Belated Flight Reports

The Rat Race was kind of a blur for me, perhaps because most of my landings were at the vineyard, where I got an early start on the celebrating each day. I had intended to make time to post articles and pictures as the week progressed, as in past years, but to my relief JD volunteered to fill in for me, and he spun some great yarns from his perspective as a new Rat Racer. I also knew that Reaper's camera was on my helmet recording most of my airtime, so I'd have a video log to review later on. And the tracklogs are available to view on the scorekeeping website. So now, a week after the comp, having watched my videos, and pored over my tracklogs, I have squeezed the following details of the week's flying from my besotted brain, to be accompanied below by assorted helmet cam video clips.

First Task: Previous Day's Goal

I already reported on the first task here, where I tagged all the turnpoints, but sunk out at the vineyard on the way to goal. The vineyard was the goal for the practice task the day before, after all the same turnpoints, so I felt like I had made the goal from the previous day, a day late. Here's a clip of my perspective thermaling over Woodrat Peak before the start opens.



Second Task: Ups and Downs

As JD reported, the second day started completely socked in. I thought for sure we wouldn't have a flyable day, let alone a task to fly. But the local weather gurus were confident that the heavy cloud cover would burn off by midday. And it did! I spent a fun hour or so thermaling up to cloudbase over Woodrat, both the launch area and the peak, before heading out to tag the start cylinder over the LZ. After that, I headed to Rabies Ridge, but I didn't get that turnpoint, instead sinking out to the LZ, along with a lot of other people in a massive flush cycle.

I caught a shuttle back up soon afterwards, and got my first official race relaunch. But it turns out by that time the wind was pretty strong all around the valley, and people were just parked in ridge lift over launch, and not getting very high. I gave up on the idea of the task, and tried to make the vineyard, but the headwind was too strong and I ended up in the LZ again.

The day ended with only 11 pilots in goal. Combined with the fact that a huge number sank out at the start cylinder, the task was devalued significanly, ending up being worth only around 200 points for the winner compared to the typical 1000 points for a valid task. But it was an exhilarating day for me, thermaling to cloudbase multiple times, then fighting it out on the other side of the valley and sinking to the LZ with lots of company.



Third Task: Happy to be Down

The third task day started a bit cloudy and cold, although not as socked in as the day before, and it cleared up as the day progressed. But this day's challenge was a forecast of strong wind expected to reach the area sometime in the afternoon. It was a frantic scene on launch as Reaper and LeeAnn and the launch crew got all 110 pilots off in 40 minutes.

JD launched right after me, a few seconds behind, and we both joined the pilots already airborne searching for a way to get above the ridge. It wasn't working that well, and we struggled low for a while. I saw JD working to stay with me, and I shouted encouragement (which I later found out he heard as an admonishment for getting in my way).

Soon afterwards I saw Matt Cone cruising by me in a thermal without even looking my way, and I shouted something like "Hey Matt, watch out" - he turned to see me and said "Sorry, I'm watching that low guy." Well, we know from JD's report that it was him down there, super low, refusing to give up, but destined to land in the pasture by the old folks home.

It was really tough to get established above the ridge, but after a half hour or so I started to make it work, and began to make my way up. After focusing on my thermal turns for quite a while in one really nice column of lift, just homing in on the guy in front of me, at one point I looked around and realized I was at a place I'd never been before: the top of the stack in the start gaggle, across from Alaska Jack in his Mantra R10.2. What a feeling that was. I knew I didn't belong there, but I tried to act casual.

The start gate opened right then, and as we headed out to tag the start cylinder I encountered lots of sink, and along the way I took a massive whack which really woke me up. After such a great start, somehow I ended up scratching for a low save over the LZ for a long time, finally bringing it down to the LZ in what I realized were pretty windy conditions.

I spent the next hour or so watching other pilots land while blowing backwards, and running over to help them secure their wings. What an exciting day. The top score on this day turned out to be another low one, due to how few people made goal and how many dirted near the start. I was just happy for that one incredible moment up there. Sometimes it's all about one particular moment that stays with you. Not sure how I did it, but it was my best start ever.



