Drop the Rock

When we were in France, Jeff and I both carried important cargo. He made a post about his release of the cargo while we were racing in the Haute Alps. I released mine on our trip as well but for some reason have been reluctant to post about it. I had dinner last night with close mutual friends of Kerri (the artist who painted the rocks) and apparently, she has a blog recording what people from all over have done with their rocks.



For those who don't know or didn't read OB's post, Kerri Rosenstien is a friend and artist here in Missoula (at least some of the year;-) She created an art project which she showed here locally that consisted of painting a rock for each day that her father was alive and also painting her last name on one of those rocks for every day that she has been alive. She laid them all out on the floor at the show and encouraged each visiter to take a rock to "place" somewhere. It seemed that we were all able to help her spread memories of her life with her dad around the world. Missoula is full of well traveled people so the rocks have been spread far and wide, I'm sure.





Jeff and I both brought our rocks to Europe with the intention of dropping them from our hang gliders during flights in the mountains. It wasn't until the last flight in France that I was ready to drop mine. I tucked it in the cuff of my speed sleeve and launched in marginal conditions, not sure whether we would soar or not. Dustin, Jeff, Zippy and I launched together from Plain Joux and after 30-45 mins managed to climb above launch. At one very special time, we all climbed under a massive cloud bank that was cleanly pressed up against a beautiful sheer limestone wall. Dustin and Zippy had already left to try to fly back into the Chamonix valley and it left Jeff and I to climb under this cloud, taking photos and to be caught up in the sureal nature of where we were. We topped out just under and in the "white room" and took a quiet glide deep into the high, hanging valleys at the base of the upper reaches of the wall. It was crazy knowing that we were thousands of feet above the valley that we were to land in but back here, under this cloud and over the bright green grass, we were only a couple hundred feet over the ground. When I felt like I was too deep to not turn around and not high enough to go any further, I thought of the rock and smiled as I pulled it out. I took a deep breath and watched it drop into the grass before banking it up and flying back out into the valley.

climbing under the massive cloud bank. Photo by Jeff O'brien


The valley that my Rosenstien rock was dropped. I took this photo on a previous flight

fish and resin

After over 24 hrs of cure time, I was really excited and a bit nervous to pull the carbon off the new molds. Dustin had given me some advice that I was hopeful would pay off and after pulling the molds out of the vacuum bag, I was relieved when the parts pulled perfectly and cleanly. The new back plate and boot got trimmed, sanded and prepared to receive finish coats before bed last night.





Kara and I have some friends visiting from Minnesota and Aaron likes to fly fish so, we made a plan to get up early and use fishing as an excuse to stand in a beautiful river in the back country. We stayed up late last night so 6 am came quick. As usual, soon after I got my lazy ass out of bed and a pot of coffee in me, I was so glad to be awake. The sun came up and we made the hour drive to a nice run on Fish Creek. Aaron was psyched when, in typical Montana style, we passed a covey of Turkey, tons of Whitetail deer and a cow elk on our way to the river.



The fishing turned out to be difficult but we managed to pull a few on tiny nymphs.



When I got back to the house, I had nothing but carbon and sewing on the brain. I managed to get the boot halves together, the back plate finished to the point where I could draw some patterns from it, and after hanging the carbon to cure, sat at the sewing machine for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Can't wait to fly in this one.

Alex ready for a high flight

A friend from work was really into learning how to hang glide this season and began his training hill lessons about three weeks before I left for Europe. He was doing extremely well with a natural ability to remain relaxed in the air. It wasn't long before he was launching from the top of the hill, controling roll and approaching into good flare timing. On one of the last lesson mornings before I left, he pulled his quad badly and was unable to run so the break was welcome for him to heal completely. I came back and he picked up right where he left off. One of the first mornings back, we went to the hill with moderately windy conditions so he could experience being pushed around and to put what he has learned about how to ground handle in wind (gusting to 8;-) to good use. He did great and was ready for an instructive tandem before a last lesson followed by his fist high flight.

