Website of the Year

I just found out that our humble website has been selected to receive the 2006 USHPA Website of the Year Award, given annually by the Association to recognize outstanding contributions towards our sports.

Thanks to all of you for making the site what it is - all of your contributions, your articles, photos, comments, and chatter, have turned our little blog experiment into a very dynamic and engaging site. I know there are some top notch club websites out there, so I think we should be flattered that our little corner of the internet was noticed by the powers that be.

If anyone thinks they might be in Colorado Springs in March, let me know -- you can attend the awards dinner and accept the award on our behalf. I am unlikely to make it out there, but who knows, maybe I can stop over on my next trip to DC.

Thermal Adventures

This a personal account of the events of November 25th, 2006. I tend to ramble.

I have been waiting and hoping to have a full thermal flight for a while now. It has been a year and 2 weeks since my first solo flight and I have had nothing but the finest ridge soaring as only Hawaii can provide. I know I cannot survive on that alone.

As all of you know, our house thermal site is very condition dependent. I have made the hike at least 2 times where I had to trek back down. I have had one sketchy sink out on my second flight ever off the rocks, between the trees, nothing but dirt.

After being unable to go to Nanakuli on Friday with Ray, Doug and McStalker, I was hoping for a chance it would be working on Saturday. Waking up in the morning @ 8:30 the sky was clear and completely empty with no sign of the usual trades.

Alex called and was temporarily undecided about an easy flight @ Makapuu w/lots of friends or "Do you want to go get an ass kicking"? Of course I chose the latter and with that we were off. I arrived at the trail head around 10:30. Shortly after my arrival a new local pilot from Maui, Rob, shows up to check me and Alex out on our adventure.

As we hiked up in the pounding sun, I was asking Alex any questions I could think of about thermal flying. Where to look for the lift, how much distance to keep from the mountain, how to avoid becoming part of the landscape...

We make it to lower launch with some 0-5mph cycles coming from the dump side. So we huff it up to middle launch where it is coming in some good cycles to about 8-10mph but pretty cross compared to the launch layout. Wind was also coming off of the Nanakuli Valley side.

Rob brought his video camera and started filming the sites and our activities. Alex sets up and after a few aborted attempts to kite in the pretty cross wind, we finally get all the snags out and he is off across the mountain face and quickly rising way up and out. He makes it look so simple as he goes up and is off to the top of Haleakala.

I'm thinking, "Yea... I can do this. It looks simple enough.."

I set up my gear and I am explaining to Rob how the cross conditions are not recommended and can sometimes cause problems in the initial pull up of the glider. But not to worry as I have had great launches in much more adverse conditions and this would be cake. I get the tangles out, turn on the vario and gps that Reaper so generously loaned me (and wants back), pulled the glider up and promptly got drug through the rocks sideways, scraping my butt and bouncing off the launch with a bad swing. It was exactly like my launch 1 year ago for my 2nd flight ever @ Nanakuli while Doug watched in terror, with Discovery Channel filming a special on thermal flying. Both horrible launches caught on film but at least this one won't be aired on national television. I'll make sure I get it posted on You Tube or something instead for your viewing amusement.

I'm off across the main face of Haleakala, resorting to my ridge soaring techniques, keeping about launch height for about 15 minutes, trying to get used to the ups and downs of the thermal air rising from the valley.

Little worried, and really hoping not to sink out. That hike really sucked.

I eventually stop flying randomly and start hanging around the same spots I seem to be going up, and staring up at Alex trying to figure out what he is doing.

At 30 minutes I'm feeling more confident and am about half way up the mountain and still staring @ Alex above me.

At 45 minutes I'm right below Alex near the peak, still staring at him trying to emulate the red white and blue. Now I am high enough, I see Alex flying lazy circles. "Yea! I can try circles now" I go in and out of thermals trying to imitate the smooth large circles Alex was carving and not looking nearly as round or working so well.

At about an hour I am starting to feel much more comfortable falling in and out of lift and getting rocked all over the place at times. I am above the peak now looking down at Alex, still trying to emulate him and figure out what he's doing because I have no clue. He is looking up @ me going "wait a minute, what just happened and how the hell do I get up there?" as I hit Cloudbase @ 3500 ft for the first time.

Feeling worried again sometimes, as I get my butt rocked around so much worse than I ever have before. I will now fly in Rabbit rotor all day and feel thankful. I am trying to keep in cores but falling in and out. They are invisible and pretty slippery.

