Valentine's Day, Best Flying Day of the Year

[Tony de Groot]

Wow! Let me say it again...Wow!! I think it had to be one of the best days I have ever flown. O.K. get to the flight. Well, I launched just a bit after Tony de Leo, so by the time I got up at Thermal Factory Tony was going through the pass at 4 grand.....rightttttt. O.K. so I'm a bit challenged. Anyway, was with a group of a couple paragliders at Montecito Peak and I mucked up a thermal, got low and they were gone. But don't worry, more PG's a coming and they did. I saw a couple get REAL low at Montecito but they got up and we hooked up and I was leading them until we got a couple peaks past Castle. The lift was still good but cloudbase was low, too low, but this dude and his buddy just kept going.... I don't know how he flies carrying around such giant cast iron balls but I didn't want to go there. It could be just an area of no lift and I'd be in the worst place ever. I don't think my tree cutting blade could cut through that forest.
So I turned around and was very stoked to make the technical journey back to Parma. Low cloud base and a Falcon but the lift was very consistent everywhere. At Parma I climbed up and then followed a cloud street where it ended at Cathedral and got really low. Just over the powerlines down in the shady pit. I really didn't think I would get out of there. I was kinda bummed to end such a good flight at Robbins. But a bubble on the NW edge kept me at zero and I was trying everything, ridge soaring, pushing out, snapping it, I was there for a long time. I finally felt something a little snappier and stronger and I latched on to that, flew fast and tight and ratched up until I let out a YAHOOOOOOOO!! as I was skied out over Cathedral and it's hikers. Then the flight got beautiful as the clouds over the Holly Hills were gorgeous, the water over the ocean was shimmering and I was flying through all kinds of clouds. I kept flying through the misties to the front edge and then climbing along the edge and moving forward until I was over Parma, over the clouds at 3700 feet just tripping. I flew out over the Riviera and it was bouyant as long as you wanted to stay up. It is so dang good that Bob and I think Marge went up for a second flight and are flying at 4:30. It was quite the day. I can't wait to hear the rest of the adventures of the crew and Tony, John, Bo and maybe Dean.

[Robb]

What a fun day! The views of the back country were specatacular (until you couldn't see it any more) I couldn't catch up to Bo and Dean, but I was with Brendan, Art, and maybe Irene all the way to the power lines. Really low cloudbase, had to know where the other pilots were and make sure you zig at the same time. At the power lines I got too low to get out, so I gave myself 20 minutes to get something in the dark hole I was in. Finally found some love on the ridge on the way to Snowball and got up and out.
Flight details here:
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/161193

[Chip Bartley]

OUCH

hell of a day to stay home (#@%$^&%*(

[oj]

...was with a group of a couple paragliders at Montecito Peak and I mucked up a thermal, got low and they were gone.

Well, if we had known it was "The Tiger" we would have waited. I was on the red/white/blue wing and Jonas (from LA) was the light colored one. We didn't get far though, it wasn't a day for mere mortals to go through the pass so we ended up at Padaro.

Vario Log: 900 fpm up, 1240 dn , max alt 4030, 1hr. 35 min.

[Southside]

Dean and I played leap frog to Piru -- although he probably had the most lead points. The Lightspeed does have a little more umph, so I managed to make it a tad further east along the 126. I think if we had reached Piru about 30 minutes later I 5 would have been a cake walk. As we were sitting on the ground a field of beautiful flat bottomed Cus formed over head.

Distance: 56.63 miles
Time: 3:20

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/161391

[BobA]

I flew twice today it was so good ! Of course I managed to drive up to launch four times though ?! Arrived the first time with someone else's glider - geez - Little John and I swapped gliders last weekend and I discovered it on launch today !!! Okay, I had to reset my goals for the day...

[Bo Criss]

I concur, GREAT DAY of flying. The view got a bit old though, the back side of Dean's harness all day, until he just kept creeping away. Man he's fast. It was a truly a scenic day with the snow, cumulous clouds, and wings dancing in the wind all the way down the range.

The fact that cloudbase was low made it challenging/interesting. Get high, just not too high, go on glide, get low, hopefully not too low and do it again. Past the powerlines it got a bit slower with wide overdevelopment. I had to run out to the low front points and be super patient to finagle my way to White Ledge. Slow climb at White Ledge then a mile later, pretty strong cloudsuck, then a big blue sinkhole over Hwy 33. Tried for the tried and true points near the Nuthouse, but got some pretty good sink instead. Landed on the 33, not beside it, ON THE 33. Can't say I like that LZ, but it worked fine without any traffic.

Dean snuck away as I had arrived at the Nuthouse. Fun Day!

[irene]

Fun fun fun... I am sorry for those who couldn't fly yesterday. There was lift (almost) where you would expect it. I flew to the power lines thinking that was my easiest ride there. Although cloud base was low, so the challenge was to make good use of each lift session. I lost Brandon and Rob at the power lines, decided to cross even though I was not very high, because so far it had been working so nicely. After I crossed, I found myself where I thought I would be, and the hills were sunny, so I thought I had a good chance to turn the corner. Well, that didn't work. I didn't find the lift. I decided to land on the trail (Chesmahu, or something like that!). Unfortunately, I hit some sink and landed short by about 20m. Big tall dense bushes for irene ! After 2h of cutting bushes with my saw, Bo was able to come and help. Jim Maddox and Roger came to pick us up at the Taft property and we finished our day with pizza and beer in Ojai.
Awesome day ! I just need to learn to be patient after the gap, but I fly so slowly that most of the time I am by myself over there and wish I were already on Ojai...