Here is a short video of his last couple of flights on the last day at the training hill


We woke for his last lesson to completely still conditions. I must say, I'm always plesently surprised at how good if feels to get up really early and set a falcon up as the sun is rising. Something about the perfectly mowed grass and the quiet. Besides the birds waking up, only a few are out and about. It's also really satisfying to see another person stoked on learning how to fly hang gliders. Launch after launch went off without a hitch and ended in Alex on his feet, smiling at the bottom of the training hill. The conditions caused him to have to pay attention to his angle of attack while running hard but was otherwise easy for him. We're both psyched about meeting up later this week for his first high flight.

Later in the day I met up with a student from last year for a flight from Mt. Sentinel. Sentinel is a hang 4 site because the LZ can be a bit restricted and sporty at times. Paul has had around 40 high flights and has the abilities to set up a sound approach and to land with consistency. Our club agreed that a H-2 with the appropriate skills could be "sponsored" by another pilot, H-4 or above, to fly from Mt Sentinel to build their experience level before trying to soar it in active conditions. The site has airspace issues, landing zone issues and is behind a locked gate that remains delicate. The pilots in Missoula are very careful and conservative with such a precious rescource. I can't describe how nice it is to have a really good HG site right over the town we live in. The convenience and interaction with the community are unparalleled.

Here is a couple of photos of Mt Sentinel.

Jeff and I race toward Mt Deanstone for another climb


landing at the LZ

Paul did great with a perfect launch and an approach that was identical to his plan. He pulled off a no stepper right in the middle of the LZ. I launched the T2C right after he landed and got to spin and loop my way to the deck. We were both feeling buzzed in the LZ, breaking down with the warm sun setting. Pretty cool day.
My friend Jimmy used to say "when you get to be outside to see the sun come up and go down, you know you kicked that day in the ass". I would have to agree;-)

What once was not, soon will be

I despise being bored so to have such an engaging project to be motivated to work on has been the perfect way to make time fly between comps. I used to come home and really need time, about a week usually, to readjust and to find the groove of the home and work routine. Being at a comp has it's own routine but being at home, with work and the balance and fulfillment that I find from my family, although obviously familiar, takes a little time to settle into again. The schedule of getting up and putting on scrubs to go to the hospital to see patients at 3:30am isn't quite the same as getting up for coffee at normal hours, wearing flip flops and shorts, while waiting for the team meeting or pilot briefing to start. It's not that I'm complaining, it's just a different song to dance to.



This time has been a bit different though. Along with the huge joy that comes from seeing my family, I have a new work project that has been keeping me busy and smiling. The difference between it and my work at the hospital is that I can't wait to work on it. A normal work day is to get up at 2:45am to shower, get to the hospital and work a 12 hr shift in the ICU, come home and get some design/sewing/carbon work done for a couple of hours, go to pick up Nya and spend the evening hanging out with her and Kara when she gets home from work. I try hard to be here, now 100% so it's this quiet family time that allows me to relax and recoup until we read books and put Nya to bed. Then, after Kara and I hang out a bit (especially if she has a website to work on) I go back down to the shop for a late night of work on the harness project. I am so motivated to get this prototype done and as it takes shape, I am more and more excited to fly in it. I really feel like it's transforming into a product that all at Wills Wing will be proud of.