I sink back down to peak height again, and Doug radios up that he is on the trail and we are looking kinda low for such a high base, and he suggests I head to the back of the peak for the steady house thermal.

Alex, meanwhile, gets up higher than me and goes for a glide across Nanakuli valley, and I follow once I gain some more altitude, but am still much lower than him. I only make it half way across the valley without so much as a twitch in my wing and decide to return to the ridge before I get too low. Alex makes it deep into the valley, on a superb glide to the back peak of the valley, finding nothing but dead air, and begins to trek back. I get up to the peak again and find that house thermal in spades again, pegging the vario for a few seconds, pitching my wing back violently and making me question what I was doing so high in the sky out of a plane for a few seconds. After I get dumped out and calm down . . . I turn towards where I remember it being.

Alex comes in low from his long traverse and can't hook anything to get him back to launch level so he lands by the cars. Doug calls down to Alex "Don't worry man. They have a name for people like you." "Whats that?" "Driver..."

Doug takes off and thermals up in one smooth climb and goes past me behind the peak and calls out. "If you want to go Scrappy, this is the time."

Thinking for a moment.

"Where are we going?"

We glide towards a peak near the back. I follow Doug up in another climb with him offering tips to 3400, and we go over the back on a glide down and across to the flats. I am on glide but don't see how I am gonna make it past those huge transfer lines in the distance, way in the back of the fields at my current sink rate. Getting lower, I find some slow beeps on the vario and I start some slow flat circles. Doug calls me over to a spot at the edge of a large gray cloud, where I get the smoothest fast climb of the day. I get lots of lift circling up and into the bottom of it. Just as everything starts to go a dark gray, I end my climb and head on my glide out the side of the cloud at around 3800 ft. Doug got out a few minutes before me and I can't pick him out of the background for awhile. I clear those power lines by thousands of feet.

I head towards Kunia Hwy but don't think I'm gonna make it because while my vario has been pretty happy with me all day, only talking to me of lift and kicking me, it now has this low angry tone that isn't changing no matter where I go.

I see a nice wide white line that leads to the road through the middle of the pineapple fields that makes for a nice landing. Doug makes a left off in the distance and I make a nice landing in the nice clean gravel road, and in the euphoria of the moment forget my glider and put it down on the other side of a 4 foot deep trench in the dirt. :P

Doug turned left and went downwind while I flew upwind. He landed next to the road. I have a long hike out of the fields. No big deal. Alex picks me up at the road with Doug and a beer.

Boo to red dirt all over your wing. Hooray for beer.

Doug convinces a skeptical Alex to go up for one more try off of lower launch or at least a sled ride. I am completely exhausted after about 3 hours + of flying, not to mention the hikes, and have my doubts.

Alex gives in, I resist and opt to drive.

I go to the dump side with my truck to watch. They get to lower launch and Alex sets up. It's completely dead. Alex forward launches and his wing tangles. He is promptly dropped off a small cliff as I choke on my beer. I radio and he's ok and gathers his wing up and starts to climb.

Doug sets up. Goes for the forward launch. Looks good as he goes off and then immediately drops off the same cliff. His wing finally starts flying and catches him right before he lands really hard. He skims the cliffs and lands by my truck in the dead air.

Alex sets up again. Goes for the forward . . . and falls straight off an even bigger drop than last time, as Doug and I watch. He radios he's ok despite how bad it looked. His wing put him down pretty gently which was not so obvious to us. We ask him to please not try a third time as we can't watch a third attempt.

He sets up a third time on the other ridge side, as the wind was stronger over there now. He coasts nice and slowly down to the cars as we turn into the valley. He would have had another beer waiting, but I had consumed the remainder by then.

We all part ways with plans to do it again next time. And so we will.

I got everything I could have hoped for and more out of my first thermal experience and hope it doesn't ruin my expectations of my next one. Big air, cloud base 4 times, XC, no collapses. Freakin sweet. I learned so much on this flight about all aspects of my flying that I can't even describe. I look forward to learning more and going farther.

Sweet.

Looking back here is my first flight log...

The stories kinda sound the same... My first flight journal.

The Name Game

Today turned out to be a great day over at MPU, with the early risers Jetflap and Frank launching from Cactus in light NW winds. They were able to get out by the lighthouse and barely maintain 800 AGL or so. Next the plethora of other fliers today – I apologize if I miss anyone.

Mad Dog, Fire Dave and Don all made it look easy getting out of Manics, with Fire Dave once again proving his prowess by top landing by the old Lazy Man’s and launching from there too.

