SWXCL Roan Cliffs Meet

South West Cross Country League Meet
Roan Cliffs May 31st and June 1st 2008

                                                                      photos by Karl Decker

Roan Cliffs Meet
Glenwood Soaring Society and Adventure Paragliding will be hosting the anual league meet during the weekend of Saturday May 31st and Sunday June 1st 2008 at the Roan Cliffs in Rifle, Colorado!

The Roan cliffs are at the edge of the Flat Tops. Morning launch faces S.E., with approximately 3,000 vertical feet with awesome potential. Launch is a gradual slope going into a simi-cliff launch, but with a lot of room to get you airborne way before any danger point. Launch is huge and it usually gets soarable around 11:00 although it is a good idea to be there a little earlier.

We encourage everyone to join us for a fun, no hassle competition. Entrance fees are $30 plus local club fees and all moneys will go to retrieval, prizes and refreshments.

Free camping is plentiful on top of the Roan Plateau! There are also plenty nice hotels and motels in nearby Rifle. We are negotiating with some of the motels in Rifle to find the best one and will keep everyone posted.

We will plan on meeting at the City Market parking lot at 8:00am on Saturday the 31st. That gives us enough time to get some snacks, have a meeting and show everyone the different landing zones. The City Market is located in down town Rifle on the way North to Craig and Meeker

Hotels close by:

Theses prices are approximate and was given in 2005 so expect discrepancies.

• Red River Inn - Rifle, CO: 970-625-3050 - $35 to $75 per night.
• Rusty Canon Motel - Rifle, CO: 970-625-4004 - $50 to $80 per night.
• Roadway Inn - New Castle, CO: 970-984-2363 - $80 per night and approx. 14 miles east of Rifle.
• Ramada Inn - Glenwood Springs, CO: 800-332-1472 - $80 per night and 24 miles east of Rifle.

For more information and registration details, please call Pine at
970-274-1619 or e-mail him at mail@adventureparagliding.com

For more information on other meets around
the Western US, check out the Intermountain League website.

SWXCL Rone Cliffs Meet

First hand account by Karl Decker.

   The Glenwood Soaring Society and Adventure Paragliding, Pine Pienaar’s Paragliding school, hosted a league meet during the weekend of June 23-25 2006 at the Rone Cliffs in Rifle, Colorado! The Rone cliffs are at the edge of the Flat Top mountains on the western slope of the Rockies. This morning launch site faces southeast and is approximately 3,000 vertical feet AGL over the LZ, a  three mile glide away. Launch is a gradual slope going into a simi-cliff launch, but there is plenty of room to get airborne well before the cliff edge. The launch is huge and, it usually gets soarable around 11:30 A.M. although it is a good idea to be there a little earlier!

   As the sun rises each morning it bathes the cliffs below launch with strong, direct, desert sunlight and, in the absence of any strong prevailing wind, this solar heating will create a diurnal/anabatic breeze drifting right up the cliffs and over the launch creating perfect conditions. It was a great place to introduce newer pilots to a huge and very exciting location. As a more seasoned competition pilot, I was thrilled about this MASSIVE layout with INCREDIBLE XC potential. The weekend was also blessed with some of the most BOOMING conditions I’ve ever flown!

   Due to real life obligations I was not able to arrive Friday morning for the first launch of the meet but, when I arrive at a set of athletic fields near the town of Rifle, the goal for the duration of the competition, I saw several gliders near the stratosphere racing to the finish of a 40 Km task. Greg Kelly arrived first with Pine Pienaar close behind, minutes later, Karel Mladec, Tom Spiers and Tomas Pecink arrived being the last of the four pilots to make goal that day. The tasks were kept relatively simple with only a few way points to help encourage the newer pilots join in the race. No GPS’s were used all was scored on the honor system.

    As is common with most lee side sites, when the sun rose directly over head, around noon, the wind gradually switch around and began blowing over the back of launch stranding some of the pilots, especially the first day. I’ll bet they NEVER make that mistake again! High pressure conditions also made the initial climb outs from launch tough, especially for the newer pilots. It was clear that evening who escaped the LZ just by the look on their ecstatic faces!  Tomas reported reaching 17,200 ft. MSL and 1,500+ ft/min climb rates. Boy, did I wish I could have been there to fly that first DAY!!!

   Day 2 dawned similar to day one with the same high pressure ridge in place and comparable conditions. The main difference was that EVERYONE got ready to launch right after the pilots meeting to make sure they had a good long launch window. Pine, Greg and I called a task taking the gaggle north along a valley created between the Roan Cliffs and the Grand Hogback. I hit a BOOMER right off launch and was 3,000 ft over in minutes (see picture). The start window was open so we (Tomas, Greg, Pine and a visiting French pilot) hit some speed bar and headed for the first way point about 10 miles away up valley.

    We called that task thinking we could simply soar the cliff edge and, if we got low, the mid day up valley winds would help us along, especially the newer pilots. We were badly mistaken. A strong north prevailing wind (a rough down valley wind) kicked in after a few miles and headway was next to impossible even for the fastest of the gliders. Pine and I radioed the rest of the pack that was rapidly gaining on our now parked gliders and, we reported the situation encouraging the pack to abandon the task and simply go down wind to enjoy the great conditions of the day. Many pilots ignored the report, flew for the way point, and every one of them sunk out short of the first way point. The rest of the remaining pilots aloft ended up having wonderful flights down wind along the I-70 corridor/Valley. A few pilots went well over 20 miles and most reached altitudes around 15,000ft. MSL! I was sad to have had such a short soaring day but, I felt good about helping the others make the most of it and, what COMES AROUND GOES AROUND!

Day 3 appeared to again resemble the last two days so, we called a task that complimented to conditions we had already seen. The task sent us southeast along the massive cliffs to an INCREDIBLY scenic pinnacle sticking out of the main plateau called Anvil Point.  Then the course returned to launch and back once again to the point. From the point we flew away from the plateau to Rifle Gap reservoir, way point 4, and last on to goal at the same green grassy athletic fields near town covering over 30Km.

     As pilots started launching it became obvious that the high pressure was really making things tough and half of the pack landed in short order but, we had to launch ASAP fearing the prevailing winds would come over the back and close launch altogether. The lucky and the skillful managed to climb out and conditions got better and better with every foot of gained altitude. I was with two other pilots when we arrived at the point and the photographer in me instantly overwhelmed the competition pilot. I glided all over the place to shoot different perspectives of my fellow pilots in one of the most picturesque scenes I’ve ever seen. It was well worth it, see the pictures!!!!

   As I finally turned toward the launch, the second waypoint, I heard a radio transmition that one of the pilots, Ross Robinson, had already tagged the anvil way point for the second time and was really moving fast along the course. The competitor in me remerged and, I raced after him! While gliding along the course I realized I was not going to thermal ANY MORE. The lift was booming and the clouds were forming a perfect street to the next way point, Rifle Gap, a huge gap in the Grand hog back that is dammed up to create the Rifle Gap Reservoir!

  I must admit by the time I arrived at the gap I was pretty beat up, I had been at over 16,000 ft. MSL for the last hour. I could not longer feel my fingers at all and, I think the altitude was taking its toll on me  as well.  I just wanted to drop the breaks and stuff as much of myself into my pod as possible. It was a total pipe dream, I was hitting some BIG turbulence, the kind that comes from 2,000 ft/min. thermals and I hanged on for dear life as I began to actively avoid the clouds and use speed bar whenever it seem possible to do so without getting utterly pounded.

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