Sylvain wrote:
That the thing about the whole web site: it seems a tad
optimistic.

That was my first thought, but some of the following excerpts offer a
different view:

http://www.burningman.com/on_the_pla...ort/index.html
" This is a warning! Read it!

Flying in mountainous desert regions is dangerous. Don't do it. Stay at
home with a cold drink and watch the event on television. If you choose
to disregard this sensible advice, take all reasonable and unreasonable
safety precautions. Read all of the information and advice in the links
above. Attend a seminar on mountain flying. Practice with an instructor
at a hot and high airport near you.

The desert is treacherous; winds are hellacious, storms are sudden and
violent, density altitude is high, and hospitals far away. The landing
surface is unpaved and safe landing conditions are not guaranteed. You
are entirely responsible for your own safety and that of your
passengers."

There appears to be a mailing list of Burning Man aviators where
answers to all of our questions would probably be available.
https://lists.burningman.com/mailman.../aviators-list

They also have a page on specific flying challenges in the desert:
http://www.burningman.com/on_the_pla...rt/flying.html

This page also discusses the quality of the ground. It appears that
the runway area is carefully inspected and chosen to avoid the "sinking
buick" situation described elsewhere in the thread. With the big crowd
of planes their photos show, it doesn't look like the hacked together
amateur-fest I was expecting. UNICOM advisories, ground crew, NOTAMs,
it looks pretty promising.

I've been wanting to attend, but the 10 hour drive has been a bit of a
barrier. The 1.5 hour flight, on the other hand, suddenly seems pretty
reasonable. Well, I've got a year to get ready.