The Cactus crowd - Ken Berry wins the prize for hiking up a second time for two launches and two flights, although the first was your basic sled ride. Then there were Russell, Hill Billy, Alan, Reaper, visitors Carl from AK, JK from Seattle, and Juan (I think from Columbia?)

The wind eventually turned a little more north and everyone headed down around the corner. Mad Dog tried to lure us back to the Green Wall with nice lift working along the whole NW face around the corner – but there weren’t any takers. Guess it helps to have a working radio to encourage others after all.

As I left the scene Scott had just launched and Reaper and Fire Dave both had Tandems to go. On a final note Reaper is now Road Kill 2 (the sequel). You’ll have to ask someone who saw the whole thing. I can just say it involved his wing on the ground across the whole road and several people on the ground running out to help him gather things up quickly.

Blast From the Past

Since changing over to the new and improved Windlines site, a few people have asked how to get their pictures back from the old site. Short of providing you a link to the old site, where you'd have to Right-Click/Save a couple hundred photos, there really wasn't an easy way to do it. So, I finally sat down last night and wrote a little program to do it for us. I've extracted all the photo albums and produced individual Zip files of them. The original album names have been preserved as sub-folders within the Zip file.

Once you've downloaded your own Zip file, you can add the photos to your Flickr (or similar) account to continue sharing them online. I hope you do, because there were some great shots in there.

Click "Read More" to view the download links. Enjoy!

-Jeff

Abe's pics
Alex
Association Events
Bob Johnson
Bob Leverton
Chopper Dave
Claude Phillips
Dave (Fireman)
Don
Doug
Eggz Album
Greg's Pictures
Johan's shots
Jon
Sandy
Marathon
Nalu
Other
Paraguide
Raimar's photos
Russell
Sea to Sky Productions
Stories
Strange fruit
The Reaper (aka Pete)

Cloud Runners

Lots of folks were seen out at Makapuu on Thanksgiving Day: Jetflap, Bob, Ray, Don, One Eye, Ken B, Reaper, Carl from AK, Juan from Medellin, Hilo Ken, Scrappy, Dave, Doug, Peter, Sandy, Greg and me. The morning shift launched from Cactus, flew the ridge, and then left to start their feasts. The afternoon shift showed up later with plans to head downrange, despite the low cloudbase. Doug and Peter skimmed the clouds to Haiku Valley and back, leaving Dave behind at Kaneohe District Park. Me and Scrappy followed but stopped at Green Walls, playing around there in the low cloudbase and waiting for the other guys to return. What a fun day - let's do it again soon. I'm very thankful for all my great friends and for days like this when I can share the sky with you.

Annual Membership Meeting on November 18

Update: the Safety Specialist from Hawaiian Electric will begin his talk at 5 pm - please try to come a few minutes early to show him we appreciate his time. Also, please read the agenda below and feel free to join the discussion.

Our fourth quarterly meeting and party is coming up - please mark your calendars for Saturday, November 18 at 5 pm. This is the annual membership meeting where we pay our $20 annual dues and sign waivers for next year, and we also elect board members for next year.

We'll be meeting at Bob's place again (thanks Bob!), and we've volunteered Peter to round up some meat for us to grill (thanks Peter!). We'll be passing around a hat for funds to cover this.

Speaking of passing the hat, a couple of our upstanding members (the two Petes) were kind enough to advance us the costs of renting the space and buying the BBQ meat for the memorial gathering this past Sunday - please bring some extra cash for a good cause and we'll all pitch in to make sure they get paid back. Thanks to both Petes for their help!

---

Fourth Quarterly Meeting of the Hawaii Paragliding Association
November 18, 2006

Agenda

I. Treasurer's report

A. We have $1,385 in the bank.
B. We will be passing out new waivers to be signed, and collecting annual dues of $20 for 2007.
C. We will be soliciting donations to help us pay back the pilots who covered the rent and the BBQ meat for Johan's memorial.

II. HECO presentation

A. Russell came up with the excellent idea of asking the HECO Director of Safety to come out and talk to us about safety issues regarding high tension power transmission systems. More specifically, we are curious about minimum safe distances, and what conditions (voltage, proximity, grounding, weather, etc.) allow an arc to jump from a high tension line to a pilot.

III. New Pilots and Ratings

A. New pilots: Randy, "Hillbilly" Bill, Alan, Bill McDonald, Christine, Rich, Alaska Greg, Jorge Atramiz, Hilo Ken, others?
B. Peter got T3 rating
C. Other new pilots, ratings?

