2 flights hour and 45mins / First flights of 2017 at Cliffside

I had two flights in a super mellow thermic condition at Cliffside today.

First flight, I was up for 30 mins and topped out 100 ft above launch.
Second flight was an hour and 10 mins and topped out 1,800ft above launch (2,800ft AGL).  Thanks to Mark Rabe for coming out to drive for us.

Detailed report:
3 hangs ( Kory, Gabe and I) and 2 bags  (Mark Sanzone and Dave Blizzard) flew today.

I arrived LZ by the river at 11am . The wind was 0-3 mph ESE and zero wind at launch. First flight,  I launched at 1pm and worked on the weak lifts and was able to soar. Seeing Mark head to the LZ , I decided to land to get in another flight. PGs Mark and Dave arrived when I returned to launch. Kory and Gabe was set to launch at this time, and conditions remained calm.  Surprisingly, thermals was better than earlier. I headed east and was able to climbed above the Windmills. The temperature at 2,800ft AGL was 14°F.  After almost an hour of good air time, sunset was approaching so I decided to land.

Btw, I've two bad news to share:
First, getting a flat tire about 5 miles west of The Dalles while returning home.

Second, my GoPro camera ran out of battery so missed capturing the best part of my second flight.  

Other than that, it was a pretty awesome day.

Video Link:

https://youtu.be/CPEwRO8wzF0

 

1 flight 1 hours / Last flight of 2016 at Dog Mtn (Glenoma,Wa)

Gabe and I left Portland today around 9am to meet up with Stas at Dog Patch at 11am. The road to launch was as Eric described yesterday. We were met with falling trees and thick blankets of snow (1.5 to 2 feet deep) on the road, but were confident thinking of making up to launch with Gabe's rig. We all had on regular shoes and brought along a hand saw,an ax and shovel (borrowed from Kim) just to be prepared.  As shown from the photos, we had to cut some big trees to get through. With Gabe's Ford Expedition and no tire chains, we weren't able to make it to launch, but luckily close enough to hike the rest of the way.

At launch, the winds were light from west so we all expected getting sledders.  However, it turned out better then expected considering the light conditions. We all soared, and I was able to reach 1,100 ft above launch and flew for an hour. Dog Mtn flight today was somewhat of a surprise, from bitter beginnings to ending with sweet flights at the end. Thanks to the help of Gabe and Stas's rigs, this year ended on a high note! 

Video Link: 

 https://youtu.be/4R4iwS7gdMk

Shorter version

Longer version:
https://youtu.be/r3a096CH9ls