Tater Hill Open
Paragliding and Hang Gliding Competition
July 28 – Aug 3, 2013 http://www.flytaterhill.com
Entry Fee = $200. Cash Prizes.
Join a group of CHGPA Members at the 8th Annual Tater Hill Open.
A friendly competition (P2/H2 to P5/H5) in the beautiful mountains of Boone, NC
Tater Hill Open
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Re: Tater Hill Open
We have 6 CHGPA members signed up so far! Anyone else going?
Re: Tater Hill Open
Godfrey the filmmaker of from http://theboywhoflies.com/ will be at Tater Hill. He's hoping to create a paragliding school and national team as well, in Malawi and needs any extra or used paragliding gear you want to donate for his School of Dreams (a paragliding project/school). So if you have any PG gear hanging around and want to support a great project bring it with you to Tater. They will be collecting anything and everything that a pilot would want or need in Malawi!!
Re: Tater Hill Open
I got permission to repost this piece of prose from Paul Pierce. Enjoy.
---
Tater Hill Open 2013 – Update
Well I am sorry you guys have been missing all the fun!
We have had some great flying. Despite the weather forecasts and recent high levels of precip.and trough / occluded-front activity, this place opened up on Sunday to deliver surprisingly good conditions. It has been above average on flyable days, with all comp. pilots launching. 2-3 hour flights for the stronger pilots has been the norm.
There have been 6 flyable days out of the last 8 days. Pilots started arriving as early as last Wednesday, and the bulk of registrations were done on Saturday, the official sign-in day.
The Tater Open continues to build momentum; pilots from all over the USA are present, with several seasoned comp. pilots and past US Team members in attendance. Notably , we have a really nice female component, 8 girls all going crazy in the air, which is very refreshing! Kari K. is heading up a 30 pilot clinic which is the hot buzz every morning, she is so on it! The best clinic available for ANY pilot wishing to get more out of their flying – accurate, real-world methodology and data, tried and tested. Total of number of pilots registered is 62 – the biggest field we have managed, with over 70 gliders present.
It is clear that the format and operational environment of the Tater Hill Open are doing well. Easy going tasks, informal decision making and a very broad range of experience levels has helped create a proactive and searching approach to flying these mountains. This is not a sanctioned, FAI meet. The handicap scoring system gives everyone a "chance" if they feel they need it. The common theme seems to be to fly well, and learn more……….it's just not about the points and the score at the end of the day. Lots of Q &A, tons of information on conditions and how to approach the day, thermals galore and one of the best gliding days I have had up here over the last few years.
Czech Republic, Jamaica, Germany, France, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Poland, Peru, Latvia, England, Costa Rica, Brazil, Mexico , Venezuela…these are just a selection of the countries represented here. It's a lively and very enlightening group with many flavors and contrasts to provide the entertainment.
The scene in the LZ post-flying has definitely been " 3-in-the-Z material " with the party going on till late should one desire. All I hear is how good the lift was and how many flights people are having.
Last Thursday saw 2 + hour flights, with the AIRSLUT, yes you know who, showing the way with another well planned climb-out from Bucky, a summit 2.5km from launch. Working hard again, Mark had an impressive and well deserved flight.
Friday the convergence came, with Riss Estes getting his first Eastern USA taste of air that is neither truly thermic, nor dynamic slope lift, yet somehow, with the right amount of feel, you end up at cloudbase 1-2k over the mountain not being able to get down. You can gently cruise the Interstate of cloud-convergence, just hanging out for several hours if you wish. Usually this line is above and behind the hill, going south-west to north east, so flights to Boone are the norm, 15km away. More on this later!
Saturday it rained, and did not really let up, as the cold front came from the Ohio River Valley and did not stall out this time, no broad trough. Good time to do some registration and paperwork, get everyone together.
In fact, it was a fast moving front, nothing stopping it, and lots of colder air filling in, so we had a good temp. Drop and smooth, stronger winds to create what could be an awesome ridge day on Sunday 28th, first official day.
Task 1 – 15km cats-cradle around the valley. It was windy – and too much for Sport Class. As this was day one, we wanted it to be available for everyone, with so many people itching to fly – so we waited, and were rewarded with a double-whammy. An exotic sunset, but too late to validate the task as we needed at least 30 pilots on task to start, and some to finish. This meant lots of people flying 2 plus hours, 1500 over seemed to be an average. Strong glass-off conditions as the temps. Fell away hard to low 50's. Perfect starter flight for freshmen, delicious appetizer for the seniors. Several pilots completed the task, but we did not "score" it.
