Snowscape at the Pulpit Sunday?

[XCanytime]

Looks like it will be west and sunny with a little bit of snow on the ground at the Pulpit Sunday. And above 40 degrees. Winter flying in October . Anybody interested? Bacil

[sailin]

Yep!! I'm in!

Jon

[Matthew]

Saturday forecast is 6-10 inches of snow in McC-burg. What the f***????

We're thinking of hitting Highland on Sunday-- mid fifties and sunny. No snow to shovel.

FYI-- They are having a Halloween party on Sat. night.

Matthew

[markc]

I'm leaning toward the Pulpit on Sunday, if only because of the possibility of some dramatic photos & video.

At the moment, I'm seeing WNW@5 until 2pm, with strong-ish NNW winds at 3k in the early AM, backing off
later in the day. The 'casts will probably change given the strength of the system, but hopefully we'll have a
chance for some snowy October flying up there. And that would be rare indeed!

Bring shovels, salt, etc!

MarkC

[Danny Brotto]

Crazy wind forecast for tomorrow. The mountain sites (HR, McConnelsburg) will be light west going southwest while on the eastern shore it will be strong NW. Thermal forecast for the mountains is poor but some thermal activity is predicted for the eastern shore. Unfortunately those eastern shore thermals will be ripped up due to the wind. Little snow on the ground predicted for the eastern shore so towing should not be hampered (other than the possibility of a soaked runway and that wind.)

Like Mark said, perhaps a pretty landscape tomorrow in the mountains with snow on the ground and some color still in the trees. Should be a pretty if not a messy day wherever you go.

It's 7:30 am and it's snowing in Baltimore! Better run out and get milk, bread, and toilet paper; Baltimore snow staples, hon!

Danny Brotto

[Danny Brotto]

BTW, here is a link to the webcam we have set up at the gliderport. The gliderport is located near the south base of Ski Liberty just about 10 miles SW or HR. Ski Liberty is just off the nose of the car in the image. At 8:00 am, there is snow sticking to the ground.

http://w73.dyndns.org/img/main.cgi?next_file=main.htm

Danny Brotto

[deveil]

if you guys are going to give it a go at the pulpit i might would show up and get in the way - but it better be purty.
gary

[deveil]

also, i liked greg's video too, especially those zoomy take-offs.
get well Petr.
i've heard tell that chicks dig scars, but internal bleeding!?
(sounds like a whips and chains kinda gal)

[RichH]

Glad Im heading to Florida in a couple of weeks!!

[Ashley Groves]

I am interested in Pulpit Sunday.

[markc]

I'll be bringing a thermos of hot chocolate, and Cointreau!

MarkC

[deveil]

so this is definitely on, mark?

[sailin]

Looks iffy at best.......but I am going to have a look. Should be purtty if nothing else

ETA 930ish

Jon

seven-zero-three-4-zero-five-seven-5-0-five (call me)

[deveil]

i'll toss in the small chain saw - for downed trees(doubt it) and to cut firewood, 'cause if there's any hang waiting i'm going to have a roaring fire to go along withe that hot chocolate.
but pls post asap, been up since three(insomnia) and if it's a negative i'm going back to bed.

[deveil]

6:30? really? i'd better get my butt in gear.

[deveil]

err, make that 9:30?

[deveil]

eta ~11

[Ashley Groves]

Looks like the post-frontal instability I was dreaming about is not in the cards. I am going to bag it and stay with the family today.

Happy landings to those who fly today.

[markc]

Today was simply a treat! Sunny and warm, bright BLUE skies, 5 to 6 inches of snow on the ground, snow in October (when does that happen?), and a completely gorgeous day to be outside. I wish I could say that we all soared, to make it the completely perfect day.

Alas and alack, that wasn't in the cards: Sleds-a-plenty today, though several PG'ers were able to enjoy extended-extendos of 10 to 15 minutes, thermalling above the secondary. Krista (?) was the first to do so, at roughly 1:30, with Tom C and Lazslo following her lead shortly after. Peter H may also have gotten some of the good stuff.

For the HG contingent it was just Jon and myself, though we had some much-appreciated help from Gary D, who had come up just to help out (and fire up that chainsaw!). Gary's work probably yielded all the firewood we're going to need for 2012 events, so thank him the next time you are hanging out at the firepit and getting toasty-warm!

Jon flew after the first two PG sleds, good launch, with a similarly good landing in the LZ of the secondary. I went down to retrieve him and Tom (Lazslo, Krista, and Peter following in Peter's car), and then gave it a go when I got back up top. I hate landing in the secondary, so my focus was to boogie down the ridge and get to the main. Managed that with no issues, and had a good landing to the W, where the field crests below the upper section of the field.

Several of the PG'ers had three flights, and then Ellis arrived late in the day. With urging and rides from Gary and myself, we talked her into two flights. After the second, Ellis took the dog-pack for a hike, and the winds at that point started blowing down the mtn pretty hard..... So we pulled off about as many launches as possible on this day!

Some still photos from the day are enclosed below. I've also got some good video, which I hope to do something with as I catch up on my growing backlog of unedited video. Sigh.

MarkC

Jon heading to launch

And Jon heading to the LZ

Krista's launch

Soft snowy pillows below launch

Tom C charges down the slope

Sun on Lazslo's wing

Lazslo and Tom working light lift

Ellis K launching

Ellis in the air

That's a stack-o-firewood!

View of the old ramp

Marley running around and having fun

[deveil]

sighted at the Smithsburg exit of rt 70 @5:45pm yesterday, headed northeast, a ppg crossing over the highway at ~2-300ft. after watching them walk off the mtn all day, what were the odds.
('appeared to be scoping out the median)

[Dan T]

Wow, what a special day you guys had. I'm sorry I missed that one. I'm finally in California and hoping to get some flying in beginning today if I can find the local pilots.

Does anyone know where Steve Kinsley is and how to reach him? He's usually here in the winter. I tried to PM him but it hasn't left my outbos.

Dan

[sailin]

Echoing MarckC comments......really neat day at the Pulpit!!! Would love to have soared but was really just happy to be there and get a little airtime looking down on the beautiful colors.

Got there at 0945 and had NNW at about 8-10mph (with it more on the 10 side). Probably was soarable at sunrise . Shoveled my butt off to make a path up to launch and clear part of the pad and the north facing ramp. Big Thanks to GaryD that came out and provided some good conversation and lots of help with snow removal and launching.He kept me safe, belaying me with a rope, as I shoveled the slick slope side of the ramp. Not too mention all the firewood!!! Thanks man, really enjoyed chatting with you!!!
Had a scenic sled ride to a good landing in the secondary and MarkC was down to pick me up before too long. Thank you man. he was next up and I returned the favor, picking him up in the primary. Great photos Mark!! Looking forward to some video.

Left the Pulpit and headed to some Pennsylvania trout waters on one of their many, many beautiful creeks. Finished the day in the water, casting the fly rod, and watching the sun go down. Really just one of those days where when you look back at the end of it, you were happy you were able to spend it outside doing the stuff you love!

Jon

[markc]

I had the wrong pilot for two of the PG photos: They are of Ellis, not Peter. I've corrected the captions.... And it was Marley running around in the last shot, not Linus.

Sorry Peter, I think I missed your launches between wire-crewing and retrievals. Hopefully next time!

If anyone wants higher-rez photos just let me know and I'll forward them along...

MarkC