WCPC Day 4 - Task Canceled - Due to O.D. (again)

Click on photos for larger version

When we arrived at launch the skies looked good in three quadrants. The view to the South of launch indicated we were destined to have large dark clouds early in the day however.

The task was a 34Km flight from Woodrat Pk. to Grant's Pk. to Trovin (a nice LZ located adjacent to a winery that is pilot-friendly). It was very similar to the task we tried to run yesterday.

I launched with 30 minutes before the start and was scratching in front of the 'mid-launch' when the discussion among the weather pilots and Mike began. "It's a 2" - "The cell is starting to rumble already." - "It's not IF, but WHEN you are going to cancel the day." With about 15 minutes to the start time, the task was canceled. Many relieved pilots landed in the LZ below launch and we were sprinkled by rain as we packed up. The call, again, was the right call. This is the view from the LZ, looking at the launch hill, just before it began to sprinkle.
Ironically the clouds that had appeared so ominous, suddenly dispersed and the skies over the launch and LZ became very friendly looking. Some pilots headed on course to Grant's Pass, and I wouldn't doubt that they have great flights, but my experience with Thunderstorms (capitalized due to some major respect) is that they are best left alone. They are unpredictable and fast-moving. When I'm strapped to a paraglider, I am anything BUT fast-moving. If I'm going to avoid T-storms, I go for the head start, every time. Below is a very short video of what the weather looked like when we packed up.

So, with four days of flying behind us, we only have 2 tasks scored and they each were less than 700 and 800 point days respectively. The Friday and Saturday forecasts look good, so I'm expecting to have at least 4 days scored this week.

Scores can be found at http://www.flyxc.org/2009WCPC.html

Tim

WCPC Day 3 - Task Canceled due to O.D.

Click on photos for larger version

Today looked very good when we arrived at launch but the forecast was calling for local Over Development, in the Ruch area, much earlier than on previous days. The cu's were popping in all quadrants with the closest (and biggest) to the South of launch.A 43Km task was called from Woodrat Peak (2K Exit) 27 Km. to Grants the a 11Km leg to Billys and back North West 5Km to Aplinn with goal at the winery.
Launch was a bit slow due to very light, shifty winds on the hill, but we all made it off with plenty of time to get in the air prior to the start. I found good lift to cloudbase. Base was ragged with lift often allowing climbs higher than base, in the clear air. I was right where I wanted to be for the start - about 2 minutes behind and high. This allowed me to view the sky and pick the most efficient line across to Rabies. A mild convergence was setting up and allowed me to get to Rabies high enough to go into a good search pattern. I was able to hang on the ridge for quite a while. During this time the skies over Woodrat blew up and began to look very ominous. I also was noticing that the cu's along the courseline were beginning to get very tall. I wasn't in any immediate peril, so I continued my (somewhat personal) battle with a particularly nasty, and one-sided thermal - trying in vain to extract a couple complete circles in lift.

I finally threw in the towel when I figured we had 45 minutes or so of safe flying before the wind was going to blow. I headed for the Longsword Winery and landed with a few other pilots relieved to be watching the weather from the ground.
Soon the overdevelopment was undeniable and the meet director called the day. The wind picked up and rain began to fall EXACTLY 46 minutes after I decided to can it.


Tonight we have a Mexican food dinner planned. The rest of the week's weather looks like a balancing act between flying in great unstable air and avoiding over development.

Tim

WCPC Day 2 - Task 2

CLICK ON ALL PHOTOS TO SEE LARGER VERSION

The task today was another great task. I think this may have been the most 'FUN' task that I've ever flown here - and that's after flying many comps and making goal - which I didn't do today.

Only one pilot (Matt (Farmer) Beechinor) made goal, but there were many of us that were within 6k of goal when the East valley winds kicked in and the sun was blocked by an intimidating super-cell to the South West. But I'm getting ahead of myself -

The day looked bleak from the moment we got to launch. Clouds at many altitudes were visible. There were scuddy clouds below hilltop level and some imposing buildups to the North. Here's a view from launch around 11AM.The task committee called a 42.5 Km task from Woodrat Pk (2K exit cylinder)- 20K to Bald Hill, - back to Rabies, then 9K to Jacksonville LZ. The day looked like it would be weak until it went off (assuming surface warming) and then just a matter of 'when' the clouds would OD.

I launched early again and soon was working with the gaggles to get and stay high. We were only able to get a bit above 5000' so the transition to Rabies (on the way to Bald Hill) would be another sketchy glide. Although starting a few minutes late yesterday worked in my favor, I found myself in a good position and high enough to head across 10 seconds after the start time. The reception at Rabies was about as 'homey' as yesterday. A few got nothin' and ended in the LZ after making valiant efforts to get up. In my case, I was down to 300-400 feet above the LZ when I dug into a thermal that took Andy, Brett, Paul and me back into the race. We got high enough to get into Rabies again and found some good lift that got us on course - a full 35 minutes after the start.We headed on course with an impressive view ahead. The photo below is of Josh, as we followed him on course. We didn't see any weather that was sinister looking until the last leg of the task. As we approached Rabies, prior to the turn East to Jacksonville, the development to the South was very scary looking. Because the course took us East, and because the weather wasn't moving rapidly, it allowed many to scoot along courseline to goal. The problem was the low-altitude winds had picked up and thwarted all but Farmer on the glide to goal.

I had my very own, personal roadblock - my brain quit working while on the way to goal. I had a field on my instrument programmed to give me (I thought) the glide ratio to goal required. . . I didn't do the math to check the indication so when I was approaching Rabies, the last turnpoint before the short leg to goal, I realized that I was too low to make goal and had to find a climb before going into the tiny valley between Ruch and Jacksonville. To make a long story short - I decided to end my flight with Tom in the Bishop LZ 10 minutes before the task was stopped due to the approaching weather. 30 minutes later we felt the gust front roll through the area with 20-30 kt gusts.

As I wrote earlier, only Matt Beechinor made goal with at least 12 others within 6Km of goal. Tom and I are probably in 12th-15th for the day.

This task was a lot of fun because it started with a very low save that took me from resigned defeat to running with the leaders for the next 30Km. I doubt that I'd have been able to make goal even if I hadn't brain-farted, but I would have been in the J-ville area rather than on the Ruch side of the hills.

Scores will be here: http://www.flyxc.org/2009WCPC.html
I just got a look at the scores. Here are the Cumulative top five in each category:
Open Class:
1 Mattew Beechinor 655 758 1413
2 Matt Dadam 632 653 1285
3 Josh Cohn 618 616 1234
4 Paul Murdoch 500 653 1153
5 Nate Scales 621 514 1135

Serial Class:
1 Peter Warren 375 607 982
2 Brett Hardin 353 618 971
3 Steve Young 350 582 932
4 Tim O'Neill 341 514 855
5 Melanie Pfister 149 544 693

Women:
1 Melanie Pfister 149 544 693
2 Nicole Mclearn 149 468 617
3 Meredyth Malocsay 303 218 521
4 Veronica Dubak 149 192 341

I'm in 11th overall and 4th in the Serial class.
My flight is HERE.
The weather for the next few days looks doubtful . . . I hope we get to do more flying.