I have arrived at the point where the sewing can't really go any further until the carbon is done so yesterday was all about the lay up. After getting valuable advise from Dustin (who is much more savvy with carbon work than I) I prepared the surface of the molds and got to it. I laid up the back plate and boot halves and got them in the vacuum bag to cure for 24-30 hours. I will pull them tonight and get to trimming and finishing the parts. I can't wait to see the shape take form. I just have to build my design for the capture system of the two piece back plate and finish the deployment bag capture on the inner skin before I instal the carbon and hang in it. To anyone who is interested or has been following this project at all, I'm stoked. It's coming along very well;-)



After getting the carbon in the bag, I took a hike with my dogs behind the house and was lucky enough to watch a major cu-nim drop virga and a nice rainbow out from under it's "shelf". I only had the camera on my phone so the photo kinda sucks but it was quite beautiful.

sewing and flying

Well, it's been a crazy couple of weeks after returning from Europe. Between getting work done here in my shop, working at the hospital and flying as much as possible to be in good form for Texas, my head has been spinning. Two things seem to really help me find balance. One is the time when I am actually flying. Being in the air makes all else fade away. The other, and the most important and enjoyable, is spending quality time hanging out with my family. My daughter brings so much fulfillment to my life and watching her grow up is a privilege that makes me feel like the luckiest man in the world.



After we flew from Germany to Canada and made the drive back to my home in Montana, Jeff stayed for a few days to get some work done and to maybe do some flying. I worked a 4 day stretch at the hospital upon returning but when we finnally did get to go up Sentinel for a flight, it was a good day and we were motivated to get some photos. We each spent around an hour on launch getting our mounts sorted and cameras set up. Jeff set up a LONG wing mount that wrapped up and around his leading edge making for a pretty unique perspective. I'm psyched to see what he came up with. I set up a nose mount which required a heavy chunk of rebar at the end of my stinger to counter balance the camera weight. I really like the images afforded by this mount. I think I got a couple of good ones;-)



After a couple of nights in the shop sewing a new zipper into my Rotor harness and spending time working on design and finish work for my own project, I was feeling in need of a fly. One of my students from last year had mentioned that he wanted some thermal lessons and called to ask if I could go flying. I made some calls which formed a small group to head out to Tarkio. It was 98 F here and after reviewing Dr. Jacks thermal forecast, I had a feeling it was going to be strong. It was fairly high pressure with a low spinning to our north so the edges would be sharp and the lift punchy. I was looking forward to it.


Josh, Craig, Paul and I arrived on launch to find strong cycles rolling up the mountain and birds climbing into the sky like winged rockets. After helping everyone get off safely, I launched and confirmed Josh's reports that it was indeed turbulent. I found a couple of sheer layers and discovered that between 5000' and 6200' was the power band to stay in. The lift went to 10,200' but the wind increased from L & V on the ground to 18-22mph at altitude. The amount of sink and turbulence associated with the air surrounding the lift was King Mountain esque. I really wanted to do an out and return up the valley and between 5-6000', the headwind component was more manageable. Even though it felt semi low, the thermals were abundent and I was able to make fast progress with glides between thermals averaging 48mph. There is one big, bald, grassy mountain that overlooks the town of St. Regis that I have always dirven past, looked up at and thought about how cool of a flying site it would make. I made this my turnpoint. When I got there, I climbed to the top of lift (10,000) and used the higher winds to my advantage to return to the Tarkio valley with a 20mph tail wind. I had to take a few circles to make "goal" arriving at 100' with high speed. The short 45 mile out and return took about an hour. Even though there was some wicked patches of air, the flight was really fun and left me buzzing in the LZ. We made the drive back up to launch to retrieve the rig and Craig and Paul took another flight. It was a perfect way to end a great day.


passing Superior on the way to St Regis. It's a blurry photo but at least you can see me smiling;-)

homeward

Sitting at work back in Missoula, I am finally feeling a bit settled. I am thinking back on the last few days with tired eyes and a big smile. It was another memorable trip with lessons learned and so many amazing experiences that it makes me glad for photos because there are many that would have been lost in the "here and now" nature of such an adventure.
After our last flight in Chamonix, Dustin and I went into the village to find some food and wine. We were soon joined by Jeff, Zippy and Katie at a little restaurant called Le Caveau. We assumed that it was once a wine cellar and it really had a cave like feel with arched ceilings and stone walls. The food was great and the company was better.

