If at al possible, start with hands-on help from an EXPERIENCED slope pilot !!!
Gregg,
Even though you are an experienced model sailplane pilot, I'd urge you to FIRST AND FOREMOST get a veteran SLOPE "fiend" to trim out any new model you might have, and afterward then help you learn to fly slopes with it yourself.
So, from my hard-earned expereince decades ago flying off california shoreline slopes, here's what I'd humbly add to what others have said in this thread...
If at all possible, DO NOT throw a model off a slope until you have arranged first to have a seasoned slope-soaring flyer do the following:
1.) Thoroughly "pre-flight" the plane to ascertain airworthiness for SLOPE flying. We're talking about things like optimal c/g location(s), ballast, airframe structural strength & shock absorption, control surface travel/servo throw, etc.
2.) Identify the SAFEST slope location vis a vis lift, wind shear, turbulence, landing options, retrieval safety, etc.
3.) Have the experienced slope flyer give you the low-down on the shall we say "interesting" dynamics inherent in flying models off slopes:
How and where and WHEN to launch a model, how to keep the thing out of the mouths of sea otters, sea lions, barracudas, and rattlesnakes (not to mention all those jagged slippery blue-green algae'd ROCKS), and then how to slap that airplane down onto the slope after a great flight aloft!
This stuff is hard to communicate on paper or online! It involves hand motions ;-)
4.) Have your new slope pal actually DO the flying until the plane is trimmed out, and then have that same person take the plane high and upwind/upslope and then give you some stick time to get the feel of the upwind/crosswind/downwind flight regime and so on.
I hope all that does not make it seem like some kind of hassle to learn slope flying... because slope is no hassle. It's a BLAST !!!
You just don't want to see your servos bouncing off the abalone shells and kelp at high tide...from a viewpoint of nine feet below
the water's surface!!! Trust me, I KNOW about such thangs!!!
You'll LOVE slope-soaring! And me, I'm awful jealous you're at AWESOME Morro Bay!)