oh schnap! saturday was crackin!!

[Aaron]

WOW! one of those perfect sb blue days! met up with a half full(huhhh!) fly above all van at the t?? lift off at altenator after bo and rich, and hung a left ridge soaring over to the peak. lift everywhere and mid 4s seemed the norm. tagged thermal factory with bo and turned around. didnt turn much with the sweet tailwind. hung out at painted cave with jah lyon for a while and watched bo creep around the back on the deep knapps route. got to 4300, saw some smoke in the pass and it wasnt doing much of anything so pointed my toes and went on glide to the west. that camino cielo section to lizards mouth was excitingly flat and it took a long time milking each part. got to lizards mouth and got stuck there the rest of my flight. climbed just to the top of the rocks more then several times but couldnt gain anymore. watched hammer fly to santa ynez peak and back. everytime i hit 3400 i lost it all quick in wind and no lift. bo came in over my head, gained a few hundred and kept on going. he got high at santa ynez and went otb for a golf course landing in solvang(frickin albatross)..i finally flushed off low of lizards mouth and put it down as close to the mountains as i could to stay out of the airspace. nice ridge to land on and walked to storke road for easy retrieve.

peeps were high everywhere, and i think 4 or 5 came over from the nuthouse!! wow!! stories please!! good times!!

[pengoquin]

Thought I got lost and was in Chelan or the Owens. Launched the Alternator after AirRon, climbed to around 4300 just infront of launch and headed for LaCumbre. Then stayed in the fish bowel and crossed back to W Bowl. Lots of lift over the peaks, but out front things got exciting and the thermals grew fangs, yeepy! Played over WB for awhile and got established at around 4800. Slow glide to Cathedral, thought I was about to be flushed when along came another ripper, back to over 4700 in no time. The trip back to W Bowl was quick with the E wind. Another screaming climb to 4700 and it was time to head home, car parked at the T, but took a detour toward Elings before landing at the T. I can't recall a blu day in SB with so many gliders so stinkin high.

[Bo Criss]

Great flying with Aaron, he was kicking my butt the whole flight. Like he said we launched Alternator and tagged Thermal Factory. I got descently high at Thermal Factory and felt a pretty strong East push, enough to make we want to go the other way. Great climbs at R&R, La Cumbre, No Name, and VOR. I decided to head back towards Naps Castle to see about jumping over the back. It was a bit flat back there and Aaron was getting really high out in front of Painted Cave, so I pushed south and ended up getting a similar climb.

By this time Aaron was miles ahead past the 154. The glide was good over the gap and I tanked up a bit half way across. Approaching Lizard's mouth I was getting low, but pinged up on a thermal near a significant pile of boulders that had a few climbers. I pushed on and caught up with Aaron at the western edge of Lizard's Mouth. I was really bummed to see him heading out, cause he was my dangling carrot and I was looking forward to actually flying with him, as he had led the flight to that point. I got about 150 foot higher than where Aaron buggered out and decided to roll the dice a little farther.

There is a significant gap past Lizard's Mouth to a mid sized peak somewhat deep in the terrain. I figured it would work, but if it didn't, it might be a stretch to flying out to a clear landing area. The bump ended up paying off a bit, but not to the moon like I had hoped. I pushed on and came in descent at Condor ridge, which did not produce for me. I hung there for a bit but kept losing my altitude, so I pushed out towards the 101 in a westerly direction and got a nice bubble off a low hill. This gave me enough altitude to get to the foothills of Santa Ynez Peak. It was working, slow at first, but after I elevated to peak height, the damn thing went off. My vario was pegged and I was puckered. It was the strongest, most sustained thermal I've ever flown in the Santa Barbara range. Similar to flying Salt Lake City in the summer, Marshall in the summer, even the Owens Valley. It had my full attention. As I climbed towards the moon, the thermal started drifting to the southwest from a strong northeast push. My vario only has sound so I don't know how high I got, but it was definitely over 6k, I'd guess 6,500. At that altitude you can see the bend of the coast up near Vandenberg and beyond, it was striking. I opted for pushing further west and tried to stay over the main ridge.

I felt like I was experiencing a head wind from the west, I was moving forward but sinking. As I approached the next VOR I knew it was decision time. Pushing further west meant flying over some flat terrain, and the landing option near the beach narrowed. Going over the back looked more appealing, but I knew from a previous flight, that I might not find more lift. I guess the idea of landing safely near civilization was more appealing, so I opted for going over the back. There are two main spines heading northwest towards Solvang and I thought I'd try the second spine since the first spine never produced the last time I flew this way. It paid off slightly to go the second spine. To the left of the spine is a beautiful hidden valley with a lake, very scenic. I think it produced a bit of a thermal and the hills along the spine triggered a bit, nothing spectacular. After just a few turns, I pushed on and found that I was in some sinking air with a tail wind. I pushed towards Solvang and ended up landing on the fairway near the club house at the River Course at the Alisal Golf Course. There the wind was from the southeast and cycling a bit with gusts.