Here is what Dustin looked like after a bottle or two of red wine;-)




The next morning, we piled into the van and drove the 12 or so hours to a little town just outside of Dusseldorf called Hilden. The town had amazing character and seemed to be busy with locals and tourists. Belinda had gone way above and beyond spending hours on the web trying to find us a hotel to stay at that was rich in character but also reasonable on the budget. We ended up in a really nice little place within walking distance from the town square in Hilden which made for a nice afternoon of people watching. We had a nice night out to dinner knowing that Davis and Belinda would fly back to the States the following morning.




After Jeff took Davis and Belinda to the airport in Dusseldorf, we spent the morning short packing gliders, organizing our stuff for our own flights and taking the interior panels off the inside of the van to pound out the dents and damage that the gliders caused to the roof. We rented a brand new Mercedes 9 passenger van with 9 miles on it and were about to return it looking like it had been used in a rally race (typical). It was surprising how many dents we got out and how good it looked. Unbelievably, we would get our deposit back and were not charged anything additional. Lucky!

Last year in Griefenberg, Jeff found a pair of lace, black panties on launch. He had taken them with an agreed upon intention to give them to whichever American placed the highest in the upcoming comps for this year. Dustin brought them from Florida and because of his brilliant performance, Zippy was awarded the panties and in true form, put them on to model his placing proudly.

Americas next top super model






The next day, Zippy and Katie took us to the airport and after an unbelievably easy check in, Dustin, Jeff and I sat and talked smack until our flights boarded. We had a 10 hour flight followed by a 10 hour drive back to Missoula where we arrived at 3 am with just enough time to spare to take a 10 minute shower before heading into the hospital for a 12 hour shift. I was delirious by the time I got off work but psyched to see my family and to catch up on sleep.

Just 3 weeks until Texas. Hopefully, the currency and lessons learned in Laragne will help us to do well. Our gliders are going extremely well, we are fit and hopefully we will be fast. Can't wait for another opportunity to improve.
Cheers

Chamonix. last flight in France '09

We drove from Laragne to Chamonix yesterday after the awards ceremony and arrived at our home for the next two nights around 8:30 pm. We are staying in a Swiss style chalet that is a short walk to the village. It is the weekend so the village is full of international tourists, climbers and locals. We went out for food last night but we were all very tired so it was pretty easy to crash early.

We woke up this morning to blue skies with just a few cu's popping above the high peaks of Chamonix. We had some breakfast and coffee and were feeling motivated to get in the air. Breakfast was really nice. I feel satiated on mornings like this morning. Having breakfast with good friends in the sun in a place like this, with nothing to do but to drive into the mountains and fly a hang glider is a bliss that is hard to describe.

We drove up to the perfect launch on Plaine Joux and the clouds had started to dominate the sky. I would say that at least 75% of the sky was covered in heavy looking black bottomed cumulous congestous. It looked as if it could rain but didn't seem to have any power in it to gust front so we were all keen for a fly and set up. Dustin hadn't flown here yet and Zippy, Jeff and I were looking forward to flying in these mountains. Although we all love the competition experience and how it changes you as a pilot, I think we were all pretty psyched to just go for a free fly with good friends.



Dustin launched first, with me just behind him. I got a couple of circles off in light lift before Jeff and Zippy launched one after another and came over to join us. We spent maybe a half an hour scratching just above the tree tops, trading who was on top and all searching the ridges and peaks for lift. I was really enjoying the going with these guys. We were all current and felt comfortable in the light lift.

Dustin found something that turned into a solid climb over the LZ and as I flew over to him, I found a little better value. He came over above me and we climbed until Jeff and Zippy joined us. It was so cool turning as a group of 4, all at close to the same altitude, in the same light thermal. It was so relaxing and mellow but we were all trying with intention. Just when I started to laugh out loud a bit, Jeff came over the radio to say how stoked he was. I could tell all were enjoying the climb.


