Re: More Bush than Sky

From: Kristi
Activity_Date: 5/26/01
Remote Name: 166.129.40.170

Comments

Pine Mountain – Saturday 26th

After camping at launch and sitting around waiting for the thermals to heat up, Brendan and I decided it was time to launch and hopefully meet Tom Truax and the gang on the 33.

Unfortunately, I was the first to launch in basically light rotar conditions, which Brendan assured me was pretty normal for that site. It was light and variable. Definitely blowing over the back but not too strong yet. However, once I launched there was a lot more turbulence out there, especially at lower levels. As I headed out towards the road, I turned in a good sized thermal then fell out of it, down into more turbulence, spinning like an eddie. I was being tossed around like a piece of lint in a dryer. I considered having to pull my reserve but realized I was too close to the ground to really make a difference.

Fortunately, I was able to manage the wing and fly it towards a safe LZ. I landed the wing on a flat dirt patch on ridgetop. Even though my lines were not tangled in the trees or bushes, I had one heck of a bushwhacking hike out.

Four hours later, I managed to find my way down to a clearing and followed the river out towards the road. This was supposed to be the easy part. I felt like I was home free, I watched the stream drop off over the of the cliff about 10 feet into a pond.

I searched around the area in hopes of finding a safer way out, but didn’t. So, I picked up my harness and tossed it over the edge in hopes that it would land on the patch of dirt. It rolled and it bounced and it rolled again, landing smack dab next to that brown patch continuing to roll into the pond. Damn it!

Rather than jumping right in to rescue it, I decided to try and climb down. One of my handholds gave out and I fell, feet first onto a bolder about five feet below, then dropped into the pond. Here I thought I was out of trouble when I realized I sprained both my ankles and had another ½ mile to hike my soaked glider bag out to the road.

Within about 20 minutes, Eddie was there to pick me up and take me back to Brendan’s car at the Sand Pile. I didn't realize it but Brendan was still searching for me and met me at the car about 45 minutes later.

His effort to rescue me did not go unappreciated believe me. Neither one of us anticipated spending our Saturday afternoon view more bush than sky, but those are the risks one takes while in this sport we call Paragliding.

Kristi