Saturday, November 12, 2011

Nuthouse to Chief Peak and back flight, 16 miles

Nuthouse is hike up launch north from Ojai, CA right off highway 33. I know about it for awhile, but did not had a chance to try it before. Weather forecast for SB was so-so, and much worse for other sites, so I join Chris for Nuthouse flight. There were just 2 of us. We met at Nordhoff school at 10:00 and was on launch by 11:30. Hike took me about 55 minutes and Chris was 10 minutes faster. Its short, but very steep. I was first to launch at 11:55 and climbed quite well. After flight Chris tell me that I skip a usual scratch fest near launch. Since launch altitude AGL over the road is only 900 ft you have pretty much 1 chance to climb out, so picking a good thermal cycle is very important. In my case Chris was doing a good job to help me choose a right cycle. After I flew away it was his turn to launch. He was not that lucky and spent some time scratching before he join me. I waited for him near Nordhoff peak and we continue together. Tag Chief peak where I flew before and then I decide to flew back before west wind kick in. Chris followed and we both landed on Nordhoff school LZ. Here is short video of the day:



GPS track: http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/535846