Dustin on glide


We worked our way back over launch and took turns strafing and interacting with the people on launch. The air was so nice that we could take turns blowing though the set up area and over launch with 5 feet and 65 mph of airspeed. I saw Zippy do a really nice wing over right over launch, strafing down the launch at the back side of the maneuver. I was stoked.

After the round robin, we tried hard to climb higher with hopes of making it back into the Chamonix valley. If we could make it, we would land close to where we were staying but cloud base was so low and storms seemed to be brewing so we were a little dubious. I took some video while I was thermalling close to a huge limestone wall with the top completely obscured by a cloud bank. Here is the video. Unfortunately, I held the camera pointing a little too low so you cant see the cloud except in a very quick flash. Right above [in this video] is a solid bank of dark cloud right up against the rock, completely covering the ridge. The video starts out with us climbing together close to the beginning of our flight and transitions into climbing against the wall.



We reached a surreal, dream like place at the bottom of the cloud (or just in it if your Dustin) and flew back into the green, alpine, hanging valleys in the highest saddles. Zippy said that he and Dustin were going to try to make it back to the Chamonix valley LZ. I didn't feel like I had the altitude so I peeled off with Jeff just behind and a little lower. He came with me and on our glide toward another peak with a rock face on it that faced the sun, we saw Zippy and Dustin there already. We joined in trying to gain some height but it was really soft and scratchy. Dustino ran around the peak looking for lift and promptly got hammered by switchy winds and rotor and had to land on a plateau between the lower and upper valleys leading toward Chamonix. I climbed in light and broken conditions just high enough to make the glide back out to the front of a peak that overlooked the main Plain Joux LZ. Jeff came with me but was lower and wasn't sure he was going to make it. When he got around the corner, he found a bubble and quickly climbed back up to me. Zippy was still working it over the peak that we had just left.



We decided that we would have a bit of an expression session. I flew out over the LZ after about 1:40 in the air and did a couple of loops into a spin. I am really liking the spin entry from the tail end of a loop. It feels really good and seems like a good way to enter clean. Dustin advised me on a better way to exit and I tried it. It felt safer than what I had been doing and I was stoked. Got one more spin in before setting up to land.

It made me smile and giggle a bit, like when you giggle before going over a drop in a roller coaster, to watch Jeff and Zippy do steep maneuvers into the LZ. In good conditions, some of us have all been trying a low down wind, full VG, full speed approach pattern in ground effect before turning into the wind and ground effect for a flare. I've witnessed Dustin do it with perfection. Zippy told me a couple of days ago that he wanted to try to dive into ground effect going upwind, then climb a turn into a diving down wind and completing the approach by climbing into a turn for an up wind leg to flare. When I saw him diving up wind, full rope, I knew he was going to try it. He pulled it off with Jeff and I laughing. What a cool last flight in France. We shared a couple of bottles of wine in the LZ while breaking down and then Katie drove us to go get Dustin.

When we got back to the hotel, Dustin and I walked into town for food. Lightning started to flash and it doun poured like I've rarely seen. We walked back (actually we took off our sandals and ran back) the k or so back to the hotel feeling satisfied that we got to fly for almost 2 hrs on a day that was now unleashing torrents. We were drenched but stoked. Pretty cool.

