SSB Summer Soaring Series

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Each year the Soaring Society of Boulder runs a Summer Soaring Series. The purpose of the series is to encourage cross country soaring by SSB members of all abilities and to select a club champion.

Year

1998 Flight Stories Longest Flights Overall Score

1999 Flight Stories Longest Flights Overall Score

2000 Flight Stories Longest Flights Overall Score

2001 Flight Stories Longest Flights Overall Score

2002 Flight Stories Longest Flights Overall Score

2003 Flight Stories Longest Flights Overall Score

2004 Flight Stories Longest Flights Overall Score

2005 Flight Stories Longest Flights Overall Score

2006 Flight Stories Longest Flights Overall Score

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SSB Summer Soaring Series Flight Stories 2006

Last Update - March 7, 2007

Gold Division

Colin Barry ( 2786 points )

5/21/2006 Discus B 1110 pts 457 sm

Got going early with a load of water onboard. Declared Gold Hill, Crestone Needles, Leadville, Buena Vista, Gold Hill. Released too low - but what the hey. Had two or three 30 mile stretches under solid overcast but all in all flight was straight forward with thermals turning up just when I needed them. Flew another 90 miles after completing the task, so definitely an under call

9/3/2006 Discus B 873 pts 310 sm

Salida flying dry with vastly different cloud bases between the North and South part of the course. Declared and completed Release, Leadville, Seven Mt, Leadville with finish in gusty crosswirnds at Salida

5/26/2006 Discus B 803 pts 467 sm

At Buena Vista declared a "Free Three Turnpoint" (2pts/ml) distance task with turnpoints of BV (West), Sante Fe Ski Resort, Leadville and Seven Mt. This would have been a 1000k if I completed all turnpoints and got back to BV. The airmass changed at Taos with blue thermals to 14K rather than 19K bases and a slog into a 24knot head wind coming straight up the Sangre's. Hit strong turbulence many times. Was able to get back to BV with a number of low points along the way but I missed Leadville and the day was getting late. If approved this will be a Colorado Standard Class Free Out and return record.

6/13/2006 Discus B 584 sm

After a high tow I contacted a thermal and dove back for my start point at Gold Hill, returned, and was then able to climb and head south. My start had been delayed as we waited for a water truck, which is involved with the 1V5 renovations, to clear and Mark Terry was way out ahead in BQ on his way to Spanish Peaks. I elected to cross into South Park and fly down the ridge on the eastern side. My plan was to connect with the Sangre de Christo Mountains south of Salida but as I approached I saw no clouds in the very hazy skies. With good cloud on the Wet Mountains, this was the obvious way to go. After crossing over to the Sangres near Blanca Peak I saw a solid shelf of hazy cloud and virga, some 20 miles deep, blocking my way to Taos. My computer, with a setting of McReady 5 indicated that I was going to finish at 11:00 pm so I decided to bail on the last 100k and switch to the Border to Border challenge sponsored by Randy Cone and Chaffee County Soaring. Prior planning had shown that Costilla was the first town in New Mexico, so I turned near there and headed north. My computer now gave a more sensible finish time of 7:30 pm. Because of the very hazy skies, for the first time ever flying in Colorado I had a hard time navigating using the visual clues of the mountains. I trusted in my compass and continued North into an over developed skies. I took a slow climb at Mt. Evans as I could see the convergence line forming at around 16,000 ft. I made the connection and I had a rocket ride to where it finished abeam Ft. Collins. The clouds looked very soft to the north and I needed another 4000 ft to make final glide. Switching gears I glided slowly out to the border taking anything I could. This strategy allowed me to reconnect with the convergence line for another ride south. I finished at 7:43 pm after a flight of 8:13 hours. Jodie was there to help me as I recovered my cold soaked body. Lessons learned. 1. Start Earlier 2. Make sure your water ballast is entered into your computer. Thanks to Jack Coddington for help with rigging and a 02 fill. Thanks to Phil Ecklund for coming out to tow at short notice.

