In November Jeff and I missioned out to the Point of the Mountain in Utah. "The Point" is located at the south end of the Salt Lake Valley. Sea breeze wind patterns from Utah Lake and The Great Salt Lake force air over the smooth hills of The Point creating consistent ridge lift similar to a standing wave in a kayak park. It has been a mecca for hang gliders and paragliders since the early days of the sport.
The South Side of
The Point of the Mountain
It would be my first time flying a Wills Wing T2C at the point and Jeff's first time on his new T2C 144. We left late on Friday night (my fault) and arrived at the point at 3:00am. I managed to bring an ultralight tent and a queen size air mattress which made for a tight fit! After three hours of sleep we woke up and rigged in the pre-dawn cold.
A Queen Air Mattress in an Ultralight Tent
Dawn
Rigging
Molly
Cosmo
The wind was light at first resulting in no less than one million paragliders all fighting for space on the cramped ridge. They looked like a school of jellyfish clumsily drifting into each other. Jeff took off first easily getting on top of the sea of canopies. Flying the T2C, he looked like a shark swooping down into the jellyfish with impunity. As I stood there taking in the seen I struggled to see why anyone would paraglide, even with all the logistical hassles of hang gliding. Of course in Colorado's light conditions the "baggers" are always looking down on us.
Paragliders Getting Started
Jeff Warming Up
A Local
Following Another Local
The forecast called for stronger winds to build so I relaxed and caught up with old friends. Sure enough soon it was too strong for the baggers and we had the ridge to ourselves. There is no more perfect example of a man in his element than Jeff on the South Side. His amazing exchange of energy between altitude and airspeed soon coaxed me into my harness.
Airborne
I am no stranger to the The Point, but the T2C made it a whole new mound of dirt. It was simply amazing, rewarding me with blissful flying throughout the gambit of conditions we encountered over the weekend from super light scratching to 35mph sustained squalls. It was like having a Ferrari at a Volkswagon Beetle convention! The energy retention afforded speed, climbs, and reach out in front that I have never experienced before. Diving downwind during the stronger winds of the day would normally be a death sentence, but on the T2C it could be down with enough energy to easily penetrate back out front. I consistently misjudged how much energy I had left in the glider, which is a really good problem to have at The Point!
Enjoying the T2C
(photo's courtesy of Robert Bagley)
T2C Action
I also spent some time playing with Molly from the air in my old ragged out Falcon 225, which combined with creative Go Pro Hero Cam mounting made for a great video.
Molly Cam
We broke down after sunset completely exhausted. It was the longest single day of flying in my hang gliding career. I had my fill for a couple months, which was fortunate because this winter has been dismal for hang gliding in Colorado!
Sunset
1 comment:
I was there with my two kids that afternoon and you gave us all a good haircut :-). My two year old boy and five year old girl loved it. Cambrie, my five year old asked me, "why can't you do that with your paraglider daddy?"
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