By Dustin Martin on 1/4/2012 4:46 PM

Winter break is traditionally a time for me to dig in work hard to fund the upcoming season. This holiday I was adopted by the Pearsons and spent every waking moment at the Wills factory while all their employees were away, allowing me to work on a lot of projects without getting in the way too much.

The pod mold is done, jigs are built, an infusion pump arrived, and it's just a matter of ordering a few bits of material and glue to start the transition to resin infusion. Looking forward to that, but the need for $$ has shelved the project for another few weeks.

The primary project last month was to build four tandem harnesses - that is, eight cocoons. Feedback from my last two customers resulted in some major improvements this time around. I was using a straight pattern to build the last few harnesses but switched to a pattern Steve Pearson gave to me that's basically the bottom half of a Z5. The harness seems a little more supportive than before.





After shipping the harnesses and building one more just to have in stock, I started in on some of my own projects. My covert got its annual overhaul with an updated foam liner, new teeth on the pitch lever gripper, and new bungees throughout, along with a vacuuming and a wash. Looks amazing as it just about finishes two years and 500 hours of flight.

Final piece of business was to make a cocoon for myself. I've been talking about it and talking about it, but wasn't ready to pull the trigger until the trip to point of the mountain a couple months back. I got to get hands on with some of the latest ultralight paragliding gear and that's when the weight of all of our hangie gear just came crashing down on me. I think ultra weight reduction and return to simplicity will be a theme for me this season. I begin with this:





Using the same pattern as used on my tandem harnesses, with an eye for simplicity and minimalism in every aspect of construction, I managed to finish this cocoon at just a hair over four pounds. Weight in a drawstring, ultralight bag, with lara gold 175 chute, 5/16 quicklink as biner, and lubin helmet: under ten pounds.....

It turned out extremely comfortable and, even more than the weight savings, it's compactability is crazy:




Using scraps of odl06 literally from the trash can, along with other scrap laminate cloths in places where heavier woven fabric wasn't necessary helped save a little here and there. I went without legstrap padding or buckles, and the backstrap cincher is aluminum. The interior cloth is light but could be lighter! There is plenty of room for improvement but for now it will be cool to put the entire harness kit in my backpack in the overhead compartment..

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By Jeff Shapiro on 12/22/2011 3:29 PM

China was a unique and enriching experience.  It has definitely lit a fire within me to continue exploring new cultures, meeting interesting people along the way, and to try to allow my technical and mental limits to evolve while climbing in the mountains.




We began our trip in mid October knowing that the autumn, or post monsoon, was a good time to climb in the Daxue Shan.  The snow would be lean, the ice (hopefully) would be getting better every day and the temps would not be as bitter cold as later in the season.  The weather is always a roll of the dice on trips like this one but after researching the history and trends within the area, we were crossing our fingers for a few stable climbing "windows".





Our expedition consisted of 5 people total.  Chris Gibisch and I would be climbing together, and our good friend Bob Garrety would join us for the experience; trekking, and climbing on subsidiary peaks during our acclimatization period.  Bob is an amazing dude with super positive energy and an easy going attitude about everything.  Our group dynamic was as relaxed as it gets.

Gibisch striking "Blue Steel"

Bob

The Sichuan Mountaineering Association had created a regulation requiring all foreign expeditions to be accompanied by at least two Chinese speaking personnel.  This fairly new regulation came on the coat tails of the tragic loss of Jonny Copp, Wade Johnson and Micha Dash during their attempt of a new route on Mt Edgar (right behind the mountain we had a permit to attempt).  Because of this, our Liason Officer, Papaya, and our cook and base camp attendant, Mr. Jong became the fourth and fifth members of our group.




Papaya and Jong are employees of Sichuan Earth Expedition, a company owned by the well known Zhang brothers, Jiyue and Shaohong.  For more than 30 years, Jiyue and Shaohong have been helping climbers and trekkers get in an out of the mountains by arranging permits, transport and organizing local horses and/or porters.  In fact, Shaohong made his first big trip as a guide, cook and base camp attendant for our good friends, Gray and Eloise Thompson in '93 during Gray's expedition to complete the first ascent of Mt Lamoshe in a nearby range.







The connection with Gray, coupled with learning that they were the same company Jonny, Wade and Micha had used for permits and as their L.O. (Shoahong and Jiyue were two of the first on the search for the missing climbers), I felt an immediate kinship with these two guys and knew our hassles would be minimal. Consummate professionals, their help and attitude toward our trip made it easy to become fast friends.