Bob Carl ( 2782 points )

5/12/2006 Ventus 2A 1051 pts 417 sm

me up to 14,000. After that I followed a cloud street that took me over Cripple Creek and the wet valley almost on a direct path to Blanca Peak. Once in the wet valley north of Blanca the cloud street ended with just an occasional rotor but the few clouds that were present all seemed to work. I turned Blanca at 16,500 or close to it and headed back along the same route.. I lost several thousand feet in 10k sink due to the backwash off the Sangris. Once under the cloud street it seemed to work again and I continued to work an altitude band of 17,500 to 14,5000 trying to only work lift in the 6kt variety. Thanks to A 8 , who was ahead of me heading north, it made my decision to fly along the foothills an easy one. I found another boomer just west of Jeffco that took me up to 17,000+ and gave me final glide to Horsetooth and back to Boulder but I took several more thermals to ensure I completed the task because of the 10kt sink I encountered from Longmont north to Horsetooth. Like all cross country flights, they always seem to be easy once completed. The average speed for the entire flight was 117 kph.

8/24/2006 Ventus 2A 930 pts 351 sm

Declared task was point of release(Gold Hill) Laramie Pk, Bergen Park, Boulder for a distance of 351 miles x3x.883. Started low at 10,000 but headed north and got 6k thermal just north of Jamestown. Thermals got ratty up by Laramie and were difficult to work but they got much better as the day progressed. Turned Laramie Pk and ran into a line of virga over crystal lakes but worked 3k thermals to get up to 15.5 and went through the virga with no problem. I had final glide south of twin sisters but saw Joe Brack in a thermal north of Barker and worked it for a 1k gain before heading south to bergen pk. I had some altitude to burn so I continued south to Morrison before turning home. All in all a much easier flt than the one last week.

8/17/2006 Ventus 2A 801 pts 302 sm

Declared point of release, Laramie Pk, Boulder. This is one of the hardest, most challenging flights I've done. The flt to Laramie was excellent following a cloud street but the sky became overcast with the Laramie valley experiencing rain, lightning, etc. Followed the hills east of Lar north to the peak but ended up 10 m east of Lar Pk, worked 1-2k thermals to get enough alt. to make the turn point. Then had to head east about 20 m to get in some resemblance of lift before I could turn south due to the huge cloud deck. Just kept bumping along in anything that worked and finally got to head to Bldr. From Cys south nothing but blue with an occasional 1-2 k to give me final glide. A long flight and very challenging.

Alfonso Ossorio ( 1745 points )

6/5/2006 Nimbus 2 1175 pts 506 sm

A late start due to MHG tow constraints but a 2000 ft tow and I was off to catch Gunnar. We declared Mosca Pass and COWY line as turnpoints I talked Gunnar out of Larimie peak as the second. Weak start to get up to Gold Hill but not as bad as if I launched earlier. I stayed close to the rum line South. The clouds were good all over the mountains with OD starting in the flats east. I got to look at the "so I thought runway" to find it was for float planes. I continued towards the wet valley. Gunnar was over Salida and going towards the Cristos. I jumped across the wet and did find bluer but good lift along the ridge to the Sand Duns and past Mosca, there was great lift all the way south to Moriority in view. I went 20 NM past Mosca and then turned back North. Head wind all the way N. I started to go up the Wet and went back towards Creston peak and then followed the ridge North. Bad call to stick to the rum line and I got low heading twords South Park and headed towards BV. I got up again and then went to Leadville, Breckinridge chasing Gunnar. Eisenhower tunnel scratched around and then the back side of the divide up to Estes. Gunnar was low over Horse tooth so I tried to stay as far west as I could working weak lift with west winds convergance all the way to COWYline. Got low and ridged a bit south till Drake area and caught a late thermal to get a glide home. 7.9 hours.

