through Idaho to Jackson (WY)

Wed: way too much wind and clouds to permit a decent flight at Mt.Baldy, so in the morning we drove up to Sun Valley in order to return our SVPGA memebership cards to Chuck of  Fly Sun Valley. He and the other pilots (Mitch, Mike etc) of SVPGA have been extremely forecoming and helpful and did their best, that we could get the most out of the conditions - thanks guys!!!

Bill, Steve, Warren and friends meeting in Sun Valley...

Then we travelled through Idaho (first desert and then potato Country) to Driggs (Motel) and then on to Jackson (WY).

just potatoes (= spuds)

the Tetons (seen from Driggs)

We met the local pilots at 1700. Due to the prevailing wind direction they didn't recommend flying Snow King but sent us out to Curtis Canyon, which is mostly a training site, but with the right winds (SW/ W/ NW) would permit evening soaring with a great view of the Tetons. Andy, Jim and Stacy groundhandled/ kited for a while there in a wind too southerly to be rally good.

Sun Valley (ID) -2

Tue: on paper, today looked like a really good xc-day, so at 0900 we were ready at the gondola. 'We' is not entirely correct: after an(other) lousy night I decided not to go up the mountain but be the retrieve driver instead.

Jim, groundhandling in the LZ after his morning flt

Unfortunately, I didn't have to drive very far in order to pick up Andy and Stacy, as the conditions turned out much less 'impressive' than forecast; only 1 pilot made a notable xc-flt. So on the way to 'siesta' at our motel, Andy and I indulged in some sushi.

At 1815 we drove again up to Mt.Baldy for a relaxing evening flight.

again looking east

Stacy

A video by Andy can be found here.

Again, tomorrow is looking good on paper...

Sun Valley (ID) -1

Mon: while my friends had been able to make an early evening flight here on Baldy Mtn yesterday (TO at 2000; ldg around 2130), I hadn't been able to join them as early yesterday morning I had stumbled and fallen onto concrete pavement at the gas station in Arco and bruised my right hand (lightly) and my right knee (more heavily). So after the flight at King Mtn I had need to give me some rest.

 
This morning we took the gondola/ chair lift to Mt. Baldy. A handful of pilots were already waiting and hoping to go far, but the winds were much stronger than predicted and the local tandem guys who flew reported switchy conditions and gusty winds in the LZ. Finally we rode the gondola down...
An alternative site for these conditions were off limits today, as there was fire fighting going on.

Mt.Baldy -looking north

So in the late afternoon we drove up again (the gondola closes at 1600) and could make a nice evening flight.

King Mountain -3

Sun: our last day in Arco. This is the town closest to King Mtn, which has a motel and other services. As you can see, even Arco has had its 15 minutes of fame, albeit quite a while back by now...

First we drove up to Coyote launch, where Jim and Stacy had an early morning sledder together.

                        Jim                  Stacy

This was finally the long awaited 'low wind day' which would permit a short XC flight. With a slight component from the south we (Andy and I) would try to fly north, while Stacy followed us in the car. We launched from Kong Mountain's lower launch, which faced the wind perfectly. One thermal would bring us up to well above 10'000ft. The air being extremly dry made for very little clouds but extremley good visibility.

King Mtn. looking east

Interestingly no one else was around, especially no hangliders, as this would have been a perfect day for them to go far. We didn't want to be flying in this big air in the afternoon, so we landed about 15 miles from TO.
A video by Andy can be found here.
Next destination: Sun Valley (ID).

King Mountain -2

Contrary to the forecast and what we've been told by other pilots, it didn't blow out.
When we arrived at launch everything looked perfect and we could make a great evening flight / glass off. Landing with the setting sun ;-))

Andy

King Mountain (ID) -1

King Mountain is very much a high desert flying site as Owens Valley (CA) or Richfield (UT) with strong thermals and strong lift. Therefore we headed up the mountain rather early hoping to catch a good window. The first launch was off 'Coyote' but I had to launch in rather switchy and crosswindy conditions. There was a little lift (or should I call it reduced sink?) just above the upper LZ, but nothing to keep me up.

Jim (right) and me (landing)

Hoping to have a chance for another flight we drove up again, this time to the so called lower launch.
But unfortunately again, the winds didn't behave according to the forecast  (which was SW), but came in with a northerly copmonent, which made launching difficult and flying bumpy. After several attempts I was soaking wet in these temperatures (around 30°C at 2200m!) and gave up. Jim, Andy and Stacy made a short flight.

Andy

Stacy

So we returned to the motel in Arco hoping there would be a chance late in the afternoon, but presently it looks as it would be blown out :-((

A good description of the King Mountain site can be found here.

across Montana (MT) and Idaho (ID): 710km

Fri (4.July.): today was 'transfer day': 710km across Montana and Idaho in order to reach our next flying site: King Mountain (near Arco, ID)

interesting 'rig'

snow peaked mountains...