The golfers seemed pretty happy and when one lady in her 70's asked me how I planned to get home, I said, nice people like you give me rides, to which she started waving her arms no way. I guess retrieve wasn't going to be that easy. After packing I walked a couple blocks into Solvang and grabbed a Danish meal of Hakkebof with red cabbage, pickled cucumber and mash potatoes - good stuff. Checking online, and calling around, it appears there are no buses from Solvang or even Buelton to Santa Barbara on the weekends. I found out the casino bus had left at 2:30 and the next one was at 11pm. I ended up catching a valley bus that took me from Solvang to a bit east of the casino, then hiked along the 246 HWY to the 154 about a mile further. There my thumb got a workout for a half hour and just when I was about to give up a bit of hope of catching a ride cause the sun was about to set over the mountains, a very nice old Mexican couple stopped their car and gave me a ride all the way back to the T. They had just lost big time at the casino so I guess they had some empathy for hitchhiker with the big backpack. He didn't speak English, but she was completely bilingual and sharp as a tack. Really good people!

To my good surprise Ken Hudonjorgensen was at the T with a group of pilots from Utah. Ken taught me to fly in late fall of 1995 and eventually in 2000, I had the pleasure of working as his assistant instructor for a couple years before coming to Santa Barbara. He's really the best and it was fun to catch up and grab dinner at the Beachside at Goleta Beach. Awesome day!

[Marty DeVietti]

Very sweet day, indeed!

A seasoned group braved the hike at the Nuthouse today (TomT.,Tom P., Andy D., Chris P., Chris G., Ron F., Bob H., me) and 5 of 8 made it through some interesting, sometimes TURBULENT but generally buoyant air with occasional down elevators that claimed two of the three left behind in Ojai. When it was all said and done, it was clear everyone had a unique experience with regard to the conditions, and the outcome of the day.

Chris Paul was waiting alone at Nordoff High when I got there and we were both wondering if the early meet time was pushed to 10 with Chris G. Not long after, Tom Truax arrived and we all had visions of going West today...Andy arrived and we loaded up, still like-minded in our goal. Chris asked me how high you have to be to make the run West, and I had to point out the irony in his question, since he has,in recent times, RE-defined how low you can go, when it comes to XC...Eastward anyway.

We made the hike, hoping to beat the heat and the black biting flies, with an early, easy pace, but the little blood suckers hastened the pace for those wearing shorts with not enough bug juice...arrrgh! All but one made the hike up, due to fatigue, and as it turned out, it was a crap shoot getting a cycle or soarable conditions after Tom Truax pulled off a Hail Mary save that is consistent with his sky god status.

Chris P. launched first, pinged out with ease, and headed to Spine one after coring up to the ridge top over launch. I was next and was drooling at his altitude over spine one as I topped the ridge myself. Once on Spine one, I started climbing and saw Chris glide on a line in front of white ledge, and figured it was all good as I saw him climbing as he arrived near the white peak area. Turns out he stayed too far out in front and had to grovel until finally making it to ridge height and above at the power lines...Andy launched after me and topped out the lift over take off and out climbed me over on spine one, so I came over his way and eventually shot the gap to BUMP 1 on the other side of the 33 leaving at 5200. Andy specked out even more and eventually came along behind me, but I was curious what happened to Chris...

As I got a boomer near Bump 1, I took it to 7000 and flew over the top of white ledge finally seeing Chris low, skimming along in nowheresville...definately working for it. My flight was really nice, easy going mostly and stress free most of the time...I have a kml file but can't figure out how to share it...

Chris P and I met at the power lines and leap forgged a bit on the way to Alternator, where he and Andy top landed to watch the show. I made it to near the propeller at Kabir's place, then groveled back to the VOR, and eventually West Bowl, passing Tom Truax on his way to crossing the 154, and I just ended up playing in windy lift until Chris G. arrived and announced he was landed at the T. The promise of a ride made the T a very satisfying place to set down, high five and carry on a while. Tooo fun! (BIG THANKS TO TOM PIPKIN!)

Total flight time: 3.5 hours Max lift: 1200up Total distance: 29 miles from take off to my furthest point. Max Alt: 7200+

Value of the day: Priceless...