Mottled dots of Porcher Marine Skytex, a plethora of airborne observers.
They watched in awe as the sky created its post meridian tapestry of color.
Silver-sheathed cloud slivers, golden flashes, masking the deep, ruby-red orb, slipping away.
The bread of endorphin solitude shared.
Task 2 – WHAT A DAY! I personally thought this was going to be good, but with the pilots we have, and the clear theme of go for it and enjoy, we put it out there. A good west-north west breeze (which will stay with us all week!!!!) And clear, crisp air, meant thermals and gliding. THIS IS WHAT WE WANT.
32.6km Race to goal. We went north then north-west, over the high ridges in beautiful sunshine and warmth. Out into the Vilas valley for a little chess game, which ended up being a party/rave in a 20 glider thermal over LZ2 – nice climb lads!! Then back to Tater, the north point, a push over to Snake Mountain, where you needed a good climb to establish a 4km glide to the Longhop Ridge and then into the Peak, at Creston. Or as I and several others did, just go full speed on course-line and use each other to find the lift-line, right down the middle of the valley. We were like a troupe of ballet dancers, eagerly moving and supporting, silently communicating where it was and when we climbed, by example. Patience and ridge soaring at Snake yielded a climb to 7k for a few of us, and accessing Peak after all the excitement was tough; those who arrived on the ridge were able to watch and wait. Thermals were a little sharp, small and but fast enough. 2 m/s on the 5-second average, peak 4m/s, drift was moderate, upwind lift not as shredded as expected but consistent, and flying with the right amount of speed was the essence – McCready Speed to Fly was the game.
YES – XC flying on the East Coast does indeed happen; you need to be in the right place at the right time, a keyboard aint gonna do it !! Add 10 or more pilots who know what to look for in the mix and it all goes off. We were tip to tip going on big glides on several occasions, lots of "chatting"; and general piss-taking, then climbing – very nice. The Peak was end of speed section. Here it was a slow-down, as the last 8 km was very tricky. Luis, of course, thankfully masterminding and gently nudging the herd forward, over to Creston Three Top turnpoint. Eventually leading out on a solo glide to "nowhere" , then a climb as thin as pin, and onto goal. Pure brilliance.
In his wake were 8 others on the ground along and between Three Top Mountain and West Jefferson.
We were stoked with the task, a high value task in terms of GAP scoring, and all pilots were elated on how the day went after getting back to HQ. A lot of hugs, kisses and GPS de-briefs. Chris Grantham was the money as usual, on the scoring.
Sport Class was a smaller run around the valley and out to Mables School. Lots of flying and climbing, and our very own LE HERRICK racing her way to a very well deserved GOAL!! 9 sport pilots in goal. Very well done to all pilots here, they flew really well. Many flew 2 or 3 flights with 4-5 hours flight-time over the day.
Task 3 – 15.3km race to Boone Airport.
I have been very fortunate to be receiving my bacon rations, courtesy of Carl Dennis and Mark Gilliam, every morning. Mark also brings me Coca-Cola and lots of hugs. So I was energized and ready to go after a big day previously. We arrived on launch to a tail-wind, south-east. Jason Williams our weather guru, had presented a good synopsis, yet here we were with light south/east. We needed sun. High cloud layers tried to reach us. We watched convergence clouds build……………….wait a minute!! It unfolded right before our eyes, classic light-wind convergence clouds setting up about 1500 over launch, all the way to Boone. It was not a rolling wave of cloud as can happen, but a clear line pointing the way south. Those clouds were blocking the sun, but as predicted, the wind started to shift, pairing with the upper-level north-westerly flow to present us with a mellow upslope breeze and beautiful launch conditions.
GAME-ON! A couple of pilots launched early, worked hard and had to land. Then it was obvious the wind was coming on upslope, and many pilots worked it up to cloud base. Racing was fast and hard for those that wanted it. Gliders all over the place, sun breaking through adding some rodeo to the climbs, minimal drift, good flying all day long. It let loose about 5pm, when a bunch of pilots launched and flew till sunset again. The moon rise was clear.
