On launch we started hearing rumours of a possible Whistler Express later in the day. The task committee called a task and landing field further down the valley where it would be safe, but the start time was still a bit late at 2:45 for those without speedy wings to get high and down the valley before the projected arrival. But this is a National competition, so of course the race is going to be geared more toward those who are top pilots on fast wings.
I launched a bit earlier today and the conditions still looked ok. Big clouds forming but I thought that could help me get high and downrange to where all the safe LZ's were in case the winds hit. Unfortunately I got low in front of launch, and the winds had already started picking up from the north so the bowl in front was a rotor pit and I got worked a bit. Got too low for my liking and pushed out front, where I found a scary thermal but turned tight in it anyway and went skyward as long as I dared. I knew if the winds increased as fast as I'd heard that I would need a lot of extra height just to push out to the usual landing field. My ground speed showed a 15 km/hr wind (still manageable) and since wind tends to increase with height I was hoping for a lighter wind at the bottom. The air was pretty active, but I figured that was from the growing cumulous clouds (oh, did I mention the chance of thunderstorms in the forecast?) so I just hung on as I went through some rough bits and flew to areas that would be calmer.
After getting upwind of the landing field I found some smooth air and initiated a spiral dive. After a few turns I started picking up G's (good) and saw I wasn't drifting (good) and then something hit me (bad). At first I thought I just hit a thermal but this was more violent than when I've done that in the past. I wish I'd had my GoPro on my helmet because I can't tell you exactly what happened except I saw more bits of my wing in varying combinations than I generally like to see when flying. As my wing settled happily over my head again I heard someone directly below me call on the radio that there were dust devils going off.
Holy Moly. I just spiralled into a dust devil.
So that would explain how something was strong enough to bust up my spirals on my heavily loaded wing. Interesting.
Not much time to think about that. Flew 2 km away downwind where I saw someone land about 5 minutes before. Was parked for a few minutes but eventually started moving forward. The patch of air I chose was calm so I stood on my speedbar and smoothly penetrated to the middle of the field, was dealt five Aces by the hands of Fate and landed perfectly. The wind stopped the second I touched down so my fear of getting dragged was averted, and I gathered up my wing and plunked it down at the edge of the field so happy to be down and safe.
Then a 30 km/hr gust blew through and I had to dive on my wing to make sure it didn't blow away.
So some new items were added to my paragliding toolbox today and I learned a lot. I don't regret taking off, and on the other hand I'm not so cocky to think I landed safely due only to skill. Luck was kind to me today, but I'm also proud of myself for sticking with that rough thermal so I was high enough to have more than one landing option when things got uncomfortable. I'm accomplishing my goal of learning something every day here, growing my skills and discovering my strengths and weaknesses. The rain from the thunderstorm is still falling but the forecast for tomorrow is still calling for "mainly sunny" so maybe we'll get a nice and happy day of flying and I'll get to expand my tour of this valley.
Looking toward the valley I'd been flying in earlier...
The other direction, darkness over HQ
1 comment:
Wow! What a story! Good Jon getting down safely.
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