Tim

WCPC Day 1 - Task 1

The day started with a pilot meeting at 9AM where we firmed up some of the technical issues such as min. distance, nominal dist. and time, criteria for scoring stopped tasks, etc. The WCPC is a small field this year with only a few more than 40 pilots, but the field is filled with good pilots.

When we arrived at launch the skies were overcast with high cirrostratus that blocked much of the heating. The South skies were still dotted with very unstable looking Cu's that showed there was potential for the day, once the sun was allowed to heat the surface.

A 42km task was called from Woodrat Pk to Rabies to Burnt to Grant's Pk to Trovin (9k S of Grant's Pk). I launched early and got up high, only to get flushed about 10 minutes before the start time. I was able to salvage the start, if a bit late, and made the glide across to Rabies. I could see that the leaders were not doing well at Rabies, and many pilots were diving back into the valley, so I went into a very conservative mode and took a weak climb over the middle of the valley that gave me another 600' to play with when I got to Rabies Ridge.

The ridge was classic Rat. The air was very trashy and unpredictable. There were areas of bullet-like lift and convergences that made or broke your day. I was able to hang in the unorganized lift long enough to team up with Paul and Steve. We found a core and climbed, quickly to 6000' which gave us the ability to head over to Burnt Ridge. I'd estimate that at least half the field fell out in the first 10km of this task - it's amazing how difficult the 4-5km transitions to-and-back-to-Rabies were, do to the low climbs and wicked sink.

Once up at Rabies again, I headed North-West to Grant's Pass. The distance ticked down and the winds were very light at altitude. Abeam goal (about 7km. from Grant's) I was able to get a slow climb that appeared to put me in good stead - UNTIL I hit the wall. A wall of wind from the West became an insurmountable barrier to further progress towards Grant's. Every Serial-class wing ended up here and the wall was even unsurmountable for any comp gliders that came along after us. We were done.

Results are now out and Farmer won the day with Matt Dadam, Nate Scales, Josh Cohn, and Nick Greece next. I place 4th in the Serial Class and 15th overall. Happy to make it that far.

All-in-all the task was well suited for the day. It was tough on the 1/2 & DHV 2 wings during the first part of the task and that's the nature of this valley.
Results will be HERE as soon as they are available. My flight is located HERE.

After I got back to my room the skies opened up - here's a bit of a taste of the tropical conditions this evening.

The next couple of days look less conducive to long tasks, but the Rat can be a trickster.

Tim

WCPC - Practice Day 2

Today looked unstable early and we all knew it would over-develop before the day was done. The cell above was 20 miles East of us, near Medford, and it was late in the day before any over-development affected the Ruch area.


I launched early again today and got up easily. I headed across to Rabies and soon found a great thermal to 8,500 ft. Most of the collective wanted to go to Grant's Pass again, but I wasn't that motivated to fly the route again. I headed on course but turned and went to the West to make a triangle. I ended up an the Longsword Winery and enjoyed a nice red after packing up. My flight is HERE.

Tonight was sign-in for the WCPC and it looks like most of the regulars are here. Tonight the skies opened up with a very active lightning display and gully-washer rain, so the weather for the week is in doubt. I'm hoping to see some good short tasks early in the week and longer stuff when the instability eases. Wish me luck.

Tim

Milestone

Tonight this blog had its 20,000th hit since its inception 17 months ago.

The 20,000th hit was the 8,646th unique visitor. The hit came from Bucharest, Romania.

Kinda cool to see where and when people view this blog - You can click the map at the bottom/right corner of this page to see where folks are from. I started this just to update my family while flying various competitions and it's grown from there.

Hope you find it worth while (sometimes).

Tim

Woodrat Practice Day 1

Today was a great day in the Applegate Valley. I met up with Andy Palmer, Rob Sporrer, Nick Greece, and Matt Beechinor at the LZ. Tim drove us to launch and it looked good with cumulus clouds popping all around us. A couple students were in the air for a while and managed to find some lift at launch elevation, but it took an hour or so for the cycles to start, weakly, coming up the face of launch.
I launched first and managed to find a weak thermal that teased me as I drifted around the area trying to get up. I was able to hang for 15 minutes when I found a bubble that took me to 4500' and gave me the freedom to look around for a boomer. Meanwhile Farmer and Nick had launched but they immediately had to deal with a down cycle. Rob and Andy and (the other)Tim launched a few minutes later and also had problems getting up.

I was fortunate to be high enough to hang in the weak lift until Farmer worked his way up. We headed across to Rabies Ridge where we contacted some well formed convergence based lift. At this point Farmer headed out & I stayed with the lift until it topped out at 8600'. The clouds were still North and East of the direct course to Grant's Pass, but that's where we were going. I spent the next hour about 1/2 a thermal behind Farmer as we flew towards Grant's Pass. I feel bad because I really didn't contribute much to the flying, but it was a fun outing. We turned just short of Grant'sPass and decided to try to get back to Ruch. I was low man & wasn't willing to hike far (with my bum ankle) so I headed for a likely thermal trigger nearer the main road to Ruch. I got low and landed in a great field across the road from the Noble Dairy. After 45 minutes next to the road, displaying my 'GLIDER PILOT NEEDS RIDE' sign, Hector stopped to offer a ride. It was a fun day with a 24 mile flight in warm conditions. My flight track can be viewed HERE.

Tomorrow is registration day for the West Coast Paragliding Championships so I'll need to get back in time for that.

Tim

Dipshit

As in, "Tim can be a dipshit at times!" - I hope the reference isn't the 'despicable' definition!

I just returned from a working trip to Sydney and am preparing to head North to the WCPC (West Coast Paragliding Championships) in Ruch, Oregon. While on my layover in Sydney I had an embarrassing 'slip & fall' accident that caused considerable chaos within the confines of my left ankle. I had an xray done and today my Ortho-guy (yeah, I have a guy) gave me the good news that I did, indeed cause a small fracture where the tendon pulled away from the bone, but it will heal well and all I need to do is wear a splint to inhibit any further damage while it heals. He prescribed walking and said I'll be good to go hiking in a week. So, I'm using the DS word to describe me injuring myself this close to the comp - not my intention to fly it ♣


What this means to me, is that it's "GO" for the WCPC next week.

I'll be flying my Gradient Avax XC2 in this comp because I have had only two short flights on my (newly purchased) Boom 5.

