D
Dave Shattuck
Guest
First, let me apologize for my tardiness in getting this report posted. Shortly after arriving back home on Saturday I started putting my thoughts together only to find when it came time to do the cut-n-paste onto Benchrest Central that our Internet/Phone Service had crapped out and didn’t get rebooted until only recently. Now for the rest of the story.
Paul and Todd, as it turned out you guys were the lucky ones. I know how much you both wanted to be there, and would have if circumstances had been different, but as it turned out, believe me when I say: Todd, your trip 250+ mile trip would have been one of the most challenging of any you have ever made, and Paul, you would have been absolutely miserable the whole day through!
What a different kind of day it was. After being -12° on the Saturday before followed by a solid week of well below freezing temperatures both day and night, the weather had finally started to warm. The problem became that overnight on Friday we received an icy rain followed in the morning by it warming just enough to let the rain fall - and fall it did - straight onto a still frozen ground causing everything to turn to nothing but a sheet of ice, including the roads. And everything stayed that way for most of the rest of the day. Did I mention the fog? Almost blinding.
The driving to the Club was okay so long as you kept your speed way down. The main roads were more slushy than icy, but that all changed in a hurry for those last 4.5 miles up the Mountain to the Club. Those were the worst conditions I’ve ever seen in my 19+ years of making the trip. And, as would be expected, the higher the elevation became, the worse the roads were. To make matters even worse, for some unknown reason the town hadn’t bothered to drop a grain of sand or chemicals yet in order to help us gain any kind of traction. Even when in 4 Wheel Drive drive I could feel myself loosing speed as the tires spun on ever incline. And, let’s not even talk about when it came to cornering. Then, once at the range we were facing a parking lot that started out as a skating rink, but now had an added layer of rain making it all the more treacherous. And the rain wasn’t over as it continued to fall off and on throughout the day. Luckily I carry several buckets of sand in the back of my pick-up for the extra weight during the winter, so once I could get back there without breaking my own neck could quickly solved that problem. We all decided to take the longer, alternate, less steep route back down the hill after the match. Even then, the option road was every bit as slippery, just not as steep.
There were only 3 of us who had braved the trip up the Mountain. When we arrived we found everything was wet and damp because of the rain and fog, so the first order of business was to get the wood stove lit. As we continued our set up our hopes began to focus on the potential for high scores as the wind was showing us nothing above 3MPH, and usually was sitting at a dead calm. But, with Pinnacle being Pinnacle, as always came that moment soon after the match began, and after being lulled into that false feeling of confidence, when suddenly would appear an on-target hole not quite where it was supposed to be. And the trend of throwing shots continued. All we could figure was it must have been some unforeseen condition, you know, like maybe the pellet being struck by a raindrop or drop of water falling from the roof immediately upon obtaining free-flight?
Throughout the match the conditions remained the same: foggy, damp, cold and rainy with little to no wind. To make matters even more miserable, for some reason the wood stove was rebelling against offering much heat even though we had a good fire burning. Everything got wet through, including all 5 layers of my clothing - soaked to the bone so to speak. That’s why Paul should be glad he didn’t try to be there as it would have been one very long ride home from Pinnacle Mountain back to S. Weymouth.
The results for our January 11th, 2014 20FPE Class Pinnacle Mountain BIPM Match are as follows:
SHOOTER••••••••••••TARGET 1••••••••••TARGET 2•••••••••••TARGET 3•••••••AGG. TOTAL
••••••••••••••••••Score-X-FM-FMX••••Score-X-FM-FMX•••••Score-X-FM-FMX•••••••Score-X
Dan Brown••••••••••246-5X-6-2•••••••••243-8X-11-2•••••••••247-10X-3-1••••••••736-23X
Mark Normandin••••227-6X-1-1•••••••••245-7X-4-2••••••••••243-10X-3-1••••••••715-23X
Dave Shattuck•••••••231-3X-1-1•••••••••242-5X-4-1••••••••••241-1X-4-1•••••••••714-9X
Please note: unless something drastically changes, as of right now that’s going to do it for our 2014 Airgun Benchrest Season at Pinnacle Mountain. We just got started, and now the end has come. Too bad, but that’s the way it has to be. Although, the good news for some of you is: you won’t have to put up with my lengthy reports any longer. I hope to see you all at a range somewhere throughout the year.