2 more days

Well, the comp is over and the last two days were exciting. Two days ago, we drove up to Aspres with the hopes of getting a task in and we were encouraged by the forecast that the chance for over development was much less than the day before. When we were driving up launch, the clouds were already getting big and we were doubting that the forecast was correct. Again, I suited up early because I really wanted to get in the air and because I was really keen to try to have at least one or two days where I felt fast. The task was to be a basket weave of the valleys and included 7 turnpoints. It was going to be technical, fast and important to try to do as well as possible if the US team was to stay in decent position (or gain some ground back). I launched and climbed out, jumping down the ridge to the west to try for a good start position. Soon, the entire feild was there and it was to be one of the most aggressive and tight gaggles of the comp. Apparently, there were two mid airs (with no serious concequence) and now, I wish I would have taken some photos because it was such a spectacle to see the intensity of the large gaggle. I was too focused (and intimidated to take my hands off the bar) to pull out the camera. While the group fought it out I took advantage of being one of the higher gliders and jumped with my team across the valley to the south for a different line out of the start circle. I was surprised when the group did not come with us. When we got there (joined by around 12 other guys) we climbed out and were in great position for the second start. Many had taken the first, being convinced that the day would over develop. It turned out that our line was better and we made up time by racing back directly over the Chabre launch and catching many from the first start at the first turn point. I felt for the first time this comp like myself and having strong climbs and fast glides started to gain confidence. I got the first turn point high and had a good line with the leaders to the second. The groups were thinning out, chosing slightly different lines and I was with a group that I was really enjoying flying with. I dove into the peaks with my good friend, Swiss Nick, and we were rewarded with a good climb (5mps) to base. I topped out with Dustin who had taken the first start just above me. He wisely gave advice to top out for the long glide back across the valley toward Beaumont, which is back to the north of the Chabre launch. By the time we got there, the clouds were getting big and the lift was really strong. I felt like we had better go very fast to beat any chance of them stopping the task and we blazed into the peaks, tagged the turn point and came back to the last climb at the edge of the range. My last climb was very strong, ending at base and I pulled in to stay out of the clouds until flying away while just barely getting whited out. I had to glide across the valley to the next turn point, all of the way back but further to the south to the last over a ruined castle and then final glide the short 2 k's into the goal feild. My 6030 told me that I had this entire glide to goal by 2500' and I was stoked because there were only a few in front of me and most were from the first start. Maybe today, I would have a good result, I thought. I glided through the turn point and noticed the embedded thunder storm behind the turn point, semi startled about how big it had gotten. When I turned to cross the valley to the castle, I was greeted by a pretty substantial head wind. My vario claimed that I still had plenty and I started to best glide. I made it about half way across when I sarted to doubt. The wind had built substantailly on the ground and was increasing fast the lower I got. The more sink and head wind, the faster I had to fly to try to be at best glide. Also, the closer I got to the turn point, the closer I got to the range which was creating a huge rotor. To add insult to injury, the turn point was on top of a small hill and the only passage if you were low that didn't include scraping over houses was to the left (down wind and worse rotor). The problem was that the castle sat on a small hill that over looked a river bed on the other side (about 500' agl) and although it was perpendicular to the direction of the increasing wind, there was a strong ventury down the river creating a very powerful rotor. I couldn't believe my eyes. I was dropping out of the sky with a 4-1 glide ratio at less that 2 ks from the castle. I would barely squeak over the ridge, hoping to ridge soar the castle on the other side and glide into goal. In the end, I got crushed by the rotor and had avery exciting landing in turbulence that no one should have to land in. I managed to pull it off, turned around and watched in horror as all who were following suffered the same fate. Olav Opsinger broke his entire control frame and Carl Wallbank dumped hard, breaking a finger and gashing his leg bad enough to go to the hospital for 40+ stitches. Davis ended up landing in a feild a few k's back and almost had to fight a farmer and his brother to extracate his glider from their feild. It ended up working out because I later found out that they had stopped the task a few minutes before I landed because of the thunder storm and although I didn't get arrival points, I still ended up scoring for the team which felt good.

