pre World Cup Hype!

Chelan is a great place! yesterday resting and avoiding flying we had no shortage of things to keep us entertained. Swimming in the river, bikini scoping, tennis doubles match (G.B & I schooled Len & P.S.) Apple scavenger hunt (unsuccessful) and awesome pizza from mystic pizza. The frog had a techno beat that spilled out into main street. The weekend here is going off. Today we had a practice day and I made a quick flight getting to 2000m and crossing the river to rim it for a bit before landing in the soccer field and watching others follow in. Gin flew a 2 line boom that had excellent custom colors. it will be great to see it go during the race. Today had great wx for flying far. tomorrow and then next day look even better. it is going to be a burly week of racing with many excellent pilots. BeBee has been problematic with their "perfect" nazi rules, but the people of Chelan have stepped up to help us all find great places to camp. check in has just begun and I must put a sticker on my glider (#'s) which I am not psyched about. But my R10.3 is going great and I am supa happy with it's stability and performance. out here in the big boy air of SHEEE-LANNN everyone is having an epic or two. Bullet thermals ripping you out of the sky often can lead to reserve tosses if your not ready to fight to keep it open. close to the ground gets scary, especially if you go chasing snakes in wheat fields. The WX is looking epic. the psych is up among comp pilots. we are all friends ready to chase each other across the sky. It is gonna be a long week of awesome fun. blue skies (w/ puffy cotton ball clouds)to everyone! I'll try to be regular posting here about the worlds!

Chelan recap

So the lady of the lake produced another excellent fun time for all us f'in pilots. All of us are thinking of the two who left us early with injuries. The last task was a tough one, until you got on the flats then it was easy fast to goal, but I wouldn't know cause I got stuck on the rim checking out a reserve thrower, who ended up all good. After we launched everyone was low and circling the Butte hoping some lift might come thru. It did, but not as much as we would have liked. At 2000m I went across to the rim 15mins before the start. It was an entry start out on the flats, then a run past Mansfield to sims corner. Several people did not get away from the rim and ended up in the soccer field and of course went swimming and bridge diving and beer drinking before the final party and awards ceremony. Russel won it all. it was clear he would (such a talent pilot and genuine nice guy) Jack Brown was second, Andre Rainsford 3rd. I think I remember that right. Melanie got 1st for the women, then Cherri and Chrissi! Yeah for everyone.

Chelan was sporting with plenty of snotty punchy lift. everyone had a lil epic tale of the wing going away. a few reserve tosses too many & some windy days. The first day was the best with epico flying. we should have set spokane as the goal. if only we had know. All the days after that paled in comparison, but were no less fun. Conditions just never got that good again. The windy day was dangerous and we will not do that again. and it was very sporting to be landing out on the flats around 3:30pm. I've always called it the witching hour and it most definitely is here! It just GOES OFF! The retrieves were awesome w/ Joy being the best driver (sports car racing past helped) beer was easy to get once in a vehicle. Hitching a ride was very fast way to get home too. Launch was always exciting with several snaky wings taking several tries to get off the hill, but once in the air they fly soooo good.

It is definitely the year of OZONE. That R10 is the game changer w/ everyone else scrambling to catch up on design. the R10.3 goes better then all the wings save the R10.2. I think half the field was on a R10. it sure does make a difference when gliding into the wind or just gliding in general. climbs like a banshee too and is VERY stable. I'm lovin mine! The town of Chelan is generous and accommodating with many good looking girls around town. all us dirtbag pilots have been made to feel very welcome. one of the many reasons to love Chelan.

Many thanks to Doug and Denise for all their hard work. Kari castle too! great seeing you! and to all the volunteers - your awesome! can't say thank you enough.

& sooo we take a day off before we begin the PWC. it will be an awesome, exciting time for us all here in the USA. many of the top guns have already arrived and joined us in the celebration last night. everyone is very excited, but a bit tired from the whole first week of flying. the next week is gonna be tough. 2 weeks of flying is gonna fry me brains. I'd love to go to Golden for the Canadian fun, but I doubt I could muster the gas and I know that I'm already broke as a joke because of the 3 comps I've entered already. I should be back working teaching flying at the POM for cloud 9 now! BUT, I'm not and so I am gonna enjoy each minute in the air. I am sure to be burnt by the 24th. We wish everyone could be here and fly with us, but the sky is already tooo crowded. several "close encounters" lend themselves to conversations in thermals. everyone is cordial and looking out for each other, but its alotta gliders in the sky bunched together. I am hoping the PWC is safer and more fun then this past week. Thanks to all the racers for showing up and making it all fun!

over launch task 5

task 4

big triangle today. 105k! winds kicked in late and made it really hard. i found dirt after 4+hrs. many made it & many didn't. slow going all day with a lower base then previous days. light lift or bullets, depended on your position. nice day of flying all around. goal looked great. the beer tasted so good! many logged 6 hrs of flying. chelan sucks!

chelan task 3

we launched to the northwest with the expectation of increasing winds.
the exit cylinder was 10k which ='d the rim across the river. 20 or so
went across 30+ mins before the start and got established on the
flats. in the end it was a smart start, but there was a struggle over
the power lines to regain cloudbase after an into wind push to regain
the start. heading off towards couliee city made for decent cloud
flying, thermals could be weak or ripping bullets following shade line
and cloud line paid off for staying high. Blue hole north of couliee
city as we made for the airport at wilbure. some made a dash north to
gain the north cloud line gaining withthe wind track line. I went
south knowing i would be charging into the wind to regain the course
line & make goal. by doing so I stayed with the clouds. soo cold. 2000
- 3000m is where I stayed for most of the task. the into wind tac i
took worked well. i came into goal high. I could have used more bar,
but my brains couldn't deal with it. as I arrived it was boosting out.
soooo hard to come down safely. again we should have flown to spokane!
many peeps into goal from 3hours flying to 4.5hrs. another epic chelan
sky day! tomorrow looks to be the best EVER!

Dave Hanning
Sun Valley Paragliding &
Ketchum Kites
801.641.7103 cell
208-806-0373
dave.hanning@gmail.com
www.xc-action.com

goooaaalllll! so good.

windy day office

Chelan Day 2

Day two was full of wind. The smoke from the nearby fire of the day before hazed the sky out and the wind was soarable at the beginning of the launch window. eventual the inversion broke and thermals ripped thru with wild rodeo style and strength. launch was, to say the least, entertaining. the flying was full wind and parkage. Len recorded several flights because he was so parked the gps stopped recording and started a new track record. going backwards was the name of the game for several people. once back on the ground many were happy to be off for a swim. Those who jumped the river and gained the flats reported good flying with less wind. but it all feels great going down wind. once turned into the wind it was not much forward movement. Day 3 looks to be blown out with 50+mph winds. cooler temps have helped the whole event. I'm sure we will be back to 100 some in a couple of days...

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/354329

Chelan Fun Day 1

Day 1 in Chelan was an epic one. Right off of launch everyone climbed out to close to 4,000m. Cloudbase rolled across the flats. lift was abundant, but only easy if you established yourself up high early and stayed there. Launch continues to produce exciting and hands on launching. With so many snakey comp wings and such strong conditions the intensity on launch ramps up everyday as the heated crowd of pilots focus on letting loose in the sky. Many people made it to goal and the day was still full on. I heard several comments about pushing on for a 100miler, but I am sure retrieve would have been the most epic part of that journey.

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/354323

Chelan HQ view