[Chris G]

Been there before Irene! Every time I've turned the corner, I've done it low, but EVERY time I've pushed on I've hit the motherload 100 yards past the hairpin turn in Chismahoo. It seems to be in the same spot every time. It's usually worth it to push on low. Then again, sometimes it isnt..;)

[Kabir]

So fun!!!
I couldn't make the meet time at Parma, but Corey drove me to alternator.
The cycles where light at first so we all played in the snow for a bit.

By the time I launched people where already past montecito.
The ceiling had already dropped so I decided to do some laps instead.
Pushed to the Thermal F, then out front playing with he clouds a bit.
The to skyport, then back out front over the roundhouse.
Then back to west-bowl on the ocean side and low at cloud base.
It was a nice view without the worries of being so low.

Then back to parma where it was nice to see the gang.

Wish i had made it early enough to take a shot at the pass.

But hey, cant complain at all!

K

[Dean S]

I’ve been waiting for a day like the one we had for over a year – 2 much fun! I thought the day had the potential to make it to the 5 freeway, and I was gunning hard, but it just wasn’t to be. Lots of peeps on launch, some of which I don’t get to see that often. Like always, I had the most fun working the thermals and flying with my friends. We were able to keep pretty close to each other all the way to White Ledge. Unfortunately, Bo got low crossing over the 33 and had to put it down in Ojai, which left John Scott and I to finish out the flight to just past Piru.

Today was a good example of how much timing plays a roll in your progress through the pass and beyond. Tony Deleo pushed out early, ripped through the pass and found himself in a huge blue hole in Ojai. He was just a bit too early to make the right connections in Ojai, so he had to deck it early. Had Ojai been working as it normally does, Tony would have been long gone, certainly well beyond the 5 freeway. Lucky for us, Bo, John Scott and I made it through the pass just before the cloud deck lowered to the point where it made it too dangerous for the pilots behind us to make the attempt. John Scott and I timed it fairly well through Ojai, but we hit a huge blue hole that extended from Santa Paula Peak to just a few miles beyond Piru. One more thermal and both John and I would have connected with the could street beyond Piru, probably bagging another 30+ miles. Instead we came up just a bit short. Just after John and I landed the gap began to fill in with cumi's, so I think John and I were about 30 minutes too early – bummer. Sometimes it’s all about the timing. Next time…

Big thanks to John (NMERider), he was kind enough to come pick us delinquents up. Thanks again John.

A few shots from the day (I edited my post to add a couple more photos)

[Kabir]

Dude!
The camera play by play is SICK!!

k

[NMERider]

removed by author

[ChrisP]

Those are awesome photos and video!

I had the best flight I've had in a long time. My brother Mike and I launched Alternator after Kabir. We topped out over the Holy Hills, then took a long glide to Montecito peak, coming in really low. We got back up and followed a hang glider (Tony?) to the power lines. Would have like to keep going, but we were topping out at around 3500, so we took the glide to Carp High. Beautiful day!

[Tony de Groot]

Wow. With all the posts and pictures from Dean and NMERider the whole day comes into focus. Dean's and NMErider's pictures are so different than most of my flight which was under considerable more clouds with much lower cloud bases. Launching early is the key to getting some distance fast in the beginning and for having the best chance at getting through the pass early before cloud base drops. So yeah, that was me with you Ojai John at Montecito and after you dusted me off I joined up with Chris and his brother Mike where we flew a couple peaks past Castle and then we were out front a bit. I saw Chris and Mike keep going but cloudbase was so low. I was wondering if you guys made it and I wussed out, again, but you flew to Carpinteria instead. There wasn't any wind to deal with so the flight back wasn't any harder then going to the power lines, it wasn't any easier though. You should try to come back some time, it's definitely a good challenge. I had just enough to get back on the range and work my way back where cloudbase at Montecito was even lower. I guess that low cloudbase made a lot of people split and go out to land, mostly at the beach because when I arrived at Parma everyone was gone. But, while playing over the LZ it opened back up again with cloudbase lifting.....all the way to the powerlines it looked like. I think you could have had a second, maybe even better flight from 2:30 - 3:00 till around 5:00 P:m. I just saw footage of Bob flying through the wispies after 4:30 which is just killer with mellow groove music....nice. Bob mentioned if you could just find a consistent place to hang out during all the overdevelopment and wait it would have all changed later with cloudbase lifting. This would have been awhile though.
I guess you have to follow the pulse of the moment and speed up when cloudbase is higher, but not too fast or you may overshoot the timing of development and slow way down and wait out the overdeveloped pulses. There's probably multiple bands of movement, like slow moving waves and none of us rode them perfectly. Some or most of us were behind the major development of the day. Dean and John rode it the best but were probably a victim of their own speed in the end??? Great information from all the posts, it was fun wasn't it!! Flight time 3 Hr 45 minutes