When we arrived (kind a late) at the Koffee Kettle, there was already one pilot landing at Riverside – he reported great conditions if you could get to launch (3 hour hike he said).
In the Exploder we managed just 2.5 km following a monster truck tracks that could handle the knee deep snow. I was sporting a reversible IQ5 harness so I was “super” fast (under an hour, while Petar and Jeremy arrived not much later (in that order). Reversible conditions when I first arrived on launch, but soon the sun was gone and the East wind returned. Petar practiced his forwards while we waited, getting better on each attempt. As soon as the sun hit launch I was off and climbed to just a couple of hundred feet over take off on my Vitamin, playing in the cloud just in front of launch. Once Petar was airborne I escorted him into the LZ. Jeremy went last but due to tiredness forgot to secure (my) radio (ICOM) and lost it somewhere during or after launching – a crappy way to end a fun adventure day.
PS> the Woodside sign is missing, and the Nylex (near the front edge did not survive the last wind storm). |