Yesterday was to be the last task of the comp and the weather looked like it would cooperate. The task commiittee called a 100 mile triangle through the mountains in a similar path as the first day. The wind was to be stronger as the day went on and the lift was to be strong. The Chabre launch was hot and rocky but we set up on top because it would give us an opportunity to launch from either the north or the south. There were up to 25 km NW winds forecast but at Chabre, light cycles come up the hill making it possible to launch both sides as well as creating strong dust devil conditions. I launched to the north and climbed to base quickly, followed by a few glides and climbs to hook up with the team up the ridge line to the west under a big dark cloud. As often happens with 30-40 minutes before the start, we all tread milled to cloud base and out from under the cloud to not get sucked into it, losing altitude before re entering the lift to gain height and position again. The game is to time it perfectly to be on the lead side and at cloud base in the seconds before the start. Our team took a great start and left with almost the entire gaggle. I took a line deeper in the mountains with about 15 guys and flew mostly with Mario Alonzi (sp?) from the French team. We had a good run and got to the first turn point after strong climbs and fast glides after which we turned to climb with the gaggle that took a line to our east climbing off the toe of the range. My group stayed mostly together and as we approached Aspres as Dustin got on the radio and warned us that Aspres launch side was turbulent, contained a lot of strong sink and to get there high if that was what we were going to do. I topped out watching gliders head that way and drop out of the sky. Instead of following, I took a hard right and flew to a peak on the opposite side of the valley (to the south east), again with Mario and we were rewarded with a nice climb. We jumped one more peak on that side of the valley, got high and then made the transition to the largest peak in the area (Peak de Bur) where we got to base in a climb averaging 5-6 mps. The glide to the second turn point ended with our group fairly low and Davis who was just behind would land with many others. I climbed in the middle of the valley and was pleasantly surprised to see OB just above me. The wind was very strong and cross/head making the last leg time consuming and difficult. I reached 25-2600 m several times but every glide into the wind ended with me being low on the peaks. In the end, a little more than half way to the third turn point, I had to dive into the lee to look for lift and got a serious flushing to a nice mountain top town with a couple of other pilots. Belinda and Davis were close behind and we drove a bit further toward Sisterone to pick up OB who had landed on his way to the third as well. It required concentration to not be really disappointed in my performance here but I did my best, learned numerous lessons about how to fly in the big and complex Haute Alps and gained valuable perspective. Manfred Rhumer (3 time World Champion who landed before the first turn point on this last day) said, to win, you must first learn how to fail. Only then are you able to be prepared to succeed.

I just returned from the awards ceremony and it was great to see Alex Ploner crowned the World Champion. It was also cool to see Dustin and Zippy in the top ten flying their WW T2c's. It's a huge factor in their success to be flying such a well designed wing. As for us as a team, we were interviewed for XC mag this morning and we all expressed the sentiment during that interview that this is just a beginning for us as a team. We are a very young team and we will continue to grow and become more cohesive. We are pushing each other so that the group improves collectively. All these guys inspire me to do my best and continue to get better. Hopefully, in Monte Cucco, we will still be improving and make a strong showing towards the podium.

On our way to Chamonix for a day of flying before heading to Dusseldorf to fly back to Canada followed by a drive back to the States. Cheers

Today we were sent back to Aspres with hopes that we would be able to have a successful task before the forecast for over development set in. When we left town, the skies were blue with a few cu's popping in the mountains. The mood in the van was good and the group was enjoying the music and looking forward to flying.

When we arrived on launch, the relaxed atmosphere of the Aspres launch was tangible. The set up area is huge and covered in green grass with intermittent wild flowers. Also, there has been a ordered set up but an open launch which adds to the relaxed attitude. The winds today were blowing right up the hill with a perfect 10 mph breeze. The entire field seemed stoked, although a bit dubious about the growing cumulous behind launch, especially over the big "Peak De Burre". Heather had filled in the task board with a run around the mountains but after observing the growing development, the task committee decided on a shorter task to try to allow us to get a fast but valid day of racing. We all got the new route entered and had about 25 minutes before the launch window opened. Because it is an open launch and it was already soar able (and mostly because I wanted, at all costs, to not allow myself to get trapped on the hill again) I got suited up and was the first one waiting in my line to launch. I also knew that it was possible that they would stop the task or even call it before we got going. If I got off early, I would maximize my airtime for the day, have a good chance at being in a great position for a good first start gate and last but not least remove all chances of getting stuck on the ground all together.

