SC Nats Day 6 quick report

Another 'Heaven and Hell' day at Parowan. First turn way to the
north, second way to the west in the desert, last turn way south with
its northern edge about 15 miles south of the field.

By start time, some cu's were visible to the north in the first turn
area, and some were visible Waaaaaaaayyyyy to the northwest - maybe in
the western turn area, maybe not. Just before I started, I saw a
blue thermal outlined in white by about 20 gliders, all the way from
about 11,000 to 17,000 - really cool! Many pilots were able to
connect with a line of clouds down the middle of the Panguitch valley
(the next major valley east from Parowan), and had a delightful run to
the back of the first cylinder - that was the 'Heaven' part. Then it
was out into the desert with no clouds to guide the way, not many
airports, and much lower/weaker conditions - the 'Hell' part. The
second and third legs separated the men from the boys, and I'm not
ashamed to say I fell into the 'boys' category today. I just nicked
the second circle and then scurried back to the relative safety of the
Parowan ridge system and used it to make my way south to the 3rd
circle, then home. The 'men' went straight through the desert areas
from the second to the third circles, and the ones that made it did
well. The remains of the ones that didn't will be found sometime in
the next year or so ;-).

Three more days to go, and I'm still looking for a 'full' Parowan day,
like we had on Day 1 - no more of this half-and-half stuff, please!

Frank (TA)