TO KING MOUNTAIN AND BEYOND
To say the least every day with the Flying Cockroach Team was a blast!!!! We hit King Mt. in true Mother Lode elegance [(el’e.gance) - The sate or quality of being elegant; dignified richness and grace, as of manner, language, dress, design, style, ect.] to say the least. It started out on the first day when Brain was quick to name are team THE FLYING COCKROACHES. From there it was nothing but fun! Brian was a celebrity, people wanted their pictures taken with him, and I personally was very proud to be on the team. The FLYING COCKROACHES were Brian (cockroach), Harold, Mat, Will, and I. Ken was late this year and there were only five man teams, but he still was called a flying cockroach.
As drivers this year Cheryl and Keith (un-baltz) had there hands full picking up roaches all over Idaho. But all in all they to had a great time and I thank them both for sharing there time. Keith had a few flights off of the awesome KING MT.
Cheryl was there two out of five days to watch me land, and one other day just minutes away. Keith was there with Brian when I flew to Kellgore store, 80 miles away, and went and got us cold beers. The last day I was in the running for the top three places and Cheryl was right there when I landed near Challis Hot springs, 69 miles. At that time Will Brown was still in the air when he started talking on the radio. Neither Cheryl nor I could make out what he was saying, but it sounded like there was a downed pilot. Cheryl moved the radio antenna and asked again. Sure enough, Will said there was a pilot near Willow Creek summit that was not moving. Cheryl said, “lets go!” I was in the bag and on the road in minutes.
Will was
trying to give instructions on how to get to the downed pilot. There are many
dirt roads out there and Will did a great job. It took us about forty minutes to
get to him, four miles off the pavement. We came over a rise and there he was.
At first we thought the glider was upside down and he was lying on his glider.
As we got closer he was moving (slowly) and taking his glider down. Cheryl
said thank God he was all right. He told us he got suck up in a cloud with total
white out at 16000ft with no oxygen. He was still high telling us that he smacked in good. He
thanked us for picking him up and I told him he should thank Will (Good job Will).
Now back to
the good stuff, FLYING. Man o man o
man. God made KING MT. for HANGGLIDING. It was all there, butt kickin' thermals,
pounding sink, clouds, cloud streets, sink, rain, snow, and my favorite, hail.
Did I say sink, glass off, glasses up, sink, over the back rotors, and
over the front rotors? They were
every where, rotors, sink rotors, sink. More lift than a 50000-ton crane,
able to soar the space shuttle kind of lift. There is no doubt King Mt. is the
best flying you could ever Dream of. You take what you want and leave the
rest!!!! King is a big MT. You
don't have to fly when its rough, you don't have to fly over the peaks, you
don't have to fly over the back, and so on. If you don't like rough flying, fly
early, or, the next day, fly late. Out
in the valley there is something for everyone! You don't have to fly in the meet
to free fly (just get-u-sum).
I think most of the sky riders had some of the best flying they have ever had. I know (Harold in the air) did, and so did I. Harold, thanks for the new club truck!!!!! Mat said, “The Air there is so rough and embracing, and why shouldn’t it be? It's the same air the angels tumble in.” Will told me he had his best flying there and he did. He kicked butt. I know of a few flights he landed for convenience. Next year Will. Ken had some good flights too. He had his best save ever, all but on the ground and then to cloud base!! Ken was as stoked for the great flying the new guys were having as I was. Brian didn’t have the great year he had two years ago when he placed 3rd, but he should be proud of the great flights he had! I will be his wingman any time. There were 100-mile flights, 17000ft clouds, great friends, blue sky, and clean air.
NEXT YEAR!
SOUNDS LIKE PLAN?
What a
great ride. Thanks to the SKY RIDERS, “THE FEW, THE PROUD”,
to Lisa Tate, the meet Director, and to Cheryl, my Lady.
Green Leader
King Mt Hang Gliding Championships, final results:
Open Class: (29)Harold (21)Brian (20)Ken (18)Will (6)Shannon
Recreation Class: (31)Mat Terkuile
Team: (6) The Flying Cockroaches
