Through the eye of the needle (long)

I have been exploring the potential of the mountains along the Wasatch
Front of Utah for ridge and wave flying for several years. I posted a
note several years ago about some of my early experiences (Ridge
running the Wasatch, R.A.S. Oct 9, 2001). Since that time I have flown
the ridges of the Wasatch Front on a regular basis. They provide a
great way to extend the soaring season to nearly year round now out of
my home field of Logan, Utah. Winter fog can shut us down during the
heart of winter, but as long as the air is clear and you are willing to
brave the cold it is possible to fly any month of the year. The ridges
also provide a route home during the summer soaring season. It is
common to plan cross-country flights so that at the end of the day you
can ridge soar the last 60 miles home even after the thermals have
died.

This summer I got a chance to fly a section of the ridge I had thought
was possible and had been told others had tried it the past. York
Zentner had told me about flying the southern section of the ridge that
runs from Salt Lake City to Weber Canyon on the south edge of Ogden.
The reason this section is more formidable is that it is above the
northern portion of the Salt Lake City metropolis and it is under the
Class B airspace of Salt Lake City International airport.
On July 25th, 2005, Lou McDonald (LM) and I were flying out of Logan,
Utah (LGU). It was our third day of a three-day weekend we had been
flying. We loaded 20 gallons of water in each of our Venti and were
ready to go. The weather forecast called for westerly winds about
12-15 knots at 9000 feet, perfect to allow us to utilize the ridges as
part of our flight. Lou launched first and climbed out quickly. I had
trouble finding a wing runner and had to wait a few minutes. By the
time I started to launch a thunder cell was rolling through the valley
just across the north side of the airport. I was glad to get in the
air and hoped to climb out in case it was going to shut the area down.
As I was making my initial climb, LM called that the northern ridge on
the Bear River Range on the east side of Logan was working. The only
problem was he was on the other side of a black wall of rain and
lightning from my position. The thunder cell was clearing from the
west and ended a few miles west of the Logan airport. I pushed west to
try and skirt around the end to meet up with Lou. As I passed the
western shelf of the cell I contacted excellent lift and started
climbing. As I approached cloud base at about 12,000 feet, my vario
was pegged and the averager showed 15 knots for a few seconds.

LM had come back from the north to meet me and we agreed to rendezvous
west of the airport. I had called the task the day before out into the
west desert section north of the Great Salt Lake so today was Lou's
call. He said let's run the ridge south towards Salt Lake City. LM
had about 1000 feet on me as we pushed towards the Wellsville mountain
range that forms the northern end of the Wasatch Front. We were
finding a mix of ridge and thermals, but if the ridge is working it is
usually not worth climbing off the rocks. We both took a 7-knot
thermal at the Wellsville Cone to jump the low section of the ridge
near Brigham City. LM was ahead of me about 5 miles so it always makes
the trailing pilot push a little harder. I pushed the nose down and
dove for the point at Willard's Peak above North Ogden and Farr West.
I contacted the ridge lift and pushed on down the ridge. As we
approached Ogden Peak I caught up with Lou, but was still about 1000
feet lower. We both pushed south towards Weber Canyon and the eye of
the needle.

The eye of the needle is the point on the south side of Weber Canyon
where you most stay within one mile horizontally of the ridge top to
stay out of Hill Air Force Base airspace and must drop below 9,000 feet
to stay under the Salt Lake City class B controlled airspace. The only
problem is the ridge is up to about 9,300 feet in this region.
Needless to say my WinPilot was lighting up with airspace warnings and
I was double and triple checking my altimeter and GPS positions.

