Weekend of Nov 30 - Dec 1

[sd]

Saturday morning perception (7:30 review)
The lapse rate looks good with a mild low inversion below 1500' that should disappear once the day heats up. There is some early wind in the balloon and at the La Cumber Peak, but the winds aloft forecast is only calling for 8 knots at 6K from the NE and L&V below ridge line. The 6K wind is forecasted to clock around more to the NNE this afternoon, but remain mild, about 10ish up at 9K. The satellite loop shows more north than east, but it's history rather than the future. Suspect it will likely be NNE up high and SW below the front range ridge in the afternoon.

Will likely be a good day to start in Ojai. Preferably from Chiefs, or perhaps the Nuthouse if no one has a permit. No bus schedule yet from either Eagle or FAA. Fillmore toward SB is a maybe, but there is some concern about the early morning inversion below 1500 because you may need to climb out from down low early after crossing the Sespe. If you start in Santa Barbara, I'd recommend trying to get high and stay as high as possible for a westbound leg, then navigating below ridge line on the east bound leg, and if the altitude in the afternoon is good, turning abound at either the High Step or the Back Step just east of White Ledge [http://scpa.info/sites/front_range/casitas_pass/casitas_pass_overview.jpg] for a return leg toward either Summerland or Santa Barbara, once again, staying high to avoid the lower onshore flow from the west.

Sunday looks good also, continued high pressure offshore flow, perhaps less wind at 6K but more downriver drainage and a weaker lapse rate as the center of the high pressure moves overhead.

I can't fly this weekend, but look forward to reading the war stories.

[oj]

Another beautiful day in SB. Caught the FAA bus to the VOR and found slight otb conditions on arrival. Ron wanted to bail for the Alternator but we decided to give it some time to heat up and within twenty minutes we had light launchable cycles up the front.

Got away mid-pack and climbed a couple hundred over in the house thermal, then headed east in search of the Spin Doctor. Thought I was doing well on altitude until El Galleta and the Baderman passed 400 ft. over me at No Name on their westbound run. Lots of gliders stinkin' high along the back ridge but I had to go to Westbowl to tank up, then work the saddle behind it before connecting with a fat one at La Cumbre to 5k.

The Spin Doctor had been working the front points along Cathedral, the RR, and the Antenna Farm before I caught up to him at the Themal Factory along with the Baderman who had turned around near the VOR. The three of us then flew together down to Castle before taking the glide out to Padaro. A pitcher of 805 ale provided a tasty post-flight beverage while waiting for the Taliban who was kind enough to run retrieve. Thanks Chris, we owe you for that.

Vario log: 800 fpm up, 800 dn, max alt. 5108, 1 hr, 45 minutes.

[Faoro_Ron]

I was watching a red-tailed hawk soaring over the power lines on the Cold Spring trail from my low vantage point at the Hot Springs in Montecito when OJ texted me to ask if I was flying. Already - before the text - I had gotten a little excited and fallen backwards over a small boulder on the trail as I reached for my phone to check the wind at La Cumbre and the Montecito station. I had opted for a hike with my wife and the dogs after seeing it blowing 17 mph at the peak two hours earlier. So, now it was 8:30 in the morning and I had to convince my dear wife and two dogs (both of whom are knee high to a grasshopper) to run back down Hot Springs trail for a chance to fly. A couple dozen recriminations later we squealed out of the parking area onto Mountain Drive to buzz back to the house.

Thoughts of a flight to Ojai ran through my head. I had stopped at the Padaro Grill last Sunday so I could go back up the hill with an old employee and friend who had worked for me for ten years, twenty years ago. The second tandem flight was worth it as she had never flown in a paraglider before and she filled the skies with exclamations and superlatives as we thermaled above R&R and Thermal Factory and out to East Beach. Later on, at eight PM, in the dark, we drove back up to Skyport to get her car and the city looked beautiful: lights twinkling, Venus bright in the western sky and Goleta shimmering with a little convective heat still bubbling off the rocks after a stupendous day of flying. Just then, a shooting star arched from overhead to the western horizon. Wow, it doesn't get any better. The only downer was we dropped my new Lumix camera on the sand during landing and it immediately stopped working. Got to take it apart, which means scrap metal in my delicate hands for anyone interested. Anyway, wouldn't have made it out today without OJ, so thanks! Barely made it to the the T as it was and rode a full FAA van up to the VOR.

