Effective Ridge Lift Flying - MOUNTAIN Sites

Understating of this topic will not only lead to a pilots ability to maximize the soaring lift potential of our sites, but also lead to safer flights.

We are continuing to see many pilots flying in inappropriate locations to prevailing conditions at our more complex non simple ridge sites like Little Black and Palomar to name a few. All Pilots need to constantly evaluate wind directions & shifts to perpendicular faces. Do not fly Mt sites by rote.

This material is re-posted from our Members Only section 2015 Thermal and XC Clinic Talks , but is so important to making better safer pilots; we are repeating it here in our open blog section. 

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Finding lift in all the right places: (Effective Ridge Lift & Thermal Flight)

Some Basic to Complex Ridgelift Therey

(Images from Dennis Pagen's "Understanding The Sky" & "Art of Paragliding")

• Steeper Slopes Produce more lift
• Shallow slopes produce weaker lift
• Lift strength drastically falls off when not perpendicular to slope
• Wind will wraparound mountains and features reducing lift
• Effective soaring face on small features are even smaller

Mt Condition Cautions

• Be cautious of Rotor conditions
• Up-slope winds are not always truly upslope winds

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Putting Therey in to practice

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Effective Ridge Lift Faces will greatly vary depending on wind direction. 

• Do not fly Mt sites by rote. 
• Constantly evaluate wind directions & shifts to perpendicular faces.
• Constantly evaluate rotor and wind shadows to wind direction shifts.
• Make your 1st pass along a face into the wind if slightly cross to maximize lift height away from terrain. 

Palomar Example: Showing effective soaring faces and sensitivity to wind shifts.