Woodstock, finally

This whole living in Charlotte thing has really been getting in the way of my flying but finally, after 7 weeks bound to the earth, I made my escape. Thursday actually looked pretty good and my H1 & 2 instructor posted that he was taking a couple of fresh new mounatin pilots out for their first ones. One of them I trained with and the other I'd met from going out to the training hill recently. I wanted to be there to share their experience and get it on tape for them, so I played hooky and made the 5 hour trek north. The forecast was a little cross but the strength was good and there was to be plenty of sun and thermal activity. But if you know Woodstock, you've probably heard of the Woodstock Effect. Because of the surrounding topography, the wind on top of the mountain is often much lighter than in the valley. And Thursday was no exception with maybe 2-5 mph coming in on launch and all of the cummies were drying up too for some reason. It was good for the new pilots because they didn't have to wait around for the evening but it meant sleds for the rest of us also. Having been 7 weeks since my last flight, I wasn't too upset with the benign conditions. We took our sleds like men and then one of the first timers and I did a second one. Both of the new pilots did very well, congrats guys! It was good to knock the dust off and get ready for Saturday, which had a nicer forecast. It would have been really nice to just grab a hotel room and relax on Friday, save all that driving, but I had to work so I hit the road. Here's video of their first launches: http://www.vimeo.com/4125128