When the launch window opened, Davis punched off in a line about 80 yards to my right followed by me. We were joined by about 40 other guys within minutes because launch conditions were ideal and people were able to walk right up and in the air with no dramas. It is always intense and very fun to ring up to cloud base with a bunch of good pilots. I saw and exchanged waves with friends and jumped from gaggle to gaggle down the ridge to the edge of the start circle.

If you look close, you can see gliders driving around cloud base

The clouds were growing really big, really fast and we were climbing in 4 mps lift right to base. The bottoms of the clouds were at variable altitudes so the group would "tread mill" by climbing in strong lift to cloud base and just before (some just after) getting whited out, we would fly out the leading edge into the clear, lose 2-300' before flying back under the cloud again to gain height. The whole gaggle kept this up for around a half an hour. When I launched, we had an hour and thirty minutes but after this tread mill session continued to the point that the cloud we were under was starting to collapse and rain behind us, we had around 15 minutes left before the first gate. Jeff, Davis, Zippy and I were in contact with Dustin and were in the process of hooking up back towards launch to take a clean start together when the safety director came over out frequency to call the day due to Cu- Nimbs on course and over the start circle. The order was given to fly back to the relatively clear skies in the south and it seemed obvious that most would land, 15 or so k's back, at the Laragne camp ground. Jeff, Zippy and I took a few glides and a few strong climbs to make it back to the east side of the feature we refer to as the "volcano" to attempt to hook up with Dustin for a photo and expression session.


On glide back to camp

The air was nice (even with the strong lift) and it seemed appropriate to burn it in a bit. Jeff came over my sail at high speed (maybe 5 feet over) laughing and Zippy set up with his camera behind. After Jeff zoomed off a bit, I dove into a few loops and tried to exit the last into a spin. It felt like a cool way to enter a spin and worked very well. Dustin had told me that this was a good way to enter a spin but I was a bit scared of it. After trying it, I am psyched to practice. I ended up doing a couple more loops and a spin on the way in, setting up to land with gliders everywhere in the sky, raining into the LZ. After landing, I watched Dustin do 5 loops right over the LZ followed by a high speed, full VG pass down wind (maybe 5 feet over the ground) across the LZ before a perfect pitch up and landing. People were stoked and all clapped.

Jeff putting it on a tip for Zippy


Even though we were disappointed to not have a task today (or a very valid comp yet), we flew together for over two hours and had a blast. It is so dreamlike to soar at the base of (sometimes above the base of;-) huge black bottom clouds with over 100 other pilots. I can't believe I get to do this! Flying back to Laragne, I saw gliders gaggled up with a huge Cu nimb as a back drop, spitting lightning. The cloud was so far away, it posed no threat and the whole scene was soooo beautiful.

All photos in this post were donated by Zippy because my camera is still out of commission. Should have it sorted tomorrow

After breaking down, I decided to go for a run in the country by myself. I went a way that I have not gone before and really enjoyed the time. I ran to a small town up on a hill, complete with a ruined castle, about 4.5k's away from where we are staying. On the way back, the dark clouds and low sun made the most amazing lighting conditions. There were Mammatta clouds and rays of sun that turned the green grass almost fluorescent. I was listening to Tool on the I-pod, smiling while running and was lucky enough to witness 3 lightning strikes on the cliffs to the west (Beaumont turn point), the whole time wishing I had a functional camera. The whole event was surreal to say the least. Unbelievable!

Tonight, the team is going out for a nice French dinner. We have been shopping and eating communally with the Australians and New Zealanders every night which has been beautiful. This will be our one "night out" and I for one am really looking forward to it.

Hope for a task tomorrow. Cheers for now.