Alternator to Parma 4/17

[Kabir]

things looked good on paper so I planed to Make a move
Called some people but no one was available (if you wish i had called you, send me a PM with your number)
Ben was at the Owens, (hope the Eagle thermal clinic there is going off!)
Another friend was flying a jet somewhere (my favorite excuse for not flying...)

So I marshalled the whole family and we went to Alternator
Cycles where good
SE.
Took off and got to 4500 rIght off the bat.

My sence is that if you can get to 4500 and the wind is allright, then you should go XC.
So i went down range
La cumbre was working just as good.
Saw Ron coming from skyport and Andy on the RR climbing out

Hugged the high ground hoping to get some love over EJ's but got Nada.

but managed to come over the RR,
Usually I take cathedral to the RR saddle and then work my way back up
But I liked this line better.

The RR busted me back to 4000 or so and went to the Thermal
Things here where not as easy, Had to work the 00s for a while and then Andy found a nice one thatgot me back to 4000.
deciding that i did not want to be patient (as I knew is best) I chased after Andy towards Montecito
Saw him catch a nice climb right away so I beelined for it.

There it was a scrath-o fest.
A couple of times I was flying so low that I could have landed just by stretching my feet.

Not such a smart move , but so far the air had been preeety mellow and at palaces it seemed dead.

Got a climb back to 3600 and getting greedy I decided to wait for the next climb to go and chase Andy once more .

Now, here is the moral of the story
By now I should have realized that the day was deteriorating.
My climbs started getting me to 4500 and now the best i could do was 3600
Mmmmmm???
So I should have taken my altitude and made a play with it.
Instead decided to wait for another climb than never came.

Also, the down cycles where stronger and the air a bit chunkier.
(So no more scratching for me!)
So i decided that i should bail out ASAP.

But knowledge has its price and found me even lower than before.
Saw some vultures and hoped for them to show me where the lift was.
But when I saw the flapping I figured it was time to think happy thoughts.

I aimed for the flats kinda towrds parma. And where the powerlines meet near where the fire started I got a bit of love to get me to Parma.

The LZ was Parma at its best
I managed to catch the switch as I was on final so I ended doing a forced downwind landing.

I think Ron tagged cathedral and back to Parma and Andy landed somewhere in montecito.

Thats all for me!

K

[gary begley]

fly paraglider(tandem) , fly wingsuit....fun day!