On Saturday Johnny Van Duzer and I flew Pine Mountain.
I had checked the forecast and it looked good but not great. Johnny's call
on Friday evening convinced me to make the trip down just to see what would
happen.
Two images below are of the MM5 forecast at 2pm and 5pm. The first one
shows good wind speed and direction at the ground for being able to start
off at an early hour. Both Johnny and I were hoping to get to the summit
hang launch early(ish) to avoid strong winds as the day developed. It also
shows good lift to about 670mb (3,460m/11,400') which is decent but not the
upper limit potential for Pine. The upper level winds were not strong which
bode well for smooth climbs (we hoped) and the changes in wind direction
meant that hanging out at different altitudes could help/hinder the XC
flying. The moisture shown on the forecast seemed about right for maybe
forming some Cu's to mark the climbs.
The second picture of the 5pm MM5 didn't look quite as good, with higher
winds at the surface and good lift to only about 700mb (3,100m/10,200') and
increased moisture availability.
We met at the Y at around 10:15am, took my Suby to the summit and I took a
few extra minutes to stretch my B lines in the hope that should any large
event happen my wing might want to restart in a timely fashion (I believe
this is called foreshadowing in literature.) There were medium strength
cycles rolling through the summit with regularity and I lauched around
11:15.
The first half of the flight was straightforward, although climbs weren't
very high and both Johnny and I agreed later that the air was not super
relaxing. We were doing pretty well and making slow progress to the East
whilst sticking together for the most part. Johnny out-climbed the bejesus
out of me near the Brothers and I ended up going on a death glide low and a
bit deeper into the terrain. I got absolutely drilled in what I imagine was
the lee of a large thermal because it was marked by a nicely formed Cu just
overhead/upwind of me.
As got low it just felt like I was being blown down into the ground my wing
persisted in a state of uncivility while I just continued to sink. It was
one of those 'weird air' times when the wing just doesn't seem to be flying
and pressurized like it normally should be. The air was so unsettled that I
had a hard time staying on bar to try and escape the bad patch I was in. I
was flying at about 600'AGL with little or no bar and at nearly trim with
brakes when suddenly the wing completely frontaled and disappeared behind
me. As I looked back to view it I saw that it was in horseshoe shape. I
don't remember having any reaction at all as it collapsed because it was so
sudden. When I saw the wing behind me and snaking about I went hands up and
hoped for a quick restart as I knew my ground clearance wasn't super high.
The wing made a violent snapping sound as it re-pressurized and flew
forward asymmetrically. I'm not sure what I did as far as reactions up to
this point, I'm thinking it was mostly hands up still - I was just waiting
for a recognizable configuration at this point. As the wing flew forward
and well below me while at about a 45 degree angle to the horizon I
definitely had pulled a bunch of brakes but the energy of the wing and
probably my delayed reaction (didn't know I was about to throw a tumble
into the mix..) meant it was mostly man handling me at this point. As the
lines went a bit slack the risers twisted a full twist and at this point I
turned my attention to getting the reserve out. I distinctly remember
grinning a huge grin as I grabbed my red reserve handle and thought about
my conversation with Matt Wear a few days earlier. I had told him how
jealous I was that he got to throw his reserve and I couldn't wait until I
had the chance - this was my very next flight after that conversation. I
chuckled at the irony of how soon I was now hungrily eating my words.
Suddenly I felt a shock load on the lines and I paused just long enough to
realize that my wing was now flying and inflated - albeit with a full twist
still. I had both hands out of the brakes and I was listening to the
separation of velcro in my right hand as I pulled on the handle. What the
heck, I'll give it a quick try... I reached up and pushed on my lines above
the twist and I easily untwisted.
I grabbed the brakes and quickly radioed Johnny to ask if he has seen my
shitshow and he replied he had. I told him it would be a miracle to climb
out now but I was going to try. I was still sinking at this point and I
didn't know how much of a miracle it was going to be. Take a Google Earth
look at the track log around Brothers to see how low I got. Not only was I
kicked out of the pod but I was leaning forward and putting my chest over
my cockpit and eyeing the bush I was going to spot land when I felt a bump
of lift. I honestly think I climbed out from 50' AGL but who knows from the
adrenaline maybe it seemed lower than it was. As I frisbee'd back past the
small hill I hung on to the lift for all it was worth and eventually
connected with a proper thermal. I noticed Johnny coming over to join me
and it really felt good to have a friend nearby after just experiencing 2
of the most intense events I've ever had on a paraglider.
From that low point to my high point of 14,700' (almost 10,000' higher) a
couple hours later things got easier. I reconnected with my wing (after she
let me down like that) and now we're nearly completely good again. Also
during this flight I experienced intense frozen hands and painful
rewarming, some minor hypoxia which Johnny coached me through with an
over-the-radio impromptu breathing class not unlike Lamaz, and another
low(ish) save near highway 395 which wasn't very low but my flight
instrument was showing 30+kph wind speed and I was really not looking
forward to having to land in such high winds.
I made the cursory call to Nick Blizzard to get the wind speed conditions
further down my course line and of course to check for any possible
airspace infringements. He mentioned that the thunderstorms I could see
were on the Idaho border and they looked almost within reach. I would have
kept going if I could have but unfortunately I got into Burns low and being
blown downwind with a ground speed of 80-90 kph just meant there were not a
lot of un-torn thermals left to grab.
I caught a small bubble just before town which enabled me to glide over to
the golf course and I luckily landed in between cycles in only moderately
strong winds.
Several golfers took short detours on their golf carts to see what I was
all about. I felt like an alien visitor who just landed and was now
encountering strange, drunken terrestrial beings talking a foreign language.
Quote of the day was from golf cart driver #3: "Dang, whatcha got there?
Hot air balloon?" and as he caught himself identifying the wrong craft he
quickly corrected himself: "Or a tent?"
"Yeah, it's basically a suped-up tent, I replied." which is a phrase I
actually often jokingly use to describe what I fly around through the air.
Fun day and a PR for me. Super thanks to Johnny for the support and the
retrieve. We were enjoying margaritas in town by 8:30pm.