It was blowing lightly over the back and I started my complaining campaign to move it to Alternator. More patient minds prevailed and I was first off at 11:05. Saw a peregrine falcon at No Name; last week there was one cruising along Castle Ridge. They are sleek, fast and beautiful in flight. Took the low road eastbound with moderate climbs to 4K at No Name, West Bowl, Cathedral, Holy Hills and Antenna Farm - different ports of call from last weekend. Skyport crew and people behind me at VOR were getting in the 5's and 6's on the back ridge. Lots of excited chatter on the radio. ("I guess I am at Skyporter...") Bounced the usual knobs downrange. Cumi's were beckoning east and north of White Ledge, but as the afternoon wore on, the lift became rattier and less robust. (But hang glider and Dizzy + ? made it through the Pass?) So OJ, Dave Bader and I opted for the beer run to Padaro again. OJ flew about halfway out to the oil derricks before circling back to land. We barely had time to drain a pitcher before Chris Grantham showed up to save our bacon with a lift back to the T. Dave and I cruised up Camino Cielo to retrieve his rig from EJ Bowl. Then we ran the gauntlet coming down Gibraltar as 30-40 cars two Vespa's and two dozen bicycles made their way in the opposite direction. I'm not sure what was going on, but people were everywhere and someone even had a tripod set up at Skyport. Other camera bearers were lined up like it was going to be a solar eclipse or something.

Tested the jacuzzi tub at the house for the first time; all is right with the world. Everybody flying tomorrow?

One hour and fifty minute flight.

[NMERider]

....(But hang glider and Dizzy + ? made it through the Pass?)...

Around 4PM I spoke to Dizzy, who was still hiking from Copper Cyn Rd NE of Lake Casitas to Hwy 150 to catch the bus. At 8:10 PM I got a text and it seems Dizzy missed the last bus and is waiting for the Amtrak in Ventura to take him back to SB followed by a 1-1/2-hr hike to his car at Parma and home by 1:00AM. Oy Gevalt!!

FYI: 2 truckloads of Sylmartians (8 pilots) are headed back for round 2 on Sunday. Sounds like a busy day in store.

[Aaron]

nice flyin dizzy! bummer about the long route home. i believe hammer tagged west divide and turned around, scotty may have been down that way and back too. tiMAYYY! and someone else(maybe dizzy) got 6400 at VOR, timAYY! took that west and turned around just short of lizards mouth before limping back to painted cave for the save(nice flyin timAYY!). marge coached a few eaglet newbies who had 3+ hour flights. grantham frisbeed a whole truckload off vor and it looked like they all soared. the foreigner who kept talking about 'the skyporter' and not knowing where she was other then she thinks she is by 'the skyporter', was some pretty funny classic radio chatter. yepper, another brilliant cool, crisp, bluebird, no wind, smooth thermal day in santa barbara. jumped off the skyporter and headed west with more pgs then i have ever seen going west(thanks to oj and faoro for makin it look so good down there), got 5800ish at altenator, i couldnt get more then 4k in broken lift at vor(obviously i'm a moron) got stuck in zen altered state at westbowl for 30 or so minutes on the way back, then couldnt get above monticito peak for long time as birds and hgs climbed through me as usual so eventually bumped back to parma as my string pulling concentration was fading. super psyched as the day was perfect!!! 11 degrees cooler up top at 10:30am, 1024ish pressure and no wind any which way except a little west later on in the day.

