Forget flying! We have seen the worst Memorial Day weather in the 20 or more years that Soar Minden has been operating. It rained for almost 5 straight days.

So what do Minden soaring pilots do when it rains? Enjoy dinner cooked by one of the 10 top chefs in the US.

We invited Chef Arturo Boada from Houston to cook us a feast. And that he did! Antonello, as he called Tony, ran off to his house and brought the best cutlery he could find. Meanwhile, Carlota and Arturo went off to Trader Joe's and Costco, and bought food for the some 20 people that were expected.

But more than 50 showed up, and Arturo was able to serve a six course Italian meal, restaurant style, with each plate following the next in the smoothest of fashions. Guests from Europe and the US gave Arturo a big hand at the end of the meal.

So while nobody logged a 600K over the weekend, most of us had a 6 course meal!

Arturo did manage to get a taste of flying on Sunday. We were up for over an hour in the DG 1000 over the Carson Valley at 7-8 thousand feet under dark clouds. 

See you next year, Arturo!

Lee Vining Airport 

Soaring record-setter Gordon Boettger had a scare when weather forced his glider down on April 29.

Gordon’s a Minden resident who hit the hat trick in 2005 by knocking down three distance records. An airline pilot and former Navy carrier pilot, he’s seen his share of tricky landings, but this one took the cake.

He and retired meteorologist Doug Armstrong in Reno had spotted the big wind that was coming down the pike.

“We converse a lot about the weather and are always looking for mountain wave conditions,” the pilot said. “We knew there was going to be a big wind event and that it was going to get stronger.” With the help of tow pilot Mike Moore and Soar Minden owner Tony Sabino, Gordon launched at 6:15 a.m. and climbed to 18,000 feet headed south.

“Usually there are mountain wave lenticular clouds to mark the wave and rotor clouds, which look like torn-up cumulus clouds, that mark extreme turbulence,” he said.