In getting this shot, another in my collection of old homesteads and the plane, NO damage, the tail ski hit solid ground so no tweaked tailfeathers. Did the right main gear/ski come close to also going in? No, I had another 2 or 3 inches. I was turning my 180 so you can judge by the radius how close that right ski came, speed was about 2 or 3 mph. Damn hard to see in the first picture, when I got out to investigate I was real gentle, not wanting the right ski to follow. After cogitating on the problem for a bit, I got back in, went to full power with the stick ALL the way forward, and I was out of there as slick as can be. I landed again right away and eyeballed everything real close and sure enough, no contact with anything. Stuff happens and hell I built it and I can sure repair it if need be, so sure I push it a bit, one of the great things about a "cheap" homebuilt I guess, it isn't going to break the bank, so I can have more "fun".

That was close. Makes you wonder why the main skis were still up. I notice a pivot and tower in the background. Is the tower used get a radio signal to remotely control the pivot?

No, the antenna is/was for the old cabin, the irrigation system is just stored there by the rancher during the winter, a lot of snowmobile activity takes places there.

Yeah, the right ski came as close as could be, without going in. That would have been a real shovel job getting out of there. Nothing beats a direct overhead looksee, I looked but at an angle, and failed to note this small creek that made the chasm in the snow. A little flat light that day also, not a lot of difinition as I recall.

One of the perils of ski flying some times. It is still a hoot to get out in the snow and just go. We are having major slush issues on the lakes up here this winter (lots of snow with as much as a foot of slush underneath), gives one nightmares.