4/1 Strawberry River 15M Speed 3

[Kenny]

It was an April Fool's Day Delight. I kept an eye on the UDOT cam watching for clearing. I finally left work around 4:30. Arrived just over an hour later at Strawberry River. The wind was WSW and kind of funky. I figured it would be better on the ridgelines and it was quite a bit stronger and I was glad that I chose a 15M instead of the 19M that I was tempted to pull out at first. Cruised down to the east gliding hill in a couple tacts. My initial glides were all short and kind of disappointing, so I kept working my way east until I was on the second gliding hill. I did a couple glides, still nothing much, I kept traveling east until the wind was blowing straight up the hill and the hill just dropped off, started heading down the hill, pulled in the bar and it was like an elevator. Kept going up until I was high above the hill. I really did not intend to go that high and as I traveled away from the hill, I just had to keep telling myself to think about flying the kite. Seemed like an eternity, before I finally came down. Decided I did not wish to repeat, so I cruised over to the north gliding area and enjoyed some good powder, but I was tempted by the strong wind going straight up the hill, just had to give it a try. I figured I would not go as high, this time around I just went maybe 50 feet down the hill and pulled in the bar. Once again, the elevator effect kicked in and I was high above the hill. As I flew away from the hill, I continued to rise which is a disconcerting feeling. Usually the uplift area is only near the hill, but when I was around 500 feet away from the hill, I went up another 50 feet. Once again, I pushed down the tremors of panic, eased my grip on the bar and just flew the kite. I slowly came down far away from the hill. That was enough gliding for me and I spent the rest of the time carving turns in the powder. Finally, packed up and left around 7.