Flight information - Clemens Ceipek (AT) - 02.07.2020

Comment

Declared a 750km racing task with 3TPs (Kings Peak, Salina Canyon, Mirror Lake) and back to Nephi. 10kt climb right off tow, crossed start line then struggled to get going for real. Wasted 25 minutes that might have made the difference in the end. Once up, smooth run up to Strawberry Reservoir (very pretty btw), from there much more difficult conditions. Clouds looked great but were deceptive. Only 1 in 3 worked at all and the climbs were very rough, narrow and very difficult to center - they just kept spitting me out on one side or another. Hard work... Cloud base was much lower than forecast (around 16k vs 18k predicted), adding to the challenge. Gingerly made my way towards Kings Peak, acutely aware of having to keep an airport in glide (first Thunder Ridge, then Duchesne). Turned Kings Peak (tallest mountain of Utah) and now back into a 20 kt headwind. Fortunately conditions improved a bit and the run south was actually easier than the way north. Marked improvement past Strawberry Res when I connected with the convergence. The western edge of the clouds on the Wasatch Plateau worked great and the run south was very uneventful. Turned Salina Canyon and headed back north. Kept looking at my watch - already past 5pm and still a long way to go. Near Strawberry Res conditions started to soften again and I decided prudence should win the day. Gave up on my task at last, cruised back south and then headed west to make a bit of a triangle. Smokey west of Nebo and only sink once I crossed the foothills nw of Nephi. Didn't get very far and came back to land. Lesson for my next 750km attempt - make the last turn point less challenging and more accessible. Another fun Nephi day.

Pilot

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OLC-Team