One-Two-Three-Comp!

New hang gliding event emerges in Monroe, Utah

by Ken Millard, with contributions from Tim Delaney

: In the fall of 2020, I joined a handful of hang glider pilots trying a new-to-us foot launch site in Monroe, Utah. Encouraged by our experience, we returned in 2021 and 2022. Each year, we expanded our understanding of the area and conditions and flew higher and farther, gaining experiences that were a catalyst for growth for our band of pilots. In 2023 we are returning as the organizers and support staff of a new foot-launch hang gliding competition!

This area of central Utah is dominated by a 250 km valley running northeast to southwest. At its narrowest, the valley is a few miles wide; at its widest, it’s over six miles—wide enough to create some flatland thermals. However, the primary soaring is over the hills that flank the valley.

The Central Utah Air Sports Association (CUASA) has done a superb job of support- ing and growing free flight in the area. They have worked tirelessly in the towns to develop friendly relationships around the sport. Critically, they have secured a full-time, dedicated LZ at the edge of Monroe, which they continue to expand and improve.

2020

In September 2020, when many competitions and events were canceled due to the pandemic, CUASA decided to proceed with their annual Red Rocks Fly-In. The response was enthusiastic, attracting hundreds of participants—primarily paragliders. A group of hang glider pilots also showed up to check it out. We started every morning with a masked outdoor briefing in the parking lot of the local fire station, blocks away from the club’s LZ.

Mandatory temperature checks followed the meeting before we drove to one of the three local launches.

On one memorable day of the event, light north winds made Cove the preferred launch. At 8,700 feet, locals consider Cove a medium altitude launch, offering 3,300 feet of verti-

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More information at WolfPackHangGliding.com cal to the valley floor. There is a nice bowl to soar in north winds and a spectacular sheer granite wall off the north end where the ridge attaches to the taller foothills that climb up to the 10,666-foot summit behind. The terrain is stunning.

A technical challenge specific to this site is finding a way to bench up to climb out above the summit. CUASA has established the “Cove Club” to recognize pilots who have made the flight and submitted their tracklogs. Inductees are given sequential numbers and are listed on a dedicated webpage. Once word of the club spread around our group of hang gliding friends, everyone was on fire to get in.

On this particular day, we had our work cut out for us. The lift was light, so staying up meant working a few narrow lift bands along the ridge, which we shared with scores of pilots (hang gliders and paragliders alike); the level of crowding was nerve-racking. Two pilots in our group, Ric Caylor and Jon Irlbeeck, navigated the traffic successfully and picked up enough altitude to jump over to the big granite wall to the north. They were patient, skillful, and maybe a little lucky, and they found something strong enough to climb up that wall.

I, unfortunately, didn’t make it that far. Between the traffic and light conditions, I struggled to climb enough to glide to the wall. After a half dozen passes on the ridge, my mind played a classic pilot’s trick on me: “There could be a thermal coming off of that low knob over there.” I tried working that knob and the bump of lift I found on my way to it, to no avail. Once I was 200 feet below launch, I knew I wasn’t getting back up. On the long trek to the LZ, I targeted some more ground features to search for thermals without results.

Meanwhile, I listened to Ric and Jon’s radio chatter and wondered if they had climbed enough to bench the foothills to the peak. Ric only talks when he is climbing; knowing that, the silence told me a fair amount about how their day was going. About an hour after they launched, Ric asked how Jon was doing—his voice had an edge of frustration. He had made no progress and was testing the water to see if Jon was also struggling—maybe they could both call it a day. Jon’s voice crackled over the radio, elated, “I’m in the club!” Jon was above the summit.

Over the next half hour, I listened to Jon’s skillful “motivational” coaching. Saying very little, he said he would wait over the peak until Ric could join him. It was reassuring, supportive, and, to Ric’s particular blended sense of camaraderie and competitiveness (and I say this as a friend), it was infuriating. It was perfect. There was no more consideration of calling it a day. After another half hour of patient piloting, Ric joined Jon over the peak and made it into the club. Three more hang gliding pilot friends joined the club that week: Mark Dickson, Aaron Rinn, and Jeff Butler.

Monroe is hardly a secret; CUASA’s fly-ins and competitions draw hundreds of participants yearly. However, 2020 showed our small crew the potential of the site, and we talked about returning to fly it in stronger conditions.

