On Sun, 20 Jul 2014 07:35:38 -0700, son_of_flubber wrote:

A qualified yes. I'm working on coring thermals quickly and flying fast
on headings. The local terrain and lift/sink is asymmetrical. I can
play 'how far can I fly beyond that ridge line and still get home' going
E W or S. There is a similar decision point to the north caused by a
zone of dependable sink.

It's an interesting beautiful place to fly and I've never felt bored.
http://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=44.10...81698&z=13&b=t

Looks interesting (I peeked at your area on Google Earth) but it is
significantly different from the flay area I fly over. I have to say that
my main gains, while still restricted to local soaring, came from
mentally pre-declaring local mini-triangles and then flying round the
course they define. Yes, this means that you fly round each turnpoint (so
you can see it over the inside canopy edge as you fly round it) rather
than going (almost) to it. The gains, apart from learning that you don't
need to use every thermal you come to, are all concerned with developing
the judgement needed to get high enough on the last climb on a task leg
to get round the turnpoint and into the next climb without needing to dig
yourself out of a hole. Of course, you also need to know about digging
yourself out of holes because for sure you'll get it wrong and fall into
one from time to time. This skill tends to develop from experience salted
with sheer necessity.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |