Cliffside Saturday Hike and Hike and Fly
Michael Coppock
Cliffside: a routine Columbia basin high pressure day, with reasonable
outflow winds past Cliffside. However, on Thursday, the NAM, Meteoblue,
and Windy began tightening the DP/Temp spread from ground to around
2,000" AGL; and on Friday abruptly changed forecast to freezing mist to
ground. Winds were predicted in the 10-15 mph East range near ground,
and 10-15 E SE at 3-4K feet. The synoptic pattern of fronts spinning in
from the pacific lows was supposed to pause on Saturday. But the sudden
model change on Friday was correct: upon arriving at Cliffside around
9:30, though highway 97 [see photos] was clear, I was faced with 10
meter viz, and freezing mist. Hiking through the gloom, up the ridge
through grasses festooned with frost feathers and ice was surreal.
Winds were in the 10 mph range, and temps several degrees below freezing
for first 1,000'. At 2,000' winds picked up significantly [this
confirmed Meteoblue's prediction for wind sheer in the 1.5-2 mph per 100
meters at the inversion inflection, at cloud top.] Breathtaking
lenticulars over the Columbia formed and dissipated in seconds to
minutes (photos). The masses of cold interior air would buildup like
wild whitewater surges, rush westward, and then flatten. The local deer
herd moved east above the mist, groups of Quail flushed out ahead of
me. No raptors flew, only a single raven scudding at cloudtop. As the
morning progressed the wind turbines west of Cliffside slowly were
hidden, only the blade tips emerging from the stratus tops, and then
disappearing. There was light snow at the towers summit, and with
inverted air, temp was much warmer than below. Winds were 10-15 west,
backing off by 1 pm. These were pretty much as predicted by Meteoblue,
NAM 5, Windy. Given it was pretty clear this was a weather observing,
not flying day, I spent about two hours tuning up the tower's east
"launch", and the south facing "launch" lower down...hopefully less
chance of line snag and snap on launch later this year. The Blues were
a dark line to the east. Stratus lay in every compass direction.
Lenticulars formed in the lee of Adams and Hood in early afternoon, as
cirrus, and strato-cirrus moved overhead with the next cold front from
Alaska. Remarkably, a convective cloud formed near Haystack Butte
[photo], perhaps a thermal in the weak lapse rate? Descending the ridge
into cloud, now at 3,000' tops was fascinating: wind shear layers upon
windshear layers and high humidity all experienced from the ground! I
was reminded of why the Cliffside venturi can be so dangerous if it
ramps up : remembering a flight several years back with multiple pilots
in the air finding massive lift everywhere (even out over river) and
unable to descend with usual descent methods. Reached cloudbase at
about 1000', as predicted by Meteoblue aviation forecast. Then, icing
on the cake of an incredible journey: joined Luc and others on launch.
Soaring in buttery smooth lift with tendrils of mist dropping down
occasionally in columns with cloudbase above. But Cliffside had the
last word, and just as suddenly the DP/T gap went to zero, and mist
engulfed launch sending us all to terra firma. This was my first flight
for a year, the aniversary of the robbery...I felt immense gratitude
that I could fly again with friends and find joy in the magic of our sport.
M
Bob Horning
picture everything, well done!!
You really should submit this report and photos to USPHA and the magazine!!
I added the hang glider email here, I'm sure many would enjoy this report
also!!
Thanks!!
Thanks,
Bob Horning
503-319-2007
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Dirk Larson
Thanks, Michael, and welcome back!
> On Jan 10, 2021, at 8:49 AM, Michael Coppock <mcopp...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Early in the week, the forecast models were predicting a good day at Cliffside: a routine Columbia basin high pressure day, with reasonable outflow winds past Cliffside. However, on Thursday, the NAM, Meteoblue, and Windy began tightening the DP/Temp spread from ground to around 2,000" AGL; and on Friday abruptly changed forecast to freezing mist to ground. Winds were predicted in the 10-15 mph East range near ground, and 10-15 E SE at 3-4K feet. The synoptic pattern of fronts spinning in from the pacific lows was supposed to pause on Saturday. But the sudden model change on Friday was correct: upon arriving at Cliffside around 9:30, though highway 97 [see photos] was clear, I was faced with 10 meter viz, and freezing mist. Hiking through the gloom, up the ridge through grasses festooned with frost feathers and ice was surreal. Winds were in the 10 mph range, and temps several degrees below freezing for first 1,000'. At 2,000' winds picked up significantly [this confirmed Meteoblue's prediction for wind sheer in the 1.5-2 mph per 100 meters at the inversion inflection, at cloud top.] Breathtaking lenticulars over the Columbia formed and dissipated in seconds to minutes (photos). The masses of cold interior air would buildup like wild whitewater surges, rush westward, and then flatten. The local deer herd moved east above the mist, groups of Quail flushed out ahead of me. No raptors flew, only a single raven scudding at cloudtop. As the morning progressed the wind turbines west of Cliffside slowly were hidden, only the blade tips emerging from the stratus tops, and then disappearing. There was light snow at the towers summit, and with inverted air, temp was much warmer than below. Winds were 10-15 west, backing off by 1 pm. These were pretty much as predicted by Meteoblue, NAM 5, Windy. Given it