11/9 Burmester 12M Frenzy

[Kenny]

First time at Burmester. I did not know this gem existed until a couple weeks ago. I always thought the posts referred to the flats adjacent to the salt ponds. I was impressed, miles of open area and a forgiving clay surface. My only concern is the no trespassing sign and high mounted camera posted by the Union Pacific near the tracks. I assume that are concerned with people fooling around with their equipment or 4 wheeling on the flats. However, I don't want to tick them off. Had a train go by and the engineer just waved. Does anyone know the deal with access at Burmester?

Kenny

[btjsfca]

There's no official permission to ride there, but my understanding is that the salt lake shoreline area is public land. Parking in the tunrout by the trains is the only sketchy thing, but I've never had any of the train workers bother me. I've also seen people on ATVs out there.

I should like to get official permission, but so far it's not an issue since they don't own the land that we ride on.

-J

[Kenny]

J,

Okay, thanks for the info. What a sweet spot to ride. I wish I had known about it a long time ago. I bet that spot gets a lot of light north days, just pull out the big foil and your off. It could also work at a good snowkiting spot if we ever had a good valley dump. Lots of open space with no major obstructions, just some wood from decaying fences. The small berms are perfect ramps.

Kenny

[mike loeser]

Kenny,
Nice place, huh? Did you get out this morning already? I wouldn't mind if you did me a favor and checked the wind conditions against the mesowest. I've been out a few times lately and I found that the wind seemed lighter than what the mesowest showed. Thanks
Mike

[Kenny]

Mike,

The wind was lighter than Mesowest. I was out from 7 AM to 9 AM this morning. I would estimate that the peak wind speed while I was there was around 18, while the Burmester site showing windspeeds around 21. The last 10 minutes, I had just enough power to tack back to my starting point. I would say at that point the wind was around 8 - 10 mph.

The berms were cool. I was tempted to go big, but thought better of it. I would hate to break an ankle just prior to the snow season. Kept the jumps under 5 feet and had a blast.

Kenny

[mike loeser]

Thanks Kenny. I thought the same, but needed some verification. Maybe its just me. Hope to get out there again soon, before it gets too wet.
Mike

[btjsfca]

I'm stoked that other people are catching the bug to landboard. I would love to put together a big group ride in the spring when the conditions are suitable.

My question is which direction was the wind in from. I assume that the meter reads low on a north because of the obstruction from the overpass. I think it reads accurate on a south (even though south days are super puffy from the conflicting thermal).

Summertime is one consistent north day after another if we're stuck in the midseason doldrums. The only gotcha is the chance of a thunderstorm cell to pop up. Typically from the south. I guess the same phenomenon that got Mitch. But there's plenty of warning if you keep an eye southward.

Snow kiting at BURM is really unlikely since it's an alkali flat. Too much salt in the mud for any good accumulation. Even if there was enough snow, getting to the site would be complicated by all the snow in the typical parking spot. Might be able to park off the road on the offramp loop, but I'd be sketched parking there. Never tried though. I figure if I'm out to snowkite, I'll go the distance and head to strawbs or skyline.

Boarders of the world, unite!

-J

[Kenny]

J,

The wind was out of the south and totally smooth. I rode from 7 - 9 AM, so there was no conflicting lake thermal. I would say the reading was on the light side because I usually find the 12M Frenzy is too much to handle over 20 mph and the readings were 21 gusting to 24 on the mesonet.

I definitely want to go back there next summer when the flats are totally dry. There are a lot of days when the wind is a little too light for the salt ponds, but would be perfect for landboarding with a big kite.

Kenny