Course went to Towers, Bowl to the North, down to Mt Harrison, then back to the Andy Jackson Airpark.
Small turnout as the conditions were forecast to be cloudy. However the clouds burnt off much earlier than expected, and punchy spring thermals up to about 5000ft were all we had to work with.
Lots of teamwork and slow progress resulted, but rewarding flying to go all the way to Harrison under 5000ft.
Topping up before making the crossing to Mt McKinely. Arrowhead Springs resort in the valley below
Photo: Aaron Colby Price
Aaron had bad luck after the glide in the video above. He turned left to go around the back of the San Manuel Reservation along the ridgeline, couldn't find enough lift on the back ridge and then sank out in the deep canyons which can be notoriously sinky. I took the front line over the foothills and found a good climb to get me over the next transition to Mt Harrison.
Russ Detweiler and I climbed up Mt Harrison together in pretty bumpy air and light thermals. I'm never comfortable in low on this mountain as the canyons twist and turn on the way up, leading to turbulence and disorganized lift.
Climbing up Mt Harrison with Russ Detweiler
After we got to the mediocre top of life again we headed north into wind. We both sank out just north of the San Manuel Reservation, where we are not allowed to land so you have to pick the route carefully. I took the route over the foothills, Russ took the route close to the terrain... Neither worked! Jeff and Len made it back on their higher performing gliders, which make all the difference flying on an upwind leg.
Click the map for Tracklog on Leonardo
