We did start with "stellar" conditions for the first weekend of the comp, with Saturday and Sunday being very good soaring days (July 23-24). Monsoonal moisture crept into the area about 12 hours earlier for the next Monday, which put a lid on the flying, as expected. The drying trend did occur mid week as predicted by the GFS long range forecast for the Richfield region, but was still on the edge. There were a few days where XC flights could have been made with earlier launches, but the timing of official task starts made it impossible to get everyone safely on course before overdevelopment shut down the two parallel valleys. Conditions to the East and North were potentially soarable for solo XC some early afternoons, but unreachable for a competition with 60+ pilots at varied skill levels, plus the time it takes to set a task and start a race.
In the end, we had 2 valid tasks, a lot of sight-seeing of Utah's incredible national parks, plenty of mountain biking, bowling, beer drinking, a few matinee movies, and even a little tennis. Not to mention a performance by Miss Richfield at the awards dinner.
Looking directly above launch, Task 2.Photo by Sarah Galli
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