As we crossed the canyon and dove down to clear the class B airspace,
Lou had to take a 360 degree turn to get down and dropped in behind me.
He radioed for me to take the lead. Great, it was his idea and I get
to lead into unfamiliar territory for me. It was perfect that we were
flying identical ships with nearly the same wing loading (Ventus B's
in 15M configuration with winglets and 20 gallons of water). I would
have liked to have more water at this point, but was very glad we had
the 20 gallons we did. At this point you are caught with many mixed
emotions and trained reactions as a glider pilot. Normally we conserve
altitude, but the 8,999 feet limit forces you to fly lower than you
want. At the same time everything under your right wing is houses,
freeways and shopping malls. With the mix of ridge and thermals you
had to push down hard and leave enough safety margin that if you pound
through a 10 knotter it won't push you up through the bottom of the
class B.

I strapped down hard let the Ventus accelerate down the ridge trying to
stay between about 8,600 and 8,999 feet. This section of the ridge
under the class B is only about 18 miles long, but for me it was a mix
of excitement and fear of the unknown. With a slight quartering
tailwind our ground speeds were up to 130 miles per hour on the
southerly run. I tucked in tight to the ridge and watched my altitude
closely to ensure the ridge was working and I was staying in as
comfortable altitude range as I could. LM was right on my six as we
ran south passing many hikers and groups of people in cars at several
of the overlooks along the ridge line. I was surprised that roads ran
all the way to the top of the ridge. I can imagine what our pair of
gliders looked like passing them at warp speed at their height or
below.

In just a few minutes we cleared the southern end of the Class B and
reached the end of the ridge at the same time. We could pull up
slightly and relax for a second. I looked down at the State Capital
Building in Salt Lake City and the University of Utah Campus. It was
hard to believe I was flying a glider this close to a major city. Our
bailout airport was Bountiful Sky Park to our west about 10 miles.
About two 360's and Lou radioed he was taking the lead back north. I
fell in behind and got to take advantage of watching where he found
lift and sink. The northerly run was slightly slower with a little
head wind this time. We got a little lower at a few points, but never
below about 8,400 feet, still 4,000 agl.

As we came out of the north end at Weber Canyon we turned east and flew
thermals past Morgan, UT to Evanston, WY and then on to Cokeville, WY,
before coming home on the northern section of ridge on the Bear River
Range.

We have now explored the ridge from Salt Lake City to just south of
Pocatello, ID. It should be possible to fly a 500K using only ridge
lift along this route. There is also the potential for some speed 100K
and 300K flights along the Wasatch Ridges. On March 12, 2005 we had a
day with 25-knot winds from 270 degrees at ridge top heights. The
ridge under those conditions can produce amazing speeds. I am looking
forward to the ridge season as the west winds start to pick up this
fall.

My flight trace can be found on the OLC for those that would like to
see our flight. Ridge running in the western USA is different from the
east in that we tend to fly higher above the valleys, mostly 3,000 to
5,000 feet above the valley floors and that the ridges are more rugged.

Thanks York and Lou for expanding my knowledge of the ridges in
Northern Utah.

Tim

TTaylor07 at cc.usu.edu wrote:
I strapped down hard let the Ventus accelerate down the ridge trying to
stay between about 8,600 and 8,999 feet. This section of the ridge
under the class B is only about 18 miles long, but for me it was a mix
of excitement and fear of the unknown. With a slight quartering
tailwind our ground speeds were up to 130 miles per hour on the
southerly run. I tucked in tight to the ridge and watched my altitude
closely to ensure the ridge was working and I was staying in as
comfortable altitude range as I could. LM was right on my six as we
ran south passing many hikers and groups of people in cars at several
of the overlooks along the ridge line. I was surprised that roads ran
all the way to the top of the ridge. I can imagine what our pair of
gliders looked like passing them at warp speed at their height or
below.

FWIW, there has been success in the past convincing the FAA to carve out
sections of the San Francisco Class B to accommodate ridge and wave
soaring near various ridges. It's not like they are actually going to
be able to use the airspace in the vicinity of this ridge. Perhaps it
would be worth getting a group together to talk to the FAA about this...

Marc

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your posting. This would have made a great
article for Soaring.