7/12/2006 Nimbus 2 570 pts 327 sm

All alone at the field. Rigged by my self and with perfect timing Elliot showed to run my wing. Thanks Elliot. Sort of Crewless so I had to play it safe which meant slow and high.. Wired day lots of moisture and of course I got a late start, should have been airborne 2 hours earlier.. However I did only have to take a 2000 ft MHG tow :) due to OD by Decker's I made Myers first turn and then a hedge blue hole over Boulder so I went west to the divide with 15 kts from the west... Got past Estes and ran for the CO WY line where good Cu started to build in a convergence line. Went rum line for Decker's and around some showers near Drake. I tried to keep a glide home for no crew so it was slow getting to Decker's and then found good evening lift to 25 N of Boulder and home to an empty airport ! Flight flown using the Free distance rule.

Mark Terry ( 893 points )

5/12/2006 DG505-20m 547 pts 203 sm

Declared and completed Boulder, Mt Evans, Halligan, Boulder

6/13/2006 Ventus B 346 pts 385 sm

Boulder to Spanish Peaks and back when I got back to Boulder it had clouded over and despite trying for an hour I could not get back over 10,500. I am going to load up with water next time- it was quite bumpy at times.

Bob Caldwell ( 891 points )

4/27/2006 Ventus 2BxT18 891 pts 361 sm

It was great day, certainly the best of the spring season so far. I was able to ditch work for the day and went flying. A number of other pilots had great flights with John Seaborn setting the standard with a huge flight for OLC points. I was the first off with Lee Hill, ColoWyo Line, Buffalo Creek, Livermore, Lee Hill declared. I was slow on the first leg having trouble getting high and wasting a bunch of time working bad lift. After the first turn I was better especially after Boulder came back into glide range. My south turn was full of OD and virga. I managed to work the west edge of the virga and stay high but as I neared the turn heavy sink developed and I barely was able to get back to sun about at Golden Gate Park Road NW of Golden. I had a good climb at Lee Hill and then it was pretty easy on the last legs. I went on final glide at the mouth of the Poudre Canyon and even at 100 kts was frequently climbing. The total flight time was 6 hours and it scored 581km on the OLC. I need to work on flying in the power band (and using the whole thing) and being selective when working lift. Having A8 scream past you when you think you are doing well is a real eye opener (plus I had H2O and John was dry). Provided it is accepted I hope this flight will be my Diamond Distance leg of >500km. Note: 25 bonus points for completing the badge leg.

Ivan Jaszlics ( 889 points )

5/21/2006 Discus CS 889 pts 320 sm

3-turnpoint flight claim attached. Declaration: Boulder - Woodland Park - Christman - Buffalo Creek - Boulder

Phil Ecklund ( 428 points )

5/21/2006 Discus 2 428 pts 203 sm

Declared and completed Boulder, Blackhawk, Halligan, Boulder

Gunnar Blanke ( 423 points )

6/5/2006 Nimbus 2 423 pts 487 sm

Decalared Lee Hill, Mosca Pass, Colorado Wyoming Line, Laramie Peak. Lee Hill

John Seaborn ( 370 points )

4/27/2006 Ventus 2B 370 pts 420 sm

Great day and happy to be back flying A8 again after the long winter break.

Silver Division

Elliot Crawford ( 894 points )

5/27/2006 Ventus B 579 pts 240 sm

Declared and completed task which (subject to SSA ratification) should be Gold Distance / Diamond Goal flight. This flight completes my Gold Badge.

8/30/2006 SGS 1-34 197 pts 164 sm

Test flight in BC after her annual was completed. Releasing in the glider box, finding a good thermal over downwind and then climbing out and heading north towards Estes Park. Look down on some expensive glass by Gold Lake as it got smaller and smaller beneath me, then headed southwards. After four hours I felt I could say that the ship was fit to fly again.

5/20/2006 Ventus B 118 pts 131 sm

This day Gavin Wills was in town and flying MHG's Duo Discus. I was hoping to fly 'puppy dog' and learn a little from the master as we sought lift in the mountains. By the time I launched Gavin and Beth were past Mt Evans heading south - out of reach as far as I was concerned. However I did get down to the Mt Evans area. A wall of cloud was building in the area as XL and I climbed in the precipitation over Idaho Springs. I didn't want to hang out there for too long as we saw several airliners climb past us on their way to destinations unknown. I left the clouds behind and headed north - rapidly passing Mt Thorodin and Gross Reservoir. XL and I continued north well past Carter lake before turned back. Mike had to go and fire up the grill for the barbeque later that afternoon so I was left on my own to down to a point abeam Jeffco airport before returning to our home field. No declarations made - just a fun turn about the local area.

