Harris Hill Soaring Center

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= The Snowbird Contest =

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Harris Hill's Snowbird contest has been held over Thanksgiving weekend for decades, and pits the skills of experts and novice alike to challenging flight tasks. Points are given for accuracy in spot landings and, simultaneously, timed duration flights. Individual pilots or two-person teams compete to execute, say, a flight duration of exactly 15 minutes, plus the spot landing. The contest is held on both Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend each year.

While the contest is certainly one mark of the participants' flying skills, it also a hallmark of a unique camaraderie, found among winterized glider pilots. A number of prizes are given, some serious, some zany, but the only true common denominator is fun. The second contest day is capped with a dinner and an awards ceremony at the National Soaring Museum. You can see the Snowbird Contest Rules and Scoring of this occasionally hilarious contest. Registration is held the morning of each contest day.

Paul A. Schweizer was one of the early boosters of the Snowbird (and still is!), and you should enjoy his article on the early history and lore of the Snowbird. In 2004, Harris Hill Soaring hosts the 62th Annual Snowbird Contest!

Contest categories are: Best Overall Pilot Best Junior Pilot Best Team Best Juniors/Seniors Team Best Club Best Duration Best Spot Landing Juniors and Seniors Bragging Rights Award

List of Winners of Recent Snowbird's

 

2008 Snowbird Results Best Duration 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Best Spot Landing 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Best Junior 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Best Senior 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Justin McMaster Overall Junior Teams 2nd - 1st - Senior Teams 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Joel Carberry / Steve DeMartino Junior/Senior Team 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Family 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Bragging Rights - Clubs 3rd - 2nd - 1st - HHSC

2007 Snowbird Results Best Duration 3rd - Charlie Mampe - 1 second off - Charlie Mampe 2nd - Mitchell Johnson - 0 seconds off / (second flight 89 seconds off) 1st - Carly Mampe - 0 seconds / (second flight 2 seconds off) Best Spot Landing 3rd (tied) - Bryan Riegal & Kevin Conklin (990pts) 2nd - Carly Mampe (995pts) 1st - Justin McMaster (998pts) Best Junior 3rd - Robert Tarcnoczy (Av 813) 2nd - Calvin Mampe (Av 919.25) 1st - Carly Mampe (Av 958.75) Best Senior 3rd - Kevin Conklin (Av 935.25) 2nd - Tim Wells (Av 955.75) 1st - Jason Kainu (Av 991.75) Overall Jason Kainu (Av 991.75) - Next year's CD Junior Teams 2nd - Rachael Conklin & Robert Tarcnoczy (Av. 800.88) 1st - Calvin & Carly Mampe (Av. 939) Senior Teams 3rd - Greg Squires & Jason Kainu (Av 871.63) 2nd - Kevin Conklin & Lincoln Stoller (Av. 878.38) 1st - Charles Mampe & Dan Baker (Av. 866) Junior/Senior Team 3rd - Dan Baker & Robert Tarcnoczy (Av 851.63) 2nd - Charles Mampe & Carlie Mampe (Av. 920.25) 1st - Jason Kainu & Calvin Mampe (Av. 955.50) Family 3rd - Justin & JT McMaster (Av 726.88) 2nd - Rachael & Kevin Conklin (Av. 862) 1st - Calvin & Charlie Mampe (Av 900.50) Bragging Rights - Seniors Clubs 3rd - ERSA 2nd - HHSC 1st - VSC

2006 Snowbird Results Best Duration 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Best Spot Landing 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Best Junior 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Best Senior 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Overall Junior Teams 2nd - 1st - Senior Teams 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Junior/Senior Team 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Family 3rd - 2nd - 1st - Bragging Rights - Clubs 3rd - 2nd - 1st -

