Williams

Yesterday I was able to break away from weeks of monotonous work to get some proper flying in. Steve, Dean, Matt, Rich, Rick and I headed up to Williams to catch an evening flight. Williams is a 10,300 foot launch in the Williams Fork Mountains over looking Green Mountain Reservoir. The wind was strong out of the northwest so we chose the lower, 9300', launch. Across the valley is the scenic Gore Range with a rocky outcrop called the Eagles Nest over looking the reservoir.

Setting up on Lower Launch

(please forgive the picture quality, the Olympus is almost dead)

Green Mountain Reservoir and the Eagles Nest of the Gore Range Across the Valley

I launched third after Matt and Dean. Steve, Matt, and Rich schooled me on proper technique to safely bench back on the upper range in the strong northwest winds. The trick is to launch and work bowl north of launch making Figure-8's instead of 360's in the thermals as they drift into the Aspen Groves. Once you are a couple hundred feet up you can safely drift back to the upper ridge in the thermals. It worked like a charm! I hung out making gentle Figure-8's getting about 500' over launch then Steve launched and marked a big juicy thermal that took me to 12,500'.

It was the smoothest climb of the day. I took a few more climbs and got to 14,500'. The view was amazing. The peaks of the Williams Fork Range lead south to Silverthorne, Dillion Reservoir and Breckenridge in the distance. The rocky peaks of the Gore Range lead by the Eagles Nest beckoned me to glide across Green Mountain Reservoir, but the only way to get there would have been to drive way up wind to the northwest and surf the ridge line south. The rough air made the decision to hang out on the Williams Range a no brainer.

At 14,500' Over Launch

The View Across the Valley

The Williams Fork Range Below

(the grassy patch that the road leads to is upper launch)

The T2C was a rocket ship and I never once worried about getting blown over the back in the 30 knot winds at altitude. Matt eventually got into the upper teens, lets call it 17,999', and said the winds aloft were pretty steady at 30 knots all the way up. After about an hour I was done with the rough air and glided out to the reservoir to land. It was super fun flying out over the lake with plenty of altitude to explore its small islands and bust a few wing overs.

Gliding Out Over the Lake

A Closer View of the Eagles Nest

A Short Video Over the Lake

(the grassy patch near the shore at the very end is the LZ)

I briefly thought about landing on one of the small islands in the lake, but it would be a long swim back to shore! The LZ is a green patch between highway 9 and the eastern shore. The T2C's energy retention is so good I had to turn base over the highway just above the cars. It was a good show for the few motorists underneath me! My landing was spot on just past the cone marking the center of the LZ. Everyone else hung out for a little bit longer before trickling in for sunset landings by the lake.

Sunset After a Great Day's Flying