Ojai Posse, Sunday, 12/2/07, Skyport

[faoro]

I made Piru today from Skyport, but the last twenty miles were in a car. Dean and Andy took the day - hence the car drive to Piru. I'll let them tell of what it was like to lead the pack on a challenging flight from Skyport. But I had one heck of a day; it's always fun to fly through the pass with virgins.

Most of my day was spent looking up at Irene above me. She flew like a champ, outperforming Art and I on every lift point going downrange. It was a pleasure to watch someone try different strategies. In Irene's case, they all worked out to perfection; she made it look easy. The air was very cold at altitude, so it was a promising day on paper. But there was an east wind early and the cirrus clouds were often blocking the sun, inhibiting full heating. Still, Irene was cold all day and I was comfortably warm at lower altitudes.

I launched at 10 AM (a few minutes early - I almost shaved off Diablo and Fast Eddy's heads with a close pass over Eliminator waiting for the first thermals to kick off) and decided to tag La Cumbre Peak, utilizing the east wind for a brief out and back, hoping to let the day heat up properly. But that side trip put me behind the leaders who raced to the sunny spots ahead of Art and Irene and I, who struggled mightily at the Thermal Factory and at Montecito Peak. The westbound leg gave me tops at 4,400 feet above the R&R and La Cumbre Peak. As the cirrus obscured the sun coming back, it was difficult to get established above launch and at the first points downrange. We (Art and I) were lucky to touch 4K as we crossed San Ysidro Canyon and flew over Romero. But the lift was abundant on Castle Ridge to the powerlines, so it was no pressure to the decision point. The east wind had turned into a light tailwind by the time we traversed Castle Ridge.

Like magic, Irene and I ascended to 4,600 feet over the powerlines. Andy had reported good altitudes through the pass, including 5,800 feet at White Ledge, so the decision to push on was easier than it might have been. Art got to cloudbase and briefly visited the region between the powerlines and Noon Peak, but he had lost his vario (dead batteries) and he was trailing us by a mile or two, so he flew out to Padaro Grill and got his car to provide chase.

Irene and I had timed it perfectly. There were cumis on the front points and all we had to do was come in even with the ridge tops to catch nice thermals coming off the sunny knobs and take it up to cloudbase. It was beautiful back there in the afternoon sun. We made it from the powerlines to Ojai between 12:30 and 1:30 PM. I passed over Dan Keyser's crash site for the first time in two years and thought about the rescue and all the ensuing days. We got as low as 3,200 feet in some places, but when I grabbed a fatty directly in front of White Ledge, it took me up to cloudbase at 6,000 feet - my high point of the day. I left for the Nuthouse, letting Irene tank up to follow my line.

That altitude trickled down to 1,500 feet by the time I crossed Highway 33; I was halfway between the Nuthouse launch and the road. The bushes weren't even trembling - it was as flat as flat could be. So I cruised north toward the big dirt bowl and got some convective lift that turned into light thermals after a dozen S-turns. It was strong and sharp in the Ojai Valley. The Pyramid was booming. I shot straight up to 5K and bypassed Bruce's Point for the Stooges. This patch of cirrus was directly in front of the sun. No matter what my groundspeed, I couldn't shake it. When I left Stooges for Twin Peaks, I hit a lot of sink and thought about my options. It was 2 PM; I couldn't reach Andy and Dean on the radio to see what conditions were like around the corner on Santa Paula Ridge. Irene had flown out to land, so I was alone on the trip. It looked like the day was shutting down, so I turned south toward San Antonio School. Of course, my impatience was unwarranted. Five minutes after I left the ridge, the cirrus cleared and Twin Peaks shined in the sunlight. There was still time to squeeze some soaring out of this stellar day.

I landed at the school. Art picked me up. We drove to Piru to pick up Andy. In Ventura, Andy bought some Corona and Hornitos and we toasted his first trip through the pass. Then he arranged to get us back to Santa Barbara.

Airtime: Four hours exactly.

[Bo Criss]

You forgot to tag the snake pit turnpoint!

I didn't forget. In fact I had quite a fun landing down there. It's a really nice challenge and I think everyone should try it. Seriously, it is fun and technical. The sucky part was having the canopy land in the iron weed. The ones with the big seeds that love to wrap up your skinny lines. It took about 40 minutes to unravel it all and pack it up. Then it was time for a quick hike up to the road. Hot and sweaty, I took a breather when I reached the pavement and about 10 minutes later, after the sweat had mostly shazizilled, Cory (Kabir's awesome wife!) picked me up and took me back to launch.

Rob Spore was getting his tandem together and everyone else was up near a cloud somewhere. I relaunched at 12:15 with better success. I started traveling east and found it spotty. Great some places and desperate others. I was 200' over the powerlines and pushing on alone into the wilderness. I did see one glider a few ridges ahead and never figured out who was surviving ahead of me as I felt even lower.