[NMERider]

Gosh. At 9:35Pm Dizzy Tweeted that he was looking for a ride from Amtrak to Parma.
https://twitter.com/SkyDizzy
That was an hour and seven minutes ago. I hope he scored a lift back to his car. BTW - he reported only getting to 5K.

[dteal]

Hey Tom,
What's your crystal ball saying for today?
DT

[DeVietti_Marty]

Andy and I hiked up the Nut, and even though we both got up to 5500 at spine one, the crossing of the 33 pinned him down low in a strong SW flow and forced his hand this time, and he gave me a "try your best, I'll chase" on the radio. Encouraged, I knew Dizzy (Alex) would be heading my way (from SB) as I headed his way (from Ojai), and we eventually shared some turns near Noon peak along with Hammer and another hang pilot down by Whiteledge. The day was cool and clear, with clouds only in the backcountry, but the climbs were there and it was a treat to see so many gliders specking out once I clawed up and away from Montecito Pk. and made my way to East Beach behind Hammer. Andy was kind enough to drive my rig to fetch me, and on the way home I got a call from Alex, who had landed somewhere below Whiteledge and was about to relaunch. Our advice was for him to make it to NHS (short walk to the bus stop), but looking at his Spot track this am, it looks like he relaunched and landed West of the 33 and had to hike or hitch to make the bus station. He texted me later that he made it to the bust stop in Ojai, later than I expected. That put him late, leading to the Amtrak shuffle, and I only hope he made it back ok. Epic!

Here's the iPhone shots:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110871143058661933036/albums/5952451684769004225?authkey=COiYibCC_qzESA

Cheers,
Marty

Flight time: 2:40
Max Alt: 7076 msl

[Dizzy]

Here is my story
http://skydizzy.blogspot.com/2013/12/skyport-to-vor-to-ojai.html

Just wondering who was a HG pilot?

[NMERider]

Here is my story
http://skydizzy.blogspot.com/2013/12/skyport-to-vor-to-ojai.html

Just wondering who was a HG pilot?

Gosh Alex,
That was an epic misadventure. Sorry I was not able to come out Saturday.

Marty & Alex,
Great write-ups and photos

Thanks Gentlemen.
JD

[timobarker]

What a weekend! Today I arrived at Parma a couple of minutes early and the van was already packed and full! But Bart arrived on scene in the bat mobile and we were away quickly. I set up and launched first around 11:00. I was lucky and launched into a fat and smooth thermal that took me above the RR. I dove back toward EJ bowl but soon realized that the North was still pouring over the mountains. So, I limped back to the RR and climbed out again, topping at 4,400. I hung out for about 30 minutes, hoping it would block better.
After losing patience, I headed toward Thermal Factory. I about to head to Parma when I topped 4000 and the wind gods started calling: go east! The first crossing was the hardest. I found no lift at shadow and came in somewhat low at Montecito, 2600. After a few minutes, I found the lift and it was game on, all the way to the power lines. The hawks and Scotty on his sleek wing lead the way to the power lines. We bobbed our way in ratty, sometimes intense thermals. Scotty kept going and tagged Noon. I turned around and went to the west side of Castle. Then I called my wife and made sure I had a ride before heading out to the beach. On the ride out I could see from San MIguel to Santa Catalina, 7 islands. Amazing!!!

[sd]

Going through the pass was tough, I was getting lower and lower finally landing on the fire road at 3 pm and then hiking about a mile to re-launch. Made few phone calls and realized I'm the only one going through the pass, so retrieve will be epic.

Hiking to re-launch
First knob (on photo) was not good because of long glide out and chance to end up in bushed closed canyon, but next one seemed ok. After first unsuccessful attempt I decide to clear enough space from bushes and debris, which helped. In the air at 4:25 pm. Unfortunately no thermal activity, 10 minutes extended sledder toward Ojai. Hiked 2.5 miles to intersection of highway 150 and 33 to get bus #16 to Ventura. Missed the last bus from Ventura to Santa Barbara and try to use Amtrak.

