I live in the kent area and own two alula gliders, I have been mostly SALing them but want to have the experience of slope soaring. Any suggestions help, or if you know of another forum that has washington area sloping spots listed, let me know.

Thanks

Have you checked Slople.com?

There are some great slope sites in the Tri-cities area of WA.

Try this thread;
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1206628

Slople is new to me, thanks.

Pat - Alula can be flown almost anywhere. Check out the SASS websight. Discovery park, Gasworks park tons of spot up in the mountains around Rampart ridge along I-90. Tri cities has epic slopes and wind but there are hundreds of Alula flyable sights between your place and there. Pretty much any steep hill with wind blowing up it and not too many trees can work for you.

Lee

Tri-Cities is serious slope country - big planes, big wind, big $$, big trip.
The Alula is .....tiny......not happy with big wind and big slopes (unless the wind is very gentle).

The greater Seattle Metro area kinda sucks for slope. Most of the good hills have houses or trees on them. I know, I've looked a lot.
Gasworks is fine and would work for you in ~ 10-20mph. Check the 520 bridge from the south.
I've used it when the wind and weather lines up properly as I'm only about 15" away.
The problem with Gasworks is it has to be from the S. so it's frontal (storm) wind and tends to be gusty and cold. In the summer it's covered with people.

The Gorge is good but that's a serious trip again. Sloping is my alternative activity when the windsurfing is not yet up to speed. There's a nice overlap.
The Alula is generally too small for a lot of action there but would work on very easy days. The Weasel is better down there for easy days.
Discovery Park is advanced. Screw up and your plane is gone.....as in never see it again. I've looked at it a bunch (mother in law lives nearby) and I won't do it. A powered sloper would be OK probably. Again, people can be a problem.

As Lee said, start looking for semi-steep hills with no obstructions and a facing wind. For a tiny plane there may be some that might work.

Some reading for you:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1204991
http://www.shallowsky.com/planes/weasel/slopetips.html

Here's a video of sloping Gasworks on a nice day. I have no idea how he got that video. I'm generally dressed like I'm going snowmobiling. Standing in 40*F and 25mph of wind with no exercise other than your fingers is nasty cold.

This spot looks fun

Le Fish at Whidby_0003.wmv (2 min 31 sec)

Steve

Don't forget the hang glider hill above Issaquah Hobart Rd. park at the bottom and hike up. Also any peak above a valley on a nice day will have some thermal chimney action going.

Tri cities is a 3 hour drive but worth it if you want some serious slope action. Fellows come from far and near to tear up the sky in big air conditions. Worth checking out. Every year they have a large combat gathering http://mcs.rchomepage.com/2013combat.html Big fun and mayhem (helmet required).

Don't forget the Alula is a gateway drug to DLG

I haven't done Issaquah. That could be a decent outing. My wife did the hike and saw a slope guy there. The Alula might be made for that kind of outing.
Rampart Ridge, from my reading, is another very advanced site.

Remember, the OP hasn't sloped at all and has a pretty limited slope plane. It's advantage is small and light wind so it might do well in some spots. That's pretty intimidating the first few times out. Slopes where there's a middling or higher chance of losing your plane are pretty daunting until you've been a few times.
I have a Weasel, not an Alula but I've been out on light days with a buddy having one and he's only got a couple MPH at the bottom on me and I have a lot more on the upper end.

I've been to Whidbey but it wasn't a good day. Nice looking site. Take your Discover Pass.
With a ferry in the way it's more hassle to get there.

Eagle Butte

Just another epic day at Eagle! Not the best video, but you will get the idea of big wind.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showa...hmentid=725978

All we had to fly in the big winds were JW's\Gulp's back in the day. Now Higgins ships seems to the go to planes for the big air!

This Sunday has the makings of Big Air day! Too bad I have other plans this weekend. Next weekend, day trip Saturday! If the wind is working.

Hood River is also a great place to fly.

We are planing a trip down in the month or two.

Nice video Craig! That's what I'm talkin about. My Voodoo should be here Monday. Can't wait to build it.

Where is that Hood River photo taken from? Up 35?

Thanks for all the ideas! I will try out some of the more local spots listed.

Isn`t that WIndago Lane above White Salmon? Mike

I was under the impression Windago was private property.