[Chris G]

That was a once every 5 years kind of day! I've never been through the pass in that direction, and certainly never been through higher than about 4500. I was next to last off launch, just after watching Truax and Pipkin grovel for every inch. I had no such problems and went to 6500 right over launch in some of the strongest air I've ever experienced in Ojai. Drift took me over 33 but had a relatively sinky glide to Whiteledge right behind Truax. Upon arrival at the back peak I was promptly hovered to 7600. The lift below 5500 was especially ratty but above was buttery smooth. The view from the top was spectacular and we all wished we'd brought cameras. Relatively easy glides from there to Alternator though the altitudes certainly decreased to a point where we were bopping along between 5 and 6. Still considerably better than we usually get going the other direction. Flight times were very quick given how long the SB-Ojai run usually takes but I was pretty tired of slamming into 1000+ up in unexpected places and decided to flush to the T. Truax had minimal luck past 154 so that didn't look promising and going back to Carp was going to be painful. The T was extremely buoyant and I spent nearly 30 minutes bouncing between 1700 and 2700.

Thanks to Robin and Pipkin for bringing vehicles from Ojai! We'd have never fit everyone in one car. It was great to see the Topa crew back in action, in Ojai, goin' huge, as usual!

[ChrisP]

Great weather predictions for the day! The highlight for me was top landing the Alternator with Andy. We were hoping to go back towards the beach or Carp if the west pushed through, but the east just got stronger so we opted for the T. The lowlight was going in front of White Ledge, then getting trashed over Coyote Creek in a strong east before finally tracking one up La Granada. Thanks Tom and Andy for the retrieve...and Brendan for turning my headlights off

[andy dainsberg]

4K over launch without leaving its spine is probably a good omen! gained another K turning in smooth/strong lift crossing the river and cruising with the tail along the high ridge in back of whiteledge. i cant recall seeing anyone go up faster than marty did @ the bumps: impressive climbing- the kind of lift you're not sure you wanna be in- but c'mon yeah u do! strongest lift i've felt thru the pass and it was my highest and most scenic flight thru it. it was best to hang onto the high ground and let the good times roll. topped alternator with chris, and ken picked me up on the road to save me from the slidy climb back to launch. top landing gives me a great feeling- you suspend your xc and get to kindof enjoy it while time stands still. warms my heart to see more than 2 pilots at the nuthouse!!

[Faoro_Ron]

Hey, fantastic flights for the Big 5! But what about those other guys? Bob H. and I struggled up the hill in the midday heat. Bob's fatigue and diabetic worries turned him around at the one-third point. The sight of gliders specked above 6K heading westbound kept me crawling up the trail, but I was spent when I popped over the top at launch, looking at Sparky, Sundowner and Not-So-Taliban Chris all suited up and ready to go. It was just before 11:30 AM. Then the disappointment, horror and gasps as Truax and Pipkin went up and down in the washing machine, front loader style. SD pulled off a save in an unlikely spot: middle of the low ridge right across the canyon from launch - straight to 5K or more. That made Chris G. launch at the magic spot - 11:45 - and took the house thermal up and over the 33 while Tom P. found the Nuthouse parking lot.

Only me and Robin (not flying) left on launch. Auspicious conditions, watching Chris G. Robin helped me get off just 20 minutes after Chris (I was still in the bag, stupidly). Ripping now at launch and hard to just keep the wing on the ground, the wind and thermals whipping it around. Cravatted right wing tip told me the day I was going to have after launching. Got that figured out as I sunk, screaming over the back, up the canyon. Then managed to fight my way back to launch against the east wind. Hooked a strong thermal to 3,700 and started across the canyon, but it was too low and still in the draw up the canyon. Had enough to go to Spine One, where I was smacked sideways, lost 500 feet to almost terrain level in 30 seconds as my friends disappeared toward White Ledge. Then began an hour of not knowing even which way the thermals were drifting, whether they were even thermals or just wind and hot bubbles and not getting back above 3,600. Without a doubt, the most frightening air in my experience. Frontals, wing behind me, parked, falling - everything but organized lift. I kept thinking the day would mellow and organize, but I never left the blender. Must have been the new wing!

Persistence didn't pay off and then came the fun part of being whipped every which way, popped up and down as Bob and Tom stopped traffic on the 33 and I tried to find safe haven. The landing was just as scary as the flight. Thank God John and Susan Kloer had plenty of beer in the fridge and helped put that nasty wing back in its bag.

[Tom Pipkin]

Nice flight and great retrive story Bo! Hats off to the 5 Topa pilots that went long from the Nuthouse. They really hit one out of the park.
My less than stellar flight turned into a 15-20 minute scratch fest with sundowner. He and I yo yo'd between 500' over to 100' below launch. On our third flush, SD turned towards the middle of the canyon to the S.E while I fished around out front. By the time SD connected I was too low to join him. I dug my nails in but eventually flushed to the Nuthouse parking lot for a soft landing.

Only my 3rd mountain flight in the last year, but all in all, it was a fun adventure with old friends.

[sd]

log and weather archive for Sundowner's flight from the Nuthouse to Glen Anne Road on the West side of Goleta

http://paraglide.net/log/12/12_02-04/1_ ... goleta.htm