When the atmosphere is stable, the sky dry, the thermals small and short lived, one must work the terrain, up close and personal; grabbing any little bubble that rises up, exploiting it for all it's worth, without actually hitting that same terrain triggering the bubble. The skill used to soar in these conditions is called scratching and although not my forte, I personally will only attempt this on a hang glider and then, do so conservatively.
With a weak forecast, eerily similar to yesterday, Gerry and I decide to try our luck at the Devil and work on those scratching skills. With shinny new gloves to help me scratch, I launch The Tower and break them in for a few turns at Bald Ridge, happy to simply maintain.
Down to Eagle Peak as my shadow graces the trail. Surprisingly neither of us find a bump to ride here at Eagle.
Lower yet, I crank small sharp bubbles.
I gaze over and become mesmerized by Gerry defying gravity on this light lift day. He says it's "good practice" despite having mastered this scratching thing.
Because I have yet to perfect scratching, I'm first to bring it in at Mitchell Canyon LZ.
A fun and challenging day at Mount Diablo, developing those scratching skills.
1 comment:
Forecasts were kinda mixed, and hard to know what the conditions were really gonna be like. I guess the Blips were more accurate than XC skies today, which is unusual at Diablo.
I really like the last photo, with your shadow over the road.
RM
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