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FlyBC "Site of the Day" - May 8/2011
Woodside around noon
“More guts than a pork sausage!" - Martin Henry
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Coaches Corner for May 8/2011 - I will be at the Ranch at 10 am. Small, Medium & Large Delta demos are here for a few days for testing. |  We sell and dispense ADRENALINE here at FlyBC. The best "over-the-counter cure" for weekday/workday boredom. Click here to find out why FlyBC is your "best and only" choice for paraglider/paramotor training. . At FlyBC all our Instructors are Certified Professionals, trained and registered with the HPAC and USHPA, unlike other schools who rely on untrained pilots to do student guiding. We offer the best training value in BC! We are authorized dealers for Ozone, SkyCountry, Gin, Nova, Paratoys Paramotors, Advance, APCO, Wills Wing and many other Brands. The 2011 fleet of Delta demo gliders in Small, Medium and Large are coming to FlyBC in May. Reserve a test ride. The rest will be here within a week. Ozone announces the new Rush III now on sale at FlyBC Cool & Funny Video from Kevin Ault The Ozone Delta Video from Ozone 2011
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Click on the picture for more pictures from todays work party fun as well as other May activitiesRiverside & Bridal Work Party Report - Thanks to the WCSC Volunteers today who made your LZs safer. It was a wet, cold day but we had 14 volunteers come out and work at Bridal and Riverside this morning. Riverside Team: Lee, Mark T, Kevin, Steve, Claudia, Peter, Ihor, Thomm, Chris, Mark F all worked hard to rid Riverside of Blackberries and Gorse. Thanks also go out to Rob, Wade and the Other Martin for working on the ditch levelling project at the Bridal LZ today. We met at the Sasquatch and had Pizzas and drinks to warm up after getting soaked. Everyone went home and I arrived back at the Ranch to find that Kerry, my tandem passenger came out despite the weather and wanted to go flying. I said it was unlikely just as the sky opened up and the rain stopped! Mark F said he would drive for us so we went to launch and were rewarded with a magical flight into the Ranch. Pictures and video of Riverside, and our flight today by clicking the picture above. What a great day! Martina & Derek's Europe Report - We've been hesitant to send in any flight reports since the only other ones we see posted on your site are "FAI" this and "100k" that. Unfortunately our flights are a little more boring - only 10-20 km flights throughout the valley here in sunny Slovenia. :) - Martina & Derek  Launch is the ridge right in the middle of the picture (the "middle step" on the hill that slopes down with 3 bumps). The LZ is at the base of what looks like Cemetery Hill. - captured by MKL  Here's the LZ for the other site. The pink building beside the highway is the bar, you can sit outside & watch who lands in the "Pro Triangle" (although you can land in any of the other fields of course.) - captured by MKL
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Bridal Report - cut down tall offending bush/tree at the east end of LZ. Installed more plywood over nasty ditch and built a small bridge for garden tractors and pilots to cross nasty ditch. | Rob will be at Bridal managing the remaining work at 8 am Saturday May 7. Jim will be at Riverside mowing and handing out tools to volunteers there to clean out the blackberries. 9 - 11 am should do it. Thanks in advance for coming out.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from todays mowing fun as well as other May activitiesBridal LZ Report - Alan, Rob S and I met at the Bridal LZ today and did a reconn mission. A bit too good of a reconn mission apparently! We took out the brush cutter and my riding mower and started cutting back the tall grass to see how bad it was going to be on Saturday and promptly got the riding mower stuck in the NE corner (too swampy). After Alan and I freed it up it was clear sailing (or cutting)? I was running the brush cutter and Alan was driving the riding mower and we soon had the LZ twice as large as 2010. Rob showed up and took a few turns and it got even bigger. We have mowed east of the tree to be removed. Alan will take care of the tree on Friday. Rob is going to take over the project on Saturday at 9 am to move some of the dirt near the ditch to some low spots so we need some shovellers and wheelbarrows to move it. We can re-mow the LZ when it gets drier and really make the LZ shine. Now for the big change in the weekend plans: I need some volunteers in Riverside to cut back the blackberries after we mow there on Saturday May 7. Loppers, brushcutters, weedwhackers needed. We can meet in Riverside at 9 am, for those who don't want to shovel dirt at Bridal where Rob is managing the show. It should also take no more than 2 hours, rain or shine at either location.