Riss and Kari led out towards Boone, surfing the cloud-base, on course- line to a turn point called House Thermal, before the main ridge to Boone takes hold. Many followed. The goal-cylinder at Boone Airport was 400 meters wide. You have to touch the cylinder or enter it – your GPS will track this. The 400 meter cylinder was placed at one end of the strip, for obvious reasons. Chris Grantham landed 170 meters short, on the tarmac strip. He could have walked into the cylinder for goal. Luis landed 150 meters short – about as close as you can get without flying into it. Arghhhh!!!!!
Kari won the day with a great flight, patiently drifting into goal on what she called a "real thermal" after flying convergence for couple of hours.
Many pilots have now witnessed and flown the classic Tater convergence. Stoked was the theme!
Sport class was in the valley and again, a lot of launches and flying yielded those hardworking pilots some great results.
Day 4 – RAIN. Oh well, had to happen sometime. Looked messy from the start, so pilots took a well earned rest and played in Boone and beyond. No casualties so far. Some hard-fought pool tournaments went on till late.
Day 5 – It cleared up nicely. Stronger winds all day, so no task. We went up the hill at 4pm and decided to just hang out. I was amazed at how many pilots flew, and hence it just turned into a hot-dogging session. The acro gliders were out, several speed wings, top landings galore, touch and go's and punching upwind to fly the thermals back to launch. It was like hanging at the skateboard board . We are lucky to have several really experienced instructors and top quality PG dealers here, the real deal. So we had over ten gliders to demo, and pilots were swapping wings and speed wings like crazy. All good stuff, and as usual, we flew till sunset, some pilots logging another 4 hours +.
Day 6 – LOOKING LIKE A BIG TASK. Watch this space, as the next 2 days look very nice – west winds and higher cloudbase !!
HINT: Use REAL-TIME, REAL WORLD local data, made in the USA, and models based on raw NAM and RUC models from live NOAA weather-stations. Then have a US National HG champion, World Swift Class Champion, and National Sailplane League Champion interpret it.
Subscribe to Dr. Jack and learn the NOAA.NWS website, HPC center models, XC skies and then actually be ON LAUNCH……….ya, know that sort of thing. 2 German dudes extrapolating dating from offshore wind buoys and NOAA weather stations doesn't really cut it for paragliding here. Commercial sites such as Accuweather and the like just take forecasts and data off NOAA. Go to the source !!
Cheers all, more updates as they happen.
Paul.
---
Tater Hill Open 2013 – Update
Well I am sorry you guys have been missing all the fun!
We have had some great flying. Despite the weather forecasts and recent high levels of precip.and trough / occluded-front activity, this place opened up on Sunday to deliver surprisingly good conditions. It has been above average on flyable days, with all comp. pilots launching. 2-3 hour flights for the stronger pilots has been the norm.
There have been 6 flyable days out of the last 8 days. Pilots started arriving as early as last Wednesday, and the bulk of registrations were done on Saturday, the official sign-in day.
The Tater Open continues to build momentum; pilots from all over the USA are present, with several seasoned comp. pilots and past US Team members in attendance. Notably , we have a really nice female component, 8 girls all going crazy in the air, which is very refreshing! Kari K. is heading up a 30 pilot clinic which is the hot buzz every morning, she is so on it! The best clinic available for ANY pilot wishing to get more out of their flying – accurate, real-world methodology and data, tried and tested. Total of number of pilots registered is 62 – the biggest field we have managed, with over 70 gliders present.
It is clear that the format and operational environment of the Tater Hill Open are doing well. Easy going tasks, informal decision making and a very broad range of experience levels has helped create a proactive and searching approach to flying these mountains. This is not a sanctioned, FAI meet. The handicap scoring system gives everyone a "chance" if they feel they need it. The common theme seems to be to fly well, and learn more……….it's just not about the points and the score at the end of the day. Lots of Q &A, tons of information on conditions and how to approach the day, thermals galore and one of the best gliding days I have had up here over the last few years.
Czech Republic, Jamaica, Germany, France, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Poland, Peru, Latvia, England, Costa Rica, Brazil, Mexico , Venezuela…these are just a selection of the countries represented here. It's a lively and very enlightening group with many flavors and contrasts to provide the entertainment.
The scene in the LZ post-flying has definitely been " 3-in-the-Z material " with the party going on till late should one desire. All I hear is how good the lift was and how many flights people are having.
Last Thursday saw 2 + hour flights, with the AIRSLUT, yes you know who, showing the way with another well planned climb-out from Bucky, a summit 2.5km from launch. Working hard again, Mark had an impressive and well deserved flight.