I found messy air around White Ledge and never really got up with high cirrus blocking most of that expanse. The dying cummie clouds indicated NE flow and I was feeling the mixing near White Ledge. Mystery pilot had pushed out towards Lake Casitas and was getting an exceptional glide. I took their lead and went out front and found a good one that put me back in the game. Another small thermal before the 33 and then just the great glides in Ojai. Good lift at the usual points, but I noticed the higher I climbed the more I was pushed out into the valley by the upper level NE somewhat strong push. Also very cold at altitude with some serious hand numbing. I eventually fell off the low points in front of Chiefs and then found a really nice gentle thermal on the way out to civilization. This lead me straight down the valley towards St. Thomas Aquinas. I was able to connect on the lower part of Santa Paula Ridge and worked some light thermals. One more and maybe I could get out to Santa Paula. 3:00 and things were light. I pushed about a mile past Thomas Aquinas a bit low an looking for good LZs. The best one was behind me so I headed back and landed at 3:15 on the lush green campus lawn to applause from 20 hotties. I didn't know it was an all girls school! What the hell? I turns out it isn't, but it was a nice moment anyways.

I passed out a few cards and ended up getting a ride from a future tandem passenger. They took me to Ventura where I met Irene who had received a nice pickup from Jim Maddox. It all worked out as it should.

By the way this is the 3rd time I've landed in the Snakepit in the 5-1/2 years I've lived here. And it's the second time I've hiked back up from the pit and flown to Ojai. I guess certain Ojai days will give you big ups and big downs.

Thanks Cory and Jim! And big congrats to Andy and Irene for going their best from Santa Barbara. And Dean, whatever dude. Do you have to have all the trophies??????? Good on you!

Nice flight Ron, Art and mystery pilot.

Bo

[Dizzy]

Mystery pilot

Hello Bo,
I was a Mystery pilot I come late and fly almost all the way alone. I actually meet somebody (red & yellow glider), but he/she instead of going to Ojai fly to the beach. Then when I was so close to Ojai my vario stop working and I decide to land near the Casitas lake. It's my second flight from Skyport. Great place so far!!!
-Alex-

[irene]

Well, what an awesome day. Except that I was shivering like crazy ! It was so cold !
I started going west to the R&R, which did not work really well for me but was able to make it back it to the top, back over launch, and finally crossed to join Ron and Art (I think it was Art) at the Thermal Factory. It took me a little bit of time to get established and I had to wait a while before a good thermal triggered. Going to Montecito peak was difficult, with SSE winds, and even when we arrived there, it was a lot of work. It became easier after Castle Ridge. The thermals were clearly pushed by the winds, but luckily they were pretty predictable. Still, it was a constant battle against the wind. I was so cold at that point, I think my brain was frozen. After we turned the corner after White Ledge, with Ron, I was so happy to be at Ojai, that I didn't think much. I just should have followed Ron but instead I went to land to the high school. Oh well.

No bus on sundays in Ojai !

Thanks a lot to Jammie for picking me up and driving Bo and I back to Parma.

I am soooo glad the season is on.

[Bo Criss]

Alex,

Great Flight! It was a bit of work and some serious teeth grittin going through the pass so low. Way to hang in there and thanks for inspiring me to press on. Hope you'll call me the next time you're in town. We can hitch hike together again!

Good on you! That was impressive for your 2nd flight in SB!!!!!!!!!

Bo
805-403-5848

[SA]

Awesome Sunday of flying here in SB. The eagle crew did the early bird special scheduling a 9am meet at Parma. Ron was first off again, and let us know immediately it was time to launch as he got up after waiting for something to come together, then headed to the R& R and specked out.

We had a nice batch of newer eaglets up there looking to get some soaring. The cycles and drift were from the South East so we went over the flight plan, and talked about heading to the holy hills considering the direction of the winds and cycles. Bo had proven that getting to the thermal factory, antenna farm, or round house spine can prove difficult even on a competition wing when we attempt to head out the canyon into a head wind. The fact that it was very early in the day with mostly shade in that direction didn’t help, and it seemed like Bo had an unlucky patch of sinking air to fly through. Bo’s landing at the postage stamp was spot on.

Adam was the first of the eaglets to get off, get up, and head for the holy hills. He fought to hang on, and finally connected. He had a good flight covering some ground hopping from the holy hills to tunnel tit, and the double R. Joel, Kelly, visiting pilot Chris, and Ty all got up at launch as well, and made their play for the holy hills. Joel hung tough low until he connected, and Ty was at the last bump before St. Mary’s before climbing out in a ripper. Adam, Joel, Chris, and Ty spent the next hour working lift, getting to cloud base, and enjoying a beautiful day with numb fingers.

Cheri and I got up at launch on the tandem and then ran into Kabir at the double R. Kabir had launched the Alternator and did some turns with us at cloud base before we both glided to the factory. We got high again at the factory and then Kabir was beach bound to meet up with Cory, Tallulah, and his 3 week old Mateo. I saw a glider at the double R gliding my way, and it turned out to be Ty. We thermaled for a bit together at the factory then headed out front and thermaled some more before landing at Parma. We could have headed to the beach, but Ty isn’t a P4 yet.

Congrats to the Ojai and Piru Posse’s on some fine flying, especially Irene who flew great from what I read on Ron’s post, and Andy who made that Trango 3 go very well chasing Dean. Lets hope for more good weekend flying days this month so we can all get out an enjoy the beauty above.

SA