Beer, Sushi and Sake

Papaya, our L.O for the trip, was a 5'.2" "spit fire" that spoke fluent Japanese and English, on top of her native Chinese. Although she had taken many trekking trips with Japanese clients, this would be her first time on a climbing expedition and her longest trip in the mountains.  Her translation and negotiating skills made everything proceed smoothly, even when our bus driver decided to go "on strike" during the trip to the village of Laouyling.

Papaya with our 3rd bottle of Sake

Late in the drive from the Sichuan capital, Chengdu, to Laouyling, well after dark and after many hours of rough roads and crazy passes, our driver decided he was "over it".  He pulled off to the side of the road in Kangding (the "gate-way to Tibet") and started demanding more money.  It was comical that after 12 hours of driving, he wasn't going to take us another 20 minutes up the hill to our destination.





Papaya wasn't having it.  After a heated exchange with the driver, a "Chinese fire drill" to extract our gear out of the back seats of the bus was all we could do.  She was not about to be ordered to do anything by this guy and, after how good she had been to us already, we immediately gained additional respect for her.  She was all up on it.  Within minutes of the bus driver taking off, she had a rig on it's way to pick up Mr. Jong with our stuff and had us on our way to the village.




There we were met by Jiyue's long time friend, Doji, a Tibetan Buddhist who had provided horses and horseman to climbers and trekkers for the last 3 decades.  Doji and his family took us into their home and made us a delicious meal of traditional Tibetan food.  The hospitality floored us.  Yak butter tea and laughs had us thankful for the huge experience the previous 4 days had provided.









A smoky room, complete with yak meat (hanging from the ceiling to dry),  Doji quietly repeating "Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ" in front of a wood stove while counting each of his 108 beads, and our long travel had us all finally relaxing, feeling like we were starting to fit within the rhythm of this new world around us.



In the morning, we loaded up food, tents and gear for a month on Doji's horses and walked up a valley in the light rain toward towering giants we had yet to see.  The cloud level was low and it was early that we were above base and within it's blanketing white.  Rain gave way to light snow as we walked to the sound of the horseman's whistles past bridges of logs and prayer flags spanning a braided river. Stopping in a flat saddle of sorts, we made camp at around 11,500' just before dark.









It was to be a two day trip to BC but when we woke to a foot of new snow and the news that half of the horses had make a break for home, it was decided that we would wait a day to see what the weather had in store.  The horses were rounded up and we took the day as an opportunity to deal with the dull headaches that altitude and an uncomfortable lack of coffee had caused.








While loading up the horses for our second day of walking, we all took turns playing "blocker" to make sure that none could make a break for it.  One of the horses was charged with the task of carrying two large propane tanks, one of which had a valve that was apparently not completely tightened.  A loud hiss startled us as the horse ran at full speed with white propane gas spewing into the frigid air.  My amusement and shock turned into worry when I saw how much of our precious fuel was leaking while the horseman was running after the now VERY freaked out animal.  He managed to run it down and to twist the valve shut without too much damage done. Needless to say, when the last horse was loaded and we started uphill, all were relieved to again be making progress toward BC.







As we were finally cresting the hanging valley that would be home for the next month, the clouds started to part and we had our first views of the mountains we had come for.  Right above camp were three beautiful peaks, E. Gongga (or mini Gongga), Jiazi Feng and Ri Wu Qie Feng (aka Mt Grosvenor).  Mt Grosvenor, at 6376m, was steep, pyramidal and proud.  It's West face looked "notably exciting".

Jiazi Feng

We immediately went to work acclimatizing and establishing a high camp for the ability to sleep at altitude to prepare us further.  When a narrow weather window close to the half way point of our trip presented,  we jumped at our chance and were fortunate enough to climb a new route on the West face of Mt Grosvenor (3rd ascent of the peak) in 4 days round trip.

BC bouldering

We had Chinese and Russian neighbors that kept our time in BC social. It's a Sichuan tradition to eat a group "hot pot" at least once a month. All of the traditional Sichuan food was amazing and very spicy but a hot pot is something that absolutely MUST be experienced.









Months earlier while doing research and looking at photos, we speculated at the possibility of the line we climbed but knew from experience that there was no way to tell from the photo whether or not it was possible.  We would have to get to the wall to find out.  I remember looking at the line as one of the biggest unclimbed routes on the face.  It looked potentially quite difficult and, honestly, I had very little expectation that this would be, in fact, something we would be able to attempt with any confidence toward success.  After the fact, I now feel privleged to not only have this line turn out to be possible but, to also climb it, well..... it felt like a XC flight where the next thermal was always there.

