I enjoy flying the Woodrat area because the flying is very technical. Pilots need to plan the flight and read the conditions as they change throughout the period of the task. Valley winds, areas of convergence that run for miles, and massive areas of sink, are all variables that can either make or break you. I've flown 3 or 4 comps in the area now and am looking forward to it.

The Ten-Day-Forecast for the Woodrat area looks a bit wet. I hope that this is an indication of great clouds, rather than a week of rain. It still looks good enough to get some flying in early and mid-week.

I'll be blogging as usual.

Tim

U.S. Nat's Video

Here's a video I put together that shows what it's like when thermalling with 70 other pilots before the start of the task. The video also has shots of many of the competitors and podium shots of the winners. Thanks to Aaron Beck and Dean Stratton for sharing their photos.

For the best quality version you can right-click and save the .WMV file at the bottom right corner of the Vimeo Page.

2009 U.S. Paragliding Nats - Dunlap, CA from Tim O'Neill on Vimeo.

A Good Cause

A friend who has been an occasional instructor, guide, and initial responder when I banged myself up in Mexico a few years ago, has had an accident while running a clinic in Florida. Dave Prentice is a great pilot and a great guy who has dedicated much of his life to the pursuit and promotion of foot-launched free-flight.

David and Rasa have a new son named Sky and live modestly on the proceeds of his mentoring and guiding paraglider pilots all over the world. David's injuries are not life threatening, but included some surgery and hospitalization and his recuperation will cause some interruption in his income. I know that David and Rasa can weather this type of storm better than most, but the bills for his medical treatment will not be inexpensive without insurance.

I would like to extend an invitation to those who see this post to help out a fellow flyer in need. A PAYPAL account has been set up to help with the Prentice family needs at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=5304061

David's website will soon have info about his progress.

Get well David and I'll see you on the hill soon.

Tim

More Musing

I found this quote to be in complete resonance with my paragliding experiences.

Tim

Trips worthy of being called journeys must provide opportunity for virtue. Resourcefulness, judgement, courage and luck must all play their part; temptation must be resisted, false friends identified; skill, analysis and technique must all make a difference. Battle, alliance, rest, fear, thirst, heat, discomfort, reflection and just a few moments of lucidity have to find their place.

The efficiency of a means of transport should be measured by how little you need to travel to still make it a journey; maximise journeys per mile, not miles per hour.

If you are how you travel, remember to maximise your journeys per mile, and only then aim to ramp your miles per life.

From an article
By Tony Curzon Price

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Six - Task Five Part 2

As reported in my previous post, the fifth task was a bugger. Conditions at launch were very sketchy for a long time. See a photo on Andy Macrea's blog showing conditions at launch. Even when the clouds rose high enough for launches to begin, conditions were weak. The sky shaded over just after the start and this caused most pilots to land before, or just after the first turnpoint.

The task results are in and the task was drastically devalued because so many competitors landed within the first 10km. No one made goal but Nate Scales and Josh Cohn were within spitting distance of making it. Nate and Josh only got a little over 300 points for their efforts. No changes to the top 3 in any category.

Final results are:

Sport Top 10:

1)Tim O’Neill
2)Darius Lukosevicus
3)Stephen Maher
4)Ty Sporrer
5)Jim Chu
6)Arun Moorthy
7)Sam Mulder
8)Chris Hilliard
9)David Norwood
10) Aaron Price

Serial Top 10:

1)John VanDuzer
2)Amir Izadi
3)Jon Hunt
4)Tom Moock
5)Cliff Curry
6)Dave Hanning
7)Steve Young
8)Wil Brown
9)Francisco Henriquez
10)Chris Galli

Women’s Top 3:

1)Meredyth Malocsay
2)Magali LaLonde-Legault
3)Pamela Nichols

Overall Top 10:

1)Brad Gunnuscio
2)Eric Reed
3)Rob Sporrer
4)Nick Greece
5)Hayden Glatte
6)Jack Brown
7)Nate Scales
8)Peter Schaefer
9)Andy Macrae
10)John VanDuzer

I placed 26th overall. I am happy with my decision making made on the first 3 tasks. When conditions were weaker, on the later tasks, I made some decisions that committed me to routes that, ultimately, didn't work out.

This comp was held at Dunlap with the hope that the competitors would leave with a yearning to fly this site in future events. The weather, terrain, and great tasks all made for a wonderful week of flying. The St. Nicolas Ranch also worked out well in providing a comfortable communal environment to eat, sleep and party.

Jugdeep Aggarwal did a great job in planning this event. He even left his wing in the bag to ensure the meet was safe and successful. I know how much Jug enjoys competing and appreciate the sacrifice he made for the good of the other 70 competitors.

Bill Hughes was a painfully patient scorer who worked long into the night to provide scores for the morning briefings. John Ivey served as safety Director and did a great job even when he had his hands full with 3 reserve tosses and the incumbent pilot extractions. No injuries resulted from any of the irregular ops.
Connie Locke, Sonnie, and their group of retrieve staff did a good job of getting the pilots back to camp after a "break-in" period, in all this was a successful and enjoyable competition.

Congrats to Brad, Rob, and Eric for flying very consistently and showing the way.

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Six - Task Five

The weather was dreary when we arrived at launch around noon. Cloudbase was at least 400' below launch and the visibility was a half mile. We waited it out ans finally called a 38K task - A 2k Exit start around 49917 then out to wolver (near Squaw Valley) then down valley to Woodlake. Cloudbase was just barely higher than launch so things were a bit interesting before the start, but lift was abundant and I had no issues with the call to fly the task.

My start was a good one and I was with a contingent heading directly along courseline across the Dunlap valley. The other group was working from 49917 to Bald and then out to Wolver. My group included Dean Stratton and Babush so I felt the gamble was a sound one. We had the potential to be 5-10 minutes ahead of the Bald group *IF* we could contact lift along our route. It looked good with dark spots under the clouds, but nothing substantial was found by the collective. Meanwhile the Bald group was able to get up to 5000-6000' over Bald and continue on course while my group slowly dwindled as we landed one-by-one. I found a bubble of warm, buggie air with thermal birds buzzing around and was able to hang in there for 15 minutes before falling out and landing in a nice field with 5 other pilots. Dean made it over to the other side of the ridge but also landed - our gamble had failed.

Meanwhile the other group had made the Wolver turnpoint and were headed South in dwindling conditions. Looking at the SPOT page, it looks like Pete Shaefer has made well along the course and Josh Cohn has also made it down the valley also -

It's been a great comp with 6 straight days of flying and one canceled task. The conditions have been very good.

More to come after the awards party tonight.

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Five - Task Canceled

Prefrontal conditions obvious at breakfast. We hustled up to launch hoping to get a short task in before theskies opened up - We almost pulled it off.