IV. Accident Report

A. Jon will present the results of his investigation into Johan's accident. Jon has collected detailed eyewitness accounts from our pilots, and he has examined Johan's gear. He has also spoken with engineers at HECO, and has requested an autopsy report from the Medical Examiner.

B. We are considering asking Phil to make us a bronze plaque as a memorial for Johan. We would like to solicit your suggestions here online before the meeting:

1. What it should say,
2. Where we should install it.

V. Board proposes revised site guidelines for Makapuu

1. Discuss the inherent hazards of our power line launches
2. Downgrade all power line launches to NOT recommended (Cactus and Tomato Patch are recommended)
3. Improve the Tomato Patch trail and launch

VI. Fun events to be planned

A. Fundraiser flying event to benefit the communities we fly over (Waimanalo, Koolauloa, Leeward)
B. Big Island Trip

VII. Elections - nominate and select 5 board members for 2007 by popular vote.

Zen and the Art of Paraglider Maintenance

On the bookshelf of every philosophy professor, psychology student, wanna-be-hippie, pseudo-intellectual, and punk rocker in western civilization is a pinkish-purple paperback. The thing is nearly four inches thick, with very small type, and weighs more than a paperback has the right. If you inspect this weighty tome, you will find that, in better than ninety-percent of cases, the binding shows evidence that its owner has never finished it; most likely, only about a third of the book has ever been read. Go look at your own library. If you were a young person in the 1960’s or 70’s or if you’ve ever been interested in the “Big Questions” about life, the mind, and the nature of the Universe, chances are you’ve bought this book; odds are, you’ve never finished it either. You’re in good company.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, by Robert M. Pirsig has sold millions of copies. This 1974 book is not about “Zen” or “Art” or even “Motorcycle Maintenance.” Instead, it describes a journey across the United States, punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions, among them: epistemology (philosophy of the mind); the philosophy of science; “Life, the Universe, and Everything.” It has become one of those books that everyone seems to own, but has never managed to read cover-to-cover; like Atlas Shrugged or the Holy Bible.

My old professor and mentor, a Zen Buddhist and Epistemologist, recommended it to me when I was a sophomore in college. It wasn’t until my second year of graduate studies, after many stops and starts, that I actually finished it.

If you’ve never read it . . . well . . . after a long treatise, it leaves the reader dissatisfied, by offering no new insights into “Life the Universe and Everything.” It simply reminds you of some things that we all know.

I’m not going to drone on about Pirsig’s philosophical inquiries, this is not a book report; this is a dialogue between pilots . . . and it is not about “Zen” or “Art” or “Paraglider Maintenance.”

Ya see . . . I was standing in the middle of a rock slide, on a nearly vertical cliff face, staring up at my beloved Ozone Vulcan as it flopped about precariously in fifteen miles-per-hour winds at the base of a telephone pole, five feet from a busy state highway – several break-lines snagged on sharp lava rocks and thorny plants. That's when I finally accepted the fact that I had several lines that needed to be changed. I should have changed some of them months before, but I always seemed to put-it-off. I tend to put-off a lot of stuff. I decided that I might as well change all of the lines. After all, many of the lines had long been stretched by acro and snags. Plus, it would be cheaper than buying a new glider.

It wasn’t that I had crash landed in this paraglider pilot’s nightmare. I hadn’t gotten blown off course and landed in an “alternate LZ;” just to save my neck. This is one of our most popular launches.

Yes, that’s right . . . I said this is a “launch.” We call it “Crazy Man” . . . “Crazy’s” for short. It’s one of several of our launches that have “power lines” or “major highway within fifteen feet” or “only works in winds of 12-18 miles per hour” as components of the “degree of difficulty.”

But, this is not a critique of launch site safety . . . it is a dialogue between pilots.

There are 280 individual lines connecting the fabric to the risers of the Medium Vulcan. It took a long time for the manufacturer to fabricate them and our Ozone representative to get them through customs. So, I continued to fly the glider. One day, as my vario was screaming something about going up at a very high rate, my right break felt mushy. I looked-up at a deformed trailing edge and realized that one of my break-lines had snapped as I was launching (getting dragged about on launch) in high winds and there was a small hole in the lower skin of the glider; both victims of the lava.

