A word from the prez...

The smallest mountaineer fly in ever. It just wasn't the same without the usual crowd and group site E. The fly in consisted of Mark, Sheila, Fred, Chuck Pyle and myself. Chuck and Sheila got to fly North Mtn. on Friday, a shortage of launch crew kept the others grounded. Saturday's forecast of west 10-15 found us at North Mtn. again, the wind went from light and variable to over the back. Go figure. Chuck, Sheila and I did sled rides from Spruce Knob.

We stayed at Yocum's Princess Snowbird campground. Certainly not as nice as Seneca Shadows, lots of noisy parties and traffic nearby. A climber/EMT hung out at our fire and told us a sobering story about a climber last week who had taken a fall and was seriously injured. He was refused a life flight 3 times and died of his injuries. I guess those that take voluntary risks don't rate well.

Sunday had us at Spruce again, condtions were looking promising. Fred went first and made it safely to the LZ, I followed and gave it my best but succumbed to the strong sink surrounding strong thermals. Mark specked out, getting to 5600 over. Chuck and Sheila soared for a while and landed, Fred and I went back for seconds. I found a thermal and took it to 4900 over and headed for the rocks to join Mark, we landed at the visitors center. I had wanted to make that flight for a while.

And for flatland fans, Highland Aerosports began towing operations in Ridgely MD over the weekend, their first three days of operation saw many XC flights and thermal soaring to 8000 ft. Should be quite a draw for the DC area as they plan to tow almost every day. I suspect that soon someone will cross the bay in a hang glider.

The cumberland sites need routine maintenance so we are planning to have a work party June 12th or 13th. Give JR a call to find out which day.

Mike