A task was called down to Orosi then back to the pizza place at Squaw Valley. About 40k if I remember correctly. The rain gods won this one & quite a few guys got wet, either while flying or packing up. When the task was called a bunch of guys were nearing Orosi.

The weather events allowed us all to get to camp early enough to blow off some built up steam. The margaritas were expertly prepared by Steve Forslund which made the comp experience complete.

It's Sat. morning and the skies look good for one more task today - I love post frontal conditions in this area so it should be a fun day.

More to come -

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Four - Task Four

Today's weather looked much like yesterday's with light winds aloft and a fairly stable airmass. We still built a big task since yesterday's flying was better than anticipated.

A 80K task was called from Hill 49917 to Squaw Valley then down valley again to Eckert Field in Strathmore (about 12 miles South of yesterday's goal.)

The pre-start gaggling was desperate. We were clinging to the ridge at 500'over to 500'under launch height. There was much conversation in the thermals as we all attempted to get high enough for a reasonable start that allowed us to get to Hill 49917 high enough to surf up it's face to get the 400 meter cylinder. Once on the way to Squaw valley, the gaggles thinned and the work began to hack away at the 50 mile task.

Squaw Valley had some lift and we worked together to find the best core. Top of lift was around 4000' so we had to climb often and got much lower in the valley than yesterday. It was a scratchfest.

I worked with a few buddies along the way and pushed to keep the lead gaggle in view, but lost them after an hour or so -

My undoing was a ridge with the Cliff waypoint on it. I got up and was waiting for a couple others to get up so we could leave together, when I got hammered with sink. I came in under the others and couldn't connect with the thermal that I had previously topped. I was within 500' of landing when I found a weak thermal that got me just high enough to dive into the lee of the ridge and I was on the ground 15 minutes later. My favorite retrieve driver, Phyl, soon had me in the van and we headed out to find others.

We had 5 in goal today. Quite a feat. I placed 34th for the day and don't know how this will affect my hold on 20th place. We'll see tomorrow.

Unfortunately we had a mid-air (strangely, it was after the start when traffic had thinned out) with a reserve deployment. And another reserve was thrown in an unrelated event. All pilots are OK and planning to fly tomorrow.

Results are HERE.

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Three - Task Three

Today’s task was a ridge run twice, along the ridge that launch is located on, then out to Squaw Valley and South to Lindsay. Total task length was 80km (50 miles). I was looking forward to this task because I lived with my girls in Visalia for 25 years and would be flying just East of Visalia if I made goal.
The start went OK but I was a bit low so to avoid getting in a hole I slowed a bit. I still managed to find myself lower than I liked, at times, while negotiating the first two turnpoints. Conditions were beginning to get a bit turbulent near the ridge due to the normal afternoon winds. At one point one of the competitors took a big asymmetric and cravatted . He successfully threw his reserve chute and landed unscathed on Hill 49917.
As we all headed across the valley to the Squaw Valley turnpoint, we were glad to be leaving the ridge. There was some nice lift during the leg to Lindsay. I was running between (back and forth) two small gaggles – trying desperately not to fly alone. As we worked our way down past Antelope Valley (yesterday’s goal) I found one of the best climbs of the day. The thermal was big and strong and took me to 6200’. This allowed me to head South on 1/4 bar with 50km or more groundspeed. The winds were gradually shifting to the NW and looking like a tailwind at certain altitudes. I took any climb over 300’/min. and watched the miles tick away for the last 20 miles of the flight. I crossed Woodlake high and had to decide on a line from Woodlake to Lindsay. I started with a direct line, but soon decided to dive into a large field with burning stump fires for a much needed climb. I was below 1000’ agl when I arrived at the field but was able to core a rough 300'/min. smokey climb to 4000.' This gave me a 10:1 glide to goal for a short time. I knew I needed a bit more of a climb but now I had Rocky Hill made and I knew that there were usually thermals over this hill since I have flown RC gliders over that hill.

I didn't connect with any decent lift and fought the fight, but ended my flight 3.6km short of goal. We had 21 in goal on a day when noone thought we'd fly 30km!

All my flights can be found here

We've had quite a struggle to get back to camp before 9pm this week, but some improvement has been made. That, along with the archaic internet connection available at the facility has made updating this blog impossible unless I sit outside a gas-station before breakfast.

The weather looks good on Thursday so I'm looking forward to more good flying. The comp has has some rough edges with regard to organization, but the site has proven itself worthy of great flying and adequate facilities to host a comp.

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Two - Task Two

We woke to stratus obscuring the launch and very heavy dew at the HQ. We headed to launch around 10:30 and waited for the stuff to break. A 50 Km task was called - Start at Hill 49917 then out to Squaw Valley, then down the range to Antelope Valley (near Woodlake).

My start was perfect and we made it to Bald & climbed to 6000' cloudbase. The lift looked dependable so things were happening fast & the gaggles pushed out on course at a good pace. I had a good run and finished in just less than 1:57 while Brad G. and Keith Mac placed 1/2 in around 1:42.

I placed 14th for the day and am now in 20th overall.

Cumulative ranking (if memory serves)

1. Brad Gunniccio
2. Jack Brown
3. Keith McCullough
4. Josh Cohn
5. Hayden Glatte

There is almost NO internet access at the ranch so I'm sitting in front of a gas station to update -

It looks like today (Wednesday) is going to be good flying, more to come -

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day One - Task One

Today the cu's were popping early so a 72K out and back task was called to Sandy Crk. then to Tivy Mtn. then out to Kaktus in the flats and, finally, back to Sampson Mtn. behind launch.

I had a good start and was firmly in the second gaggle for the first couple of turnpoints but found a bit od a hole near Tivy Mtn. I landed with Babush, Keith Mac, and Bill Hughes. I placed 20th for the day. I'm typing this on the fly so I'll make it short.

More to come -

Tim

US Nat'ls - Dunlap CA - Practice Days

I arrived in Dunlap at 1PM on Saturday hoping for a couple practice flights before the comp begins on Monday morning. The weather, when I arrived at launch, was spectacular. Cloudbase was around 6500’ and there were cloudstreets that begged to be followed. I said my hellos to some of the regulars and suited up to fly. Launch was a bit windy at times but lift was abundant and strong. At times I saw 800’/min. on my averager. One other adjective that describes the flying on Saturday is ‘COLD’. It was finger numbingly cold at altitude. I had worn my winter gloves and still was cold.
Some of the early launchers had headed out to the flats and points South but I really didn’t feel comfortable creating a situation that demanded an epic retrieve, so I did a large tour of the area that allowed me to drop into a field in town so I could easily negotiate a ride to launch and the comfort of my trailer. It was a good day with roughly 30km covered in 2:00.
Josh Cohn was one of the early launchers and he made a great flight to a small spot near Fountain Springs. This little spot is South of Porterville and is easily a new site record at around 105km. Nice!