Our route was perspective changing, requiring us to dig into the deepest resources within.  Our second night on the face, close to the summit, was spent sitting on a small seats we had chopped in the ice, laughing and talking shit to keep us warm. Tethered tight to the wall, the altitude kicked our asses and the dry, cold wind howling off the Tibetan plateau was fierce but, on the up side, at least the stars were out.  I can't overemphasize how lucky we were to have this 2.5 day span of good weather.





After summitting the next day, we raced a storm down the NE ridge.  Just as I threw a leg over the knife edge ridge to start rappelling down the east face, the fast moving storm overtook the mountain.  Timing couldn't have been better as Chris and I were almost immediately in the lee and able to rappel most of the day out of the wind.  We had to camp in 100k winds that night but at least we could lay down for the first time in 3 days. The tent poles almost broke but actually being in the tent was luxury.




We woke to sunny skies and strong wind, brewed up, and started the long journey back to BC.  800' of rappelling down the col between Jiazi and Grosvenor, down climbing through a couple of short ice falls and a purgatory of snow covered moraine found us stumbling back to our tents around 5pm.  Our route was over but the personal growth and re-defined perspective will last, burned into Chris and I both.

Finally arriving back at BC

Our time after the route was spent hiking, taking photos of future objectives and waiting for another window of weather that would never come.  I also had unfortunately cold damaged my toes and was having to be careful about not allowing them to get cold again. Actually, it was more likely a problem with circulation than cold I think.  Note to self, when climbing into a sitting bivi, COMPLETELY unlace your boots before stepping into the sleeping bag.  It was hard enough with my crampons off to hang on the anchor and get my sleeping bag up around me that I had forgotten to unlace the bottom section of my boots.  I think this was the main culprit to my numb and swollen toes (took over a month to come back).

partying down with the Russians post route

When time ran out, a quick 6 hour walk out to Doji's had us quickly driving to the hot springs in town. Soaking up the moment, reliving the experience and talk about future trips and routes, our trip had and continued to exceed our expectations.  For us, it was a profound trip which has, as I said, fueled a burning desire for more. The suffering is gone and only the way this trip has changed me remains. Chris and I are anxious for the next opportunity and it's because of our best attribute as an alpinists that the hard work and suffering to make it happen is gone.  Best attribute as an alpinist?  Easy..... a short memory;-)

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By Dustin Martin on 12/12/2011 11:19 PM

Things were going so well..

After buffing the mold halves to a fine shine, I layed up the first part. Anxiety was relieved when it practically jumped out of the mold the next morning. The first thing I did was trim the flashing and squeeze the 76 into its slot - and I really had to squeeze it - both hands, one on the back of the pod, one on the front of the 76. Unfortunately removing it basically required a crowbar. That was not going to work - this was supposed to be a friction fit, tool-less removal slot. The project came within a breath of being abandoned after weighing my limited options.

I won't go into the numbing details of the mold modifications. It's enough to say that had it been too big a slot, a little sanding and polishing would have done the trick. Since it was too small, I would have to add material. Adding to a mold is the worst possible outcome and that's what I spent last week doing! A thick spray of gelcoat in the concerning area (about 20 mils) followed by about 40 hours of blending and refinishing brought the mold back to life and as good as new:


Masking the offending area in prep for gelcoat.




Bringing the width to within 1/50th of a mm along the length of the GPS box.




Sanded to 1500 and ready for endless polish and wax - two days of just waxing.




SUCCESS tonight!




Since I was in remodel mode, I brought both mold halves to an even finer finish than before. Next two photos are directly out of the mold, no polish.






Garmin 76 slides in - and out - by hand, all is well in Scottsdale, AZ.




I'm setting up the shop for resin infusion to reduce exposure and have an overall cleaner work environment. As soon as that's done, production will begin. Should have parts rolling by new year's.

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By Dustin Martin on 11/17/2011 1:39 PM

After repeating the process for the back half of the mold, this morning I went out to the shop and separated the mold halves to see if I was successful.

The anxiety with molds, especially multi-part molds, is the investment of time. You have to completely finish the project before you can know if the very first layer of gelcoat actually cured out.. or if the plug was prepped well enough to release from the tool.. or if print through has ruined the mold surface.. etc.