Fourth Task: Ground Hog Day

On the fourth day, I was queued up to launch with Jason and local pilot Sam. We ended up waiting forever to get launched, because the lines weren't working very efficiently, and I think we chose the slowest one. But nonetheless we climbed in one thermal immediately to cloudbase just in time for the perfect start, and I was feeling very positive about my chances to go places.

I tagged all the waypoints in the valley, pretty efficiently, and not far behind the leaders, but at the last one over Woodrat Peak I saw some pilots getting tossed around really hard in what would later be described by a top local pilot as the strongest thermal he's ever seen at Woodrat. I was just not up for that blender experience, so I opted to take what altitude I had and see if I could get over to Burnt Ridge, and head from there out to the cemetary turnpoint in the big neighboring valley.

As I turned away from that big thermal, the radio began to crackle with reports of a pilot down, crashed on the hill right below where pilots were getting jacked around. A rescue operation was instantly launched, with Reaper and Tom Chestnut on the radio coordinating, and Bonnie and LeeAnn helping out, along with scores of other pilots. At least one EMS-trained pilot heroically toplanded nearby to offer first aid.

I soon realized I was not high enough to get up at Burnt, and headed back in the sinky leeside air to try and make it to the LZ. I almost didn't make it, and I was eyeing the pastures by the old folks home that JD likes so much, but I caught a little something and got myself over the LZ. I saw a guy low there making quixotic turns as if he were going to score the mother of all low saves. But he was actually rising out of there a bit, so I headed his way, and darned if I didn't start going up. I don't think the other guy made it out though!

I saw an ambulance racing up the dirt road to launch. I didn't really have a solid line on this low thermal, and I soon lost it, but I realized I was probably now just high enough to cruise over to the vineyard (the best LZ in the valley, not because of the free glass of wine for pilots, but because the air is less turbulent).

As I headed over to the vineyard, I saw other pilots coming in, and I started setting up my approach. But suddenly I found myself in some smooth strong lift, and I started turning, just for a lark. I was soon going up, and up, and up, and I realized I was actually rising higher than launch again, way higher, out here over the vineyard. Maybe the day wasn't over for me! It turned into more of a convergence line than a thermal, and I barely had to turn to stay in it.

I topped it out as best I could, and then headed back on course to see if I could get across Burnt Ridge again. It was hard to ignore the fantasies of making goal that were intruding on my focus. By this time I was about the only pilot left in the whole valley, a surreal feeling after days of crowded skies. Many people had opted to just land after the rescue operation took over the radio, and I'm not sure why I hadn't done that. It was kind of spooky to be flying above this big valley all by myself, but in a way it was actually good for me to try and figure things out on my own without the usual lift and sink markers scattered all around.

But as I headed out, I encountered massive sink the whole way. Oh well, I don't know why I had been so hopeful, but at least this time I left enough height to get back to the vineyard, skipping over the bomb-out LZ. As I was setting up my second approach at the vineyard, and really thinking about that glass of wine now, I hit that same batch of low rising air, even stronger this time, and it became clear that I wouldn't be able to land even if I wanted to.

So I resigned myself to riding up in the convergence, and again quickly rose higher than launch, above the vineyard, trying to force myself to get my head back in the game and figure out how to get out of this valley. By this time I wasn't even sure the goal would still be open. Now I pictured myself coming in to goal as it was just getting dark, all alone, and wondering if I would ever get a ride back. I took a different line this time, veering back to launch at Woodrat and over to the peak, where I could see the rescue operation going on, with dozens of pilots and EMS personnel strung out along an incredibly steep face to get the downed pilot up and out of there.

Someone said over the radio, "paraglider in the air, please fly close to the rescue operation and give us an update," and a second later someone else said, "paraglider in the air, belay that, do NOT come in close here!" As if I had any thought of going near that area! But alas, I could't find any source of lift to get me high enough above the ridge to head out again, perhaps because by now the afternoon valley winds had picked up a bit, and it wasn't really working well right at the ridge.

I started to get low over an off-limits field at the foot of the ridge, a field called the toilet bowl, and realized I'd better head for the vineyard quick if I was ever going to get that glass of wine. But the headwind and the sink were too strong. The valley wind was flushing me down hard. So I sadly turned back to the bomb-out LZ, only to find, even more sadly, that there was also a headwind from that direction, a very strong one. Apparently I was trapped below the convergence in two headwinds, and about to get flushed into the toilet bowl.