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other May activitiesSavona Report - another big day for the AB students. We started right at the top launch at Savona around 11 am, and Cedric and Joe flew off first and Cedric had to go to the Valley LZ, and Joe was soon coming in after him when Joe hit some lift and started working the thermals hard. After getting his turns coordinated, he started to climb and was soon above launch and heading to the Crash Pad LZ. About 3/4 of the way there he got parked as the SE winds kicked in as forecast. He got battered a bit by turbulence and I suggested he head downwind to the Valley LZ and he was coming back at over 70 kph! Good landing into the gusty winds and they kited a bit while we drove down. We went to the Dump Ridge and I pulled out the DeSCent 15 speed wing for them to kite after clipping in and testing the air. Jake clipped in first and got pretty good at controlling the DeSCent 15 so I suggested he fly it down. Too bad he didn't have a radio as he forgot to crab into the wind and landeed on the wrong side of the road, but a good landing was accomplished. We headed to Ashcroft for calmer winds and were rewarded with stronger winds from the opposite direction? While trying to see if it was safe to fly off the south side of Coyote Hill we tried kiting a wing and it wouldn't get firm overhead, suggesting rotor so we were packing up when Lee called from Savona and said the lake was glassy, and the smoke going straight up. We raced back and straight to Deadman's Launch and everyone got 2 flights except Katrina. She was too tired after a week of FlyBC Adrenaline, and an exciting landing in the parking lot at Lower Savona Launch. We went back to the campground and the AB pilots wrote their beginner exams and "aced" them with only a few mistakes. They logged 15 flights off 5 different sites and their new Ozone gear is almost here. We are committed to getting pilots signed off here, and the last 3 weeks of Savona flying is a testament to that. Gilles got signed off in 2 weeks, and these folks are 1/2 way to being signed off in 5 days. Bridal Work Party Plans for May 7 - we are still planning to be at Bridal LZ at 9 am Saturday to extend the mowed area. Wheelbarrows, shovels, rakes, weed-whackers, muscles needed. Rain or shine we want to make this LZ safer. Woodside/Bridal Report - I takled to Alan D and Norm L and they both had good flights, Nikolai was complaining about rough air at Woodside but made it over to Bridal where he landed. Darren W was out for the first time this year and top-landed (or flop-landed) to retrieve his truck. Norm said he though the air at Woodside was fine, but he is on the Delta!
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other May activitiesSavona Report - we started off by heading up to Deadman's Upper Launch at 10 am. Cedric launched first to test the air and got some lift and made it to the Crash Pad. Katrina launched next and after 15 minutes of ridge soaring she also made the Crash Pad on a Flight Design A4. After those two launched a snow cell let go NW of us and the cycles went lame. Hugo joined us and took new student Blake for a tandem as part of his tandem recertification and they had a nice tandem into the Valley LZ as the cycles/themals died off. Jake went last and followed Hugo into the Valley LZ. I headed down to get everyone and Cedric started kiting on the Toilet Bowl Ridge and managed 2 more flights before it blew out. Everyone got a few more flights off the Toilet Bowl including Hugo who ridge soared for sometime getting high enough to top-land a few times on a Buzz. It got pretty strong so we went to lunch and then headed to Coyote Hill near Ashcroft. When we arrived it was SW so we looked at the South Launch and discussed landing options. Never land in a gulley was my sage advice! As we watched the winds swing 180 degrees and we headed to the normal launch facing Ashcroft Manor. Everyone bagged a nice flight down to the Manor, and Blake was kiting the A4 on top when he had several good reverse inflations in light wind, and then a few perfect forward infaltions and I decided why not fly down? Off Blake went for solo #1 and a perfect flight and touchdown. By now it was 5 pm and we headed back to our camps, and I drove down to the Valley through Merritt where it was howling. It was hard to keep the Suburban in my lane on the highway! all the way to Hope was windy, yet we managed to find calm winds at Ashcroft. Productive Day!