Friday the convergence came, with Riss Estes getting his first Eastern USA taste of air that is neither truly thermic, nor dynamic slope lift, yet somehow, with the right amount of feel, you end up at cloudbase 1-2k over the mountain not being able to get down. You can gently cruise the Interstate of cloud-convergence, just hanging out for several hours if you wish. Usually this line is above and behind the hill, going south-west to north east, so flights to Boone are the norm, 15km away. More on this later!
Saturday it rained, and did not really let up, as the cold front came from the Ohio River Valley and did not stall out this time, no broad trough. Good time to do some registration and paperwork, get everyone together.
In fact, it was a fast moving front, nothing stopping it, and lots of colder air filling in, so we had a good temp. Drop and smooth, stronger winds to create what could be an awesome ridge day on Sunday 28th, first official day.
Task 1 – 15km cats-cradle around the valley. It was windy – and too much for Sport Class. As this was day one, we wanted it to be available for everyone, with so many people itching to fly – so we waited, and were rewarded with a double-whammy. An exotic sunset, but too late to validate the task as we needed at least 30 pilots on task to start, and some to finish. This meant lots of people flying 2 plus hours, 1500 over seemed to be an average. Strong glass-off conditions as the temps. Fell away hard to low 50's. Perfect starter flight for freshmen, delicious appetizer for the seniors. Several pilots completed the task, but we did not "score" it.
Mottled dots of Porcher Marine Skytex, a plethora of airborne observers.
They watched in awe as the sky created its post meridian tapestry of color.
Silver-sheathed cloud slivers, golden flashes, masking the deep, ruby-red orb, slipping away.
The bread of endorphin solitude shared.
Task 2 – WHAT A DAY! I personally thought this was going to be good, but with the pilots we have, and the clear theme of go for it and enjoy, we put it out there. A good west-north west breeze (which will stay with us all week!!!!) And clear, crisp air, meant thermals and gliding. THIS IS WHAT WE WANT.
32.6km Race to goal. We went north then north-west, over the high ridges in beautiful sunshine and warmth. Out into the Vilas valley for a little chess game, which ended up being a party/rave in a 20 glider thermal over LZ2 – nice climb lads!! Then back to Tater, the north point, a push over to Snake Mountain, where you needed a good climb to establish a 4km glide to the Longhop Ridge and then into the Peak, at Creston. Or as I and several others did, just go full speed on course-line and use each other to find the lift-line, right down the middle of the valley. We were like a troupe of ballet dancers, eagerly moving and supporting, silently communicating where it was and when we climbed, by example. Patience and ridge soaring at Snake yielded a climb to 7k for a few of us, and accessing Peak after all the excitement was tough; those who arrived on the ridge were able to watch and wait. Thermals were a little sharp, small and but fast enough. 2 m/s on the 5-second average, peak 4m/s, drift was moderate, upwind lift not as shredded as expected but consistent, and flying with the right amount of speed was the essence – McCready Speed to Fly was the game.
YES – XC flying on the East Coast does indeed happen; you need to be in the right place at the right time, a keyboard aint gonna do it !! Add 10 or more pilots who know what to look for in the mix and it all goes off. We were tip to tip going on big glides on several occasions, lots of "chatting"; and general piss-taking, then climbing – very nice. The Peak was end of speed section. Here it was a slow-down, as the last 8 km was very tricky. Luis, of course, thankfully masterminding and gently nudging the herd forward, over to Creston Three Top turnpoint. Eventually leading out on a solo glide to "nowhere" , then a climb as thin as pin, and onto goal. Pure brilliance.
In his wake were 8 others on the ground along and between Three Top Mountain and West Jefferson.
We were stoked with the task, a high value task in terms of GAP scoring, and all pilots were elated on how the day went after getting back to HQ. A lot of hugs, kisses and GPS de-briefs. Chris Grantham was the money as usual, on the scoring.
Sport Class was a smaller run around the valley and out to Mables School. Lots of flying and climbing, and our very own LE HERRICK racing her way to a very well deserved GOAL!! 9 sport pilots in goal. Very well done to all pilots here, they flew really well. Many flew 2 or 3 flights with 4-5 hours flight-time over the day.
Task 3 – 15.3km race to Boone Airport.