Sunday was a warmer day and mostly a blue day. Climbs were topping out at 6000’. An informal task was called with an exit cylinder at Dunlap Launch then down to Cutler, then back to a landing at the ranger station. I really worked on this task and made some good decisions, but found myself flying alone for the majority of the day. It was particularly lonely on the leg to Cutler and I was fortunate to get back out of the valley after tagging the waypoint. I was definitely ‘tail-end-charley’ today but it was great fun. Many of the guys turned back before reaching the turnpoint but I really pushed to make the full task.
Today I ran into some massive areas of lift that carried, with them, debris and bugs from the orchards and fields below. In these areas of lift (and often flagging the lift for me) were what I call “thermal birds.” These birds are swifts or swallows that dart about catching bugs. It’s not uncommon to find them snacking at 4000 to 5000’ and they are a great help in finding lift.
We all moved into our lodgings at the St. Nicholas Ranch tonight (Sunday Night) and had a great meal before retiring for the night. Unfortunately there seems to be a bit of an issue with the amount of internet use that is available vs. the amount this crew is using, so I don’t know how often I’ll be able to get the word out.

That's it for now -
Tim

BAPACompetition - Dunlap, Part Deux

Saturday the task was from Hill 49917 to Last Chance to Bald Mtn. to GOAL at ROC124 (Rocky Hill - East of Visalia)total dist.73km. My flight is HERE.

I felt like things were ready to go today, in spite of the fact that I have flown almost no XC flights this season. This was the first successful gathering for a BAPA comp. so I had concentrated on my gear and proper preparations for the day.

I launched early and found some weak lift. Within 25 min. the rest of the field was filing into the sky and filling the weak thermals. The start was a 1.5km ENTRY cylinder around Hill 49917 - then run in to tag the 400meter cylinder around 49917 for the first turnpoint. Today I seemed to do everything the hard way. The things that worked out well, I managed to screw up with bad decisions. I am very happy that I got this stuff out of my system during today's task. . .

Anyway the start was at 1pm and by then I'd been working high point - just surfing around on top of the various thermals. With 7 minutes to the start, and about 4 minutes to beginning my run at the cylinder, I got flushed badly and watched as my high aspect ratio buddies (high above me) made their run at the start. I climbed up a bit and decided that there would be lift on the hill, so I made the start cylinder only to be skunked on Hill 49917. I retreated all the way back to 1000' below the launch before I regained some lift and got back into the race. At this point I accepted that I was at least 20 minutes behind the leaders (35 minutes into the race) and that the pace of the day was going to be slow anyway - so I plodded along using all the traffic ahead of me as aid.

I flew along with just about everybody today as I worked my way back into the running. Eventually I got to Bald Mtn. and could see Josh, Jug, Tom, Kansas, and Will circling slowly in weak lift on top of Bald. Will & I collaborated for a while and watched as the others all began their glides into the Squaw Valley and down Sand Creak Rd. For a long time Will and I just circled in 1's and zeros waiting for somebody to start circling in lift ahead. Josh was able to find a weak bubble and survive, but the rest all landed in the same area along the road. Will and I slowly advanced towards Josh, who was patiently loitering to let us catch up.

I seemed to be tiring more than I expected and realized that my harness straps had loosened and I was in "full-recline" mode which meant I had been essentially doing sit-ups for the last 2 hours. My patience with the 1-200fpm lift was waning so I headed to a lift trigger for better. Bad idea. I ended up low & alone circling to survive for the last 3 miles or so. Will made it a bit farther and Josh landed just short of Goal - an impressive solo flight.

I landed in a tight field next to Geo. Smith Rd. and was soon joined by a herd of kids. They all wore traditional Amish garb and were both shy and extremely curious. The oldest brought me a cup of Lemonade that really hit the spot.

I made it to the road and put my thumb out for the 10 mile ride to the pizza joint and the first truck that came by stopped. Thank you Naomi for nagging your husband until he reluctantly stopped to keep you quiet ;-)

I placed 3rd for the day. Considering the way it started, it was a good outcome.

Lessons learned (some of them repeat lessons, since I'm slow):

1. Don't get in a hurry and make bad decisions that slow you down ultimately.
2. Stay with your buddies. It is especially important within 10 minutes of the start and when entering an area of weak lift that requires searching.
3. Remember that a race where no one makes goal is a race of survival - the pace you fly can determine your score for the day.

Sunday the task was a few laps of the valley, then out to Dalton Mtn. and back to goal at the Ranger Stn. My flight is HERE. Most hit the first 2 turnpoints but got snookered after Dan's when we went to get up at last chance. At one point there were 7 or 8 of us all ridge soaring this diminutive hill before each of us dropped into the field at the bottom. Josh and Kansas made it farther along the course - not sure where they landed.

Results for the weekend are HERE.
A good warmup for next week's Nats.

Tim

BAPA Competition - Dunlap

This weekend we flew 2 XC tasks from the Dunlap launch. I'll write more about the tasks tomorrow when I've had some sleep. But here is a video of some of the first day fun in the gaggles & on the ridge.

Tim


Airtime at Dunlap from Tim O'Neill on Vimeo.

Musings

Everyone who lives dies, yet not everyone who dies, has lived. We take these risks not to escape life, but to prevent life escaping us.

One of my fellow PG Forumers has this as his tagline. I like it, even if it sounds a bit trite. At the age of 53, I'm probably ripe for a midlife 'crisis' of some kind, but there are no Harleys, affairs with 25-yr-olds, or tattoos in my near future. I imagine that's because I still feel alive and young enough that death is either going to come spectacularly, or much later on. . .

I guess you could call me a flyer - I've flown some form of aircraft since I was 14 yrs old. For the last 35 years I've made my living flying airplanes. Now, as a 747 pilot I'm more of a manager and less of a pilot. I fly 15 hour international flights that guarantee that I will be tired when making the approach and landing. For that reason, I employ automation and procedures to minimize the opportunity for error. I guess that's why I fly these crazy paraglider competitions.

My slick little paraglider is undoubtedly the lowest performance aircraft I've ever flown - although flying one is the closest thing to spreading my wings and just flying. Paragliders are the easiest aircraft to learn to fly but they take quite a while to learn to fly well. And flying cross country flights is very challenging. I think the challenge is where it's at for me. The focusing nature of being no more than 20 minutes from landing, unless you find lift, keeps me consumed in concentration until I cross the goal line. As I've said before, this sport can seem very trivial to those that 'don't get it' - and I understand. It's just like me 'not getting' why somebody would want to collect Beany Babies . . .

