Wave Lift Over Lake Champlain

Not wanting to bother Boston Center with a request to open our wave window, I decided instead to venture out directly upwind. This could be far more interesting than testing the top of the wave. The sink seemed to last forever as I kept pushing the nose lower. But with considerable doubts about this mission, I persisted. Finally, after loosing about 8,000 feet, the vario finally went from minus to neutral to positive about half way out in the valley towards Burlington. After pausing to gain altitude, I penetrated upwind two more cycles pausing in each up wave to recover altitude. Now I was high in a window over Burlington airport (Point B). No problem with the ARSA or Burlington approach at this altitude.

The cloud opening below extended southwest across Lake Champlain and into New York state. Why not follow it I asked? But first punch the MNav with distance to the West Ridge plus wind and zero lift to check required altitude for a possible task abandonment. The ridge would have to be working on this wave day. Since the wave was supporting at a comfortable 12,000 feet, there would be no problem scrambling back east over the valley to the comfort of the ridge. Plenty of fields on the way to the ridge as backup.

Away we went over Lake Champlain and down the New York Thruway working the downwind side of the window above the cloud deck, maintaining 12,000 feet, never stopping for lift. Soon glimpses of an airport showed through the clouds. It was Scroon Lake (Point C). At this point the window came to an end with nothing farther southwest but solid cloud cover as far as the eye could see. Prudence dictated a change in course.

Some windows appeared downwind. Backing in that direction with the help of a strong tail wind, we came again to the lake and old Fort Ticonderoga (Point D). Pausing directly over the fort to regain some lost altitude, we again backed downwind this time to Rutland, Vermont Point E). In the process of playing with the Killington wave, we found ourselves over Woodstock (Point F) and down to about 6,000 feet, out of the wave and considerably downwind of the ridge leading home.

Fortunately, a cloud street provided enough thermal lift to reach the south end of our East Ridge at Rochester (Point G). The northwest wind was strong enough that even this ridge section which swings about due south from Sugarbush was working. It strengthened considerably at Blueberry Lake as the ridge turned to the northeast. At high speed we kept on riding that strong updraft right up to the Hungries (Point H).

Strong thermal lift there tempted us off the ridge and up to final glide altitude at the highest part of the mountains near Stowe (Point I). Footloose and carefree, back to Sugarbush we went, a very happy and satisfied pilot and machine. A memorable flight indeed!

Looking back at the flight plan, I believe less altitude would be lost on a northwest wind wave day if the penetration from Sugarbush to the Andirondack wave were made starting from farther north, even north of Route 89. Not much altitude is typically lost going north in the Route 100 valley and Burlington is much closer to the West Ridge from the Bolton valley area. But then, who is to say? Every day is different and judgments have to be made on the basis of conditions encountered on each flying day.