Dave Shattuck, Range Master/Match Director signing off
Paul and Todd, as it turned out you guys were the lucky ones. I know how much you both wanted to be there, and would have if circumstances had been different, but as it turned out, believe me when I say: Todd, your trip 250+ mile trip would have been one of the most challenging of any you have ever made, and Paul, you would have been absolutely miserable the whole day through!
What a different kind of day it was. After being -12° on the Saturday before followed by a solid week of well below freezing temperatures both day and night, the weather had finally started to warm. The problem became that overnight on Friday we received an icy rain followed in the morning by it warming just enough to let the rain fall - and fall it did - straight onto a still frozen ground causing everything to turn to nothing but a sheet of ice, including the roads. And everything stayed that way for most of the rest of the day. Did I mention the fog? Almost blinding.
The driving to the Club was okay so long as you kept your speed way down. The main roads were more slushy than icy, but that all changed in a hurry for those last 4.5 miles up the Mountain to the Club. Those were the worst conditions I’ve ever seen in my 19+ years of making the trip. And, as would be expected, the higher the elevation became, the worse the roads were. To make matters even worse, for some unknown reason the town hadn’t bothered to drop a grain of sand or chemicals yet in order to help us gain any kind of traction. Even when in 4 Wheel Drive drive I could feel myself loosing speed as the tires spun on ever incline. And, let’s not even talk about when it came to cornering. Then, once at the range we were facing a parking lot that started out as a skating rink, but now had an added layer of rain making it all the more treacherous. And the rain wasn’t over as it continued to fall off and on throughout the day. Luckily I carry several buckets of sand in the back of my pick-up for the extra weight during the winter, so once I could get back there without breaking my own neck could quickly solved that problem. We all decided to take the longer, alternate, less steep route back down the hill after the match. Even then, the option road was every bit as slippery, just not as steep.
There were only 3 of us who had braved the trip up the Mountain. When we arrived we found everything was wet and damp because of the rain and fog, so the first order of business was to get the wood stove lit. As we continued our set up our hopes began to focus on the potential for high scores as the wind was showing us nothing above 3MPH, and usually was sitting at a dead calm. But, with Pinnacle being Pinnacle, as always came that moment soon after the match began, and after being lulled into that false feeling of confidence, when suddenly would appear an on-target hole not quite where it was supposed to be. And the trend of throwing shots continued. All we could figure was it must have been some unforeseen condition, you know, like maybe the pellet being struck by a raindrop or drop of water falling from the roof immediately upon obtaining free-flight?
Throughout the match the conditions remained the same: foggy, damp, cold and rainy with little to no wind. To make matters even more miserable, for some reason the wood stove was rebelling against offering much heat even though we had a good fire burning. Everything got wet through, including all 5 layers of my clothing - soaked to the bone so to speak. That’s why Paul should be glad he didn’t try to be there as it would have been one very long ride home from Pinnacle Mountain back to S. Weymouth.
The results for our January 11th, 2014 20FPE Class Pinnacle Mountain BIPM Match are as follows:
SHOOTER••••••••••••TARGET 1••••••••••TARGET 2•••••••••••TARGET 3•••••••AGG. TOTAL
••••••••••••••••••Score-X-FM-FMX••••Score-X-FM-FMX•••••Score-X-FM-FMX•••••••Score-X
Dan Brown••••••••••246-5X-6-2•••••••••243-8X-11-2•••••••••247-10X-3-1••••••••736-23X
Mark Normandin••••227-6X-1-1•••••••••245-7X-4-2••••••••••243-10X-3-1••••••••715-23X
Dave Shattuck•••••••231-3X-1-1•••••••••242-5X-4-1••••••••••241-1X-4-1•••••••••714-9X
Please note: unless something drastically changes, as of right now that’s going to do it for our 2014 Airgun Benchrest Season at Pinnacle Mountain. We just got started, and now the end has come. Too bad, but that’s the way it has to be. Although, the good news for some of you is: you won’t have to put up with my lengthy reports any longer. I hope to see you all at a range somewhere throughout the year.
Dave Shattuck, Range Master/Match Director signing off
