Day Four, Task Three

A very tough day. The task committee revised the task to a less ambitious course just before the launch window opened, and they moved the window back in hopes that the air would start to lift better. But the high pressure continued to dominate. It wasn't a gaggle around launch today so much as a swarm - gliders sinking and swirling all around the ridge. June got herself low around Woodrat Peak (west of launch) and ended up on the ridge, unhurt but in the bushes somewhere below the peak.

I struggled to stay up near launch for a while but finally ended up sinking down below mid launch, almost ready to set up for the LZ, when I caught something strong and serious that seemed worth turning in for one last chance. Sure enough, me and another guy got back up above launch height, from down at the LZ, but we lost it soon after. After I lost it I made one attempt to head towards Burnt ridge, where some pilots had headed early to get pretty high, but I hit a wall of sink and had to turn back for the LZ.

Nikki hasn't been heard from since he launched - I assume he is one of the few pilot still out on course. More details later. I imagine the reports from June and Nick will be way more interesting than mine today!

Nickspeak:

Timing is everything. Today, luck favored those who waited. I can thank Reaper mostly for this one. He convinced me to wait on launch until another up-cycle. Everyone was slowly getting flushed and my strategy of immediately going to Burnt mountain to tank up depended on me getting slightly above launch and then bee-lining it over there.

I launched and struggled with a few shredding thermals. I found one halfway down the mountain and took it straight up. The other pilots saw my discovery and started to stream towards me. It felt good to be on top of the gaggle! Well, since I was above launch, I decided to leave the waning lift and head directly to Burnt. This accomplished two things: one, I could start heading toward somewhere useful before the sink cycle got fully developed; and two, I could leave before someone out-climbed me. :) I arrived at Burnt to turning gliders and immediately started climbing. Got to about 5500' (launch is 3750') and headed towards Rabies Peak. There was plenty of lift at Rabies too. I managed to get enough altitude to make it back to launch and bee-line straight to Burnt with no turns! This battle to get up at Burnt was more difficult than the last. I arrived slightly below the ridge and the thermals were pretty bullet-like. Another glider flew towards me and we climbed together in the ratty thermal. I then took a huge collapse, more than 50% and lost some altitude and it pointed me out of the thermal. I turned back to the thermal to find that strong lift, but it was very ratty. I decided to abandon that thermal and head north along the ridge to find the same sweet stuff I worked on my previous trip there. I found it and was in convergence heaven. Straight to 7000' and then must have hit the inversion layer...no more beeps. I then flew back to Rabies Peak and hit that turn point and found another thermal to tank up. Now came the critical decision: should I head back to Burnt and tank up there before the goal or try to make goal straight on? Well one thing that was egging me in the back of my mind was whether or not I hit the Burnt turn cylinder. It was a huge turn cylinder (1km), but I was not paying attention to my distance when I was working it. I decided to keep climbing until my GPS showed an 8:1 glide ratio to goal. I figured that would be enough to get me there with the forecasted tailwind.

Final glide to goal was a nervous affair. The forecasted tailwind was only about 10-15 km/hr. My ground speed was about 46-50km/hr. As I got deeper into the valley (of goal), my tail wind advantage started to diminish. My GPS was showing that I was only getting about 7:1 glide ratio, when I needed about 8:1 at this time. Those trees were getting awfully big! I knew I should head towards the edges of the valley to get some bumps off the spines, but the reserve deployment during the first task in this same exact area was fully in my mind. I convinced myself that since the valley winds weren't so strong, the rotor would be minimal. I gingerly moved over to the spines. The LZ was around the corner in the valley, so I still couldn't see it. Thank god that I had made goal on the first task and was familiar with the area. I would have felt extremely uncomfortable trying to find goal and squeak in there with little altitude to spare. Well, the spines helped me and kept giving me little boosts here and there. I tried to turn in one of them and got dumped pretty hard out the side. It was a little ratty near the foothills, but they gave me the altitude I needed. I arrived at goal with enough altitude for one S-turn and landing. Goal!!! Another score for the Hawaii team. I later checked my GPS for the Burnt turn cylinder and found that I made it with no problems!

End Nickspeak