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Savona Report - we tried flying Ashcroft in the morning but before we could try a flight it blew over the back at Coyote Ridge. | We headed to Savona and we had east winds so we thought we would kite until the west kicked in here.  FlyBC groundhandling session at the Crash Pad (note student is 200 lbs on a 15 meter DeSCent Speed Wing) - captured by JPR It got strong fast and we had to resort to kiting the APCO Prima 22 and Sky Country DeSCent 15 for safety and students (and I) were getting dragged around. Time to go for lunch! I went into Kamloops and met up with Terry B and got his Vista L which he is selling as he stepped up to an Axis glider. It was stormy in Kamloops and it was a good time for Suburban maintenance. When I made it back to Savona it was still gusty but the forecast looks good for the next two days here. Belated Flora Peak Report from Biff from last weekend Flora Fun with Lots of Sun from Kevin Ault on Vimeo.
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Woodside Report - we had a good day despite a clogged up launch at Woodside. | Instructors and Pilots alike need to ensure that they are clipped in and ready before getting into the launch slot. Several students from an un-named school were seen getting into the launch slot with twisted risers or other issues that took too long (IMHO) to resolve tying up launch. If something isn't right get out of line and start over. It is too crowded on weekends to have this tying up launch. We had the 4 pilots from AB here to experience Woodside after an awesome day on Saturday at Savona and they all did fantastic, getting to soar above launch and learn a new landing zone. We also had Steve, Lee, Chris and Tom out training today. Colleen and I did our first Groupon tandems with May and Shannon and they had a ball despite the long wait to launch due to congestion. Woodside XC Report - many XC pilots left Woodside today with one notable accomplishment - Al broke the 100 km barrier today on his Ozone Mantra M4. Click here to see what the Woodside offered up today for those on Leonardo. Many pilots today completed the Raymont Challenge (Woodside-Bridal-Woodside triangle).
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other April activitiesSavona Report - I had 5 new students today; Cedric, Katrina, Jake, Joe all from Alberta and Samid from BC and it was a very productive day. I was haunted by the forecast of 30-50 km winds all day long but they didn't materialize. We had steady West winds which worked well for the Toilet Bowl Ridge for beginner flights and kiting practice, and they all got to learn and use our reverse technique. After 3 flights into the Toilet Bowl, we headed up to Oscar's Launch and it was quite strong at 4 pm! No way for even advanced pilots would it be safe. Same reports later from Kamloops Dome pilots. But we persevered and went to the Lower Launch and it was perfect there, with light winds in the Valley LZ where we installed a windsock a few years ago. First off Samid and he had a nice landing despite some confusion on the wind direction in the LZ. Next off Joe for another perfect flight with some thermals. Then Jake, with a slight overshoot on landing but still free of sagebrush. Then it went off! Katrina flew off on the ultrasafe Prima 22 and was climbing fast and I suggested she head to the Crash Pad but rethought it as I wouldn't see her approach so she landed on the road near the Toilet Bowl. Cedric had a few issues getting off as it was windier and we had a few aborts but he was soon rewarded with a classic glass-off flight! He was climbing way above Upper Launch and he headed to the crash Pad where it took another 15 minutes to land as it was still quite thermic there. He was all smiles! Tomorrow Woodside for the Albertans. Bridal Report - I hope you guys had a good day in Savona. We sure did! Tom Chromy & I flew to Elk in very unusual conditions: between clouds suck, strong ridge lift and thermals. It was awesome! We could not see top of the mountains but it didn't stop us from flying. As a matter of fact I have never seen it being so easy :) All the way we didn't even have to turn (just at the end and in the beginning to get high enough). Then I finished the day by flying that 15 m Speed Wing off Bridal. It was awesome! It was around 6 pm, so it calmed down completely - Tonya
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other April activitiesWoodside Report - we started flying Woodside at 1 pm, and by 6 pm Gilles had logged 4 flights and 2 mini-XCs to Harvest Market, and a trip to cloudbase on his 35th flight. John M, James and Phil were out too and flew about 3 flights as they had a driver. Later Kevin & Degas joined us and had a nice flight on his M4 doing laps in the strong air out and back to the Ranch. James & Phil caught the evening glass-off and were at 900 meters when we left for the Sasquatch and dinner.
