Lookout Mountain, Golden Colorado Monday 11 May

[mcelrah]

I'm in Denver for a two day conference. Arrived at 1130 and met Sparky at the LZ - he took the day off to sponsor me. Site protocol is pretty strict. This site is at 6800 MSL with 1000 feet above the LZ - it's right next to the big "M" for Colorado School of MInes. When it's blowing straight in, you can smell the beer thermals from the Coors brewery out front. The locals were pleased that I had sent in my membership dues and waivers well in advance. They were not so pleased when I let the glider fly over my head after I brought it up in the south crosswind. I got off on the third try and found the air gnarlier than I'm used to in a paraglider (not too dissimilar from Woodstock yesterday). I only made one 360 in a thermal - didn't trust the ratty thermals not to dump me mid-circle close to the mountain - so I stuck mostly to S-turns. I somewhat redeemed myself by not making any gross errors like getting caught in the rotor behind a foothill in the south cross (did I mention the south cross?) or failing to land in the designated LZ. Sparky got to 9400 in the thermal that jerked me on my second flight, although in general the air felt smoother on the second one. (I had two 15 minutes flights.) A couple of local pilots jumped northe across the canyon; one came back to top land in the south cross which produced rotor behind the peak. He took a momentary partial tip collapse while close to the ground. He said that in 18 years of flying he had always thought top landing in a south cross was a dumb idea; now he proved it. We all packed up and left when it turned over the back. Tomorrow looks to be west (over the back). But Wednesday is promising, if not too strong... - Hugh

[Spark]

... Sparky got to 9400 in the thermal that jerked me on my second flight, although in general the air felt smoother on the second one. ...
- Hugh

Actually, I think my eyes deceived me ... my Ascent vario asserts that I only got to 8400 msl.

'Spark