I have been very fortunate to be receiving my bacon rations, courtesy of Carl Dennis and Mark Gilliam, every morning. Mark also brings me Coca-Cola and lots of hugs. So I was energized and ready to go after a big day previously. We arrived on launch to a tail-wind, south-east. Jason Williams our weather guru, had presented a good synopsis, yet here we were with light south/east. We needed sun. High cloud layers tried to reach us. We watched convergence clouds build……………….wait a minute!! It unfolded right before our eyes, classic light-wind convergence clouds setting up about 1500 over launch, all the way to Boone. It was not a rolling wave of cloud as can happen, but a clear line pointing the way south. Those clouds were blocking the sun, but as predicted, the wind started to shift, pairing with the upper-level north-westerly flow to present us with a mellow upslope breeze and beautiful launch conditions.
GAME-ON! A couple of pilots launched early, worked hard and had to land. Then it was obvious the wind was coming on upslope, and many pilots worked it up to cloud base. Racing was fast and hard for those that wanted it. Gliders all over the place, sun breaking through adding some rodeo to the climbs, minimal drift, good flying all day long. It let loose about 5pm, when a bunch of pilots launched and flew till sunset again. The moon rise was clear.
Riss and Kari led out towards Boone, surfing the cloud-base, on course- line to a turn point called House Thermal, before the main ridge to Boone takes hold. Many followed. The goal-cylinder at Boone Airport was 400 meters wide. You have to touch the cylinder or enter it – your GPS will track this. The 400 meter cylinder was placed at one end of the strip, for obvious reasons. Chris Grantham landed 170 meters short, on the tarmac strip. He could have walked into the cylinder for goal. Luis landed 150 meters short – about as close as you can get without flying into it. Arghhhh!!!!!
Kari won the day with a great flight, patiently drifting into goal on what she called a "real thermal" after flying convergence for couple of hours.
Many pilots have now witnessed and flown the classic Tater convergence. Stoked was the theme!
Sport class was in the valley and again, a lot of launches and flying yielded those hardworking pilots some great results.
Day 4 – RAIN. Oh well, had to happen sometime. Looked messy from the start, so pilots took a well earned rest and played in Boone and beyond. No casualties so far. Some hard-fought pool tournaments went on till late.
Day 5 – It cleared up nicely. Stronger winds all day, so no task. We went up the hill at 4pm and decided to just hang out. I was amazed at how many pilots flew, and hence it just turned into a hot-dogging session. The acro gliders were out, several speed wings, top landings galore, touch and go's and punching upwind to fly the thermals back to launch. It was like hanging at the skateboard board . We are lucky to have several really experienced instructors and top quality PG dealers here, the real deal. So we had over ten gliders to demo, and pilots were swapping wings and speed wings like crazy. All good stuff, and as usual, we flew till sunset, some pilots logging another 4 hours +.
Day 6 – LOOKING LIKE A BIG TASK. Watch this space, as the next 2 days look very nice – west winds and higher cloudbase !!
HINT: Use REAL-TIME, REAL WORLD local data, made in the USA, and models based on raw NAM and RUC models from live NOAA weather-stations. Then have a US National HG champion, World Swift Class Champion, and National Sailplane League Champion interpret it.
Subscribe to Dr. Jack and learn the NOAA.NWS website, HPC center models, XC skies and then actually be ON LAUNCH……….ya, know that sort of thing. 2 German dudes extrapolating dating from offshore wind buoys and NOAA weather stations doesn't really cut it for paragliding here. Commercial sites such as Accuweather and the like just take forecasts and data off NOAA. Go to the source !!
Cheers all, more updates as they happen.
Paul.
Re: Tater Hill Open
From an infrequent local PG Pilot:
It was nice to see so many club pilots at the NC Tater Hill Comp this year.
Matt and Ben scored in the single digits for the two sets of tasks,
LE, Jim, Krista, Patrick and Carl scored lots of points, while I was getting my wing out of a tree!
It was super nice that Carl invited us to Eagle Rock on Sunday where we had beautiful afternoon soaring.
Hope to make the next meeting.
Michael Brooks, Hedgesville, WV
It was nice to see so many club pilots at the NC Tater Hill Comp this year.
Matt and Ben scored in the single digits for the two sets of tasks,
LE, Jim, Krista, Patrick and Carl scored lots of points, while I was getting my wing out of a tree!
It was super nice that Carl invited us to Eagle Rock on Sunday where we had beautiful afternoon soaring.
Hope to make the next meeting.
Michael Brooks, Hedgesville, WV