I’ve changed a few lines over the years, but I’d never stripped and redressed an entire glider before. So, naturally, I discussed the task with a couple of instructors and some of my flying buddies. They all had plenty of advice. The most common tidbits were: “Save the old lines, ‘just in case’,” and “make sure you have ‘ample time’ to complete the task.” Also, it was important to have a quiet, wide-open, and windless environment in which to work. I chose the parking garage under my office building on a hot, humid, windless Sunday afternoon. Feel free to question the wisdom of that decision.

I could have just cut the lines from the glider. Doing so would have saved a great deal of time; and to be honest, the old lines were in pretty bad shape. However, as instructed, I was intent upon saving and labeling all of them, “just in case.” Besides, I had all day. So, I began untying the lines, one riser at a time. This is a very time consuming and difficult task; it causes you to bloody nail beds and abrade fingertips.

You learn a lot about your flying habits when you are this intimate with the components of your glider. For example, it is apparent that I muscle the heck out of the right break in high g-force maneuvers; as evidenced by the unbelievable tightness of the lines closest to the left wing tip as compared to the right. I have been meaning to “go left” more often. I guess I’ve just gotten comfortable “going right” since I injured my left arm a few years back. Also, I don’t seem to take very good care of my toys, because I discovered two new pin holes that I would have to patch when I finally got around to patching that little rip that occurred when that break-line broke. I’d been meaning to get to that. I’d just kind of put-it-off. I tend to put-off a lot of stuff.

I was looking forward to kiting my glider once the lines were tied and the trade winds returned to the islands.

Most people who know me would think that someone other than I must have written that last sentence. Up until very recently, you would never see me ground handling. My flying buddies have challenged me about this deficiency on several occasions in the past. I knew, darned well, I needed the practice and I’d been meaning to put in the work. But . . . well . . . Have I mentioned that I tend to put-off a lot of stuff?

Ya see . . . I recently went through a T-3 clinic so that I could have the USHPA authority to take friends and family tandem. There were a bunch of us in the clinic; some of us were seeking the credential, others just wanted the information. I wanted to be a Tandem Instructor. I have wanted it for a long time. I really wanted it.

It was a great course and I learned a lot . . . but . . . well . . . long story short: I did not receive the rating. I had some additional work to do – mostly ground handling.

This was very difficult for me. I was angry and humiliated. I am not accustomed to failure.

Of course, humiliation and determination finally made me get off of my lazy rear-end and kite. For months, while everyone else was flying, I was kiting. When one of my best flying buddies, who was just getting back into paragliding after a bad accident and had been going through some tough times, would ask me to hike-up to launch with him, I’d suggest that we do some kiting instead. When newer pilots arrived at the LZ and saw me kiting, again, they would ask me, “Don’t you ever fly?”

Replacing line after line is a long, fairly monotonous task. The thing about a long, fairly monotonous tasks is, your mind tends to wonder: a form of mediation. Of course, I thought about a plethora of topics related to flying. For instance, I began to consider how high paraglider pilots in general, and our club pilots in particular, have raised the bar of acceptable risk. A few years ago, most of us would NEVER consider launching under a power line. Now, I can name at least four launches on Oahu, two on the US Mainland, and one in Chile that are nestled snuggly beneath “the juice.” Not long ago, an “S.A.T.” was a test you took to get into college and a “Helicopter” would “chop-your-ass.” Now, P-2’s are pulling S.A.T.’s and P-3’s are transitioning from Helicopters to Ass-Choppers. The risk reward ratio has started to spiral (pun intended.)

Inevitably, my mind wandered towards other more philosophical issues, such as: the nature of God; whether or not the brain can understand the mind; how many angels can dance on the head of a pin; and the apparent paradox of the lack of orbital decay of an electron around a proton. But, as usual, I had no good answers . . . so . . . I won’t bore you with the details.

I decided to make it a point to call one of my best flying buddies, who was just getting back into paragliding after a bad accident and had been going through some tough times. I had been meaning to invite him and grab a beer and some ridge lift (Not in that order!) . . . and . . . you know . . . just be there if he needed an ear. That’s what friends do. But, I’ve been busy . . . and . . . well . . . I tend to put-things-off.

It took thirteen hours – thirteen long, hot, thirsty, painful, bleeding, sweaty, hours – to change my lines, patch my holes, and stuff hundreds of old, dirty, useless (yet, labeled, “just in case”) lines in a plastic bag.

After more than two weeks of bad weather, there was finally a “marginal” flying day. A bunch of airsick pilots were out para-driving, para-hiking, and para-waiting. After weeks of being land-bound, these addicts needed a fix. I was coming-out to join them after the football game.