But it doesn't make the impact on my life any less that you, or my wife, don't understand why I do it. My wife does understand (from experience) that if I don't get to fly for a week or two, I get edgy and restless. And I think that she intuitively understands that I need to get into the air - as much as I need to breath the stuff.

What's my point? I don't know, really. I just had my 15 yr. old hound-dog put out of his misery this week. . . He lived a full life and crawled into the garden to die under his favorite tree. I think he was satisfied with his life and lived until he was ready to die. I wish the same for us all.

Tim

Competitions This Season

Well the season schedule is beginning to solidify for the coming year. I'll be flying in the first round of the U.S. Nationals in Dunlap, CA (April 27th-May 2nd) and then heading North to the West Coast Championships at Woodrat Mtn. (May 31 - June 6th). Finally, I'll be flying the second round of the U.S. Nationals in Utah (Aug.16th - Aug. 22nd).

In between these competitions I'll be flying as many BAPA XC league and SoCal XC league events as I can.

I've been a bit frustrated for the last month because the weather and my UAL schedule have conspired to make it impossible to attend any of the league events, so far. I've been doing some virtual flying (reviewing my past flights at Woodrat and Dunlap) and reviewing my XC Competition Tips from PGForum.com compiled and Lessons Learned from my first few Comps.

I'm looking forward to seeing everybody at the hill. It's always good flying, a good group & good times.

Tim

Right ON!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYscnFpEyA

PodMod Pt. 3

Not a lot of info to add at this point, but I thought I'd report on the outcome after making the final mods to the pod.

The floor (made out of a flexible plastic cutting board) really cuts down the friction between my heel and the pod. This makes activating my speed-bar much more manageable and controllable - allowing 'throttling' of the bar to control the wing. The bungy, tied to the loop of webbing I attached to the nose-piece, keeps the 3-step UP speed-bar laying nicely in the pod.

I have also moved the lower skirt of the pod towards the back of my harness 2.5" - using the velcro already installed on the harness bottom. I then added velcro to the outside of the skirt to hold the forward-bottom edge of the tailpiece (with the ram-air intakes) in its original placement. This process changed the angle of the pod and cleaned up the profile of the bottom of the pod/harness connection.

I've now flown the installation for a few flights and am very pleased with the outcome.

Tim

PodMod Pt. 2

A week ago I started my mod of my harness, by adding a pod. You can see Part One HERE. I've also made a few additional changes.
I've had a couple flights with my pod installed and really like the product so far. I am not totally satisfied with the mod, yet, though. I have encountered a couple problems.

1. The top (front) of the skirt has a lot of weight due to the front mounted reserve. This creates an issue when launching and groundhandling. When the risers are not under load, the pod skirt tends to fall forward over the carabiners. There is also a lot of stress on the seams where the carabiners support the pod.

2. When activating the speed bar (a 3-step UP ladder type) my heel tends to rub with much friction on the bottom surface of the pod. The XC2 has a very stiff push to activate the speed-bar already and the additional friction makes using the bar almost impossible and may cause wear of the pod.

Click on each photo for a larger view

To remedy the issues I added a strip of 1" webbing along the opening for the carabiners that crosses both seams to strengthen them.







I also added a strip of velcro that is wrapped around the carabiner and holds the skirt in place when the risers are not held vertical.

































To fix my second issue I laid a 1/16" thick plastic cutting board, trimmed to shape, that fit between the piping at the floor seams. Sewn to the seams was a strip of 1" velcro, which holds the plastic in place, as well as physically capturing the plastic sheet.








Next I sewed a loop to the nosepiece which allows a 1/8" bungee to hold the stirrup in position for easy access.










Here's the completed stirrup set-up.

I'll be flying the new mods soon & hope to have a workable system before the first comp of the season.

Tim

Another fun day at Cayucos

Today was another glorious day at Cayucos. I really prefer higher flights, but it's hard not to appreciate the chance to fly over such spectacular beauty on such a great day with my friends.


Another Beautiful Day to Paraglide at Cayucos from Tim O'Neill on Vimeo.

Tim

Cayucos Today 03/14/09

Today was a fun day at Cayucos. The hill is a 700' high walk-up that works with a West wind. The forecast was for high winds in the afternoon so we all hit the hill early. Once the wind freshened we all launched into buoyant lift. I was getting the kinks out of my new pod set-up and top-landed to do some adjustments.

The wind came up subtly and soon the sea showed some whitecaps. I headed for the beach a bit later than I should have and landed just as the wind approached the limit for a safe landing.

Here's some video of the flight.


A day at Cayucos from Tim O'Neill on Vimeo

PodMod

Well, if you were to have read an entry from late Dec. '08, you might remember a post labeled 'Project Time'. I had ordered a leg covering, or POD, from UP. UP is a paraglider producer in Germany. Somewhere along the line things got lost in translation between my supplier and UP for the last 3 months. I'd like to thank Rob and Ty at Eagle Paragliding for staying on things so that the outcome was successful. It isn't unusual for the PG supply pipeline to have some kinks and clogs in it, but Rob is a good expediter and a stand-up guy.

My goal was to add the pod and make whatever modifications to the harness were necessary to do this, BUT I wanted the ability to fly the harness without the pod if I chose to. Since the leg cover mounts to the bottom of the harness I had to move my reserve to the front mounted position. For this reason I ordered the version with the integral reserve container. Moving the reserve was straight forward. The pod has bridle routes that cover the bridle on either side.

The UP Speed cover is made of good quality materials and appears to be fairly durable. It consists of a stretchy material on the top surface of the pod (with the split for entry/exit from the pod) and a light but sturdy Nylon fabric for the sides and bottom of the pod. A heavy-duty zipper is used to join the front of the pod at the waist strap between the carabiners.

The nose cone on this pod has a 2in. hole that allows ram air to inflate the cone. The bottom surface of the pod skirt has Velcro sewn into the skirt to facilitate attachment to the harness. I sewed strips of mating velcro to the harness, just forward of the Ram Race's tailpiece ram-air intakes.

Because the bulk of the front mounted reserve makes it impossible to use my existing flight deck I made my own instrument deck that mounts to the Velcro on the reserve container.

I stand 69in. and 175 lbs. and the Medium size is perfect for me. Anyone taller should opt for the large. The video below shows some of the details of the mod.

The complete project took less than 4 hours and $25 for professional sewing. The results are a good looking and comfortable leg covering. This pod looks like it would work on a number of similar harnesses.

I made some additional changes after flying a couple flights.
They can be seen HERE.

PodMod from Tim O'Neill on Vimeo

I can't wait to fly it. I hope to get a chance this weekend at the Santa Barbara event.

