Another trip to Colorado for some skiing was on the horizon and I was watching the weather. It has been a light snow year at Wolf Creek. The mountains in the northern half of the state were doing okay, but it was still a little thin on the southern end of the San Juan Mountain Range. That didn’t stop us from having a great time on our December trip, but it did keep me out of the trees.
We had postponed our January ski trip and were rewarded with a storm that dumped almost 4 feet of snow the week before our arrival. I was wishing that we had been there on that Friday for what was an epic powder day, but it just wasn’t to be.
I thought perhaps we might work in a stop in Phoenix to visit my folks on the way. Fly in Saturday, spend the day/night with them, and then continue on to Pagosa Springs on Sunday. But, as it got closer I felt less sure of the plan.
It was going to be cloudy, rainy, and we would be well above the freezing level. The possibility of being held in moisture laden clouds at temperatures conducive to icing held no appeal. Finally, Friday afternoon I told my wife I didn’t feel good about what I was seeing and called the Saturday flight to Phoenix off.
As I watched the Phoenix Open Saturday and looked at the skies on the TV, along with the weather delays, I was glad I had made the choice to stay home. The storm that had canceled the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am the week before had arrived in the Valley of the Sun, and the sun was nowhere to be found for a good portion of the weekend.
However, the forecast for Sunday was clear skies and it did not disappoint. We would have some headwinds so I planned for one of our typical fuel stops in Williams, AZ at H. A. Clark Memorial Field (KCMR).
They had received a good amount of snow and the lady running the snowplow had “somewhat” cleared the taxiways and ramp. We were able to get to the fuel pump, but there wasn’t enough room to “pull through” so after fueling the plane I got out the tow bar, pushed back, and then pulled it up enough that I could make the turn.
Not wanting to block the pump we threaded our way to the open space on the ramp, keeping the nose wheel in the plowed area with the mains rolling through the snow. It took quite a bit of power to keep moving.
The remainder of the flight there was gorgeous with snow across the high desert and unlimited visibility. I looked at the mountains far off on the horizon and then pulled up the distance to them on my tablet, they were 170 miles away.
The skiing was great, although it was a little warm on Monday and Tuesday. That changed to windy and cold on Wednesday. I did set some new personal records (PR’s). After hitting 52.5 mph ripping down Tranquility on Monday I pulled off 54.3 mph on Tuesday.
When I got down to the car Tuesday I took a look at my watch and saw that I had skied 19,950 vertical feet. I was 50′ shy of 20k, but was tired and wasn’t going to hike back up for one more run. I determined Wednesday I would break the 20k mark.
With no good powder in the trees I stayed on the front side of the mountain and just rode the highspeed lifts. Those are a blessing and a curse. Great, because you get to the top so fast, but because I skied right onto the lift every time without a line I got little rest. As the day progressed I kept an eye on my numbers, I wasn’t going to miss the mark again. I finished with 25,428 vertical feet, 30.69 miles, and early in the morning before it was chewed up I hit 55.3 mph coming down Tranquility.
The flight home on Thursday was even slower than the flight there. We stayed down at 8,500′ because the winds at 10,500′ were supposed to be even worse. It is an odd thing to take off and climb to a cruising altitude that is lower than traffic pattern altitude.
Stevens Field (KPSO) sits at 7,663′ which would put TPA at 8,663′. But the terrain falls away to the west of the airport so 8,500′ works as a westbound cruise altitude.
The forecast winds, and the airmet for turbulence was spot on. It wasn’t terrible, but just constant bumps like driving along a dirt road. It was for altitudes between 8,000′ and FL180, and with the terrain we didn’t have the choice of flying below 8,000′. So, we bumped along trying to stay below the worst of the headwinds.
North of Flagstaff and Humphrey’s Peak, I watched as the headwind climbed from the 30’s, into the 40’s, and then above 50mph. I took a picture of my instrument when it showed 54 mph, thinking I needed proof, and then it kept climbing, finally peaking at 57mph. I was glad I was in a Mooney and not a slower plane…
The interesting thing was that although we were only 2,600′ AGL (Above Ground Level) with 57 mph winds it was as smooth as silk. The other oddity was that the wind farm off to our right was completely still, all the blades feathered and none of them moving.
Someone had taken over the plowing at KCMR and the taxiways and ramp were completely cleared. We fueled up, and were soon on our way. The remainder of the flight was much smoother than the previous leg and the winds were lighter too, even dropping into the single digits as we passed San Gorgonio and got ready to begin our descent into the LA Basin.
Two hours and twenty-six minutes after lifting off in Williams we touched down back at Fullerton.
