Frostbite 2015

...or was it "Sunstroke 2015"

Bremer HG launch and Mt. Rainier

17-19 April

Usually held at "Dogpatch", the landing zone for Dog Mountain, this year the event moved to Area 151, Dave and Diane Auman's property west of Morton. The LZ at Dog wasn't totally covered by water but it was much smaller than usual at this time of year. As a result of the almost snowless winter, Tacoma Power had started to fill Riffe Lake earlier than usual hoping to be able to provide hydro-electric power with the smaller amount of runoff expected this summer.

Area 151 was an excellent choice as there was plenty of room for the many trailers, motor homes, tents and other vehicles. In addition there was a large, level, grassy (and dry) landing area for hangs and paras. Spot landings were possible with a small takeoff  in a clearing 400 feet above the LZ and only ten minutes to turnaround. A much longer trip (45 min) to launches on Bremer Mountain was another option and many hangs and a few paras also drove to Dog for good, but not spectacular soaring.

17 April, Fri - C.J. and I got the trailer hitched up and pulled out of the driveway around 0930 and got

Area 151 from the 400-ft launch

to Area 151 around noon. We picked a site [You can see our little A-frame trailer on the right edge of the photo if you click on it and zoom in.] behind a grove of overgrown Christmas trees to give us a little shelter from the bonfire and music stage (a large flatbed army truck). We were soon joined by Aaron and Kerie's big motor home, Debbie and Greg's trailer and many others. I spent most of the rest of the day helping set up the huge cargo parachute over the eating and socializing area. Conrad, a bartender from the Morton Bucksnort Pub, set up his (free!) bar under the canopy and Dave moved his picnic tables in for seating. C.J. and I took a drive over to Dog to see what the LZ looked like. There were a bunch of hang rigs parked in the outer lot so we walked in to the berm. There was plenty of land to land on but there was also plenty of water so one would have to be pretty sure of one's spot landing ability to be sure to stay dry. After watching JJ soaring the point and landing in a dry area, C.J. decided to not fly her hang glider today. Back at Area 151 we watched a few PGs flying from the 400' hill and getting rough rides. We passed on the opportunity to fly and continued visiting with a break for dinner in our Aliner. Although the day had been sunny and hot, as the sun set it got cool quickly and the Friday bonfire provided some welcome warmth. It was downright chilly by the time we went to bed under a down comforter and quilt.

18 Apr, Sat - After oatmeal we signed up for Frostbite, paid for a Dog key, and C.J. bought a pink, performance t-shirt. One thing different about this Frostbite was how many paragliders were present. John Kraske was notable among them, and Kim Smith was a quieter presence. "Oldtimer" John Heckendorn was there to test fly his new-to-him Golden2 and got a half-dozen flights from the 400. C.J. and I got a ride up with Bret Conant, a PG who lives in Morton and is an engineering tech with the USFS. The launch was large enough to lay out two paragliders (just barely). Conditions were very light and I had trouble getting my wing inflated. It took four tries before I got off launch. But then I lucked into some lift to the left and out front. I managed to get above launch and soar for fifteen minutes before sinking out. The light wind was coming from the north, unusual for Area 151, and I

Larry in the mirror of the Wannabe Ranch Dragonfly

came up short of the spot but had a good landing. After lunch I went up again and this time I was all ready to go when a hang glider pilot launched with his right wing low; his glider continued in an arc to the right into a tree not far below launch. John H and I went down to make sure the pilot could get down safely. Kim S showed up with some rope and a saw and he and the pilot went down and got the glider out of the tree after a lot of work. Meanwhile more hang gliders were showing up and since the launch area was pretty small I decided to launch even though two pilots who had gotten to 2000'-plus were sinking out and recent launchers were not getting up. Fortunately, after a good launch, I found enough lift to get me up to launch level and maintain for a few minutes. Then the little thermal dissipated and I headed for the spot, landing well, just a bit off the blue. C.J. got a second flight, also - but hers was in Larry's dragonfly tug. She got some good photos of Bremer and the launches. Since the beer kegs had been tapped by then, I decided I was finished with flying for the day.  Meanwhile C.J. went up to Bremer with a truckload of hang pilots. Conditions were definitely over-the-back making for turbulence in the rotor out front. C.J. and Kerie decided not to fly and drove down. Dinner included burgers, hot dogs, and some ribs and all the other potluck dishes. C.J. had brought her famous blue-barb crisp which went fast. It was cold again after the sun set, the music was loud and went late, but it was a little warmer and more comfortable to sleep.

19 Apr, Sun - Tina organized a "breakfast for boobies" fundraiser for Kerie's medical treatments that were not covered by insurance (some $10,000). Much of the food was donated by Justin's parents so the breakfast raised more than $1000. Around 1100 C.J. and I joined Brent Taylor and Monique from Yelm in his big Chevy 4x4 pickup to go to the paragliding launch on Bremer with Alan, Adam, and Rob. The idea there is to get off the hill before the usual north winds pick up and blow over the back. Hopefully there will be enough heated air coming up the south face will provide lift to get you over the ridge and into the convergence. After Rob took off and soared, I tried launching several times but neither a forward inflation nor a reverse would work for me, and the slightly up-sloping logging landing dropped off steeply into rough clearcut so standing below the lip would not work. The other

Bremer PG launch by Harmon

pilots were all successful, but C.J. had to give up until the cycles became stronger. She took several tries but finally got off and, like the others, soared and was able to fly east past the hang glider launch and then cross the valley and make it back to Area 151 and a hundred-point landing. I rode back down with Monique. Everyone had made it back to Area 151 so we did not have to retrieve any outlanding pilots (a task that would have been difficult without cell phone coverage in the Tilton River valley). Back at Area 151 leftover burgers and hot dogs and some of the potluck goodies were available for lunch...or an early dinner. While the awards were being handed out for spot landing (Tom Johns won again, no surprise), I worked on breaking camp so we could leave by 1700 - that way we could make it to Covington Costco before the gas station closed at 1900. We made it with minutes to spare and were home before 1930.

At the awards we heard that a record number of keys had been sold – 70, and that around 80 people had paid the entry fee of $30 to support Dog Mountain. Maybe having Frostbite at Area 151 was a good thing for the purposes of fundraising; and it was good to add another new flying site to our list (two new sites for C.J.).