...winding canyons and rivers...

...endless plains...

...and finally King Mountain.

We also tried to find a launch near Salmon,ID, but the road was blocked by a chained gate...
Here at King we saw a HG flying very high above launch (and still climbing at 1900).
So we have great hope for tomorrow, but wishing it will not be too strong!

Chelan -day 5

Thur: unfortunately another blown out day here at Chelan. After much discussion and studying wx pages we decided to try again a flight from Chelan Butte. We packed our car and left Moms Montlake Motel , where we had stayed for the last 4 nights. At first sight the motel it didn't look very promising, but it proved to be a friendly, clean place offering all the amenities you'd need for a really fair price.

Moms Motel

When we arrived on the Butte at 1030, the winds were pretty mellow, but by the time the pilots briefing had ended (1200), speed had increased to a level not suitable anymore for PGs. Stacy got off in a lull and flew to Lone PineLZ.

CJ and George, today's launch directors

Stacy launching in a perfect cycle

So we started othe long drive towards Arco (King Mtn) ID, our next destination.

After 310 km across Washington State and Idaho we arrived in Coeur d'Alene to stay for the night.
Tomorrow there will be another approx 700 km before we'll reach Arco.

Goat Peak (Mazama, WA)

Wed: today's forecast was pretty pessimistic and I didn't want to spend another day parawaiting on Chelan Butte. So Stacy and I headed for Goat Peak near Mazama (about 1.5 hours away from Chelan). Andy and Jim hoped for something here on the Butte, so they didn't join us.

On the way there we passed Winthrop, a nice little town looking like one would imagine an old western town (except the cars though).

Winthrop

We had to serach for a while for the road up to launch, as we had been given incorrect information in Winthrop's info center, but when we finally reached TO, the wind was coming in straight - perfect for a forward launch. Driving up, we saw a black bear, but he was gone by the time I had the camera ready.

Unfortunately there were just a few weak thermals, which wouldn't get me up, so it was more of an extended sled ride.

As the Continental Divide was just a few miles away, we then headed up to Washington Pass.

Washington Pass Overlook

Driving back down we saw that Goat Peak was by now out of the shadow and the sun was fully heating up its SW flank. So we drove up again and this time it was Stacy's turn: the wind was much stronger and also a little more turbulent. It was not a very clean TO for Stacy, but very well handled...
He was able to climb quickly above Goat Peak where it was a bit turbulent, but further away from the mountain it was pretty smooth. Flying down he even saw an other (east facing) launch (called 'Flagg?)

Stacy 'in trouble'

In a barn at the LZ we found this approx 60 years old car. On the way back we stopped again in Winthrop, where we had an excellent dinner.

This 'side trip' had turned out very well. In Chelan they could fly, but nothing really worthwile.

Chelan -day 3

Tue: (again) no luck today: the winds came out of the NE. East is the only direction, for which there is no TO at Chelan Butte. Most HG and PG who did launch sank out, a (lucky) few got off well and high, the best of them could complete the task; Len (PG) and Zac (HG), who actually did it twice!

Jim, in a text book launch position

Jim got his P-3 rating this morning from Stacy and used the conditions early in the day for his first flight as a P-3.

Stacy

Lenny, the meet director at the pilot's briefing

Len ready to launch into the bumpy afternoon air

Chelan -day 2

Mon: today the conditions on launch were much better than yesterday, when most PG couldn't launch due too high winds. Only 3 PGs had been able to get off during a lull in the late afternoon: one of them flew 75 miles!

The first 2 PGs (above) could launch in a perfect cycle; then the winds became switchy and at times people would simultaneosly launch in 3 different directions...

getting ready; in discussion with Zac (launch director)

above launch, looking West towards Mt.Rainier (left side: white pyramid)

I had good launch and could climb to about 2700m before starting to cross the Columbia River. Just before heading East quite close to my position (approx 300m) a pilot had a collapse and got twisted, so he had to throw his reserve. He landed unhurt below launch.

 

Once I was out over the plains, the wind direction became very variable and I couldn't really figure out were they were coming from... I ended up landing about 20km from Balde Butte.

after crossing Columbia River, looking back to launch/ Lake Chelan

While I was landing a couple had stopped to watch me. The offered to take me back to Chelan. I didn't even have time to fold up my glider, so I just dumped it in the back of their car. They even dropped my right at the LZ in Chelan Falls Park - many thanks!

Unfortunately I had a communications problem with my friends. They misinterpreted my msg (which unfortunately was a little ambigous), so they went looking for me for quite a while in a spot where I was not anymore -sorry guys!

A video by Andy can be found here.