Flying in the Southern Alps
Don Howard.

Don was a member at NVGC until he retired from full time work in 2003 when he moved to live in the South Island New Zealand. Don lives South of Christchurch at Raikia and flies a two seater light aircraft from his home strip and 17m Vega SV1 which he shared with Tony Walker at NVGC.  His gliding base is Omarama and he is in regular contact with Tony.  The following is a write up from him of one of his reports circulated round his family and friends.  We publish it here with his permission.

Have been flying a lot, between 3 and 4 hours/day, when I go up which is about twice a week now. This weekend was three days in a row. Tried for Diamond Goal, (300km around three points – a triangle) but got off to a bad start, got scared and gave up. I did attain Diamond height (20,802 ft).  First I requested Christchurch control to enter controlled airspace above 13,500 ft. (Mt Whitney is 14,000ft.)They gave me a transponder code. (Just like a jet, I have to have a radar transponder so they can see me when I go into controlled airspace and mingle with the big fellas.) As I climbed higher I asked Christchurch control for clearance to 21,000ft. First they refused because a 737 jet was coming my way, but I begged and told them that I was trying for an award. They said to “hold at 17,500 or below” for 10 minutes while the jet cleared. Can you imagine holding in a glider at “17,500ft. or below”? Anyway, by the time they cleared me to go higher the atmospheric conditions had changed and I could not relocate the jet stream lift. Eventually I did find it and started to climb again.  Just as I decided I was too damn cold and miserable to be that high, Christchurch control called and said that another jet was coming through and to “descend to Flight Level 175 (17,500ft.) or below” as another jet was coming by. I was freezing and descending. When I landed my feet were so cold that I could hardly walk for a few minutes. I had earned the Diamond Height Gain award.

Next day, trying for Diamond distance again, I took off even though a rain front was coming in. Got up on the side of Mt. Horrible and was climbing when a squall came through. I was high enough to stay aloft and pushed through the drizzle when I could see blue sky on the other side. Went to the south where the sky was blue for miles except for one rain cloud off on the horizon down towards Queenstown. After a great crossing over the Omarama valley and onto the next range, there was nothing but sink and I descended below the ridge. Even though there was a lot of wind I could not regain the height back up the ridge. Lower and lower, so I did not hang around and headed further south until I was so low that I was looking for a place to land. Well, what do ya know? I found a pretty good 4kt thermal with over a little ridge with a landing strip along side. I hung out there but could not get high enough to get away as the wind would blow-out the thermal as I got higher. I kept trying to get away but there was sink all around and I had to keep going back. I thought that I would have to stay there for awhile until the conditions changed. No problem. And the conditions did change, they got worse. Remember that little rain cloud on the horizon? It kept getting bigger and wider. I had mistaken the squall back on Mt. Horrible for the front and now the front was coming in full force. I stayed up as the rain was pelting my canopy and thought “This is getting silly, there comes a time to face the music and be safe.”  Landed on the agricultural strip, which wasn’t too bad.  It was close to the only road for miles. It was it was 45 minutes from Omarama. Had I landed on the other side of the small ridge, it would have taken about three hours of driving to go around it.
 
On next day, the third try for Diamond distance, I went a different route but wound up stuck at almost the same place. No rain, but as I would get to a cloud, it would dissipate. The wind was too strong and would blow the top off the thermal before it could fully develop. I spent about an hour on a ridge catching glimpses of thermals no more than three turns and it was gone. I finally decided to go up wind to another lower ridge that ran along the lake near Wanaka. The wind was blowing directly off the lake. There was lift there so I started along the lake as the ridge got higher, so did I. Gradually, I was gaining height. Up ahead there was this huge escarpment, like a King Kong cliff, rising directly off the lake to about 4,000ft. The trouble was that I could not see around it and was concerned about the other side. I had enough height to get there and back, but if there was sink, I’d be in the drink. It looked like it should be working perfectly - and there was a nice cloud at the top. So I went for it. I did not lose any height on the way, but when I got there, as what had been happening all day, the cloud had dissipated.  Thankfully there were enough scraps of lift off the slope to keep me aloft until it recycled…..and then I was off. 8-10kt.s up, up, up to 6,000ft.  Now I was up but home was 50 miles away with nothing but jagged peaks in between. Over towards home was a peak with one lonely cloud above it. If I could get past that peak I could make it.  Just needed to get under that cloud and get some more lift. I had been watching as I was climbing and it was not dissipating. Another decision to make. I could get there but I would be even deeper in the range. There were several valleys, but they were box canyons with steep sides. As I got higher over the escarpment, I could see one stream that weaved through a valley that went around the mountains and out to the lake. I could probably land along there if I couldn’t make it back to the lake. It was getting late in the day but the lift was working better than it had all day. I’m going for it…. If I can just make it to that peak. The route along the ridge to the peak was rough and windy. I lost a little bit of height along the way, but was going to make it. However, there better be lift there because I was too low to get back to the escarpment. Getting close to the peak and the cloud above it, I looked down. There was the big dark reassuring shadow of the cloud that I was trying to get under. I got to the peak, hit a bit of a bump up and banked into a turn…..no lift!  WHAT? I looked at the ground again and where there had been a dark shadow, there were spots of sunshine starting to show. And they were getting bigger, fast. I looked up and the sky was turning a beautiful blue. Not now! The cloud that had been there for quite sometime - was dissipating. “Please let me find just a few scraps of lift.” I was going down …not fast, but down. I was getting ready to fly the ridge down to the lake. Then, after about five minutes, I could see little bits of mist starting to form in the air. (Pilots call it “Baby Rain”) A cloud was starting to reform. “Oh, thank you - THANK YOU God” Gradually more and more wispy clouds came together. Soon, I was climbing, up, up, up. At 8,000 feet it looked like I could get out of there and head for home. STRAIGHT HOME! Which is what I did. After 4 hours and 3 minutes of flying for the day, I was safe on the ground again and looking up at the sky. I called, Faye, “Hi honey, I’ve landed…. Cheated death again! What a lovely flight.
I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

We love ya Dubya. All's well in New Zealand.