Simon King
11/15/08

Nordhoff Peak

Took a flight this weekend in Ojai and it was great.  This was my second Ojai flight, and I was joined by Mark P (Nitrous), Mark M (Treeman), and Fast Eddie (thank you for being there to retrieve and for the flying tips).  Wind was blowing East at 6 gusting to 10, so we launched at Nordhoff Peak.  I was the first to launch even though I failed my first attempt.  Worked my way out to Front Point, but wasn't taking Eddie's advice and was flying too low and too far from the ridge.  (Personally I don't mind using ridge lift and scratching the hell out of Oat Mt because I've watched Nitrous do it multiple times, but i hesitate to do it anywhere else, especially on an East wind day.)  I ended up flying out to Bruces, and in the process climbing to 5685'.  I stayed there as long as I could waiting for my Sensei, Nitrous, to come out and join Treeman and myself.  Unfortunately he did not launch, so Mark and I soared for as long as we could.

We stayed above and around Front Point for a while and had our sites set on Nordhoff High School as our LZ, but lacked the altitude and were facing a headwind.  We landed on the southside base of some small hills south of the base of Pyramid.

flight time: 0:53:48, max alt: 5685', ascent: 920 ft/min, descent: 950 ft/min