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Woodside Report - too many errands to run for Savona today, plus I had to check out the new snow on Bridal & Woodside launches. | Tornadoes tear up central US - while we were enjoying the interior weather, Yahoo reports 225 killed as over 800 tornadoes tear through the US. My prayers go out to those affected.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other April activitiesSavona Report - I had Gilles back to fly with Daniel at Savona. Forecasted west wind did not materialize until 4 pm, and by then we had soared the Dump Ridge, had a high flight off Oscar's Launch and more kiting so the day was a success. Gilles had a 15 minute soaring flight on the Dump Ridge before it shut down too!
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Savona Report - we were standing on the Toilet Bowl Ridge at noon and it was gusty due to localized rain cells. | The forecasted west wind was actually north and Daniel did the first flight soaring to the north at the Toilet Bowl. Then it switched west, and we used the west facing Toilet Bowl Launch for flight 2. Then at 1 pm, it switched to strong East. Over to the Dump Ridge, for some soaring and more flights. Flight #3 for Daniel was a soaring flight with a top-landing! Flight #4 was a side-hill landing just below launch and flight #5 was a shorter sled ride into the LZ as it went calm. Good day and we were gas we didn't try Merritt again as it was gisting to +30 knots most of the day there. Gilles is back tomorrow and we are staying in Savona fo a few more days.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today in Merritt as well as other April activitiesMerritt Report - we were driving through Merritt and it looked perfect, light winds on the ground from the SW. We drove to the launch on top of Sugarloaf Mountain, and there was only some snow in the shady hollows and the road was clear and muddy in spots. Perfect straight in reversible cycles awaited Daniel after 2 hours of reverse launch practice at the Ranch yesterday. He did a perfect reverse launch and was airborne immediately. See the video by clicking on the picture link above. It was soarable if one stayed in tight to the ridge, and there were thermals out in the valley which extended his flights to 15-20 minutes. We managed 2 flights before it started to precipitate on us in the form of snow? As the snow cell moved through it got quite gusty and even turned NE in the airport, so we drove back to the Valley. It is better to drive 1.5 hours and get two flights than sit around waiting for the rain to possibly stop in the Fraser Valley. Merritt might become a popular rainy day destination for PGers and HGers.
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Woodside Report - we started flying Woodside at 9:30 am, and Daniel managed 2 flights before it got too windy in the LZs. | After yesterday's crowds it was a bit weird to have launch to ourselves. The rain in Vancouver must have dampened everyones enthusasim? Martin H was out flying his new shiny Delta. Andrei and Louise braved the skies, along with Brad H and Ken H (gone for 2 years working too hard). Later Kevin took his daughter for a windy tandem ride to Harvest, but it was soarable as forecasted most of the day. Rain didn't hit til 3 pm, when we finished doing reverse launch practice at the Ranch with a Bald Eagle sitting on the goal post trees heckling Daniel! Savona Report - It looked like most HG pilots were hung over from last night's big birthday bash for John at the Savona Pub...apparently they were at it until 2:30am. In any case there weren't a lot of pilots flying today :) Forecast was for pre-frontal and increasing west winds, so Alex and I opted to stay local and just have a fun flight. Launched and beamed to 2600m+ and it was indeed windy from the south up high, and you could see the cu's forming as the front moved in. Flew south to the Oscar's side to the clouds but the thermals were feeding them too far back in the next range for me to reach them, so I just boated around and eventually decided to land at the International LZ. Alex flew partway to Split Rock up the Deadman's Valley and back to launch and also came out to the International. When we left there were still a few HG pilots in the air as the cu's started dropping virga and it shaded out. But it was hot and sunny in the LZ; it felt like summer! On the way back it started raining around Yale and continued all the way into the city...sigh - Nicole Savona Report - Just got back from Savona. Had an incredible few days. Flew Friday, Saturday, and today. Big lift, strong winds, did an out and almost return. All pilots had a good time and lots of flying was done. Met a lot of the old time hang glider pilots and very thankful to have switched to paragliding. No down tubes which is a bonus - The other Martin
