Hot humid day with weird looking grey skies meant this was one of the first times I'd ever been to Marshall and wondered if it would be flyable. It was 100 fahrenheit (38C) in the LZ, and only a little cooler up at launch, with no breeze.
We hoped the blue sky further out into the valley would come closer. At least the ominous looking clouds over launch eased. Eventually some light cycles came through so we took off.
This was a Sprint event so only EN-B and EN-A gliders get scored, and most people struggled in the weak overcast conditions. Aaron and I were the only ones to make it around the course on our EN-C Delta 2s.
After an hour of painstaking progress, conditions suddenly turned on up on the ridge at Pine, with nice easy and smooth climb up to 5700 ft on this usually turbulent ridgeline, then lots of lift under more dark clouds on the transition back to the LZ. Despite the slow climbs, a surprisingly fast average speed of 30.5 km/hr for the short course.
Unusually dampened thermals for mid-summer southern California meant lot of careful searching. I quite like thermalling in conditions like this, it made a change from the usual Marshall summer rodeo ride and reminded me of conditions in Governador Valedares in Brazil . The image below shows the same thermal from the side showing light winds.
We hoped the blue sky further out into the valley would come closer. At least the ominous looking clouds over launch eased. Eventually some light cycles came through so we took off.
This was a Sprint event so only EN-B and EN-A gliders get scored, and most people struggled in the weak overcast conditions. Aaron and I were the only ones to make it around the course on our EN-C Delta 2s.
After an hour of painstaking progress, conditions suddenly turned on up on the ridge at Pine, with nice easy and smooth climb up to 5700 ft on this usually turbulent ridgeline, then lots of lift under more dark clouds on the transition back to the LZ. Despite the slow climbs, a surprisingly fast average speed of 30.5 km/hr for the short course.
Staying cool in the heat on launch with bare feet...
Photo: Aaron Price
Slow thermals under hazy skies
Photo: Aaron Price
Unusually dampened thermals for mid-summer southern California meant lot of careful searching. I quite like thermalling in conditions like this, it made a change from the usual Marshall summer rodeo ride and reminded me of conditions in Governador Valedares in Brazil . The image below shows the same thermal from the side showing light winds.
Aaron on the way back from Pine
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