Minden  -  Standard Course  "M"

1000 km Three TP Distance  Photo & GPS   7.5' Quad   v3.0   05-06

Name  Latitude  Longitude  Elevation
Start Pt. Sunrise Strip (S05 - Target!)  39° 02.570' N   119° 40.390' W     5236'
TP 1 Int. So. of Keeler, CA   36° 25.820' N   117° 49.420' W     3796'
TP 2 Basalt Intersection., NV (D04)  38° 00.650' N   118° 16.470' W     6300'
TP 3 Cerro Gordo Pk. - R/F - N Pk.  36° 33.000' N  117° 48.190' W    9280'
Finish Minden Gate  39° 00.010' N  119° 45.160' W    4718'

Leg Km Smi Nmi   % True  Course
   1   332.63   206.68   179.61   33.2        150°
   2   179.91   111.79     97.14   18.0       347°
   3   167.43   104.04     90.40   16.7       165°
   4   321.62   199.85   173.66   32.1       328°
Task Dist. 1001.59   622.36   540.82

Typical Flight Path:    The usual tactic on the first leg is to head for Boundary Peak on the north end of the White Mountains, a significant deviation to the east of course line.  Leaving Bald Mtn. #1 (at the south end of the Pine Nut range) reach for East Sister Peak at the north end of the Sweetwater range, then to Bald Mtn. #2 (at the south end of the Pine Grove Hills).  Then reach for the high ground south of Aurora Mine or the range south of Lucky Boy Pass, then across the flats to the low escarpment at the north end of the Owens Valley and on to Boundary Peak.

<>On the Whites, fly down the range, deviating a bit to the east at Westgard Pass, and on south on the Inyo range, leaving the ridge at Cerro Gordo Peak to run out to the first turn and back.  On the second leg return up the Inyo's and White's to Boundary Peak.  Run out to the second turn point and back.  Repeat the trip to Cerro Gordo Peak and back to Boundary Peak. Leave Boundary Peak with enough altitude to reach Hawthorne but head a bit more west to the ridge south of Lucky Boy Pass.  Work north toward Mt. Grant or until high enough to reach Bald Mtn. #2 or the high ground north along the Pine Grove Hills.  Reach to Bald Mtn. #1 and then to the landing at Minden-Tahoe.
Note: Cloud patterns often dictate significant deviations from this "typical" flight path.
Note: Do not include the finish point in your Declaration.  It is not required.  After the last turn point, all that is required is to land outside a circle with a radius of 321 km from the Cerro Gordo turn point (plus an allowance to cover any Distance Penalty).   For example, the 1000 km distance could be achieved by landing at Silver Springs (or Austin) if Minden-Tahoe was under or beyond foul weather.  (Yerington is not far enough.)

Note: If you are using the photo of the Sunrise Start Point  (S05) found in the PASCO Minden Soaring Competition Turnpoints booklet to orient yourself to the start point for this course, the photo is looking roughly North.  A proper start point photo will be looking in the opposite direction from beyond the photo target.   To repeat, the Start Point for Standard Course "M" is the Target Point in the photo, so the "target point" must show in any Start Point documenting photo.  This point is the mid-point of the former "Sunrise Strip" and is opposite the largest structure on the West side of the strip.  This strip is NOT a suitable landing place for any glider!

Airports along the course (keep at least one in reach): Flyin' Mouse, Sweetwater Strip, Bryant Field (Bridgeport), Lee Vining, Hawthorne, Bishop, Independence, Lone Pine, Circle L, Flying M (Hilton Strip), Sweetwater, Yerington, Rosaschi Dusters..

Some possible weather peculiarities:   Convergence line around the east side of Mono Lake may be useful on first  and forth legs.  This convergence often drifts east during the afternoon.  The best lift band over the Whites may be displaced east or west of the ridgetop depending on the shoving match between air masses on the two sides of the range.  Watch Cu-nim blow-off from the Sierra and other high ground; strong southwest wind at lower levels at Wellington and Smith Valley late in the day.

Traffic cautions:  High speed, head-on glider traffic in the lift band over the White and Inyo Mtns., any day ... but worst on Saturdays.  Before flying in the "White Mountain Corridor," brief yourself on PROCEDURE ALPHA.  When not flying over the White or Inyo Mountains, and you hear position reports from pilots flying over these ranges, switch to another frequency or use 123.5 very sparingly!
Southern part of course transits BISHOP MOA, SALINE MOA and OWENS MOA.  Be sure to skirt the ammunition disposal Restricted Area R-4811 south of Hawthorne.

Original Course Design:   Bill Ivans