was pretty clear this was a weather observing, not flying day, I spent about two hours tuning up the tower's east "launch", and the south facing "launch" lower down...hopefully less chance of line snag and snap on launch later this year. The Blues were a dark line to the east. Stratus lay in every compass direction. Lenticulars formed in the lee of Adams and Hood in early afternoon, as cirrus, and strato-cirrus moved overhead with the next cold front from Alaska. Remarkably, a convective cloud formed near Haystack Butte [photo], perhaps a thermal in the weak lapse rate? Descending the ridge into cloud, now at 3,000' tops was fascinating: wind shear layers upon windshear layers and high humidity all experienced from the ground! I was reminded of why the Cliffside venturi can be so dangerous if it ramps up : remembering a flight several years back with multiple pilots in the air finding massive lift everywhere (even out over river) and unable to descend with usual descent methods. Reached cloudbase at about 1000', as predicted by Meteoblue aviation forecast. Then, icing on the cake of an incredible journey: joined Luc and others on launch. Soaring in buttery smooth lift with tendrils of mist dropping down occasionally in columns with cloudbase above. But Cliffside had the last word, and just as suddenly the DP/T gap went to zero, and mist engulfed launch sending us all to terra firma. This was my first flight for a year, the aniversary of the robbery...I felt immense gratitude that I could fly again with friends and find joy in the magic of our sport.
>
> M
>
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> <Windmills in the mist 2021.jpg>
> <Lenticular over Cliffside launch 2021.jpg>
> <High wind clouds, Cliffside 2021.jpg>
> <Waterfall, Cliffside 2021.jpg>
> <Adams, lenticular 2021.jpg>
> <Hood lenticulars, Haystack convective cloud 2021.jpg>
> <Flying under the mist, Cliffside 2021.jpg>
David Le
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Luke
I just noticed Michael's report and I can't really match the detail and thoughtfulness that he put into his report but I thought I would post my observations from below.
Myself and David arrived at roughly 1pm to a very thick layer of fog. Kevin and Kyle were using the downtime to work on some kiting. Myself, being lazy, decided to wait and just let the fog-lifting thing happen. Eventually bordem overcame laziness and we went down to the river to kite with jason W, Vince, Rika, Jacob, Cody & Vince. The wind was pefect for kiting and I think we all really enjoyed the practice (I was having more fun kiting than I had in a long time). Most of us got a solid 30+ minutes in (I for one really needed it). At some point I commented that it didn't look good as the fog bank remained thick and low so I didn't think we would fly ... on the ride up in the morning I commented that I was sure the fog would lift at some point and we would have nice flights (we were getting reports from Michael, Kyle and Jason W about the precise nature of the condensation formations): As is usually the case when I give two opposite opinions on flight, I was correct :). There was a point were you could notice more power lines becoming visible from the river and eventually the road to launch was visible. We all headed up and met Jason L at launch. I think I missed Michael or I would have loved to chat and welcome him back (perhaps it was my enthusiasm at getting a rare chance at becoming airborn). We all flew in buttery smooth conditions getting roughly 200 feet over launch. There had been wisps of fog rolling through east of launch but visibility was pretty consistent (below the 300 foot cloud deck) until it wasn't. After 30+ minutes of flying, fog started rolling in above launch. As I was caught daydreaming, other more observant pilots landed. I thought for a moment I could sneak in under the fog (reportedly about 50 feet above launch). The fog spread out toward the highway pretty quickly, so once launch wasn't visible I decided it wasn't safe to land there. I played around in front of the fog which quickly moved me to the other side of the freeway where lift was still nice and buttery. After a few more minutes of playing, I began my approach to land by the highway. As I began my landing approach I noticed the fog bank moving back and leaving a little clearing by the parking lot. I noticed the headlight in the parking (intentionally left on to help?) allowing me to see where I needed to be and take a looksy for more visibility near launch. There was a nice little opening (not a hole but just a space south of launch and below a rising cloud deck) to work my way in. Of course we should always be completely OK with landing wherever it is safest and I had plenty of offers to get picked up wherever I chose to land out. We finished the day at the bottom of the road with a Landebier courtesy of Rika and David! I cannot describe how happy I was to be able to hang out and fly with many friends! The day was exactly what the doctor ordered!
I did take some pictures so if anyone wants to email me with their wing colors I can see if a have a photo of you! My wing memory should be better than it is ☹
Luke Danielson
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Michael Coppock
Great report Luke! I was able to land safely on the turn below
parking as the veil dropped. Turned some lights on for you
initially, and asked about picking you up at the lower lz, but was
told you would be taken care of so I headed out. Glad to hear you
landed and had a beautiful flight. Will pm you also. M.
Bill Briskey
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