This mold was a six week project. The details between all of the steps have been skipped here. Between each picture there were usually days of sanding or spraying or buffing or sweating, often just to fix a mistake. Each small step took a painful amount of time.

Another week will be spent improving the mold surface for production quality - and constructing jigs and flanges that will allow me to pull a joined and fully completed part from the mold without any work after the layup process beyond drilling a few holes and buffing out the finish.




Cross-bracing the back side mold, just like the other side. Bondo is used to space the wood away from the glass, preventing print through and pooling of resin under the wood - which would go nuclear during the curing process and compromise the mold surface underneath.



The final step: glassing the cross-braces on as well as the 16 tee nuts that will align and join the mold halves later. Bolts are already holding everything together and will be broken free of the resin with an impact drill later.



Sneak peak.. All is well inside the mold. The roughness and flaking is left over mold release film that hasn't been cleaned off. The mold surface looks awesome. The plug broke in half in the process of removing it, but I was expecting that considering the lack of relief in the gps and vario boxes. Same thing happened on the Geko/6030 mold.

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By Dustin Martin on 11/11/2011 12:37 PM

The front mold half is finished and being prepared for the layup of the second this weekend.


Stabilizing boards were added to prevent warping and curving. Attached with bondo first to insulate them from the glass itself and prevent resin from pooling underneath and printing through to the mold surface.




Next, they're glassed on.




Fender washers are glassed around the perimeter to give perfect bolt alignment later.




Here's the mold and plug fresh off the parting tray after some wet sanding. Next, wet sanded down to 1500, polished, and then waxed endlessly.




Here's the front side mold after two days of waxing.. two more coats today and the gelcoat for the back mold gets sprayed.

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By Dustin Martin on 11/4/2011 1:09 PM

The mold for the new 6030/garmin 76 pod is cruising along. The new pod features a pressure fit for the 76 just like my Geko pod (except the 76 has a slot for securing a safety cord). The 6030 slot also has a cutout to allow downloading without removing the instrument. Mounts will be the same, but the rod will be grade 8 instead of stainless in order to support the greater mass of the new pod.

First step: rough cut and generous bondo use.


This is what it looks like after hitting the belt sander and rounding the profile a bit.


Gray primer helps show irregularities in the shaping process.


A parting tray is built to create a line for dividing the two mold halves.


The plug is positioned and dammed up with bondo to create a perfect parting edge.


Primer is sanded and polished to create a nice finish on the parting flange. A huge flange was chosen to allow for resin infusion process if I decide to go that way.


I walled up the parting tray to avoid the mess of spilled resin, overspray, and cutting the mold edge after layup.


Black tooling gel was sprayed through a siphon gun until about 20 mils thick to create a hard, durable surface capable of producing many parts.


Two layers of resin and chop fiber were layed up on the tacky gelcoat to stabilize it and prevent shrinkage overnight. This is where it's at now.. more later.

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By Jeff Shapiro on 10/3/2011 9:39 PM

It was a huge disappointment to miss the Santa Cruz Flats comp this year. Kind of a dichotomy of feelings when the weather proved to provide the best year yet over the desert and agro lands of AZ. I was both bumming to miss racing with my friends in such stellar conditions and at the same time, really stoked for them while I enjoyed watching and reading the results and hearing the stories as they unfolded. Congrats to Jeff, Dustino and Mitch. Lights out flying boys. I'd certainly be lying if I said I wasn't proud that they were all in T2c's and Coverts. Well done representing guys;-)




Racking up


A-Strain

The reason behind my absence is that I was given a rare and exciting chance to go on an expedition to climb in the big mountains of Western China. Trying to balance quality time with the family, getting Coverts done for pilots around the world, training hard, tandems, teaching lessons and the endless logistics and bureaucratic red tape involved in a big trip to the Himalaya made it an obvious choice. I couldn't do both, nor could I pass up the opportunity to fulfill the dream to try for a first ascent in one of the Greater Ranges. I am really hopeful that we will find wide experience and personal growth that will help with a solid head space for the Spring Comps. After all, it's all about progress. We will be climbing in the Daxue Shan and have secured permits for two peaks of interest. I'm just hoping for reasonable conditions to allow us to get on a nice line and maybe even do something memorable.