Tim

Cuesta Today - Mar. 08, '09

The prediction for today looked good for a flight at Cuesta - Probably not a day to go XC, but flyable. It was a bit dicey looking since the windtalker indicated an Easterly flow on the ridge. On the drive down I took this picture of the convergence clouds mid-valley over the Men's Colony near Hwy 1.


I got to the top around 12:20 and met Dave and Eric and Sharon. There were substantial puffs from over the back, indicating that the convergence was still out in front of launch. This was backed up by the clouds. I still was optimistic that the puffs would turn and soon cycles would be rolling up launch. After a half hour or so, Eric & Sharon decided to head down the hill for more interesting activities.

Dave & I hung out looking for encouraging signs. Soon the thermal birds reappeared. Then we saw a big bird work up from low altitude and head NW along the convergence line without flapping or loosing altitude. When the puffs started coming up the launch from the West I suited up and took off into great lift that took me right to 3000'. Dave launched soon after I did and we explored the area mapping the convergence by climbing, then reaching out until 1000'/min. sink forced us back to the lifty area. Our reach wasn't that far before being hammered by massive sink so this was a local flight. Eventually the convergence moved to a position behind launch and we flew in relatively trashy air until we landed down the ridge, by the 'X'.

A fun day & worth waiting for.

Tim

The season is just about to start

The first weekend comp of the season is next weekend in Santa Barbara. The next is the following weekend, a BAPA league meet at Potato Hill. I'm still waiting to receive my leg cover to modify my harness & flying has been sparse. . . So here's some more pilot porn. It's advertisement, but great air2air videography.



The video can be downloaded HERE It looks great in 'full-screen.'

Tim

Cuesta Today - Feb. 18, '09

Today was a spectacular day in the San Luis Obispo area. I awoke with my usual "got in from Hong Kong yesterday funk," but shook it off when the forecast looked good for the Grade. The emails flew back and forth and it looked like a good weekday group would be at the hill around 12.

My flight is HERE.

After taking my dogs to the vet I hustled up the hill & was first to set up while marveling at how green things had gotten since last week. Patrick and Kevin soon joined me and prepared to fly. Patrick was first to lay out and that meant that there was an immediate lull for 10 minutes. The cumulus clouds were really starting to look good, with a nice cloud-street West all the way (it looked) to Cayucos and many more popping East of launch. Patrick passed up a couple decent cycles and I was getting antsy, so I opted to launch first. I launched at 12:30 and played with some scattered lift but soon was maybe 30-50 meters below launch wishing I had been more patient. I eventually found a nice bubble in the usual spot that bloomed into a nice climb back to the ridge and then to the towers. As I headed West, over launch, I could hear/see a blimp flying along 101 and crossing the grade towards SLO. He was maybe 300 meters below me and a mile away - it was hard not to head over to fly by him ;-)

Patrick soon launched as did Dave, Kevin and Jack. When I passed the towers I was over 1000 meters and things looked text book for a fun XC flight towards Cayucos. I was showing a S flow that veered into an Easterly flow at around 1200-1400 meters, so I opted to continue along the ridge Westbound. The cloud street was the nicest I'd flown in this area. Patrick was getting nice & high and looked like he might head East but turned back West to shadow me along the ridge. The best lift band seemed to lay just W of the ridge. The thermals were regularly spaced and reasonably smooth.



I wasn't pushing hard because I really wanted Patrick to catch me but just flew a reasonable pace. Occasionally I'd see a couple hawks above me and circle with them to 1000+ meters. Approaching the 41 corridor I notice that a blue hole was lying over the pass and optimistically (too optimistically as it turned out) continued into the blue at a mid altitude. Soon I was calling back to Pat that he needed to tank up before his transition. I cruised across 41 at the point the big power lines cross the hwy at a meager altitude. After a low save, I was joined by Patrick and we skated around in a 150 meter band of lift for 15 min. until I was out of steam. We both landed in the same field next to Hwy 41.

We had no cell svc so we hiked a bit until we found a turnout and set up for the hitch to Cuesta. After tying on my PILOT NEEDS RIDE sign and thumbing for 10 minutes, a nice gentleman offered to give us a ride to the top of the grade. We piled in and soon we were at the base of the dirt road hiking to launch.

It was one of the prettiest days I've flown at Cuesta. Unfortunately my thick gloves (which were VERY helpful at altitude) caused some fumbling with my helmet cam, so I was unable to turn it on.

Thanks to Patrick for taking the photos and making the flight a joint effort.

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Briefly

The website is hot and registration is open for the first leg of the US Nationals. Competition will begin on Monday, April 27th and run through May 2nd 2009.

Dunlap is one of the sites I consider a home site and I'm really looking forward to a great week of flying, learning, and visiting with the 'regulars' at these events. Here is some information about the area:

The Flying:
The Dunlap launch (36° 45.916'N 119° 5.879'W) lies along a a 1500 meter high ridge. This is the Eastern (high side) of the Dunlap valley. The valley is approximately 10km long (NW-SE) and 5km wide with the valley floor around 600 meters. The valley, while small, can be technically challenging when trying to make expeditious crossings. The long task options are to the West, North, and South. We usually fly a few valley crossings before leaving to fly into the next ridges West. Once on the Eastern side of the San Joaquin Valley there is little restriction to the distances achievable to the North and South.

The flying in the area can be very consistent. In recent years we have held many NorCal XC League events at this site with only one or two no-fly days. Spring flying in Dunlap can be quite nice with climbs to altitudes above 2700 meters and cumulus clouds to show likely routes. Winds are generally SW-W-NW. The flying isn't as dependent on (or affected by) convergences as the Woodrat area, although some convergences can be found in the afternoon.

The launch area has been improved and expanded to allow 2 or 3 launches simultaneously. A large layout/set-up area is also available adjacent to launch. There is quite a bit of poison oak around the cleared launch area so consider that if you are allergic.

As far as logistics go, Cell Phone reception can be very spotty in the Dunlap area and at launch. Internet access at the St. Nicholas Ranch will be very useful for those with Skype. There are only a few restaurants in the area so the meals served at the Ranch will also be a welcome convenience as well as a nice social gathering. There is no running water available at launch, so bring your own.

Some of my most enjoyable tasks have been in the Dunlap area due to the sometimes low top-of-climbs which make the technical/strategic decisions very important.
HERE are some of my flights from last year -
Tim

Flying MDO today

Today I met a few friends for some fickle but fun flying at the bluffs.
I've gotten a bit more comfortable with my video editing software & here's my latest.

Paragliding at Montana de Oro 08 Feb 09 from Tim O'Neill on Vimeo.

Cuesta Today

Today I met Patrick, Jesse, and Eric for a quick flight at the Cuesta Grade. The air felt good and the cycles were nicely rolling up the hill so we all got airborne before 1 P.M. and flew a few flights with top landings in between. I was able to get up high enough to head over to the TV towers and look closely at the guy-wires.


