Fall 03 / Eastern Sierra Escarpment Excursion Conclusion

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We concluded our Fall 03 Owens Valley Excursion with mixed reviews.  The "official" excursion made a play for Saturday and Sunday the 18th & 19th of October.  The lapse rate was excessively stable.  We were trying to avoid the stronger conditions, and actually hoping for an Indian Summer, but the super strong high was too much of a good thing.

Pilots got poor flights on Friday, with reports of south wind at Gunter.  I don't think anyone flew on Saturday, and the crew splintered.  The wind backed off for Sunday.  Pilots flew from numerous sites, and the reports were mostly positive.  Monday's weather had some turb in the Owens, but nice conditions further south.

• What went right.
  • Sharon Sweeney should be commended for her effort putting it all together and tracking everyone's personal needs.
  • Seasoned Pilots recognized the good weather on the weekend we canceled, and went anyway.  In trying to be positive, I suppose that despite the poor weather on our officially weekend, we did motivated pilots to consider and explore the Owens Valley and assisted in moving our community forward.
  • Despite disbanding the gang for varied locations, those that flew had good flights.  I really enjoyed my flight in Ojai.
  • No one got hurt
  • Kari took notice and made and appearance
  • Brendan Pegg flew 72 miles, Chris Paul flew 59, and Dean Stratton went 44
  • We didn't get a flat in the van (no spare)
  • I liked the T-Shirts
  • SA picked up the slack
• What went wrong.
  • Pilots had been requesting that I try to host an Owens clinic for some time.  Sharon offered to be manager, so I didn't have an excuses since she was willing to do 90% of the work.  When I agreed to the trip, I was unemployed, and expected to be able to focus on the task, but I was in Michigan for work when the weekend approached.  We had a plan to defer if the weather looked bad, but I couldn't commute back 2 weekends in a row.  Our original plan was to call the weather on Friday morning after the winds aloft report, but my personal situation prompted me to make an early call.  I was watching the weather, and the reports were progressively worse from Monday through Wednesday.  Based on the information I had  on Wednesday morning I opted to defer.  By Thursday, the forecast was looking better, and when the weekend arrived, it was good.
  • The vehicle and crew logistics were good for the deferred weekend, but iffy when I got back to town Thursday.
  • We tried to take my Suburban, but had to turn back from Castaic Junction
  • The crew was almost too large, which makes it difficult to change direction.

After covering our expenses, we refunded what we could, which was 1/2 of the $200 contribution.  For those that opted to stay and try to fly on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, we forwarded their refund to Eagle Paragliding so Rob could cover his cost and realize some compensation for his professional commitment.  Those that were scheduled for the first weekend but could not make the second weekend should have received a full refund of their entire contribution.

SD