I was closest to the bomb-out LZ, so I stood up on my speedbar and slowly, slowly, slowly eked my way over the big barn located just downwind of the first available pasture adjacent to the bomb-out LZ, and I landed in the nearest corner, just inside the barbed wire fence. It was a good half mile from where we were supposed to land, so I bundled up my gear and started hoofing it over there, navigating my way between groundhog holes, brambles, gushing water pipes, cow pies, watering holes, and barbed wire fences. This trek wasn't quite as nice as the glass of wine I'd been hoping for, but I was happy just to be done after two hours of flying and three attempts to get out of the valley.



Fifth Task: Sticking it out

Conditions on launch were quite dynamic, and I switched from the north launch queue to the west one, and then back to the north launch line. After getting off there, I had some fun thermaling with JD just above launch for a while, and finally caught some very strong stuff to get me high for the start. It was working great everywhere, but maybe a little too great - conditions were very rough and strong, with cracking thermals and rocking convergence lines. I was getting tossed around like a rag doll, and I didn't really enjoy it.

I forced myself to tag as many waypoints as possible, and I got all but the last one in the valley before I could have headed out to the next valley where goal was located. But I guess my heart wasn't in it, because I definitely didn't tank up high enough to make that last waypoint.

I found myself getting low just in time to make an approach to the vineyard, although I underestimated the valley wind and almost landed short, pressing full bar to clear power lines and a pond, finally clearing the barbed wire fence by inches to land in the very start of the vineyard landing area. A little too close for comfort! I was happy to tag as many points as I did, given my discomfort with the conditions. And I wasn't the only one in the vineyard who felt that way.

Later on, a bunch of us ran back up the hill to fly the glass-off. Paul took LeeAnn tandem, and JD, Duck and I launched solo to soar out over the valley at sunset, landing at Fiasco Winery in very strong valley flow, where there was a dinner scheduled for the group.



Sixth Task: Mighty Headwind

We all went up the mountain on the previous day, but the task was canceled because of strong wind. A few people flew anyway, but they weren't moving fast, so most of us opted to take a break. But for this last day, the weather looked better.

However, the wind was super strong and gusty on launch, and a lot of people were having trouble getting off without their wings frontaling or dragging them around. It took me a while to get off, because I got stuck behind the priority launchers. Finally I got off into strong thermals, and made my way pretty quickly to cloudbase. I felt like I had a great start, following slightly behind and below Jack as he headed out over the valley.

The first turnpoint today was a peak on the other side of the valley, deep behind the foothills, and there was a solid headwind coming from that direction. Many people got low over there, and were trying to fight their way back up in the leeside air. It looked horrible to me. I was in a pretty good spot to cruise over above the worst of it, but I got discombobulated at some point (perhaps when I cut in front of Jeff Farrell, really sorry dude, didn't realize how fast you guys were moving), and I think I fell out of the convergence line that had taken me to that point.

I tried to regroup, retreating to climb again and punch back into the headwind, but it was all in vain. The closest I got to the peak was 4k, and we had to tag it within 2k.

I finally got tired of that creepy leeside feeling, and headed down to the vineyard to soothe my nerves with a nice glass of sparkling chardonnay. I was impressed to hear that a lot of people had made that first turnpoint. I give them credit for stronger stomachs than mine. But I was pleased to have stuck with it as long as I did in what felt like pretty snotty conditions.



Father's Day

The day after the comp, Father's Day, I missed my flight at the airport, which was kind of a disaster. I managed to rebook a flight for a day and a half later. So I ended up helping Paul finish his tandem rating with a couple of flights.

It was actually a nicer flying day than any we had seen during the whole race week, and lots of people were free flying, and going XC. The thermals were strong, and we had fantasies of a tandem adventure to Grant's Pass or somewhere, but after we headed over to Rabies we didn't really find much over there, and we ended up at the vineyard where Hayden and Rick met us for drinks.

Afterwards, we went to Magnolia Grill for burgers and beer. It was a memorable Father's Day. We went up to check out the glass off conditions but they didn't look good enough so we gave it a pass and headed back to the house.