10 new Coverts


Carsten Freidrich's new harness

Speaking of progress, while making the last batch of new harnesses, I patterned a new, bilateral pocket which runs down both thighs. They almost double a pilots ability to store bags and pads in a Covert. Also, with the two pockets packed up, the outer shell behind the chute(s) has a much cleaner look and better tension. I'm really encouraged with how nice it makes the shell look (on top of easing the pack job by a lot). You can now easily pack the harness bag on one side, most pads on the other and pack your glider bag in either the big bag behind your knees or in the hollow boot, leaving the other empty. I'm hopeful it will be a well received addition and improvement to the design.


New pocket zipper is just below the leg loops


Rolled up harness bag in the new storage compartment



I did manage to sneak up to Canada for a 3 day blaster to do a "warm up" climb in the alpine with Chris, my partner on the China trip. We climbed on Mt Andromeda, up a route called "Andromeda Strain". It was a great day in the mountains and cool to move light and fast up a beautiful line in the Rockies.







Flying hang gliders and climbing in the mountains is so inspiring to me. What I learn and how each experience becomes part of me helps shape my appreciation of work, family and friends. I feel so incredibly lucky to build harnesses for happy pilots, to fly WW hang gliders and to see the world in a way that allows for cultural perspective. If your at all interested, please stay tuned. I leave on the 11th of October and will be posting updates when we are back in Chengdu and out of the mountains.


Chris Gibisch

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By Dustin Martin on 9/30/2011 5:01 PM

Rollin into Phoenix before the practice day. Epic conditions



SCFR sunset from the roof of the hotel



The SCFR wraps up a long season of comps for me in 2011. I have been on the road since March. There were seven competitions. If I wasn't flying, I was building harnesses. If I wasn't doing that, I was flying a towplane. Around the edges of this schedule, the Wills team also managed to squeeze in a ciniflex helicopter shoot in Big Sur and many late nights of partying..



Growth is difficult.



I am satisfied with my performance this season and feel like I made a small breakthrough in Brasilia on the second last comp of the year. Rooming with Michel and Davizinho, I was on their schedule for the duration of the event. That meant early to bed, early to rise, every day. Not a single late night, easy on the alcohol, and I felt relaxed and confident throughout all the flights. I brought that method back to Casa Grande and it worked equally well.

Breakthrough..



After the comp, Jamie, Ben, Jochen, and I went north to check out some of the sights. Starting out with a drive through Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon, we took our first full day to hike the highest point in the state. Condtions were perfect.

Entering Sedona with Ben, Jamie, and Jochen at the start of a week long tour.



On top of Humphrey's - more hypoxic than I've ever been on foot.



Next day we headed straight for the south rim of the Grand Canyon with eyes bigger than our lungs. We managed to drag ourselves clear of the rim again at about 5pm after setting off down the trail at 930am. We did play in the river for a couple hours though..

The rim of the canyon at South Kaibab trail. After a roundtrip to the river in a day, one day after climbing Humphrey's, the highest peak in the state.



Last stop was Meteor Crater to see a 50,000 year old hole in the ground. The surviving pieces of iron are so heavy that they don't secure them against theft. They just lower them onto the display case and trust that you won't be able to get away with them.

Highest range in the state and starting point for the longest flight ever in Arizona. As seen from the rim of Meteor Crater observatory deck.

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By Jeff O'Brien on 9/27/2011 6:52 PM

Purposeful Goal...

Around Valentine's day I made some random resolutions. One of those included trying to run 500 miles in the year. I've never run much before. It seemed like an appropriate challenge.


My garage wall running journal.

One thing has led to another and I find myself around 700miles from where I started. Along the way I decided running a marathon might be feasible. I'm apprehensive and probably should have trained harder, but I'm willing to give it.


Ran 90km while I was in Arizona last week. My daily trip west...

The Denver Rock and Roll run is in two weeks. I'm trying to raise $1001 for First Descents, a non-profit providing outdoor adventure camps to young adults with cancer. My wife used to be affiliated with the organization and is a big proponent. I've got nearly $600 in contributions already.

Click here to donate: http://teamfd.firstdescents.org/2011/fd/denverrocknrollmarathon/JeffOBrien/


North...



I'm trying to raise enough to send a participant to camp for a week in the memory of Nick "Nickname" Raitt who passed on June 2, 2011. Lauri got to know Nickname when she participated in a week long kayaking camp. She found him to be a young man who was focused on his life, not his illness. The week was transformative for Lauri, and Nickname went on to become an avid kayaker, motivated fundraiser, and staff member at subsequent First Descents camps. Lauri and Nick kept in touch until his death.


East...