2005 Snowbird Results Many thanks to Daniel Hightower, the Contest Manager, and all the folks who helped him out! Duration (tied 1st place): Best Next 1st Bob Rippstein (VSC) 0 sec 45 sec 1st Corky Gill (HHSC) 0 sec 45 sec 2nd Dan Baker (VSC) 4 sec 3rd Tim Welles (HHSC) 6 sec Spot Landing (scored on touch down zone & inches from cone): 1st John Fessenden (HHSC) 0 zone and 17" for a landing score of 983 2nd Alasdair Crawford (VSC) 0 zone and 25" for a landing score of 975 3rd Corey Sullivan (HHSC) 0 zone and 35" for a landing score of 965 Junior Teams: 1st Andy Brayer/Corey Sullivan (HHSC) Averaged team flight score 747.75 2nd Samuel Reger/Michael McCann (HHSC) Averaged team flight score 687 3rd Ryan Smith/Bryan Doane (HHSC) Averaged team flight score 684 VSC had no juniors this year. Senior Teams: 1st Dan Baker/Alasdair Crawford (VSC) Averaged team flight score 749.25 2nd Justin McMaster/Roy McMaster(HHSC) Averaged team flight score 742.25 Family Teams (only one entry this year): 1st Justin McMaster/Roy McMaster(HHSC) Averaged team flight score 742.25 Junior/Senior Teams (only one entry this year): 1st Corky Gill/Nickolay Filippov Averaged team flight score 437.00 Junior (Indiviudual): 1st Corey Sullivan (HHSC) Averaged flight score 909.50 2nd Ryan Smith (HHSC) Averaged flight score 738.00 3rd Samuel Reger (HHSC) Averaged flight score 731.50 VSC had no juniors this year. Senior (Individual): 1st Justin McMaster(HHSC) Average score 797.00 2nd John Fessenden (HHSC) Average score 790.50 3rd Dan Baker (VSC) Average score 758.50 Overall (Individual): 1st Corey Sulivan (HHSC) Average score 909.50 2nd Justin McMaster (HHSC)Average score 797.00 3rd John Fessenden (HHSC) Average score 790.50 Bragging Rights (not that these scores are anthing to Brag about): 1st Seniors - Average of Senior scores: 662.04 2nd Juniots - Average of Junior scores: 633.79 Clubs: 1st HHSC - Average of scores for club 653.92 2nd VSC - Average of scores for club 646.67 The average club scores and average Bragging rites scores kinda show that overall scoring was pretty poor this year. Corey was the ONLY person to get two touchdowns in the zero zone!

62nd Annual Snowbird Contest Winners for 2004 November 26 - 27, 2004   Guest Soaring Club: Valley Soaring, Middletown, NY     Best Duration: 1st place: Dan Baker (Valley Soaring) - 2nd place: Mike McCann (HHSC)   Best Spot Landing: 1st place: Greg Brian (Valley Soaring) - 2nd place: Jason Kanau ( Valley Soaring)   Best Junior: 1st place: Todd Knapp (HHSC) - 2nd place: Ryan Smith (HHSC)   Best Overall: 1st place: Jason Kanau (Valley Soaring) - 2nd place: Todd Knapp (HHSC)   Best Jr./Sr. Team: (None)   Best Jr./Jr Team: Todd Knapp & Ryan Smith (HHSC) - No Jrs. for Valley Soaring   Best Sr./Sr Team: 1st place: Jason Kanau & Robert Haisley ( Valley Soaring) - 2nd place: ??   Best Club: 1st place: HHSC - 2nd place: Valley Soaring Note: The 2-day event comprised 132 aerotows!

2002 Winners' Circle

	60th Annual Snowbird Contest
Competition Category	Winner(s)	Club Represented
Best Overall Pilot	Sam Reger	Harris Hill Soaring
Best Junior Pilot	Sam Reger	Harris Hill Soaring
Best Senior Pilot	Dan Baker	Valley Soaring
Best Team	Alasdair Crawford and Dan Baker	Valley Soaring
Best Junior/Senior Team	Tim and Andy Wells	Harris Hill Soaring
Best Club	Harris Hill Soaring	Harris Hill Soaring
Best Altitude Gain	Steve DeMartino	Harris Hill Soaring
Best Duration	Jim Webb	Harris Hill Soaring
Best Spot Landing	Sam Reger	Harris Hill Soaring
Tom Smith Family Award	Tim and Andy Wells	Harris Hill Soaring
Juniors or Seniors Bragging Rights Award	Seniors	All

Flights Flown - 63

Clubs Represented - Valley Soaring Club, New England Soaring Association, Harris Hill Soaring, and Greater Boston Soaring.

 

 

 

For further information, please contact the HHSC Secretary via e-mail at

secretary@harrishillsoaring.org or via telephone at 607-796-2988.

 

The Saturday awards banquet at the National Soaring Museum will be $12 for adults and $6 for HHSC Juniors and children. The banquet is fully catered, so no need to bring a dish to pass.

Other HHSC annual awards commemorated at the NSM banquet, or at the Community Soaring Day Luncheon a week later: Speckman Award for Outstanding Junior Member, Outstanding Senior Member Award, Bernie Carris Award, Joseph C. Lincoln Memorial Award for soaring writing, Joe Scott Missing Man Memorial Award for badge flights by juniors, and Christian Jansen Award for cross country soaring activities. (Click for details)

Paul A. Schweizer's essay on the origins and early days of the Snowbird Contest.

Official Rules of the Snowbird Contest.

Photos of some recent Snowbird Contests

Official Score sheet and landing zone diagram for the Snowbird Contest.

 

The Snowbird Award! This is a picture of the venerable Snowbird Contest trophy showing our signature stuffed and plucked Snowbird - courtesy of HHSC's John "Corky" Gill.

 

HHSC Web Site Index

04/22/2009