Saturday 3/10

[Chris G]

Lapse rate for SB looks weak but Ojai is supposed to hit 82 and have a 22 degree spread to 6k. The roads are still closed but.....Nuthouse? A bit of North aloft. It should block out. Who's game??

[Chris G]

So much for THAT forecast. The temp forecast for the floor is now much cooler. Bummah. We'll see what it looks like in the AM.

[Robb]

I could be talked into the hike-n-fly, but...who are you?? Somebody said you're from the east coast, are you a new P2? Do you need a site briefing?

[Chris G]

Back to a 20 degree spread with light North. Should be good enough to get up and out. 9AM at the high school?

Yeah a site briefing would be good..;P

[Robb]

How about 9:30? Do you still have the same phone #?

I'll bet OJ is up for it, he's been getting a lot of hiking in receintly...

[Chris G]

Yeah 9:30 is ok but we're getting close to the roasty part of the day. Gonna be a warm hike.

Same phone #.

[Chris G]

Beautiful day at the Nuthouse! OJ, Dave Wheeler, Milley and I started hiking at 10 and after a grueling 3 day hike we arrived at the top to birds streaking past us, beautiful cycles, and sunny skies. Dave was off first and went up right off launch though had to scratch a bit. I followed and went to 2500 fairly quickly but struggled at the soft ceiling for nearly an hour. It did feel like there was a NE wind pushing over and it sometimes got a bit bumpy. After trying to push East and getting throttled I followed Dave into a green field toward Ojai. In the mean time OJ and Robb made it look good and OJ managed to squeak through and get to 4k which was enough to get to the HS. Robb almost had it but ended up with the rest of us. Such a great challenging day and the first time many of us had been up the nuthouse in ages.

I'm suggesting SB tomorrow since it's supposed to be 90 in Ojai. I was hot enough today.

[oj]

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.

[MikeP]

Broke away from my plumbing project long enough to watch you guys hiking up and take a few shots. It was makin' me sweat watching the climb.
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7310004@N07/