Chris Grantham
Friday, 1/20/06
Skyport to Carpinteria

In all the discussion board upheaval this gem of a flight got lost in the shuffle but it's one worth posting.

A bunch of us, including Irene, Bo, Gary, Andy and I hit Skyport at 10:30.  I took a shot early and decided to stick it in at the Bypass.  Quick retrieve back to launch and got back around the time Ron F showed up.  Ron launched quickly and headed for the R&R.  We both hit 4k almost immediately and the race was on.  I led the charge across to a spot just short of the powerlines with Ron right behind me.  Altitudes didn't exceed 4k until the last thermal which bumped me to 4500.

There was a clear north wind and extra nasty air down low so I decided to try running back to Parma to avoid a long retrieve.  I watched as Ron passed underneath me 1,000 feet bellow.  Not 10 minutes later I looked back and he was topping 5 and continuing to Ojai.  I succumbed to peer pressure and did another about face.  I never found lift again and flushed to the ridge just south of snowball.  Back-hill landed, hopped over to the front and relaunched into Carp.  Retrieve was right there as soon as I landed.

Meanwhile Ron was reporting 5700 near Whiteledge.  I shall let him continue the story....;P