3 hours and 10 mins/ Last flight of 2015 at Cliffside 12/31/15

Robin and I arrived Cliffside (Goldendale, Wash) LZ today around 10am and it was already blowing 12+ mph at the hang launch. Paraglider friend Steve Carpentier had the whole sky to himself while we were setting up. As we prepared to launch around 11:30am the winds picked up to 15-18mph (and it get stronger later), so Steve C landed before we launched.  Robin launched first and climbed up immediately. Congratulation to Robin who drove 4.5 hrs (or maybe 5 hrs)  from Seattle and had over 3 hrs of chilly freezing cold EPIC long flight.  Also, congratulation to Mark Rabe who had a successful top-landing and relaunched himself in the strong wind without any wire assistance.  Ray Berger , Rob Steven and myself made it above the windmills and passed the Aluminum plane. I topped out 2200ft above launch (about 3500ft Above the LZ by the river) but I think Ray and Rob got even higher and further down east.  I landed after 3+ hrs of air time. The winds were really strong and cross at the LZ by the river. Approximately over 20+mph.  All 4 of us had a great landing and made it home safely.  Robin will be spending a night at the nearby motel and fly Cliffside again tomorrow.  I have work tomorrow, so I might go back to Cliffside on Saturday or Sunday.  Happy New Years to all of you.

Video from today 12/31/2015

 https://youtu.be/_nvxbHzKag0


Or 
 https://vimeo.com/150464548

2 sledders at Dog 12/28/15

Four hangs and one bag flew Dog today. The condition was similar to Xmas day with the exception of more snow in sight at launch. Launch was socked-in on and off with really light west wind through out the day. We all punched off in almost zero wind. Three hangs (Alfredo, Robin and myself) was able to do 2 extended sledders. Here are few photos from today.

 Video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5359tjKjaZ0

 

 

 

 

one sledder at Dog on Xmas 2015

There were about 5 inches of fresh snow at Dog's launch with 5 hangs (Scott, Eric, Travis, Stas and myself) who flew in a sled ride condition. I'll post video and photos later. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoppG2t5UA8

 

3 hrs and 45 mins flight at Peterson (Lebanon,Oregon) 12/19/15

Two Rick arrived Peterson's LZ (Mr Rocky farm ) at 10:45am and found dead calm wind so we decided to drive up to top launch and it turns out an awesome day! It was sunny like California, with butter smooth air that got us elevated like rockets. .....etc. There was 5 hangs and 2 bags who flew; I'm sure everyone was really happy. I flew from 11:20am to 3:00pm. Almost 4 hrs of air time. Topped out 2000ft AGL. If Zac Major here would've been a good XC day to Salem. Anyway, two hangs (myself and other Rick) launched from the top in the morning (with only 6 mph light winds )while others took off from the lower launch around 12:30pm. All benched up getting above top launch. The wind at the Mr Rocky LZ were about 8 mph when I landed.

1.5 hrs flight at Chehalem Ridge (Newberg ,OR) 12/18/15

At Chehalem Ridge today, the conditions was light and lifty. I flew for 1.5 hrs and it was pretty easy to maintain at a couple hundreds ft above launch with completely smooth ridge lifts. I launched at 12:00pm in about 8 mph winds with 3 paragliders (John K, Mike C and Mark S) and we were surfing between the clouds most of the time. I could have stayed up longer but it got too cold. So I landed at the big LZ in zero wind and the paragliders top landed. The sun came out around 2:00pmwhen I rode my bike to retrieve my car at launch. It was an unexpected blast!!

 

Sledders at Dog 12/14/15

Stas Zee Report:

Seven pilots showed up on Monday at Dog Mt. Rick, Travis, Gabe and I had two sledders, Mark R got three times in the air. We all practiced No wind launches and light east wind landings. Scott and Kenny got best cycle of the day and enjoyed soaring above launch for about 30 min. Here some pictures of lake's water level.
Stas Zee

https://plus.google.com/113890173034817300856/posts/Z5GHDVxq9qK