The third annual Sequatchie Ridge Camp is in session. The camp is based at Marion County Airport (APT) near Jasper, Tennessee and is sponsored by Chilhowee Gliderport and hosted by Chilhowee owner Sarah Kelly Arnold and her husband Jason Arnold.
Monday, March 19th, brought strong thermals and high cloudbases to the Sequatchie Valley. There were no ridge winds, but John Good in his Duo Discus regularly encountered 6 to 7 knot thermals under a ~7,500 ft cloudbase that overlay much of the plateau bordering the valley to the east. The sky over the western plateau looked similar, but the lift there was not as strong.
John reported that one could run the entire length of the valley ridge (~55 miles) under clouds without stopping to climb.
After flying, pilots de-camped to a local restaurant, where John gave a fascinating presentation on his 2006 1,000 km triangle flight, which was the longest standard class triangle flown in the U.S. at that time and earned John a U.S. national soaring record and the Baron Hilton Cup East trophy. John launched from Karl Striedieck’s Eagle Field and flew to turnpoints near Tazewell, Virginia and Charlottesville, Virginia.
Rand Baldwin presented an overview of the Sequatchie Valley and Lookout Mountain ridges for pilots who are flying those ridges for the first time.
Here’s a video made by Michael Poe in 2008 during a 400-mile run along the Sequatchie Valley and Lookout Mountain ridges.
For more information about the camp, contact Sarah Kelly Arnold. Here’s a schedule of events and more information about logistics.
SCHEDULE – to be announced on great ridge days, otherwise as follows (all times are EDT).
10 AM – Daily Pilots’ Meeting
11 AM – Grid time (gliders must be lined up on the taxi-way, we will not move any glider onto the runway until it is the next in line for launch)
7 PM – Seminar & Dinner
SEMINAR
Monday Evening
Speakers:John Good, Rand Baldwin
Subject: Mandatory Ridge Camp Basics and Flying a 1,000K Triangle
Location: Local restaurant
Tuesday Evening – FREE NIGHT – NO MEETING
Wednesday Evening
Speaker: Jason & Sarah Arnold
Subject: Soaring the Argentine Pampas
Location: The Dutch Maid Bakery in Jasper
Thursday Evening – FREE NIGHT – NO MEETING
Friday Evening
Speaker: John Good
Subject: Around this World of Ridges
Location: The Dutch Maid Bakery
Saturday Evening
Speaker: Werner Ruegger
Subject: Soar Like an Eagle
Location: The Dutch Maid Bakery
FEES
There is a $50 per pilot registration fee to defray the remote site operating costs. Tows will be at regular Chilhowee rates.
TRAINING & RENTALS
John Good will have his Duo Discus with him and plans to rent out the back seat for $75 per hour plus the price of the tow. I highly recommend taking the opportunity to fly with John; he’s one of the best.
TURNPOINTS & TASKS
The official turnpoint list can be downloaded here: http://soaringweb.org/TP/NA.html#TN In addition I will provide task sheets at the camp for all badge routes. Assistance with flight planning, documentation and filing of badge and record claims will be provided.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Hotels
1) There are several nice hotels at exit 152 in Kimball including: Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Super 8 and others. There is not an event hotel.
Camping
1) Tent camping is allowed and free at the airport, there are no showers, so make friends with somebody who is staying in the hotel.
2) RV camping is allowed at the airport; however space is limited (no parking inside the fence or on the grass).
3) For RV hookups, go a mile or two up the road to Marion County Park (423) 942-6653. Reservations are required.
4) Another campsite on the lake with hookups is “Camp on the Lake” (423) 942-4078. They are about 3.5 miles from the airport.
Food
There are many restaurants at exit 152 in Kimball, TN. Some of the best I’ve found within the local Jasper area are:
1) Rafael’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant (423) 942-8287 – We plan to order Pizza from them for our first meeting on Monday evening.
2) The Dutch Maid Bakery (423) 942-5020 – this one is fabulous! This downtown Jasper bakery offers coffee, pastries and the like in the morning and a great lunch menu (which changes weekly). The evening dinner meetings will be held here on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
3) Western Sizzlin’ (423) 942-5777 – I don’t know what to say, it’s a buffet out near the interstate.
4) There is also a promising looking Mexican restaurant on the western side of Jasper.
5) Ingles grocery store is on US-64/72 on the right hand side just beyond the overpass of Hwy 28.
