Change In The Wind

Oh man! Can't believe it's been almost three months since my last post.  I usually don't go so long without throwing something out there.  I have mainly been finishing up on the remodel that was started over 18 months ago.  The place is looking great, and I must say, the time has been well spent.  As always, I  remind myself after a remodel - "man that stuff sure takes a lot of time".  And as soon as the words come they are forgotten. 

I have been able to get out and fly through this busy year, and quite a bit.  I had some respectable XC flights, one of which topped out at 80.6 miles.  This flying season I have flown the Crawfords more than any other year.  Due in part to the closures of several sites, but also because The Crawfords are just amazing mountains.  Last weekend Cody and I got to over 10 grand several times and landed in one of the best LZ's you could ever imagine.  Hopefully next year we'll get Inspo's bail out LZ back.  And maybe the repairs on the road up to Francis will be finally complete.  Until then, I'm content with the alternative.

One other huge development is the addition of new family member!  My daughter Melissa gave birth to her own daughter this year.  I never imagined me being a gaga grandad, but it's happened.  Sophie is here and life has once again morphed into a new shape with brand new goals, hopes and wonder.  Thank God for the brand new beginnings we sometimes get to be a part of. 

King 2012

July 9th through the 16th I attended the king Mountain Hang Gliding Championship.  As always, King is one of the most incredible places to fly on earth! With that being said, King can be one of the most frustrating places to fly due to summer thunderstorm activity.  This year the comp was plagued by daily storms.  But there were a few days that provided great flying.

       Our driver Sharron Lepardi and flying mate Lisa Verzella.

       Looking uphill at upper launch.  Approximately 65 competitors this year

        Upper launch.

       On one of the many off days, we explored Craters Of The Moon National Park

     Sharron. striking a pose at a really cool petroglyphs site.

      The 2012 King Mountain Championship winners. Yea that's me.

80.6 miles

After several skunks at Heber this year, yesterday yielded 80.6 miles from Heber, Utah to Mt. View, Wyoming. 

Lisa V and I launched within minutes of each other - around 12:45pm.  We didn't hang around launch too long.  Lisa was out on route at 13k, 15 minutes after taking off.  Unlike many Heber XC days where a pilot is hanging out in turbulent air waiting for the right thermal to get high enough to leave, the air was relatively smooth and great thermals were abundant.  I was 15 min. behind Lisa, and on glide for the cement plant (a great thermal generator 5 miles over the back) after climbing out to 11.5k.  Lift was consistent all the way to Coalville (22 miles out), with climbs to 13+k.  Lisa stayed ahead of me most of the flight, but our flight path to Mt. View was pretty much identical after discussing it later.  At Coalville I got a bit low, but found good lift that took me from 7900 to 13k.  I drifted back into Chalk Creek and worked light, unorganized lift until finding a solid core close to Porcupine Mt.  I drifted NE as the thermal I was in gained strength finally topping out at 15k.

The lift was over this desolate area NE of Porcupine was solid enough, that I felt confident to go on glide for Evanston. I arrived at Evanston (60 miles from launch) never getting below 13k.

At this point the route follows I-80 due east from Evanston.  We both had no problem making Oyster Ridge with plenty of altitude to spare.  There are gigantic wind mills scattered all over this area.  They were indicating a definite westerly flow.  We followed I-80 east, only to find strong west winds and little to no lift.   We safely landed close to the Mt. View exit, a few miles apart in 30+mph Surface winds.

Catching Up

So Iv'e been a bit complacent about posting my flights.  It's been a pretty nice spring for flying in Utah.  Most everyone I know who flies hang gliders, have had plenty of opportunity to get in the air.  Here's how the last month has played out for me.

Two flights at Bauer.  A great little north facing ridge out in the Tooele Valley.  Bauer is a big sand bar, very similar to the South Side at the Point of the Mountain.

Two really good days at Randolph.  The last part of April, over twenty gliders converged at this great Utah site.  Everyone had great flights.  I was able to log a few hours with several gains to over 13k. This past Sunday, Cody and I met at Randolph and had a respectable day.  Both of us logged over 2 hours.

A few weeks back, Greg Billow and I flew Site X.  It was a late evening flight. Given the lateness of the day and the sites history of skunking us, we didn't have great expectations.  It turned out to be a nice soarable evening.  I got 1200 over launch with an hour of airtime to add to my logbook.

