Here’s a recap of a 1/7/2017 entry into newly discovery “Goat Wave”: Leaving Pilchuck wave at 7,700 ft, I reached Goat Flats at 6,100 ft (1). After half an hour of ridge soaring along the southern face of Three Fingers (2), I transitioned above ridge height by flying figure-8’s in the eastern bowl of the mountain (3). Reaching 6,700 ft, I had enough altitude to explore the air behind Goat Flats and make it back to the ridge in case nothing interesting was found (4). Mt Bullon (located 2 miles north) didn’t produce any usable lift. (It did however, give me a good beating in turbulent air.) Making my way back to Goat Flats, I ran into a smooth and strong wave system. I flew the wave for about 10 minutes to gain 2,000 ft (5). At 8,000 ft (1,500 ft over Three Fingers’ peak), I now had enough altitude to make it to White Horse mountain, where the ridge worked very well, boosting me up over its peak (7). A quick exploration over the town of Darrington didn’t result in the discovery of wave that might have been triggered by White Horse, so I turned back to Pilchuck to close out my flight and wrap up the day with a beer at Skookum Brewery.
Flightbit 