A local pilot, Gene Irwin took these pictures and helped a ton during the comp. Thanx Gene. Here I am humping my gear out to the strip.
Dusties have come through launch every day. I decided to dance with this one.
The dust didn't taste so good.
All suited up and ready to go.
We had weak climbs that ended up bumping up against an inversion just like the day before. Most of the field had climbed up to a few thousand feet over the resort when Davis and I headed for the edge of the start circle hoping for a good climb like the day before. We pushed on cautiously as we weren't very high but eventually found a decent climb right were I thought it would be over a small hill with a huge water tank on it. As we climbed out the rest of the group came in below us. I was happy to be on top of Jeff, Jonny, Chris and Dustin but this quickly faded as Davis and I started to bump up against the inversion as the rest of the guys climbed up to us. The climbs were weak, rough and frustrating and stayed that way for the rest of the day. We had a very similar task as day 4 with a run east then south back west and finally a short leg NE to goal.
I got really low a couple of km short of the first tp and hung out in zero as I watched David Cameron land just 400 ft below me. A dustdevil popped off just a short distance to the south and I dove into it at 200 ft and hung on as eventually I was joined by Davis and Mark and then a few others. We stuck with this anemic climb as it drifted us east but north of the tp. Mark and I noticed a much larger dustie backwards on the course line so he and I dove for it and I was rewarded with a decent climb that Mark missed. I climbed out back up the the inversion, tagged the tp and headed south chasing down OB, Davis and Conrad. They went for the same field that Jonny and Davis were low in the day before and found a slow climb that drifted them over the desert, They were at 300 ft. Davis found the climb, Conrad missed it and landed next to the only road out there. Jeff and I worked the lift for a while then went on glide for the 2nd tp.
We found a little climb after the tp then pressed on. This leg was supposed to be into the wind but there was no wind, I was stoked. After watching a few guys land already and having suffered through the crappy conditions for so long it was nice to have some good news. It was then that Jeff and I working together found the best climb of our day. Smooth 500 to 4000 ft. As we had 1 extra turn point to tag before goal so we couldn't quite go on final yet. But we had a plan, Both of us headed slightly to the right of course line to hook up with a small mountain ridge thinking that we would find another god climb there and then we could just glide in. After spreading out and trolling the entire ridge we found nothing. As we flew off the end of the ridge we both, disappointed headed straight down the highway towards the last tp. We stopped a few times in very weak broken lift when we were quite low but it was just delaying the inevitable. We landed 8 km from the last tp and 20 km from goal.
I was over heated from fighting down low all day, I had drunken all 3 litres of water I brought with me and was getting dehydrated and I was super sore. Thankfully Belinda ( she is great ) showed up just as I got my glider to the road and gave me a cold peach green tea and a smile. I went to be very early that night after eating nd loading up on Advil so I can be ready for the next day.
Even though the day was long, I find it very satisfying to use up every bit that the day has and to fly until all the lift is gone and the shadows are long.
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