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Woodside Tandemonium Report - let the tandem season begin! We had 4 tandems to do today including new student Daniel from OZ who went with Colleen for her first tandem of the year. | After that I had three more tandems to finish and they were all soaring tandems getting above launch in some nice thermals, we had a super last tandem duking it out with the solo pilots and doing some SATs over the Ranch. Daniel and Tom W had two flights during the day getting above launch both times. The mountain was pretty busy today with 40 plus pilots getting airborne, some going XC to Harrison while some crossed to Ludwig. Click here to see what the Canada offered up today for those on Leonardo. Kevin's M4 Report - Got the new wing into the air today. Missed yesterday which was the biggest day so far this year and arriving at launch it was clear that it would not be as easy as pilots had it yesterday. First I had to take one tandem and Paul was having a good time til his tummy sent him that message that it didn't like thermaling so we headed out with Paul flying the wing most of the way to Eagle ranch for a nice touchdown and a quick tossing of the cookies. Note to self - pack some gravol in the kit for those susceptible to motion sickness. Arrived to join the massive launch cue and left the ground just after 2 pm. Samplonius was just behind me. Sather was up and working it ahead of me. Thielman was long gone. Caught lift immediately and managed to fly the M4 like a Swift for about three minutes before taking a 30% assymetric a few hundred meters over launch. Didn't try pumping it out right away - just counter-steered and found the glider flew very nicely. A few pumps re-inflated the canopy and I got the message - more outside brake required. I had no other collapses on what was to prove a pretty big XC for my first flight. I left Woodside and began making my way east to Agasizz Mtn. where Robin and Matt J were thermaling several hundred meters over the top. By the time I arrived, they had left for Bear but I really wanted to try Samplonius' method of going to Green Hill and jumping the shorter gap. This was fine except there were no beeps as I passed over the hill at 1000 meters. I was quite happy to keep going towards Cheam and decided to land at the Popkum overpass if I didn't get up. As it was, the M4 arrived at the base of the mountain at 200 meters and I found a thermal. Shortly after I was at 1700 meters and making my way to Gloria and on to Elk. Here I worked quite hard in the ratty air to get just shy of 1900 meters and then I turned the wing towards Riverside and relaxed for the next 25 minutes on the long glide across the valley, arriving at Riverside with under 150 meters and no low saves. And the glider? Ozone has done it again by taking a serial class wing and upping the performance without sacrificing the fun factor. I am, once again a totally satisfied customer. Savona Report - Nicole & Alex reported they had a nice Out & Return to Cache Creek from Oscar's Launch at Savona for 50 kms. Launched Deadman's around 3:30pm 'cause it was too east earlier. Flew west to Basil's Bump at Cache Creek and then flew back to Deadman's. Landed just short of the toilet bowl since it was still east winds and late in the day. Wally picked us up! About 50km out and return. John McLintock flew with us and made it all the way back on his Atos. Martin Noweselski did a mini XC and landed near the rodeo. About 30 HGs here and a couple of PGs. Hope it was good weather too in the Fraser Valley - Nicole.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other April activitiesWoodside Report - a truly awesome day for students and advanced pilots too. Too many personal bests to list them all, but many are on Leonardo. Al and Martin H were heading north to Saint Benedict, and they both brought it home to Woodside on different routes. Al's route is pretty wild. Tom Chromy completed the Raymont Challenge - Woodside-Bear-Ludwig-Ek-Woodside. Click here to see what the Woodside offered up today for those on Leonardo. Our students Tom W and Steve M did very well with good soaring flights and good landings in different conditions at the Ranch. Tom was flying his new Paratoys Momentum II glider in free flight getting used to it before he commits to trying his Paratoys HE120 motor unit. One incident did mar the day as Igor (PG) and Tom (HG) collided mid-air and did some damaged to Igor's glider, but the resumed flying and Igor top-landed to repair his glider with help from our spares kit. One broken line and two rips were repaired and he took off around 5 pm and flew an XC flight to Bridal. I even got to fly later, and the lift was huge and strong at 5 pm, I flew the R09 around the mountain and did a run to Sasquatch barely losing any height leaving at 1300 meters before landing at the Ranch to retrieve our truck.