Bronze Division

Dan Peters ( 2064 points )

8/24/2006 LS-4 948 pts 316 sm

I was robbed. Cheated. My 500km Diamond Distance flight was 5km short because of that stupid height penalty. But it was all declared (508km = 316sm) and is attached. Description follows: Declared: Nederland, Laramie Peak, Boulder Hospital. I was the first one off at around 10:30am and towed to 9200� near Nugget Ridge. Zoomed up and rounded my start at Ned at 16000�. Pushed North, ignoring the 5knotters and only taking the big boomers that seemed to lie about 20miles apart. Lots of heavy sink in between the boomer thermals. At about Crystal Lake, the big boomer thermals dried up and the clouds were further apart. Scraped up to Laramie Peak and back to near Cheyenne where I caught a big boomer right before crossing thru an east-west wall of virga just north of Horsetooth. Didn�t hit another workable thermal from I-80 in WY all the way to landing. After height gain penalty, the task distance was 495km.

7/16/2006 LS-4 935 pts 311 sm

67GF0MN1.IGC shows my Diamond Goal. Although the IGC file says it wasn�t declared � it was. This flight closed out my Gold Badge with the distance, and my Silver Duration. Description: This flight was my second attempt at this Diamond Goal task. I was tempted to reverse the order and go north first as it was building quicker north than south. But I didn�t want to fight the NW headwinds coming home from Conifer. I launched first at 10:40am, towed high and far, and connected quickly. I crossed the start gate high at 16,000� (which would haunt me later) and bee-lined it South. After crossing the heavy westbound airline traffic (I felt like �Frogger�), I turned Conifer and screamed northbound with the stick pushed forward to avoid busting the Class A airspace. It doesn�t get any better than to feel the glider shake at 110knots as you skirt the cloud base�s wispy fingers, and see the altimeter steady at 17,500�. Once I passed Long�s, the weather changed, and I had to dodge virga and rain shafts and brave smooth blue holes all the way to WY. Visibility was down to 15 miles. I turned the CO_WY_Stateline turnpoint (was there an outhouse to mark the spot????), and glided thru a lot of virga back to my finish of LeeHill. I crossed the finish gate at 9000�, much lower than I started, so I spent the next 2 hours looking for more lift to cross the finish higher. After 2 more finishes, I made the task with a slight height penalty. Lessons learned: pick starts and finishes closer in the mountains AND get high and stay high. It�s really that simple. ;^)

6/18/2006 LS-4 181 pts 138 sm

Everything was declared, and Conifer was the only turnpoint I made. I got my Silver and Gold Altitude and Silver Distance with this one. This was an attempt at my Diamond Goal: LeeHill � Conifer � ColoWyLine � LeeHill. I released too early and struggled for the first hour. I almost landed back at Boulder (even had the gear out), but caught a save over the town and rocketed upwards. I slowly made my way down to I-70, and like a jay-walker I crossed the paths of 757�s and A-320�s headed west. I turned Conifer, caught some good thermals to the NW of Conifer and headed north along the divide. Then I made a huge error and decided to follow a line of clouds east of the mountains rather than run the divide up North. I hit sink around Gross, caught another good boomer over Boulder, and then nothing. Nada. Zilch. Nothing the whole way up to Horsetooth. I turned back as soon as I was 2000� above final glide to Boulder thinking I was being conservative. Not so. I got down to 7000� above Table Mountain and decided Longmont would be a better place to land than Boulder Reservoir. So I landed at what�s becoming my second home airport, Longmont Airport. Lessons learned: never leave the mountains and install a relief system in the glider.

