3 Hour Wave

"Three hours in the sky, and only 30 minutes to tell the tale."  

When I arrived at the airport, Banyan and Brian were already busy preparing the 2-32. The wind was whipping from the NW—exactly the kind of conditions I’d hoped for when I signed up for the L-33, eager to chase some waves. Once the gliders were ready, we gathered to discuss our flight plans and the day’s predicted conditions.

I decided to take a tow to 4,000 ft MSL over the Dog Bowl to scout it out and find some lift. Sadly, that whole area seemed to only attract the sink, forcing me to wander back towards Hood River. Eventually, I found my way to the Notch, which offered a consistent +1 to +2 knot lift, better than anything I had found yet. However, after zigzagging quite a few times, I couldn’t get beyond 3,000 ft.

As I lingered over the ridge, I strayed a little too far west and unexpectedly stumbled into some major lift, +5 to +10 knots! Within moments, I was soaring at 7,000 ft MSL, rewarded with a breathtaking view of six majestic mountains.

Over the new year, I set a few aviation goals for myself, one of which was to explore flying on the north side of the river for 30+ minutes. I haven’t spent much time on that side and wasn’t very familiar with it.

At 7,000 ft near the river, that goal felt achievable, and with some lift to spare, I decided to jump the Columbia River to see what I could find on the Washington side. Although I was expecting some major sink during the jump, it wasn't too bad, with the worst of it being about -3 knots.

Once on the Washington side, the lift continued up the valley. Whether the lift was wave or ridge, it kept me within the six-thousands. I flew north until about a mile past Spring Creek, there I encountered some major sink. It was bound to happen, as they say, all good things do eventually come to an end. Deciding that was far enough north, I turned back to enjoy the lift I had encountered on the way up the White Salmon Valley. That lift took me to my highest point of the flight: 7,405 ft MSL!

After spending a little over 30 minutes on the other side of the river, I was ready to head back to Oregon. I decided to head south to see if I could reach baldie. Setting my speed to 70 and lowering my nose, I ate up my altitude inorder to gain distance and speed. Unfortunately, the whole time, I encountered a significant amount of sink, losing 3,000 ft in 10 minutes, leaving me at 3,800 ft MSL near Neal Creek. Time to turn back.

Looking back toward the ridge in hopes of finding more lift near the Notch, I noticed the sun starting to set and my fingers beginning to get cold. Brian, who was now flying with Fritz, was thinking the same thing and we both started heading toward the airport at that time. With the high NW winds (a Hood River special), we exercised our crabbing and slipping in the pattern keeping us on our toes, literally. Once I landed, Banyan was waiting with the golf cart to tow me off, welcoming me to earth, before driving away to grab brian and Fritz in the 2-32 when they landed.

The overall highlight of the flight was definitely finding that little pocket of lift west of the Notch, which unexpectedly boosted me up thousands of feet. It added so much more time and excitement to the flight. Days like this remind me just how much joy gliding brings and how lucky I am to be part of this amazing community. (Go Hood River Soaring!)

A big thanks to Brian for all his advice, Banyan for the radio commentary and retrieval, Karl for working on the ground, and John for the amazing tow!

Looking forward to the next flight!

-Isabel Ulland