Yesterday, Lisa V and myself drove out to Camels (Lisa's back yard).  A great mountain site down by Springville.  We were able to snag one of Lisa's neighbors for a driver.  83 year old Glen Rough. He was quite entertaining on the way up to launch, as he shared a few stories about some of the things he did as a youth.  The last part of the drive up to launch is a really steep 200 yard stretch of rocky off camber 4 wheeling.  Glen was content to stay at the saddle below.  Once we were airborne, we would call him on the radio and he would drive the truck down to the LZ.  As we were setting up, a group of motorcyclist came up the gnarly rutted out road.  One of the cyclist had Glen on the back.  What a hoot to see Glens expressions and hear him go on about the ride up.  I think overall the outing made his year!

I was able to get up in some rather ratty air, climb out to 13k and fly north to Orem.  A short but sweet flight.

That sums it up for the month.  Good start for the soaring season :)

Tuesday April 24th, I flew my first XC flight of the season. Lisa V and I went to the Short Divide along with our driver, Sharon L. The conditions were strong at launch with the wind crossing a bit from the west. Along the route to the north were developing cloud streets with the potential for over-development. Lisa was off first and thanks to Sharon, I followed. Within a few minutes I was circling and drifting to the back ridge. I wasn't surprised to find minimum lift because of the west cross in the wind. I slowly traversed the ridge until I came to a more westerly aspect, at which point I started going up. Soon I was above the ridge and heading west to Gunsight peak. Lisa had a nice side hill landing out front after battling the conditions for 40 min. The lift wasn't that great over Gunsight. After several minutes a large cloud moved overhead, consequently shutting down any thermal production. With a strong southwesterly flow, my usual LZ was going to be hard to reach. I decided to fly to the northwest and land along I-15 where there are plenty of possible LZ's. Once over I-15 I found some light lift and began circling. I burbled my way north drifting with the light lift until I found a substantial thermal that landed me at 10 grand. I was able to continue north, and after a few more climbs to around 10g I reached Malad, Idaho. I safely landed and about two minutes later a gust front from a cell that had been developing from the west hit with winds around 30 mph. 1:45 flight / 23 miles.

A Little Vid For You

Just a quick vid of yesterday morning. Includes a real nice slider by Dan M..

One December Morning

Here's a short vid I made of flying the Point last Friday. It was unseasonably warm and very soarable. Many pilots showed up to enjoy this rare treat - eleven all together. Also, I forgot to give credit to my good friend Phil Keaggy for his great music I used as background in the vid.

The Kaysville House

This is what I've been doing for the last seven months. We bought this great house in Davis County and gutted the main level. Here are some before and after shots of the kitchen. More to come!

Still More to Mention!

A pic taken at the South Side a few years back for the Salt Lake Tribune. Me in my old Talon.

Just a few more flights to mention. One more Randolph day and a South Side flight. Saturday October 22nd proved to be another epic weekend flight at Randolph. Lots of pilots and great air. A few newbies got their first high altitude flight, getting 3500 over in the glass!! I was able to add a few more hours to the log.

Monday November 14th, I made it down to the South Side. Cal was the only other Hang at the top, sporting a broken keel - a set-up issue. Even though he couldn't fly, Cal was kind enough to stick around and assist my launch. The wind was gusty, exceeding 25mph. Once in the air, it was reasonably smooth for late morning conditions. I quickly gained 500 over and explored the consistent lift out front over the houses. Cal was still hanging out in the parking area when I landed. Thanks Cal!

Dave buzzing Randolph launch in his Falcon.

A Couple Of Flights To Mention

The Crawfords. From a previous flight.

Last week I flew the Crawfords with Cody. Wednesday we drove up to Randolph and both logged 2hr flights. Friday, Sam and I added an additional 1:45 to our logs. Both days were typical fall Randolph flying. However, Wednesday I had to actually put some effort into my flight. As I took off the wind turned a bit south sending me below launch. I thought I was heading to the LZ, but did a bit of scratching until the wind straightened out.

Nice Landing

Cody aces his landing at Randolph last weekend.

A chosen few made the drive up to the Crawford's this past Sunday to experience a rare day of soaring. The forecast didn't look that great, just decent looking winds for the afternoon. We arrived at launch around 2:30pm to observe light southwest winds with some thermal induced spikes. I slowly set up expecting it would be a late glass-off. Cody, Greg and crazee Mike followed suite. Mike suddenly appeared harnessed up and on launch. Soon Mike was a grand over launch, leaving the rest of us scrambling to get in the air. Initially, we were experiencing nice reasonable climbs to 10k. The lift wasn't abundant, but consistent enough given the south component. There was an interesting cloud street dissecting the hill at a 45 degree angle. We suspected a convergence line, due to an approaching weak cold front. After a short while the wind clocked around, perfectly t-boning the hill.