Jim Smith ( 191 points )

5/12/2006 Grob 102 191 pts 104 sm

Lee Hill, Horse Tooth. Silver C distance and duration

Hans Von Michelis ( 137 points )

5/12/2006 DG505-20m 137 pts 203 sm

Declared and completed Boulder, Mt Evans, Halligan, Boulder

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Year
1998	Flight Stories	Longest Flights	Overall Score
1999	Flight Stories	Longest Flights	Overall Score
2000	Flight Stories	Longest Flights	Overall Score
2001	Flight Stories	Longest Flights	Overall Score
2002	Flight Stories	Longest Flights	Overall Score
2003	Flight Stories	Longest Flights	Overall Score
2004	Flight Stories	Longest Flights	Overall Score
2005	Flight Stories	Longest Flights	Overall Score
2006	Flight Stories	Longest Flights	Overall Score

Gold Division

Colin Barry ( 2786 points )

5/21/2006	Discus B	1110 pts	457 sm
	Got going early with a load of water onboard. Declared Gold Hill, Crestone Needles, Leadville, Buena Vista, Gold Hill. Released too low - but what the hey. Had two or three 30 mile stretches under solid overcast but all in all flight was straight forward with thermals turning up just when I needed them. Flew another 90 miles after completing the task, so definitely an under call


9/3/2006	Discus B	873 pts	310 sm
	Salida flying dry with vastly different cloud bases between the North and South part of the course. Declared and completed Release, Leadville, Seven Mt, Leadville with finish in gusty crosswirnds at Salida


5/26/2006	Discus B	803 pts	467 sm
	At Buena Vista declared a "Free Three Turnpoint" (2pts/ml) distance task with turnpoints of BV (West), Sante Fe Ski Resort, Leadville and Seven Mt. This would have been a 1000k if I completed all turnpoints and got back to BV. The airmass changed at Taos with blue thermals to 14K rather than 19K bases and a slog into a 24knot head wind coming straight up the Sangre's. Hit strong turbulence many times. Was able to get back to BV with a number of low points along the way but I missed Leadville and the day was getting late. If approved this will be a Colorado Standard Class Free Out and return record.


6/13/2006	Discus B	584 sm
	After a high tow I contacted a thermal and dove back for my start point at Gold Hill, returned, and was then able to climb and head south. My start had been delayed as we waited for a water truck, which is involved with the 1V5 renovations, to clear and Mark Terry was way out ahead in BQ on his way to Spanish Peaks. I elected to cross into South Park and fly down the ridge on the eastern side. My plan was to connect with the Sangre de Christo Mountains south of Salida but as I approached I saw no clouds in the very hazy skies. With good cloud on the Wet Mountains, this was the obvious way to go. After crossing over to the Sangres near Blanca Peak I saw a solid shelf of hazy cloud and virga, some 20 miles deep, blocking my way to Taos. My computer, with a setting of McReady 5 indicated that I was going to finish at 11:00 pm so I decided to bail on the last 100k and switch to the Border to Border challenge sponsored by Randy Cone and Chaffee County Soaring. Prior planning had shown that Costilla was the first town in New Mexico, so I turned near there and headed north. My computer now gave a more sensible finish time of 7:30 pm. Because of the very hazy skies, for the first time ever flying in Colorado I had a hard time navigating using the visual clues of the mountains. I trusted in my compass and continued North into an over developed skies. I took a slow climb at Mt. Evans as I could see the convergence line forming at around 16,000 ft. I made the connection and I had a rocket ride to where it finished abeam Ft. Collins. The clouds looked very soft to the north and I needed another 4000 ft to make final glide. Switching gears I glided slowly out to the border taking anything I could. This strategy allowed me to reconnect with the convergence line for another ride south. I finished at 7:43 pm after a flight of 8:13 hours. Jodie was there to help me as I recovered my cold soaked body. Lessons learned. 1. Start Earlier 2. Make sure your water ballast is entered into your computer. Thanks to Jack Coddington for help with rigging and a 02 fill. Thanks to Phil Ecklund for coming out to tow at short notice.