First Descents programs empower participants to overcome their fears and rise to a challenge with support and enthusiasm. It is a fulfilling energizing experience in contrast to the isolation and dependency those living with cancer can experience. It provides lasting gratification.



South...

Please click HERE and make a donation to help me reach my intended goal.


At the end of each morning's miles, the pool felt electrifying.


I've enjoyed the experience and personal challenge and would like some good to result.



Appreciative.

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By Jeff O'Brien on 9/26/2011 7:59 AM

SCF 5.0 Day 7

Present: It's hard to come back down... I'm at work, attending to voice and e-mails, looking out on a crispy Colorado mountain morning. Aspens changing, 47 degrees. My present reality completely contrasts the experiences I had over the past 9 days. It's comfortable to be back home, but Santa Cruz daydreams linger...


Sky early morning on the last day. Photo by Jamie Sheldon.

Day 7 - Couldn't run early - I was sore top to bottom. Flying muscles, running muscles, blisters on my feet from the harness cram. Leisurely breakfast and normal preparation for the day. There were mid-level clouds encroaching.


Landing after the 30+ mile glide from 15,000ft. Photos by Jamie Sheldon





A 91km out and return task was called taking us away from the cloud development. Launch times were pushed back to let the day heat up a bit extra. As we moved our gear out to the paddock, strange looking mini-cells were dropping virga and subsequent mini-micro burst, downdraft cylinders. They were all over.


Weekend surprise from my biggest supporter. Photo by Jamie Sheldon.

Johnathan Dietch towed up just as the first mild front was arriving. He climbed up, then got tossed around to the ground. Johnny came down with the tug saying it was ROUGH.

Dustin took a quick tour in the tug with the same consensus. Little cells all around creating downdraft cylinders and unpredictability. We all waited for things to stabilize.


Sunscreen caked and exhausted from 5 hours and 15,000ft.

Two or three walls of dust hit us. We kept an eye on our gliders so they wouldn't blow away.

The cells kept cropping up, and we were loosing time. Things did clear a bit, but it soon became apparent we wouldn't have enough time in the afternoon to launch everyone and get a task in. The day was called, a gatorade cooler of ice water hit me from behind, I'd won the comp.


Post icy Gatorade cooler baptism.

Some pilots free flew, some had an hour or more of good soaring while the rest of us washed out gliders and packed up our gear. There was maybe a two to three hour window of soar-ability.


Washing the dust off... Photo by Jamie Sheldon.

People took in the evening socializing around the pool with drinks. It was nice to have a bit of time to get to know some better. We'd had such a busy week, there wasn't much time for socializing.


Packing up...

I motivated for a sunset run aided by a margarita buzz. Sheets of virga to the north turned to fire as the sun hit the horizon for an inspiring scene. No one was around as a couple of screamed salutations to the gods left my mouth.



Running to tie the plane down... Photo by Jamie Sheldon.

The awards dinner came next. The Cloudbase Foundation donated $6500 to two children's charities in the Casa Grande area. Really cool.

I found myself up in front of the crowd with exceptional company. Any one of half a dozen or more pilots could have won the meet. Santa Cruz has always been a great time. It provides a comp. environment unlike any other. We all stay @ the resort in communal fashion, we park our gliders outside in the grass, we tow out of the paddock next door. We have out and return tasks in excellent desert conditions most days. It's a special event not to be missed. HUGE thanks to the organizers and tow crew.


Three, two, one... Mitch, Dustin, me.

I failed to publicly thank Belinda Boulter, my exceptional driver. I'm comforted knowing no matter what situation I get myself into, she intuitively knows right where I am. She provides incredible support. Thanks!

WW has a proven winner in the T2C. The first day of the comp was my first flight on the glider. Out of the box, it's completely race ready. I took out the VG limiter and lowered all sprogs ONE turn from factory settings and could keep up with anyone in the field. The glider flew exceptionally from the first flight with no discernible turns. It's feather light and intuitive to position on 5 hour flights or thermalling in a pack.


Forrest Gump road...

The party carried on, and we packed for home. Got up and departed @ 3:30am the next morning with Alex and his wife Jo. Caught an old moon hanging in the east before a morning through Monument Valley. Pleasurable ride through the desert with great company. Dropped Alex and Jo in Grand Junction and curved through Glenwood Canyon on the home stretch. Was greeted with hugs and kisses from the family, kudos from the neighbors, and an indian summer evening as I unpacked the truck. Passed out @ 8pm. Head still in the clouds this morning.

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