6 flights 9 hrs air time in 4 days trip Rampart/Dog Mt/ Sollie/ Oceanside 9/6 to 9/9/18

Flying sites in Pacific NorthWest:

http://pdxhanggliding.blogspot.com/2015/03/i-live-in-portlandor-and-do-fly.html

Where to learn Hang Gliding in Pacific Northwest:

  http://pdxhanggliding.blogspot.com/2018/05/where-to-learn-hg-in-pacific-northwest.html

 

Two videos from last weekend between 9/6/18 to 9/9/18

First video is two days at Rampart (Snoqualmie Pass)and one day at Dog Mt (Glenoma) .

Video 1

 https://youtu.be/Z6LjOJgS-wM

 

 

Second video is Sollie Mt & Oceanside on Sunday

Video 2 

https://youtu.be/JU1rjIahMKs

 

 

 

1st video contains 

9/6/18 Rampart 

*Alta session with Robin and Stas

*Unfavorable winds direction for landing

9/7/18 Rampart 

*Flying with Robin, Tim Cayward and Tim Bugge. 

9/8/18 2 flights at Dog Mt

*1st flight: Earily session at Elk and landing in north direction. 

*2nd flight: Shared air with PGs Kim & Jen. Kept scratching close to the trees to maintain elevation. 

2nd video contains

9/9/18  Sollie with Kory, Carmela , PG Mark Sanzone and a group of PGs & Oceanside fly through the fog with Tom Johns.

 

 

 Detail report: 

Rampart 9/6/18 Thursday report

Enjoyed some super smooth lifts today at Rampart along with hang buddies: Ron Barbera, Staz and Robin Briejer. It was dead calm at the lake from morning till we left the LZ in Ron's truck at 1pm.   However, it was blowing good strong cycles when we arrived launch at 1:45pm.  I punched off first at 2:40pm and climbed straight up immediately. Robin launched second and headed straight to the wall.  It was easy heading to both walls with plenty of 500 to 800 fpm thermals above the first wall.    The thermals were also widespread in front of both walls and the valley too.  We made it to Alta Mt and found some punchy workable thermals there as well.  My maximum altitude was around 6,800ft with nearly 3 hrs of flying. Overall, it was a satisfying day for us all. Robin and l are spending a night here.  I think Mark Vanderwerf, Jimmy Culler, and few hangs will join us tomorrow too.

Rampart 9/7/18 Friday report

Seven of us hangs flew Rampart today. Tim Bugge and Mark Vanderwerf ( first timers) along with local pilots Jimmy C, Glenn, Tim Cayward, Robin and myself. Thanks to Staz who came out to drive for us and also Tim C. for lending us his truck for retrieve after Staz drove his truck down.  I punched off at 2:45pm after Robin, Jimmy , Mark V and Glenn. As usual, there were plenty of lifts above both PG & Hang launches and easy to elevate to 600-800ft above,  however today it was rather challenging to climbed above the wall. There were a lot of sink from launch to the first wall.   It took me and Robin some effort to get above both walls.  I think my highest altitude was about 6,500ft at the 2nd wall and Robin might got 7,000ft.  I flew for almost 3 hrs and landed in north direction on the carrier deck (yesterday was very cross from west).   It was very turbulent (rotors from Hyak hill) with strong winds at the LZ when I landed at around 5:30.  Robin also flew about 3 hrs and made it to Alta 2 hrs later and reported back from the radio of no lifts there.     Light rain arrived after we got done packing up. I even heard the sound of thunder around 7pm. Forecast mentioned 40-50% chance of rain tomorrow and Sunday in Snoqualmie Pass, North Bend and Issaquah, so I'll be heading down to  Dog tomorrow.  I don't think anyone will be flying Rampart this weekend.  

 

Dog Mt 9/8/18 Saturday report

 It was nice being able to get in two smooth air flights at Dog today after yesterday's rodeo ride at Rampart. 

First flight (an hour): 
I punched off at 1pm in 5-10 NNE winds on the North launch and beamed up to 800 ft above launch quickly all in smooth thermals.  Headed to Elk and got up to 3,000ft (1K above launch). I was cruising the whole Elk ridge alone until thermals slowly disappear. I landed north direction in approx 0-3 mph light breeze and ended up flying for an hour.  Couple hangs (Chris Culler & Tim Bugge)  launched after I got done packing up. Few more pgs & hangs flew while I was hiking up with Staz.

Second flight (50 mins):
Had shared the air with Staz, and two PGs, Kim & Jen. Launched around 5pm in light west wind and wasn't able to get above launch, but kept scratching close to the trees in front of launch to maintain elevation. Continued scratching above the road, and finally ended up flying for 50 mins.

Other pilots who flew Dog today:
Chris Culler, Staz, Tim Bugge, Mark Vanderwerf, Chuck (not William), myself & 3 PGs: Kim, Diana Auman and Jen. 

A few pilots are spending the night at Dog with plans to fly again tomorrow. I'm heading back home tonight. It looks like Oceanside & Sollie day tomorrow (Sunday), I may be going if anyone wanna to go. 

Sollie Mt & Oceanside Sunday report: 

Thanks to Carmela for a ride up to Sollie launch and Kory for retrieved. I followed PG Mark Sanzone and  found a sweet thermals on the right side of Sollie launch and got up. We headed further west to Kilchis launch and found more thermals. I think Mark got 3,000 ft (1,400ft above launch) and I was couple  hundred feet below him. I kept going to the west side way pass Kilchis launch and loss the thermals. Decided to turned back and got really low.  Flew for approx 40 to 50 mins. Thermals was very weak once I below launch. There were almost zero wind at the LZ when I landed. 

Kory went home and I headed to Oceanside.  Hang pilot Tom Johns from Everett , WA also there. The winds were good but nobody in the air yet.   Maybe too south or  too strong for pgs??  Launch was starting to socked in when Tom and I ready to punch off .  We waited an hour or so till the fog lift and then the winds also calmed down a lot so 2 hangs and 4 pgs just took a sledder.