http://paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/636215

--
Let's go flying!
Matt

Cloudsurf Paragliding
cloudsurfparagliding.com
m...@cloudsurfparagliding.com
503 877 4448 (w.)
206 679 1963 (c.)

Pine Mtn MM5 forecast for 1400 on Saturday.jpg 322K Download

Pine Mtn MM5 forecast for 1700 on Saturday.jpg 224K Download

Wow what a flight!  Looks like you almost hit 14K ft so no wonder you were a bit hypoxic.  Your peak speed was over 90kph, good thing you were not landing then.
Congrat's, Mark

________________________________
 From: Cloudsurf Paragliding <m...@cloudsurfparagliding.com>
To: Cascade Paragliding Club <cpcl@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2012 7:54 PM
Subject: CPC: Pine Mtn Flight report

On Saturday Johnny Van Duzer and I flew Pine Mountain.
I had checked the forecast and it looked good but not great. Johnny's call on Friday evening convinced me to make the trip down just to see what would happen.
Two images below are of the MM5 forecast at 2pm and 5pm. The first one shows good wind speed and direction at the ground for being able to start off at an early hour. Both Johnny and I were hoping to get to the summit hang launch early(ish) to avoid strong winds as the day developed. It also shows good lift to about 670mb (3,460m/11,400') which is decent but not the upper limit potential for Pine. The upper level winds were not strong which bode well for smooth climbs (we hoped) and the changes in wind direction meant that hanging out at different altitudes could help/hinder the XC flying. The moisture shown on the forecast seemed about right for maybe forming some Cu's to mark the climbs. 
The second picture of the 5pm MM5 didn't look quite as good, with higher winds at the surface and good lift to only about 700mb (3,100m/10,200') and increased moisture availability. 
We met at the Y at around 10:15am, took my Suby to the summit and I took a few extra minutes to stretch my B lines in the hope that should any large event happen my wing might want to restart in a timely fashion (I believe this is called foreshadowing in literature.) There were medium strength cycles rolling through the summit with regularity and I lauched around 11:15. 
The first half of the flight was straightforward, although climbs weren't very high and both Johnny and I agreed later that the air was not super relaxing. We were doing pretty well and making slow progress to the East whilst sticking together for the most part. Johnny out-climbed the bejesus out of me near the Brothers and I ended up going on a death glide low and a bit deeper into the terrain. I got absolutely drilled in what I imagine was the lee of a large thermal because it was marked by a nicely formed Cu just overhead/upwind of me. 
As got low it just felt like I was being blown down into the ground my wing persisted in a state of uncivility while I just continued to sink. It was one of those 'weird air' times when the wing just doesn't seem to be flying and pressurized like it normally should be. The air was so unsettled that I had a hard time staying on bar to try and escape the bad patch I was in. I was flying at about 600'AGL with little or no bar and at nearly trim with brakes when suddenly the wing completely frontaled and disappeared behind me. As I looked back to view it I saw that it was in horseshoe shape. I don't remember having any reaction at all as it collapsed because it was so sudden. When I saw the wing behind me and snaking about I went hands up and hoped for a quick restart as I knew my ground clearance wasn't super high. The wing made a violent snapping sound as it re-pressurized and flew forward asymmetrically. I'm not sure what I did as far as reactions up to
