This was my morning forecast:

2017 Quest Cross Country, Friday, March 17th

National Weather Service forecast:

Sunny, with a high near 71. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

NAM soaring forecast:

11 AM

300-400 fpm lift

1000' - 2,000' top of lift

No cu's

East northeast wind 14 mph at 2,000'

East northeast wind 6 mph at 30'

2 PM

700-800 fpm lift

4,000' - 5,000' top of lift

No cu's

East northeast wind 8 mph at 2,000'

East northeast wind 8 mph at 30'

5 PM

500-600 fpm lift

5,000' - 6,000' top of lift

No cu's

East northeast wind 8 mph at 2,000'

RAP forecast:

11 AM

200-300 fpm lift

2,000' - 3,000'top of lift

No cu's

Northeast wind 11 mph at 2,000'

Northeast wind 6 mph at 30'

2 PM

700-800 fpm lift

3,000' - 4,000' top of lift

No cu's

Northeast wind 9 mph at 2,000'

Northeast wind 7 mph at 30'

5 PM

500-600 fpm lift

5,000' - 6,000' top of lift

No cu's

East northeast wind 8 mph at 2,000'

Op40 at 2 PM shows inversion, dry air above inversion, no chance of clouds, 46
degrees at 3,300', Northeast wind 7 - 9 mph.

Dress warmly

https://airtribune.com/2017-quest-air-cross-country/blog__day_19

Larry Bunner, Rob Clarkson, Kinsley Sykes, and I were ready for the task, an out
and return to the northwest at Coleman. Larry was off first, but I was right
behind him as Joel Frohlich is here and he's towing, so we had two tugs. As soon
as I was in the air on tow I was in lift. At the north end of the field I saw
1,400 fpm on my vario. I've never seen that on the 20 second averager. Still I
held on a little bit as I continued through lift and wanted to get a bit higher.

I watched as Larry came back from the north toward me as I pinned off and
started climbing on my own. He was soon under me. Despite the 700+ fpm on tow
(to go with the 700 fpm that that the tug provides) the lift wasn't all that
strong. Larry said he found 600 fpm below me but right above about 500 feet
higher I was getting 250 fpm. Soon he quit climbing on me.

We drifted quickly to the west in the 10 mph wind. I climbed to over 3,400' but
Larry didn't get up that high and we went looking for better lift. There was
spots of weak lift and we had to work them at a little over 100 fpm. We were not
getting high nor going up very fast.

Four kilometers downwind of Quest Air and at 3,000' I turned back toward Quest
looking for lift upwind. Not finding much I was wondering if I could make it
back to Sheets field. There was plenty of head wind but I found small patches of
light lift and kept going.

Coming in over the field at 600' AGL, I found 400 fpm. I was soon joined by a
bald eagle and climbed out to 2,900'. Larry was turning also in 400 fpm downwind
and I decided to go to him. That was an error as there was nothing there and
again would I make it make to the field.

Deciding that the task was not doable on this day with a low top of lift and a
strong east wind, I decided to come in and land this time and not try to climb
out again. Many pilots had already landed and the wind kept switching from east
to northeast.

Larry landed a bit later and went back again for another try with little to no
luck. Rob Clarkson got out on the course but landed out.

Looks like there will be very light winds tomorrow so a much better day.