As with prior flights on the Crawford's, I ventured out front at the end of each climb expecting to find broken light lift. Today was different! The cloud street was with us during most of the flight, dissipating a bit toward the end of our 2+ hour flights. Along a corridor a quarter mile wide and directly below the street, I was getting significantly strong climbs 13 to 14k all the way out to the foothills west of Randolph. Greg was finding the same amazing lift out front.

Everyone enjoyed this phenomenal soaring day landing with an additional 2+ hours to fatten their flight log with. Cody took the airhog award for the day, landing last with a perfect no-steper.

Just Great Flying! 9/3/11

S K U N K E D

Cody and I flew the Short Divide on Saturday. We knew before hand it might be a gamble given the soaring forecast. There weren't very many other options for flying because of the over development and possible thunderstorms in the area.

We launched around 4:30pm, a little late probably. I was the first off. I was scratching from launch to landing in the powdery, downhill, plowed bailout field. I actually pulled off my landing with several long strides, sinking past my ankles in the loamy soil with each step. I did drop the control frame on the last step.

Cody launched after I landed. His flight was shorter than mine. Cody executed his perfect crosswind landing, specially developed for this LZ.

Saturday Lisa V and myself had Heber to Ourselves. Mike Glassgow was along as driver. Heber hasn't been flown much this year. in fact, I believe Lisa and I were the first hangs to fly there a few weeks ago this season. The conditions were similar Saturday as it was a few weeks back - with a bit more moisture. We launched around 1:30pm into a thready 8-15mph wind. It wasn't a gimme! The thermals were hard to core. They were small and punchy with a definite shear cutting the lift off at 10.5k. We groveled around for an hour in the turbulence, then finally Lisa found a great core out front. Finally full turns in consistant 500 -1000 ft. per min. lift. We took that one to 13.5k and I headed over the back. Lisa hung back and rung out the thermal, climbing to 14.5k. We met back up over the cement plant outside of Park City, and worked some light cores until a fatty landed us over Rockport Reservoir at 14k again.

There were great cumulus developments on route, and several climbs took me close to cloud base. Back to the southeast heavy OD was dumping rain and hail over parts of the Uintas. The storm cells were not a threat given the distance from our route.

After topping out over Rockport, we headed N.E. to Coalville where my flight ended. Lisa flew a few miles further, up Chalk Creek, and landed in a great field in the narrow valley.

Great flight, awesome visuals, good friends!!



Bruce over launch.



Buce getting ready



Bruce launching



Lisa Verzella launching.

Steorts Arete

My friend Arno Ilgner Came out for the Outdoor Retailers show this week. Arno is the author of the the Warriors Way climbing books. Not only is he a successful writer, he's not to bad of climber either. I had the opportunity to break my two year climbing slump.

I Love This Place!

Cody, Dan M and I had a quintessential Randolph session on Friday. We arrived on launch around 2:30pm and were all airborne an hour later. The conditions were really perfect with the wind coming around t-boning the hill half an hour after we launched. It could have been a great XC day had we planned it out and brought a driver. Cloud streets were lined up heading straight out to Oyster Ridge. Oh well, we made due with 2+ hour flights. Definitely a flying site that deserves our praise!!

Oh, and of course Don Pedros in Evanston post flight!!


Archived picture of the ridge

2011 King Mountain Championships

June 11 through the 17 I was in Moore, Idaho for the 2011 King Mountain Championships. It's a hang gliding comp that happens every year at one of the greatest flying sites in the world. This year there were about 70 competitors at the comp, which is a good turnout for a hang gliding comp. Our team took second place in the comp. Lisa Verzella, one of the team members, placed fourth overall and had an outstanding 100 miler during the comp. Paul Alen, another team pilot got longest flight of the meet - 125+ miles. I must say, I was in awe of my fellow team mates. Most of the comp days saw big over development. Pilots willing to fly the tasks took on additional weather related risks.



Lisa Verzella, me and our awesome driver Sharon Lepardi (color girl).



Upper launch



Lisa launching



Our team Me, Lisa Verzella, Paul Alen, Sharon Lepardi and K.C. Benn.

FAVORITE THINGS- flying randolph

This is a vid shot last month at Randolph. The Bear River is way out of it's banks, and the flooding is evident. The regular LZ is under water, so we had to use the alternate LZ close to the hill.

Beautiful as always!

More Inspo

here's a vid I took from Saturday -