Short Divide 2010!

The forecast for Tuesday was strong pre-frontal South winds and mostly sunny, so Cody and I met up at Short Divide launch for the first time this season. We were greeted by gusty winds out of the SW at 18-22 mph - strong, but launchable. We talked of a possible early season XC route north toward Idaho Falls, but it would depend on the conditions at altitude. Cody assisted me on launch as a dust devil broke loose in the newly plowed field in the valley below. I had a good strong launch right into a bullet thermal which promptly twanged my flying wires, shot me to 500' over launch, and then spit me over the falls. I remained patient in the rock n' roll air, and 20 minutes later found a thermal that held together enough to go back to the mountain and bench up! I then saw Cody launch, work the thermals, and soon join me up top also. We worked our way over to Gunsight Peak and attempted to core the wind-shredded thermals.

I topped out at 10,750 as Cody climbed a little higher. Considering the strong winds and fragmented thermals, we decided to stay local and just enjoy the afternoon. It was nice to have radio contact with Cody to discuss flight plans and take turns pointing out the interesting sights in the valley below from our incredible vantage point: farmers plowing their fields, a long train by Cutler Dam, Camp Fife, a Golden Eagle, etc.

After an hour and a half, the air began to mellow, as the glass-off began. The valley released all of its heat, resulting in smooth widespread lift, taking us effortlessly to over 10K. The huge lift band allowed us to fly miles upwind exploring the air to the south, losing only 1000' along the way. I then came back at the mountain with bar stuffed, full VG, reaching a top ground speed of 83 mph recorded by my GPS! We explored the ridgeline, keeping an eye out for the other half of the elk shed antler I found a few weeks ago, but no luck with that. As the sun got lower in the West, we decided it was time to return to our earthly obligations, as we both had work the next day. One by one we flew over the back, descended over Clarkston, and both had easy uphill landings into a 10 mph wind. It's good to be back in the air over Short Divide!

Airtime: 3 hours 4 min!