Nuthouse Sat

[Chris G]

Saturday looks identical to Friday with the exception of less East wind aloft, and the possibility of some weak onshore flow. Proposing a 9:30 meet time at Nordhoff to beat the heat. I know there are a bunch fired up already so it should be a great crowd. Ditch the flight suits kids! T-Shirt flying in January!

[andy dainsberg]

there were lots of us; marty, dean, brian, art, chris, deitric, simon, jonas, dave (maybe more) today. many good flights; i'll just summarize mine and you guys can chime in. i ran into a 15 mph east wind at 5k near the eastern nut ridge and bailed westbound. strong sink passing the 33 but good workable lift in decent conditions along the east facing slopes and the peaks on the way to whiteledge. max alt was 62 between wledge and divide. thermals were always in the lee and the east persisted. there was sneaky rotor where i least expected it and smooth sailing when i braced for impact. i got lowish around the power lines and had to work some to gain about 1k. took the high ridge past castle, tanked up at romero and worked montecito peak for a little while. left mp w/4 on easy glide to east beach coming over the water w/ 1500. landed w/ some super nice hang glider guys. big thanks to deitric and also dave teal for the retrieve effort. i owe you both.

[Tom Pipkin]

Nice flight Andy!

[Marty DeVietti]

Super nice and committing flight Andy! After my climb out on launch, I found it hard to get much above the ridge line even with Art's help. Art dove on course to the East, only to find wind, sink and turbulence until he finally bailed back towards the NH out front a bit. This would be the first of several low saves for him and I took a minute and tanked up before braving the wind and sink to get to Nordoff Peak. I was rewarded with some good climbs to 5k, but they were leaning to the west with the East wind. I wasn't feeling it and took my altitude all the way to NHS where I was met by Brian, Chris and Art. Dean pushed farther East as did Jonas, landing at the propeller field and beyond respectively. Dean encountered the edge of the convergence and lost a bit of altitude in just seconds...love to hear more on that. Dave Bader had an incident just after take off and deposited himself (unhurt) near launch. I think he ended up hiking down. Others landed below and suffered the dicey lift of the NH. Hang in there, your day will come. Fun to fly with so many folks!

M

[chriswvv]

Hi-
Sounds like you guys have had some fun in Ojai during the past few days. Is there a HG option close by or is it only a hike in site? Any info would be much appreciated.

Desperately seeking airtime...

[Chris G]

10 people at the Nuthouse. Great to see so many folks up there! I launched just ahead of Dean and found nothing but up after launch. Got to 3700 over the NH with Brian and we continued to the ridge just short of the Pyramid. Air texture was "unique" and it wasn't normal so something was definitely up. Brian and I weren't loving it so we headed out for the HS with 4k+ where Marty was glued to the sky. Another sign that things were not normal. There was a pretty significant headwind on the way out but halfway there we intersected the East-West convergence and were soon boating around at 5k in somewhat unpredictable chop. I began a slow drift thinking I might be able to connect to White Ledge and chase Andy but really didn't want to commit deep to bump 1-3 due to the East wind and the lack of an exit strategy if I couldn't get up. Took the drift across the foothills, still climbing, and got halfway to WL before exiting the convergence. Lost 2k ft in minutes. Definitely not gonna get me there. Swung back around and decided to try to make it back to the HS but quickly found myself in significant East again. Re-entered the convergence and was able to tank up before arriving over the HS. The convergence was incredibly reliable and probably topped well over 5k but the texture left something to be desired. It was hard to decide exactly where to go today. Jonas made it down to Twin Peaks but I think there would have been significant East out in Santa Paula. Andy made it to East Beach but I didn't have the cojones to commit that deep. Besides, Dave had my clippers which almost destined me for a trip to the bushes at the foot of West Divide. Exiting the convergence on the West side was sinky, and exiting on the East side was windy. Definitely had me changing my mind about where I wanted to go every 5 minutes.

Dave suffered the walk down the Nuthouse with full gear which was the right call in such an East wind that late in the day.

chriswvv: There is a drive up option at Chief's and Nordhoff but the road is currently closed. Hopefully it'll open up this next week. We flew over a guy up there in a loader doing work on the fire breaks.

[chriswvv]

Thanks. Maybe I can hook up with you guys another time.

[andy dainsberg]

in re: to "committing deep" when going west toward whiteledge~ it can seem daunting to us pilots and having gone thru the gap that way a couple times i know its more intense than going the easy way thru eastbound. (seeing the power lines i was like 'i'm home.') i tested the lift and the wind on the bumps past the 33 within glide of lzs before advancing further. i know some guys have been pinned back there and winds change but based on my observations of the available lift, my altitude and the prevailing moderate east all the way to bruce's, i didn't feel overly committed or gutsy. looking at the recent thread on winds @ parma one might think a sled ride from skyport requires the "cojones" and commitment of an airborne daredevil! .. "commitment" is launching. "observing" is flying. my nuthouse flight was just observation and a desire to go big on that day. ( i have totally committed myself right now to getting pinned back in a canyon next flight!!!!)

