

CODY MITTANCK AND THE Z-ALPS IN NEVADA
Published on:
20 May 2018
Ozone Team pilot, Cody Mittanck just sent us a report from his latest trip to Nevada where he had the opportunity to put his Z-alps and Ozium 2 to the test.
Cody reports:
"Nevadastan. The name should conjure images of a dry, desolate desert with no roads and no cell service, with small dusty mining towns barely surviving and locals speaking a foreign tongue. It's not quite this. The locals speak some form of incomprehensible english and I found 4G in the middle of a dry lake bed that is better than I get at my house in Salt Lake City. But regardless its an adventure and for me one that can be found without getting on a plane. It was spring time flying in the desert, lapse rates that had my vario doubled over showing 14 mps climbs, leaving climbs nearly a 1000 meters below base and still getting sucked into the cloud, getting snowed on, and moving 90 degrees off course to avoid massive thunderstorms. I had never heard of a pee tube freezing, but apparently it happens. My hands are still a bit numb in the fingertips. I have to say that even in those conditions it was insane how comfortable I felt under the Z-alps. It never even had the slightest tip collapse, but still had the feedback (and performance) of a 2-liner. I've flown the Enzo for the past 4 years in both competition and XC, because I feel its important to stay current on the wing your competing on. It goes without saying that it is a bit of work to fly the Enzo on long XC flights and I'm worried that if I only fly the Zalps I'll loose the focus required for the Enzo...but I have to be honest, I've never had so much fun flying in booming spring time conditions as I did flying the Z-alps in Nevada."