Then, my phone rang.

One of my best flying buddies, who was just getting back into paragliding after a bad accident and had been going through some tough times, had been in an accident: A bad accident.

He had executed a perfect launch in good conditions, but about forty feet from launch, he began to pendulum. He collided with a set of power lines. There was a “Big Blue Flash” as the ghost left the machine and he drifted back onto the ridge, plowing through a fence.

The details aren’t important. I’m not the person to detail the accident. Besides, I have trouble seeing the words through the tears.

Ya see . . . I had been planning to fly with him that day . . . I was gonna come-out earlier . . . but I put-it-off.

The following week was spent dog-sitting and helping the family and the girlfriend and the two little dogs clean-up the details of a life cut short.

Last week, I received a letter from our regional director informing me that I had been promoted to Tandem Instructor: The yin to this terrible yang.

So . . . just like Mr. Pirsig, after a long treatise, I will leave the reader dissatisfied, by offering no new insights into “Life the Universe and Everything.” I will simply remind you of some things that we all know . . . you need to kite; you need to take better care if your toys; you need to call your friends and family . . . invite them out for a beer and some ridge lift (Not in that order!) . . . don’t put-it-off.

Mahalo
Peter

(Author's note: I have submitted this article for publication in Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine. C.J. has informed me that it will be published in the Feb. 2007 edition)

Toasting the tradewinds

A fleeting glimpse of moderate tradewinds today saw Frank and Scrappy sucking down some sky over the east end of the island, while Don, McStalker, One Eye, Dick and I sipped a cloudy brew at Kahana. Cloudbase started around 2 grand when we launched around 4 pm but sank as low as 1700 feet by the time we landed two hours later. The wind was light at Kahana and required some good close scratching, as McStalker and One Eye can tell you.

On the hunt

After a week-long spell of dodgy weather, Saturday looked promising to swallow some sky. Blue skies and good winds from somewhere outta the south made DH the first choice for a look see. Jetflap and Dick dropped by at 8:30 and saw SW winds but nothing flyable.

I cruised by Sandy's and the wind was blowing SW at 15-20 - weird. I went over to Crazy's and the LZ to see what was happening - absolutely nuking. The wind was venturing through the Manix pass and creating 25 to 30 mph winds on the beach and the LZ - really weird. We all met at the parking lot for the Makapu'u lighthouse thinking maybe something along the road up to the lighthouse. We found a possible launch but the wind was kicking so we figured maybe DH may have filled in - we ignored Mariners as Jeff really wasn't in the mood for a hike. Back to DH but nothing doing - too SW and not enough. Dejected, we broke up at 11 and decided to do domestic duties.

Around 4pm Alex called with a two hour window to fly before a party. I was game and very bored with domestic details. We met at Mariner's LZ but the wind was cranking there and at launch. Desperate, Alex made the call to Renegade Dave to find out where to fly on a SW day - he already knew the answer - Koko Head. Of all the hikes to fly that is by far the best - all paved road. After 20 plus years of living here I never made that hike. I was surprised with all the foot traffic - hikers, joggers, pets, etc. We even had a truck drive by us on the way to the top - didn't even give us a look - I thought we were busted. It is advisable to keep a low profile though.

At the top we dropped down about 30 yards on the SW windward side to large expanses of lava. Compared to our other launches, this was heaven. You could launch 20 pilots simultaneously off that face. Conditions were perfect - 12-15 mph with a few spikes to 18. Only disconcerting thing was the LZ was not visible but with all the wide open spaces a side-hill landing is very doable. We called fire rescue as these residents aren't use to frequent flying in their backyard.

Alex launched first and went straight up and out - good sign - no scratching. I'd done that before on Tantalus with two other pilots and it gets crowded quickly. I launched and we both cruised in a 150 meter wide lift band - plenty room for two or more. Since we weren't sure of our altitude limit (4k for Crater and 1K for DH) we stayed in the 650-800 arena. That way we stayed outta visual of the Haunama Bay peeps. Once up the LZ is quickly visible.

I wish we got SW winds more often - this is a great flying location. With such a long sloping face there is plenty of room to fly without flying over houses. The sun set as the full moon rose for an awesome sight. If you got high enough you could make the jump over to Koko Crater to soar that face with plenty LZ in that area.

Alex and I both had cameras and got plenty of pix for your vicarious delight. Check out mine here and Alex's here.