Last Friday, four of us were flying at Alpine, Wyoming, the south west side of the Snake River Range, specifically just west of Ferry Peak. We all (other than Luke) had good thermal flights around 2 to 3:30 PM which didn't last that long. There were spots of virga, and Bart thought it would over develop.

But it didn't and later Curt and Luke went up for late afternoon flights around 4:30 PM. The valley was inverted but there was lift on the hill sides. With their west and southwest face these hills are better sources of lift lat in the afternoon, or so it would appear.

Curt on his Wills Wing Sport 2 and Luke on his Moyes Ventura were able to climb to over 16,000', 11,000' AGL around 5 PM. Curt said it was an 8 to 1 glide to the first landable field in the Jackson Hole. Still he decided not to take the chance over the mountain ranges (there were black clouds in the Snake River Valley which comes out of the Hole).

This is the highest that Luke had ever been, this being his second year flying. Only Curt had oxygen.

I had packed up as I thought it would OD.