Nuthouse Mon?

[Chris G]

Forecasted 25º spread in Ojai with light ENE at 6k. Could be the ticket for pushing Westbound around the corner and into SB. 10:00 at NHS?

[Chris G]

At first check this AM the spread in Ojai had jumped to 27º. Surface winds were relatively light, with a touch of East if anything. Winds aloft, especially above 6k were forecasted to be in the low teens from the NE. A slight concern for the Nuthouse but not a deal-braker. With a 27º spread there's a high likelihood of it drawing up Matillija canyon. Put out the TXT for a 10:00 meet at NHS but couldn't roust any of the usual Nuthouse suspects from honeydew lists or jobs. Started hiking solo at 15 past and hit the top right at 11, the usual witching hour for the big cycles. And right on cue, they were kicking up the face just past 11 but with a slight East component, as expected. Geared up, and just as I slapped on my helmet and started checking for cycles it got very light, then started up with the West cycles. Unfortunately the West cycles never seemed to get terribly strong and after a few inflations to test the "pluck" factor picked the best of a set of mediocre cycles. I'd run into that E-W convergence that had gone through during the switch later but for now I was stuck with the lighter West. Dug in my fingernails and began the crawl to the top of the ridge. For the most part it was all gain, very little down. Hit the top in 15 minutes and started across to the first fingers and eventually Pyramid. Had to stay pretty close but the usual connections worked. Never got over 3k until the jump to the Pyramid. Halfway there, in obvious lee-side conditions I got lucky and ran into the E-W convergence and had one of the largest and smoothest climbs of the day, boosting me up to 4500 where I smacked into the shear layer and the strong NE coming over the top. Couldn't get any higher and didn't really feel like diving further into the lee of Nordhoff. Didn't really have the altitude to run West toward Whiteledge either though with a crew I may have been tempted to try anyway. Instead I opted for the milk-run to the HS which, while it's short, is such a rewarding flight from the NH, especially after 8 months away from it. Tomorrow should be a repeat with less NE aloft. I'll probably have another go at 10am.

[Chris G]

Quick vid of the first half the flight. Gotta improve that battery life somehow.
http://vholdr.com/node/53164