Bob Carl ( 2782 points )

5/12/2006	Ventus 2A	1051 pts	417 sm
	me up to 14,000. After that I followed a cloud street that took me over Cripple Creek and the wet valley almost on a direct path to Blanca Peak. Once in the wet valley north of Blanca the cloud street ended with just an occasional rotor but the few clouds that were present all seemed to work. I turned Blanca at 16,500 or close to it and headed back along the same route.. I lost several thousand feet in 10k sink due to the backwash off the Sangris. Once under the cloud street it seemed to work again and I continued to work an altitude band of 17,500 to 14,5000 trying to only work lift in the 6kt variety. Thanks to A 8 , who was ahead of me heading north, it made my decision to fly along the foothills an easy one. I found another boomer just west of Jeffco that took me up to 17,000+ and gave me final glide to Horsetooth and back to Boulder but I took several more thermals to ensure I completed the task because of the 10kt sink I encountered from Longmont north to Horsetooth. Like all cross country flights, they always seem to be easy once completed. The average speed for the entire flight was 117 kph.


8/24/2006	Ventus 2A	930 pts	351 sm
	Declared task was point of release(Gold Hill) Laramie Pk, Bergen Park, Boulder for a distance of 351 miles x3x.883. Started low at 10,000 but headed north and got 6k thermal just north of Jamestown. Thermals got ratty up by Laramie and were difficult to work but they got much better as the day progressed. Turned Laramie Pk and ran into a line of virga over crystal lakes but worked 3k thermals to get up to 15.5 and went through the virga with no problem. I had final glide south of twin sisters but saw Joe Brack in a thermal north of Barker and worked it for a 1k gain before heading south to bergen pk. I had some altitude to burn so I continued south to Morrison before turning home. All in all a much easier flt than the one last week.


8/17/2006	Ventus 2A	801 pts	302 sm
	Declared point of release, Laramie Pk, Boulder. This is one of the hardest, most challenging flights I've done. The flt to Laramie was excellent following a cloud street but the sky became overcast with the Laramie valley experiencing rain, lightning, etc. Followed the hills east of Lar north to the peak but ended up 10 m east of Lar Pk, worked 1-2k thermals to get enough alt. to make the turn point. Then had to head east about 20 m to get in some resemblance of lift before I could turn south due to the huge cloud deck. Just kept bumping along in anything that worked and finally got to head to Bldr. From Cys south nothing but blue with an occasional 1-2 k to give me final glide. A long flight and very challenging.


Alfonso Ossorio ( 1745 points )

6/5/2006	Nimbus 2	1175 pts	506 sm
	A late start due to MHG tow constraints but a 2000 ft tow and I was off to catch Gunnar. We declared Mosca Pass and COWY line as turnpoints I talked Gunnar out of Larimie peak as the second. Weak start to get up to Gold Hill but not as bad as if I launched earlier. I stayed close to the rum line South. The clouds were good all over the mountains with OD starting in the flats east. I got to look at the "so I thought runway" to find it was for float planes. I continued towards the wet valley. Gunnar was over Salida and going towards the Cristos. I jumped across the wet and did find bluer but good lift along the ridge to the Sand Duns and past Mosca, there was great lift all the way south to Moriority in view. I went 20 NM past Mosca and then turned back North. Head wind all the way N. I started to go up the Wet and went back towards Creston peak and then followed the ridge North. Bad call to stick to the rum line and I got low heading twords South Park and headed towards BV. I got up again and then went to Leadville, Breckinridge chasing Gunnar. Eisenhower tunnel scratched around and then the back side of the divide up to Estes. Gunnar was low over Horse tooth so I tried to stay as far west as I could working weak lift with west winds convergance all the way to COWYline. Got low and ridged a bit south till Drake area and caught a late thermal to get a glide home. 7.9 hours.


7/12/2006	Nimbus 2	570 pts	327 sm
	All alone at the field. Rigged by my self and with perfect timing Elliot showed to run my wing. Thanks Elliot. Sort of Crewless so I had to play it safe which meant slow and high.. Wired day lots of moisture and of course I got a late start, should have been airborne 2 hours earlier.. However I did only have to take a 2000 ft MHG tow :) due to OD by Decker's I made Myers first turn and then a hedge blue hole over Boulder so I went west to the divide with 15 kts from the west... Got past Estes and ran for the CO WY line where good Cu started to build in a convergence line. Went rum line for Decker's and around some showers near Drake. I tried to keep a glide home for no crew so it was slow getting to Decker's and then found good evening lift to 25 N of Boulder and home to an empty airport ! Flight flown using the Free distance rule.


