Ken,
Good questions!

For the 4 years before 2020, I was involved with Perlan trips to Argentina during July and August so I cannot definitively say that 2020 was better.

In 2019, MSC was 3rd in the OLC World League without any organized effort to score well so 2019 would have to be rated a good year for soaring weather..

Minden is fortunate to be located on the western edge of the Great Basin with relatively easy access to the Mono Lake Convergence, the White/Inyo Mountains, and Central Nevada. We have gotten spoiled and tend to cherry pick the best days which has gotten easier due to Skysight and other great forecasting tools.

The weather tends to go in 5-to-7 day cycles from good to excellent back to good. During the last 10 rounds in 2020 the weekends mostly coincided with the excellent portion of the cycle. Thus, during the last 10 weekends, MSC scored 1st in 8 rounds and 2nd in 2 rounds including 1st in the last 6 rounds.

Some years smoke is a factor…this year we had smoke only on the last weekend…people complained but the visibility for most of the day was probably over 20 km and was about 8 km (5 sm) when we returned to Minden.

Probably the big difference is that when travel restrictions forced the cancellation of the 2020 Perlan campaign, I took it upon myself to spam MSC. Beginning with Round One, I sent weekly messages with explanations of rules, tips, weather information, pep talks, and results. It turns out that the club has some pretty competitive pilots who responded with a passion.

We are really thankful that OLC has Leagues…for instance, on August 1st, a totally blue day except for a single cu near Mono Lake, 4 of us made flights over 156 kph (97 miles per hour) on a day we otherwise might have gone fishing…

Soar Safe,
Jim Payne