Alex, You might want to review the photos and maps posted at http://scpa.info/sites
nested under Front Range > Casitas Pass
There is also an old article from 10 years ago posted at
http://paraglide.net/comment/04/the_pass_eastbound.htm
For something more recent, the log entries for my last couple of out landings in the Pass below White Ledge are posted at:http://paraglide.net/log/13/13_02-10/1_skyport_to_lake_casitas.htm and
http://paraglide.net/log/12/12_04-07/1_alternator_ojai_divide_hike.htm
Bo's experience is posted at http://scpa.info/bb/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2677&p=8057
Aaron's Hike is posted at http://paraglide.net/log/amigo/aaron_laplante/12_10-27_casitas_pass_hike.htm. There were many more out-landings in the Pass before the recent articles above. Ron Faoro had a good one, but I can't recollect the date, and several pilots will confirm that you don't want to attempt hiking down Coyote Creek

There is a general consensus that the best re-launch option is from the middle knob, which is where I think you re-launched, but at that time of day, I'd recommend flying out the south spine directly toward Highway 150 along the lake, and then hitching a ride toward Carpinteria. Gliding east toward Ojai after re-launch doesn't get you much closer to a public road. If you get stuck after dark, call one of the Brotherhood pilots. With a little networking, we will volunteer someone to come and get you. The entrance to the lake off Hwy 150 is only 25 minutes from my house. We've had to do far more to help our brothers when needed.

The prospect of landing out in Casitas Pass can be intimidating and overwhelming. It should not be taken lightly. Pilots should be prepared to spend a cold night if necessary (food, water, warm clothes, cell phone and radio with good batteries), but with a prior review of the options, you can act on choices that will minimize the damage.

Thanks for doing a little brush clearing on launch. I'm sure someone will need to use it again soon. Without the cows, it has been getting progressively overgrown.

I was on a 6 AM bus Sunday morning for LAX to work in Cleveland this week. I missed a good weekend, but enjoyed reading all the articles.

[NMERider]

....I was lucky and launched into a fat and smooth thermal that took me above the RR. I dove back toward EJ bowl but soon realized that the North was still pouring over the mountains....

Me and Fast Eddy watched all this while I ready to launch but stuck on the EJ Bowl road launch in lee-side rotor for 27 minutes. During this time Willy and crew drove back down to Eliminator from up top. I finally had a launchable cycle but it was too late (for me) to punch though the inversion no matter where I tried my hand or how thrilling the low save. After an hour and nine minutes I finally landed on the beach in a nice SE tailwind in spite of the flag at the pier showing SW. I did get to test out an extended battery system for my GoPro Hero2 which worked well and the pièce de résistance was a fully loaded Surf Dog at Baillard Ave on our way back to Ventura.

Here's a quick and dirty edit of the flight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9ftjspHagA

[Dizzy]

Hi Tom,
Thanks for comments. I read all of your stories, great source of info for curious XC pilots. However, when I landed out there I remember nothing, so for pilots who plan to fly through the pass for a first time certainly print Tom's map and put to the harness as well as bus and Amtrak schedule.
Here is a map (on Marty's photo) with my LZ and re-launch point, I think its middle knob. Note that my first attempt was from the top of middle knob, but I did not like it because its flat (no wind) and also overgrown, so I get back lower, maybe 15-20 meters, that area was exposed to wind (easier to launch) and there was much less bushes out there, even better after clean up.

Using bus for retrieve worked out fine, but knowing schedule and connection points beforehand could help.
Alex

[timobarker]

Has anybody had any success finding a thermal between Painted Cave and Lizard's Mouth? Is the better path way out front or on the backside? I basically followed West Camino Cielo on Saturday and I didn't get a single blip on the vario.
What about at Lizard's Mouth? Is there a fairly consistent lift zone on the West Side? Has anybody come in below the ridge and climbed out?

I'm really interested in the West run to Santa Ines Peak and any information that you have would be great.