Baldy Butte Fly In Report
David Le
Arrived Friday afternoon to clear skies with some small cumus in the distance but nothing too concerning with light winds from the S. 6 pilots and I had a thorough site intro from Naomi, local pilot from Ellensburg. Launched from the S to nice ridge lift and scratched for an hour to beautiful views of Rainier! Winds aloft were consistent and not too turbulent. I decided to head downwind over Baldy to the north LZ where we were camping – made sure to have enough height over launch to not hit rotor. Glided toward LZ, hit some sink about 300 yards before the LZ decided to land closer to the dirt road for easy retrieval and to avoid the fresh cow pies.
On Saturday, conditions were stronger than I’d like. 40 pilots showed up for the festivities and it was nice meeting new faces and reacquainting with old. Winds from the NNE at 12-17. A few advanced pilots launched but not penetrating indicating that winds aloft were stronger. Parawaited for a few hours to the same conditions and decided to call it a day.
Sunday showed lighter conditions. I arrived at N launch at 11 am with consistent 8-10 NNE, launched and ridge soared to beautiful clear skies. I could see the mountains for miles on end including the Enchantments Wilderness near Leavenworth and beyond. After an hour of scratching, winds aloft were getting stronger than my comfort level – active piloting and pitch control was in order – and then headed for the LZ. Penetration was slow; my ground speed was 1 mph with half speed bar. Cranked to full bar for a dash to the LZ, made some progress but not enough. Winds shifted to NE and I knew the hills to my east would cause sink. I didn’t want to head to the west side of the river to avoid the sink because retrieve would be next to impossible if I didn’t make the LZ. I decided to stay on glide, spotted a suitable alternate LZ, landing gear out, nice flair, and touchdown. While I was packing up 2 other pilots landed where I was due to sink. All landed safe with smiles.
Thanks to NW paragliding club for a great event and hope to see everybody next year.