 this point, I'm thinking it was mostly hands up still - I was just waiting for a recognizable configuration at this point. As the wing flew forward and well below me while at about a 45 degree angle to the horizon I definitely had pulled a bunch of brakes but the energy of the wing and probably my delayed reaction (didn't know I was about to throw a tumble into the mix..) meant it was mostly man handling me at this point. As the lines went a bit slack the risers twisted a full twist and at this point I turned my attention to getting the reserve out. I distinctly remember grinning a huge grin as I grabbed my red reserve handle and thought about my conversation with Matt Wear a few days earlier. I had told him how jealous I was that he got to throw his reserve and I couldn't wait until I had the chance - this was my very next flight after that conversation. I chuckled at the irony of how soon I was now hungrily eating my words. 
Suddenly I felt a shock load on the lines and I paused just long enough to realize that my wing was now flying and inflated - albeit with a full twist still. I had both hands out of the brakes and I was listening to the separation of velcro in my right hand as I pulled on the handle. What the heck, I'll give it a quick try... I reached up and pushed on my lines above the twist and I easily untwisted. 
I grabbed the brakes and quickly radioed Johnny to ask if he has seen my shitshow and he replied he had. I told him it would be a miracle to climb out now but I was going to try. I was still sinking at this point and I didn't know how much of a miracle it was going to be. Take a Google Earth look at the track log around Brothers to see how low I got. Not only was I kicked out of the pod but I was leaning forward and putting my chest over my cockpit and eyeing the bush I was going to spot land when I felt a bump of lift. I honestly think I climbed out from 50' AGL but who knows from the adrenaline maybe it seemed lower than it was. As I frisbee'd back past the small hill I hung on to the lift for all it was worth and eventually connected with a proper thermal. I noticed Johnny coming over to join me and it really felt good to have a friend nearby after just experiencing 2 of the most intense events I've ever had on a paraglider. 
From that low point to my high point of 14,700' (almost 10,000' higher) a couple hours later things got easier. I reconnected with my wing (after she let me down like that) and now we're nearly completely good again. Also during this flight I experienced intense frozen hands and painful rewarming, some minor hypoxia which Johnny coached me through with an over-the-radio impromptu breathing class not unlike Lamaz, and another low(ish) save near highway 395 which wasn't very low but my flight instrument was showing 30+kph wind speed and I was really not looking forward to having to land in such high winds. 
I made the cursory call to Nick Blizzard to get the wind speed conditions further down my course line and of course to check for any possible airspace infringements. He mentioned that the thunderstorms I could see were on the Idaho border and they looked almost within reach. I would have kept going if I could have but unfortunately I got into Burns low and being blown downwind with a ground speed of 80-90 kph just meant there were not a lot of un-torn thermals left to grab. 
I caught a small bubble just before town which enabled me to glide over to the golf course and I luckily landed in between cycles in only moderately strong winds. 
Several golfers took short detours on their golf carts to see what I was all about. I felt like an alien visitor who just landed and was now encountering strange, drunken terrestrial beings talking a foreign language.
Quote of the day was from golf cart driver #3: "Dang, whatcha got there? Hot air balloon?" and as he caught himself identifying the wrong craft he quickly corrected himself: "Or a tent?" 
"Yeah, it's basically a suped-up tent, I replied." which is a phrase I actually often jokingly use to describe what I fly around through the air. 
Fun day and a PR for me. Super thanks to Johnny for the support and the retrieve. We were enjoying margaritas in town by 8:30pm. 

http://paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/636215

--

Let's go flying!
Matt

Cloudsurf Paragliding
cloudsurfparagliding.com
m...@cloudsurfparagliding.com
503 877 4448 (w.)
206 679 1963 (c.)