Mark Terry ( 893 points )

5/12/2006	DG505-20m	547 pts	203 sm
	Declared and completed Boulder, Mt Evans, Halligan, Boulder


6/13/2006	Ventus B	346 pts	385 sm
	Boulder to Spanish Peaks and back when I got back to Boulder it had clouded over and despite trying for an hour I could not get back over 10,500. I am going to load up with water next time- it was quite bumpy at times.


Bob Caldwell ( 891 points )

4/27/2006	Ventus 2BxT18	891 pts	361 sm
	It was great day, certainly the best of the spring season so far. I was able to ditch work for the day and went flying. A number of other pilots had great flights with John Seaborn setting the standard with a huge flight for OLC points. I was the first off with Lee Hill, ColoWyo Line, Buffalo Creek, Livermore, Lee Hill declared. I was slow on the first leg having trouble getting high and wasting a bunch of time working bad lift. After the first turn I was better especially after Boulder came back into glide range. My south turn was full of OD and virga. I managed to work the west edge of the virga and stay high but as I neared the turn heavy sink developed and I barely was able to get back to sun about at Golden Gate Park Road NW of Golden. I had a good climb at Lee Hill and then it was pretty easy on the last legs. I went on final glide at the mouth of the Poudre Canyon and even at 100 kts was frequently climbing. The total flight time was 6 hours and it scored 581km on the OLC. I need to work on flying in the power band (and using the whole thing) and being selective when working lift. Having A8 scream past you when you think you are doing well is a real eye opener (plus I had H2O and John was dry). Provided it is accepted I hope this flight will be my Diamond Distance leg of >500km. Note: 25 bonus points for completing the badge leg.


Ivan Jaszlics ( 889 points )

5/21/2006	Discus CS	889 pts	320 sm
	3-turnpoint flight claim attached. Declaration: Boulder - Woodland Park - Christman - Buffalo Creek - Boulder


Phil Ecklund ( 428 points )

5/21/2006	Discus 2	428 pts	203 sm
	Declared and completed Boulder, Blackhawk, Halligan, Boulder


Gunnar Blanke ( 423 points )

6/5/2006	Nimbus 2	423 pts	487 sm
	Decalared Lee Hill, Mosca Pass, Colorado Wyoming Line, Laramie Peak. Lee Hill


John Seaborn ( 370 points )

4/27/2006	Ventus 2B	370 pts	420 sm
	Great day and happy to be back flying A8 again after the long winter break.

Silver Division

Elliot Crawford ( 894 points )

5/27/2006	Ventus B	579 pts	240 sm
	Declared and completed task which (subject to SSA ratification) should be Gold Distance / Diamond Goal flight. This flight completes my Gold Badge.


8/30/2006	SGS 1-34	197 pts	164 sm
	Test flight in BC after her annual was completed. Releasing in the glider box, finding a good thermal over downwind and then climbing out and heading north towards Estes Park. Look down on some expensive glass by Gold Lake as it got smaller and smaller beneath me, then headed southwards. After four hours I felt I could say that the ship was fit to fly again.


5/20/2006	Ventus B	118 pts	131 sm
	This day Gavin Wills was in town and flying MHG's Duo Discus. I was hoping to fly 'puppy dog' and learn a little from the master as we sought lift in the mountains. By the time I launched Gavin and Beth were past Mt Evans heading south - out of reach as far as I was concerned. However I did get down to the Mt Evans area. A wall of cloud was building in the area as XL and I climbed in the precipitation over Idaho Springs. I didn't want to hang out there for too long as we saw several airliners climb past us on their way to destinations unknown. I left the clouds behind and headed north - rapidly passing Mt Thorodin and Gross Reservoir. XL and I continued north well past Carter lake before turned back. Mike had to go and fire up the grill for the barbeque later that afternoon so I was left on my own to down to a point abeam Jeffco airport before returning to our home field. No declarations made - just a fun turn about the local area.

