Dustin, an ATOS pilot, Stan Roberts, and at leas three paraglider
pilots tried for the "unofficial" footlaunch record launching from a site near
Seligman, Arizona on Saturday morning.

Gary Osoba, who was handling weather duties remotely writes:

Dustin went down early and back for relaunch at 2:00 PM. After his
relaunch Dustin flew to Prescott, Arizona, east of Flagstaff, landing around 7
PM.

Conditions were weak at launch and Dustin sank out while the Stan and a
paraglider were able to go down the ridge and get away. Stan didn't have any
oxygen and cloud base was 20,000'. Apparently he was hypoxic from the first
climb out soon claiming that he was ahead of where he could be.

Dustin was able to get off around 2 PM and land over 200 miles away at one
minute after sundown. There was sleet in the virga under every cloud. He uses
1,800 pounds of his 2,000 pounds of oxygen.

Dustin's camelback froze on the first climb out and when he landed it was a
solid brick of ice.

The 10,000' winds forecasted for 2 PM. No cu's and strong lift.

Dustin Martin <<flydustin>>
writes:

There was one other flex pilot, Jeff Johnson. There were at least
three paraglider pilots, one of which was the first off the hill at some time
around 11:30 and he got away easily.

The forecast looked like it would give a chance for 500 km. Our plan was to team
fly as far as we could stay together and my plan was to be off the hill no later
than 11 am.

The localized conditions at launch screwed up those plans and after launching
one hour behind schedule, I found myself on the ground after about a three
minute flight. I was extremely lucky when the retrieve driver for the paraglider
pilots and two new hang glider pilots showed up and waited a few minutes for me
to pack up. I was able to divide my gear between the two rigs and was ready to
go on launch again at about 2 pm.

On the way up the second time I was hearing radio reports that Stan, who had
gotten away when I sunk out, was already past Flagstaff, the 80 mile mark, at 16
grand. I knew that I had missed the day, but decided to see if I could chase him
down by sunset.

From my chronically bad radio set up, I was able to figure out that Stan had
probably mistaken his position on some of his calls and was suffering a bit of
hypoxia. His driver on 50 watts was coming through a little better and was able
to relay some useful condition info, and that together with the sleet over the
highway convinced me to veer south. Because of this we would never team up. The
tracks tell the story.

Normally I wouldn't be so bummed about missing out on a good day, but from many
WRE experiences, we know that even though awesome conditions seem common, in
fact having conditions that line up in every respect without compromise, is
very, very rare. To have those conditions on a Saturday is something that almost
never happens. I think Saturday was sufficient to make the official foot launch
record.

My first 'flight'
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/para/flightinfo.html?flightId=1283339214

my second flight
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/para/flightinfo.html?flightId=1211840384

Approximately 330 kilometers

Stan's flight
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/604676

270 kilometers

Paraglider who launched first
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/para/flightinfo.html?flightId=1150709938