First Flight at Cuesta 2009 from Tim O'Neill on Vimeo.

This is my first flight using the Helmet Hero camera.

The video isn't riveting, but it was a fun flight.

Tim

World Championship Risks & Rewards

What does it take to compete on the international stage in sport?

Years of preparation?
Commitment?
Top performance equipment?
Risking Life & Limb?

All of the above.

Today a pilot died while competing at the Paragliding World Championships in Valle de Bravo Mexico. This is a very sad event and an indication of what each pilot who competes at this level of paragliding competition must keep in the back of his/her mind.

While I like to tell my friends that XC paragliding is the activity I derive the most enjoyment and reward from, I understand the risks. My risk/reward assessment allows me to continue to fly with confidence and enthusiasm. I do have control of some of the factors: My currency, my familiarity with the area, wing characteristics & safety, the forecast weather. Those risks that I can't control, I minimize or avoid. But many risks are not visible or creep up stealthily.

Mark Hayman says it very well in a recent blog post from the worlds: (written days before the fatality)

"To put it bluntly, top competition pilots in general and particularly competition paraglider pilots are just not normal. Does anybody think that leaping from a hill into angry conditions with your safety assured by 7 kilos of marginally stable sail cloth which at any moment could decide to stop flying, is normal? Let’s face it, most Olympic Athletes or indeed most competitive sports people do not run a very significant risk of death or serious injury each time they participate in their chosen sport. The only things that spring to mind are some forms of motor sport and a few ‘extreme’ sports. In spite of recent advances in equipment and organisation I rarely do a competition where somebody doesn’t ’smack in’, often with quite serious consequences. The fact that we, as pilots, accept this means we are not in any way a ‘normal’ cross section of the population at large. In fact we are pretty weird as far as I can see.
...
So the point I’m making is that the very top guys in a sport where the risk of death or disablement are so high are unlikely to conform to social norms. If they’ve survived the day, they’re likely to drink, smoke or engage in other frowned upon behaviours. If they were unable to control these behaviours and were flying whilst unfit then Darwinian Forces would have removed them from the gene pool long before they’d amassed the thousands of hours flying necessary to be chosen for a National Team and compete in the World Championships."

Mark, in my opinion, does a reasonable job of describing the risks of Top-Level Paragliding XC competition.

Now, let's look at the reward side of the docket:

How many seven figure baseball, cricket, football, players risk life & limb to win? If they did risk it all, and for no money - just the thrill of the game, do you think the same guys would be doing it?

The group I 'hang' with, competitive XC pilots, risk all they are willing to (and more, that is often out of their control) for little or no money. We fly and compete for the thrill and experience and camaraderie. It's not just a hobby. It is the activity we do that somehow gives perspective to the rest of our lives.

So - Today we are one less. A fellow flier has flown his last flight. I hope that the thermals are fat and smooth in the after. I know why he flew and why he accepted the risks. I understand.

Tim

Doing us Proud

I don't usually get very excited about sporting events - especially when it comes to yelling "USA" at an international spectacle. The US Paragliding Team is making me sit up on the edge of my seat as they hold there own amongst the best pilots in the world.

The World Championships are being held in Valle de Bravo, Mexico this week and next. With 3 tasks complete. California pilot (and fellow BAPA League pilot) Eric Reed has flown consistently well and sits in FIRST Place! Brad Gunnuscio and Farmer and Kari are also flying well.

This competition seems to be attracting a lot of world attention and the best coverage can be found at the EAGLE PARAGLIDING BLOG.

My favorite individual pilot blogs are those of Mads Syndergaard(DNK) and Mark Hayman(GBR) and Nicole Mclearn(CAN).

Go USA!

Tim

Dunlap Recon

One of the things that a good comp pilot does is minimize distractions and "get stuff out of the way." During a competition, the stuff of daily living can be a distraction - or worse, if not handled properly, it can affect your performance. Get a bad night's sleep or skip a meal and you will not be at the top of your game.

How to provide options to 80-100 pilots in a very small town has been on the mind of Comp. Director Jugdeep Aggarwal. This week I met Jug in Dunlap, CA to do a bit of informal recon and planning for the upcoming U.S. Paragliding Nationals. We made a visit to the St Nicholas Ranch in the Dunlap Valley. The facility is associated with a Greek Orthodox monastery and very well maintained and organized.

Jug's goal is to provide the best experience for all pilots. A couple of the issues each pilot needs to deal with during a competition week are those of lodging and food. In the Dunlap area this is a bit of a challenge. The lodging available at the various small motels is, to be generous, 'very rustic.' Those that want to camp can find spots in many places around the valley but there is no WiFi and services are generally a bit gritty. Another concern is the need for transportation and transit times from the campsite to HQ each day. Additionally there are only a few small places to eat in the local area.

When I saw the facilities that the St. Nicholas ranch provides, and the willingness to work with us the staff showed, I knew that the best place to stay in the valley during the comp would be the ranch. Here's what they offer:

Clean modern rooms and beds with A/C and heat.

A beautiful mess hall with great food & clean comfortable dining room

Spacious meeting rooms and scoring room

WiFi

Swimming pool and Rec Room with ping-pong and foosball tables

A beautiful pastoral setting with hiking and a lake on site.

Jug has decided to offer an option for an 'inclusive' plan. I know what you are thinking, THAT WILL BE TOO EXPENSIVE! I'm not trying to sell YOU the plan but I'll tell you why I'm for it - It pencils out. If a clean, comfortable bed is available at a competitive price and the chow hall serves good food across the hall, why sleep on the ground and drive all over the valley to eat cold pancakes? This place is a gem in Dunlap and I can't believe I haven't discovered it until now!

It has been decided that The Ranch will be the headquarters for the meet and it was logical to offer an inclusive package that allowed all participants the option to sleep and eat dinners and breakfasts at the ranch. This spot is the perfect place for pilot meetings and briefings as well as social events around the BBQ pit, ping-pong tables, and the pool.

I can, without hesitation, endorse this facility as the best spot in Dunlap to base our competition. I will also go out on a limb and say that you will enjoy staying at the Ranch. I'll be staying at the site and eating the home cooked meals in the dining room. Why? Because I know the quality is there and because it will "get stuff out of my way" at a very comparable cost to the sub-standard alternatives.

For those of you concerned with the Ranch's association with the Church, I understand where you are coming from - I was there and asked, "what are the rules?" Is smoking allowed? YUP (outside) How 'bout alcohol? No Problemo. The only restrictions the site has is (smirk) NO FIREARMS. Oh, and no dogs.

If you want to have an enjoyable first comp of the 2009 season, come to Dunlap and see what I'm talking about.

More on the site next -

Tim