Figeroa 7/4

From: K Dumain
Activity_Date: 7/4/01
Remote Name: 205.188.198.13

Comments

With the monsoonal flow from the SE, we opted to go west to Fig for the day. The weather radio was predicting 105 for the valley, and the previous day had shown a very promising lapse rate.

Drove up with Eric and Jessica. Sarah (aka "Giggles"), Glenn (aka "Coconut"), along with new pilots John and Lisa also made the trip. Got to the LZ about 11:30. Mostly cloudy, but broken. Light and variable winds with some East on top. An inversion at about 3000 feet put a damper on the days potential.

First flights by 12:30 were very pleasant sledders, but it felt promising, so back up the hill. Lisa had a bit of trouble on her first attempt and ended up in the pine tree in front of launch upside down and ten feet off the ground. Her drivers reported she looked like a christmas ornament. We eventually settled on the nickname "Pine Cone."

The second flights were a bit better but not much. The temps never got above 90. Back in the valley the winds were lighter than normal. With the clouds, SE flow, and inversion, the usual summer anabatic flow never developed. Should have gone to Happy given the light conditions. Crazy Dave later reported that the dunes were very soarable that day as well, go figure.