by oj » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:58 pm
Well, as a matter of fact I was up for it. At least until I started the climb, then I was wishing I was doing something, anything, else. Chris, Robb, and Dave Wheeler finished the hike well ahead of me but at least I made it.
Dave launched first, followed by Chris, and then Robb. The climb out in front of takeoff was really working but it was only good for 200-500 over, then they hit the inversion and were stuck. I wanted to get away from the bugs and heat on launch but there was always someone flushing back down the spine to launch.
Finally got airborne when Chris and Dave made a play for the front points. Robb and I made a very slow climb to about 600 over then started working our way South out of the canyon. I managed to find (with the help of a Redtail) a solid thermal that separated me from Robb and I transitioned out to Spine 1 just before the Pyramid. Another decent climb from there boosted me to about 4k.
Dave and Chris had found no joy and were forced to put down in a field off the hwy. Meanwhile, the SSE lift I had been working with down low was mixing with some NE flow up high, and it was starting to feel a bit sporty. The gps said the high school was only a 4 to 1 glide away so I cashed in my chips and headed out. Robb elected not to put himself in the same airmass and went for the same LZ as the others.
Vario log: 680 fpm up, 520 dn, max alt. 4020, 2070 over, 1 hr. 5 min.