2021

In early 2021, I got a call from Tim Delaney (a pilot and sailplane pilot with abundant experience fling in Utah and, particularly, the Monroe area). He suggested we put together a posse of hang glider pilots and converge on Monroe in mid-June. I was in! Ten of us gathered for a week to enjoy the conditions which Tim described as nearly as strong as the Owens but less punchy. “Come get some big air,” he said. On a memorable day that week, I launched Cove in good conditions, and in five minutes, I found a core and picked up 800 feet. Then I

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HANGGLIDINGSPECTACULAR.COM saw Tim climbing nearby. Tim knows his stuff, so I zipped through some sink and got in under him. I was rewarded with a smooth, wide climb that averaged 450 fpm over nearly fifteen minutes. And just like that, I was looking down at the summit. Later I sent in my tracklog, and CUASA assigned me Cove Club number 199. Having topped out my climb over Cove at a touch under 16,000 feet, I went exploring a little deeper into the high plateau. I am not sure what called me back there, but I cruised 10 km to the northeast before I found my next climb. I flew through a bump, turned back into it, and started climbing. It got better. In two minutes, I was averaging 1100 fpm, with a few pulses of 1600 fpm. For me, that is indeed “big air.” The air was howling in my ears, and I cursed the stiff handling of my new topless glider as I struggled to crank it up tighter in the turn. I glanced at my altitude, which was nearing 17,999—time to go. I straightened out and accelerated to leave the thermal but was still going up. I stuffed the bar and held it until I was sure I was sinking. As I flew, I only eased up long enough to check my vario, looking for neutral air and legal altitude. Reviewing my tracklog later, I was awed that I flew through a full mile of lift before finding neutral air. Big air, indeed.

Two days later, I took the day off to drive retrieve for my friends. Tim and “All Day” Paul Voight headed south. I ended up wasting three hours chasing them down the valley, only to have them turn around to fly a 100 km outand-back. This site offers excellent flights.

2022

We gathered again in June of 2022. I arrived a day after Tim flew east over some uninviting terrain to land near Moab, more than 100 miles away. This site offers some great flights. By the time we returned in 2022, CUASA had improved the west launch at Cove, expanded the Monroe LZ, and made several other small but useful site improvements. Atilla Plasch created a local waypoint file, which we tested by setting practice competition tasks. Everything looked good for a week of flying and our planning of a competition in 2023.

As for myself, I was more confident with my equipment, had a better familiarity with the area, and made better decisions regarding local terrain and weather. As such, in 2022, I had much better flights. On the second day, I launched from Cove’s newly improved west launch, climbed consistently, flew 70 miles, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

We hope to see many other pilots have the same experience, or better, at the XC clinic and competition this upcoming June.

2023

Monroe Utah Hang Gliding Competition

Preparations are underway for a seven-day, Category-2 sanctioned hang gliding competition (June 17–24). The event is intended for pilots with experience flying in the mountains and who have strong foot-launching skills. We recommend an oxygen system, a 2-way satellite communication/tracking system, and 2-meter ham radio with a helmet headset for clear communication. During this time, a fly-in will be open to all pilots who wish to participate in recreational flying and social activities.

Before the competition, we will host a threeday Red Rocks “Mountain Flying Academy” XC clinic (June 14–16). The course is designed to help pilots refresh their high-altitude flying skills. Our instructors are world record-holding and national champion pilots who will be mentoring ground school classes, launch and landing clinics, and navigation with aviation-assisted training. The goal is to emphasize safety, awareness, critical situation analysis, and to employ the proper use of gear and equipment. Both events aim to provide a fun, safe, competitive, and affordable foot-launched competition in one of the premier mountain sites in the western U.S.

If my stories above didn’t offer a clear enough picture of the flying here, know that the reputation for excellent conditions in this area is well-deserved. You can expect to see cloud bases between 16,000 and 20,000 feet, and cloud streets and convergence lines are typical. Anticipate tasks of 100 miles or more with race- to-goal, triangles, and out-and-back options. Tasking is possible in all directions (allowing us to plan with the weather), with predominate routes running north and south along the Wasatch and Sevier Plateaus. Flights over 100 miles have occurred in the last two years. Safe landing fields are abundant, and retrievals are generally convenient with good highway and road access. Four-wheel drive is recommended but not necessary. The lower Cove launch (8,800 feet) is a 45-minute drive from the LZ, and the higher launch on Monroe Peak (11,200 feet) is a 75-minute drive from the LZ. These launches can accommodate north, west, and south winds.

The Central Utah Air Sports Association and the town of Monroe are welcoming to pilots. There is a shade shelter at the in-town dedicated LZ, and camping sites are one block away. The city of Richfield is 20 minutes away on Highway 70 and offers several hotels, restaurants, and other amenities.

We look forward to seeing you in Utah in the summer of 2023!