Pine Sun

[Chris G]

Were going to Pine again! Light winds aloft in the PM with a BLTop to 12k! Nordhoff HS at 10!

[Chris G]

And it was fun! We had a 2 car group with our enthusiastic driver Melanie. Big cycles on launch, and lots of optimism about going OTB. I followed Andy out and we bounced up to 8 fairly easily. The rest of the crew followed and we all yo-yo'd around between 7500 and 9200ish. We never found the elusive climbs to 12k needed for OTB or a glide to Ojai but it was crazy fun to get the first flight of the year at Pine anyway. A few made the leap over to Reyes before heading out to the Sandpile. Can't wait to do it again! Congrats to Tye, Dave B, and Chris M on their first flights from Pine! They nailed it!

[andy dainsberg]

IMO, the 6-9-12 spreads were more predictive than the blips today (bl tops werent that high) and there was high teen SE all the way up to 9k. Still, its easy to be optimistic about otb potential when you have a driver at Pine right? all pilots were up and enjoying for an hour or so. eventually, marty was down at reyes doing pretty well in his new comp rig. i left from out front @ 9200, with 18-20mph gspeed shooting for caltrans - but hedging for Ojai as there was less SE up top. making caltrans did not seem in doubt and with some lift out front to maintain alt, Ojai seemed plausable. but pilots nearing the sandpile were reporting trashy, windy conditions under 5k... after a couple miles, i started losing alt fast and hitting the trashy wind.

i had to at least make it over a long perpendicular ridge out front to make caltrans. there'll be lift on the windward side of that ridge, so its a compelling lure. with only @ 50feet left to clear the fricking ridge i got parked on 1/2 bar in sink. not wanting to full bar into rotor (it was already spooky where i was) i opened up the pickle jar and selected one to get in.

the S turn road above a deep part of river canyon and below rocky cliffs was my lz. winds were switchy and sinky and traffic was coming from each direction. "if i can just squeeze into the road there, i'll be ok..."

i set up my one shot landing into the prevailing SE but due to the geography i ended up with a downwinder. on the edge of stalling it to jam into the available lz section, i just missed it and had to sidehill. first impact was a large rock. my airbag absorbed that fairly well, but set me up for a bouncedown tumble down the steep rocky slope to the river @60 feet below. but luckily, my lines snagged a mini crevasse in the boulder i hit and brought my worst landing in 12 years to a lucky lucky conclusion. i had to cut the lines trapped in the cravasse and shredded a few more under tension from the "catch." a very dramatic landing.

took me a little while to stuff and crawl up to the top. oj stopped by on his way back from servicing the wind reader and took me over to caltrans to await retrieve (he would have driven me back but i wanted to wait for my truck which was our chaser). my back and left hand are bruised up but i got super lucky, obviously.

[Pegg_Brendan]

Wow! I'm so thankful that you were able to walk away from what could have been a much worse situation.

It's great that you posted it. I know many pilots look up to you for your flying ability so it's always a great learning tool when we can read about a "cheap" lesson and put it in our toolboxes for use in future situations.

You describe the situation well. I can imagine myself making the same decisions and I know the area you are talking about. Several times while driving up to Pine, pilots have pointed that area out as being about the last place they would want to go in.

Any thoughts on what you would do differently if faced with the same situation again?

Brendan

[DeVietti_Marty]

While I was happy to get out and fly the new gear in some challenging conditions, I should be careful for what I wish for! In the end, I am glad I flew, but for much of the flight, the windy thermals made it hard to get my bump tolerance back into swing. I usually avoid those kind of days.

It was strongish on launch and not looking optimal for an intro flight to Pine, but the first timers were very attentive to all site info and flew well, at one point it seemed that we were all gaggling together, a very cool thing.

After reviewing my gps, I did manage 9,800 msl out towards Reyes, and was indeed making progress to the East, but it just was not easy to say with any certainty what the air would be doing down lower, should I sink out in no man's land...so I came back with a 30+mph ground speed and crossed Andy's path as he went for caltrans.

I was considering going that way, as I haven't landed there yet, and thought it would be good to gain that experience should I ever find myself going for Ojai and coming up short, but I was on a new glider and harness and thought I would keep the "new things" to a minimum and brave the sand pile instead (as I have landed there before) knowing I would likely have windy, thermic and turbulent conditions to endure. It did not disappoint. Fortunately I was able to land right next to the car, without incident, but it took my full concentration. I hoped that Andy would tell me later that caltrans was the better call, but without line of sight radio, or cell service it seemed like a long time to find out it wasn't the case, this time. I am so relieved that you got out of that situation as well as you did.

Big Props to you, Andy, for sharing the tale.

[andy dainsberg]

going down in the gorge was a sketch-fest but i can't blame myself for exploring xc with the initial alt and gspeed i had. i knew the prevailing strong SE still existed below. in retrospect, hedging S to potentially connect Ojai probably scuttled my caltrans bail.

my options just RAPIDLY evaporated- and canyon sink, rotor and the switchy, unintentionaly downwind approach (20-25mph?) left me short of the guardrail on the canyon side. after walking out of that situation, i can't complain at all about some pain.

pushing a headwind low on glide to caltrans is not the same as crossing a river of molten lava, but i should probably pretend it is...

(i feel that 1st hand accident reports or 2nd hand reports with direct input/contribution from the pilot are good learning ops)