Bronze Division

Dan Peters ( 2064 points )

8/24/2006	LS-4	948 pts	316 sm
	I was robbed. Cheated. My 500km Diamond Distance flight was 5km short because of that stupid height penalty. But it was all declared (508km = 316sm) and is attached. Description follows: Declared: Nederland, Laramie Peak, Boulder Hospital. I was the first one off at around 10:30am and towed to 9200� near Nugget Ridge. Zoomed up and rounded my start at Ned at 16000�. Pushed North, ignoring the 5knotters and only taking the big boomers that seemed to lie about 20miles apart. Lots of heavy sink in between the boomer thermals. At about Crystal Lake, the big boomer thermals dried up and the clouds were further apart. Scraped up to Laramie Peak and back to near Cheyenne where I caught a big boomer right before crossing thru an east-west wall of virga just north of Horsetooth. Didn�t hit another workable thermal from I-80 in WY all the way to landing. After height gain penalty, the task distance was 495km.


7/16/2006	LS-4	935 pts	311 sm
	67GF0MN1.IGC shows my Diamond Goal. Although the IGC file says it wasn�t declared � it was. This flight closed out my Gold Badge with the distance, and my Silver Duration. Description: This flight was my second attempt at this Diamond Goal task. I was tempted to reverse the order and go north first as it was building quicker north than south. But I didn�t want to fight the NW headwinds coming home from Conifer. I launched first at 10:40am, towed high and far, and connected quickly. I crossed the start gate high at 16,000� (which would haunt me later) and bee-lined it South. After crossing the heavy westbound airline traffic (I felt like �Frogger�), I turned Conifer and screamed northbound with the stick pushed forward to avoid busting the Class A airspace. It doesn�t get any better than to feel the glider shake at 110knots as you skirt the cloud base�s wispy fingers, and see the altimeter steady at 17,500�. Once I passed Long�s, the weather changed, and I had to dodge virga and rain shafts and brave smooth blue holes all the way to WY. Visibility was down to 15 miles. I turned the CO_WY_Stateline turnpoint (was there an outhouse to mark the spot????), and glided thru a lot of virga back to my finish of LeeHill. I crossed the finish gate at 9000�, much lower than I started, so I spent the next 2 hours looking for more lift to cross the finish higher. After 2 more finishes, I made the task with a slight height penalty. Lessons learned: pick starts and finishes closer in the mountains AND get high and stay high. It�s really that simple. ;^)


6/18/2006	LS-4	181 pts	138 sm
	Everything was declared, and Conifer was the only turnpoint I made. I got my Silver and Gold Altitude and Silver Distance with this one. This was an attempt at my Diamond Goal: LeeHill � Conifer � ColoWyLine � LeeHill. I released too early and struggled for the first hour. I almost landed back at Boulder (even had the gear out), but caught a save over the town and rocketed upwards. I slowly made my way down to I-70, and like a jay-walker I crossed the paths of 757�s and A-320�s headed west. I turned Conifer, caught some good thermals to the NW of Conifer and headed north along the divide. Then I made a huge error and decided to follow a line of clouds east of the mountains rather than run the divide up North. I hit sink around Gross, caught another good boomer over Boulder, and then nothing. Nada. Zilch. Nothing the whole way up to Horsetooth. I turned back as soon as I was 2000� above final glide to Boulder thinking I was being conservative. Not so. I got down to 7000� above Table Mountain and decided Longmont would be a better place to land than Boulder Reservoir. So I landed at what�s becoming my second home airport, Longmont Airport. Lessons learned: never leave the mountains and install a relief system in the glider.


Jim Smith ( 191 points )

5/12/2006	Grob 102	191 pts	104 sm
	Lee Hill, Horse Tooth. Silver C distance and duration


Hans Von Michelis ( 137 points )

5/12/2006	DG505-20m	137 pts	203 sm
	Declared and completed Boulder, Mt Evans, Halligan, Boulder