[Dean S]

The lift was pretty good, but the East winds were shearing it off between 4500-5k. Below that it was buoyant and a fat convergence line had set up over Ojai. After getting up over launch I headed East to follow a fat convergence seam that went on forever. I spent most of my flight close to 5k, bobbing up and down, hardly turning at all. As I was cruising East I saw Jonas around Twin Peaks close to 5k. I got distracted for a moment, but when I looked back Jonas was dropping like a rock. Within just a few minutes he was on the deck and calling for retrieve. This is where the lemming law comes into play. I thought to myself, “he must have zigged when he should have zagged, that won’t happen to me”, so I pushed forward. Five minutes later I approached Twin Peaks and went over the falls just as Jonas had – doh! From 5k to 2k within one minute, and nasty turbulence to top it off – oh boy, my favorite! After several whack-attacks I threw in the towel and put it down at the propeller field. I should’ve joined up with Andy, his flight sounded like much more fun. It’s been almost a year since a PG has gone through the pass in either direction. I sure hope we get a better flying season in this year, the last couple years have been crap.

There’s been a lot of Nuthouse posts recently and there are probably a few of you that are anxious to try it out. Keep this in mind before you do: It’s a 45min. – 1 hour hike for most (30 min. for Brendan), so bring lots of water. The hike is very steep – don’t wear sandals of any type. Launch is one third the size of Skyport, so you’d better have great launch skills – it’s really tight. Bring some bug spray or wear a long sleeve shirt and long pants. There are a lot of small, nasty flies that have big appetites for flesh. I didn’t have either and I’m paying for it today - I’m scratching like a mutha! Last; know where you can and can’t land in Ojai, the area is very sensitive.

[Chris G]

It's Dean's favorite launch. He just wants it all to himself..;P

[andy dainsberg]

the "renewed nuthouse interest award" goes to chris g. its been an injection of enthusiasm having him back here as a flying friend. fun times these last few weeks. my last cruise thru the pass before this one was @ 8 months ago. i personally haven't seen any good gap pg opportunities in between but have had the best year of paragliding of my life. enoying the small moments i guess.

[Dean S]

I agree, it's been great having you back Chris. Sorry to see you go, your enthusiasm will be missed.

...anyone know how long these small fly bites last? I'm scratching like a dog infested with fleas

[andy dainsberg]

those suckers bug art's arms for about a week. they get me for about a day~~~

[Chris G]

Thanks guys! It's been a blast! I've especially enjoyed the fact that just about every time I made the call for the Nuthouse, Art and Andy were already 2 steps ahead of me. It's been great having so many new faces up there too. Brian, Simon, Jonas, Dietrich, Cormac etc. Keep flyin' it guys! The taste we got the last few weekends was somewhat unusual. While the flying has been challenging at times, it's much more normal to have a SW flow, get to 3500+ at the NH spine, bench to 5+ at Nordhoff, and 5-6k at Chief's. The East made things difficult but everyone nailed it! The hike does get easier too...;)

I'm going to keep an eye on it for Monday morning (30º spread), but the East winds will be the determining factor. I head out Tuesday morning and will hopefully be back briefly in mid-March before heading to SLC. Then hopefully back here on a more permanent basis after Sept. Just in time for a few flights from Pine before the Winter season. Can't wait to get the new Nuthouse crew up to Pine..;)

BTW, the bugs only get me for about 6 hours, but the Poison Oak is the gift that keeps on giving.

[redfly]

hey guys,

so my first visit to the nuthouse. originally i was headed to SB and already well on my way when i had a little chat with dean. he said ojai looks real good and people would go up to the nuthouse. it was also him that remotely guided me to find the trailhead. thanks a bunch dean! (obviously he did not quite exactly mention how the "hike" up really is ;) )

what a scramble, i was not even sure if i was on the right path until i finally saw a windsock and another 15min of scrambling later was greeted by a bunch of well-known and less well-known faces.

this take-off is special i have to admit, but good fun. seems like i was really lucky, could get away pretty quickly. and headed east-wards. marty and art where already over the pyramid. once i ended up there they where gone and i just pushed out further east. (i think my next goal was what you guys call twin-peaks, but not sure). somewhere on the way, shortly after flying through some funky air, (which i think partially was some spill-over from the north), i hit the convergence and i was eye-balling the little pass in the east. not realizing that it would lead into santa pola valley, where (after the fact obviously) the santa ana would howl down. you can tell i am quite ignorant when it comes to geography around here ;)

well, i decked it on a soccer field close to thatcher high, all my remaining height was gone in no time and the east wind was quite stronger low down. what made me go down almost vertically at times. finally on ground i was greeted by a friendly man: "welcome to planet earth"

so thanks to all of you for your warm welcome to the nuthouse, the site intro and especially to chris for to give me some very helpful hints and spotting a good cycle for me!

hope to see you guys soon again for some good flying!

jonas

ps: oh and yes this bloody little suckers got me as well. i was wondering where i picked'em up...