it's off into the groggy morning haze, as I feel my way through blurry eyes to the bathroom. However this particular morning I spent a noticeably longer period of time scratching, stretching, yawning and generally loitering at bed side. The trend - getting older. The realization hit sharply in the deepest resides of my gut, and a cold sweat followed. Without further provocation I moved rather hastily toward the bathroom. Determined to leave that nasty half dream behind, I turned the corner into the bathroom squarely stumping my big toe into the door jam.

There are obviously some things we can't change, like the speed at which we accelerate through life. But that introspective moment I spent at beds edge a few mornings ago left me with a profound epiphany. Though time will not slow down for us, we do have control over the habits, trends and unfavorable artifacts that are a direct result of living life. I determined to get my butt moving in the morning and put an end to the loitering at bedside trend.

In most of our pursuits where there is a level of responsibility involved, whether professional, personal interest or hobbies, constant updating and re-certification are a normal part of staying current. Doctors are constantly upgrading their knowledge base by reading journals and online references. They also attend conferences and lectures as a means of fortifying their expertise. Boards exams are required every seven years. The FAA requires a pilot to maintain his (or her) proficiency with annual check rides and stringent tests at each learning juncture. Doing it isn't enough. Learning breaks up the trend of negative reinforcement, and throws a wrench into the proverbial gears of bad trends and habits.

It's not a stretch to imagine after many years of flying hang gliders, trends and habits (good and bad) have become a part of my flying protocol. Like griping a pencil, every individual has a specific style they have developed through the years. We're creatures of habit. We like the comfort we find in repetition and consistency. Not always a good thing. It was surprising to watch a video clip of me landing at Crawfords a few weeks ago. The landing wasn't that bad, I ended up dropping the nose of the glider after flaring poorly and running it out. After a knee injury a few years ago while skiing, I developed some defensive habits that led to a trend of mediocre landings. Even after my knee healed, the defensive habits remained.

In the video I realized my body position on final looked as though I was bracing for something as apposed to being in the optimal position for a proper landing. My flare was hesitant and weak. That night I began searching the Internet for videos of landings, and happened upon a treasure trove of material shot by a California pilot, found here - http://vimeo.com/5106199. Anyway, I began studying these compilations of landings, of which were mainly filmed at the Andy Jackson Flight Park. I basically identified what I was doing wrong, and applied the knowledge to my landings in the days following. Clearly, I was in need of updating and fortifying my landing skills. The realization and willingness to commit to a learning episode in my flying regime has put me on a path to better my landings. Hang gliding is certainly an activity where constant learning and updating your skills will pay off.

I think a similar self imposed crash course on launching is next for me. What about you?

X Marks The Spot

Last week yielded a few mentionable flights. Site X was good on Wednesday. A north east system brought surprising results. Climbs to 10,500asl and an incredible backdrop made for a great flight.



Saturday over 15 hang gliders converged at the Crawfords. It was a strong day, with a few pilots experiencing scary launches. There was one actual blown launch, but the pilot and glider were spared significant damage. Overall it was a fun day. The air time was easy. I was able to add another 2 hours to my log.


Breaking down in the massive LZ.