chief friday

[andy dainsberg]

~ we chugged up in ojs truck w/ chris and gary and their crew and all pilots found great lift over launch. art went east and specked over the topa bluffs. he relayed an easterly wind direction so as soon as i was @ 7K at chief peak i headed straight for white ledge, via nordhoff ridge... i didnt turn until about 1/2 mile past the 33 when i started to get drilled and needed to scratch for lift. ~~ that sent me to the northwest as i followed the ridge up... i came at white ledge from the northeast and fought some laminar and a little rotor closer to the terrain~~. once in front of white ledge i got smooth lift and went back on glide w/ the easterly tailwind. i peak hopped over to the powerlines between 5 and 6K. from there, the tailwind diminished but i stayed high along the ridgeline coming out over castle from the northeast. gliding over to romero the air seemed very stale like in a cellar but warmer. there was absolutely no lift whatsoever at romero and i flushed out to land in between summerland and montecito. thanks for the retrieve gary!