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Blanchard Gloat Report - Al headed to Blanchard and temed up with Matty Senior from Seattle area and had a great flatlands XC. They "duked it out" for a few hours before Al made it back to Blanchard and top-landed on the west side on his shiny new M4 (good news for Doug M). | Woodside No-Fly Report - Louise and Ihor came by and we waited for sun and for the winds to calm down. Colleen arrived at 2 pm, and her reports of birds being "turbulated" all the way from Deroche to here didn't inspire us much. In the end it calmed down but we were on to chores and other things by then. I couldn't even talk the agassiz Desperado Team (Derek & Martina) to come over cause they are packing for Europe.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other April activitiesSavona Report - Gilles and I met at 10 am, and headed up to Deadman's PG Launch to find perfect inflow cycles despite east valley winds. By the time Gilles got setup and clipped in it turned east on launch too. We waited while being entertained by Sandhill Cranes migrating past Savona today. There were at least 8 different gaggles all with 100 birds or more. Click on the picture for video of these amazing thermalling critters. I have flown with these birds in Mexico and they have a glide like an ATOS when the transition, and they are not threatened by paragliders or hanggliders. Gilles finally got a decent cycle and he was off and soaring, not as efficiently as the cranes, but he almost made it back to the Crash Pad before bailing into the Valley. We went back up for a second flight and it was a repeat with cross cycles and little lift but good practice for Gilles' 5th site and 29th flight. Woodside Report - while we headed east, Al and the Gang stayed at Mother Woodside and had awesome flights. I was talking to Alan on the way home and he said he got 30 minutes at Bridal and saw Al coming below Lower Bridal Launch under a snow cloud. Al made it back up and away and got high enough to glide to Hopyard Hill where he caught a thermal that took him into Harvest Market! Al is crediting his Magic Machine, the Ozone Mantra M4. Alex R had a great flight too getting to 1800 meters at Bear and making it back to Woodside where he toplanded to go retrieve Al (what teamwork). Click here to see what the Canuck Pilots have been achieving despite the crappy weather this season.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other April activitiesWoodside Report - it was snowing when I got up but we flew three great flights at Woodside between snow and rain showers and all were semi-soarable. Gotta Love Motha Woodside!  FlyBC WebCam shot from today - captured by Gerry L Obviously something wrong with the web cam again , white flecks appearing on the screen. Check the router , in the late 50s our TV had this problem , we used to turn the antenna sometime that helped - Gerry L.
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Woodside Report - Gilles is nearly finished his Novice Rating. He logged 4 good soaring flights today in difficult conditions, trying to get high enough to go XC to Harvest Market LZ, but the lift was too fickle due to cloudcover and the odd snowshower. | We took a break mid-day for lunch and to retrieve Rob's Toyota at Modern Tire where he had to get a new alternator after it konked driving down Bridal last night. I was there to get a tire for the Suzuki too, after shredding one on Woodside on Saturday. Paragliding is hard on trucks, so gas contributions are welcome and accepted with a smile. After lunch we headed back to Woodside, but the thunderstorm over Sumas Mountain was heading our way forcing Ian J to land his Rans Coyote ultralight to wait out the storm after he took off from Chilliwack Airport. When it passed Ian went to King George Airpark and we headed up the mountain for Gilles, Chris B & Ryan K to fly one last flight before dinner.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other April activitiesWoodside Report - we were up on Woodside at 10:30 am. Gilles had one nice soaring flight getting 100 meters over launch and soaring until he was cold. When I arroved back at the Ranch to retrieve him there was a large group of pilots waiting to go up the hill. The next trip up had a large load of pilots, and as we arrived on launch it started snowing and hailing on us, almost a full-on blizzard! Gilles had a few aborts and was soon soaring above Woodside near cloudbase, and had to fly out to avoid the rain but unfortunately he got pretty wet, as did the other 5 pilots that flew. We then laid out Gilles gear in the barn to dry out and we went to the Sasquatch for lunch as it OD'ed even more in the Valley. After lunch I sent Gilles home to Agassiz and went upstairs for a nap and woke up at 4 pm to a blue sky, and called Gilles back for a few more flights. When he arrived we saw Klaus setting up on Woodside, and heard pilots starting to fly at Bridal too, so not everyone bailed on the day. Klaus flew first and it was nicely soarable, and Gilles followed Klaus into the air. We had some radio issues so Gilles sunk out but he had a nice Riverside landing for his first time there. It was getting late so we packed everything away and called it a say at 6:20 pm. Interesting weather today, click on the picture above for video of the snowy launches. Bridal had pilots flying to the Butterfly and Elk after 5 pm. Blanchard Report - Alex, Nicole, Kevin, Wylie & a few other Canucks headed to Blanchard WA for the Fly-In and represented Canada well. Soarable conditions both days, sorry we could not be there due to passport issues.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other April activitiesWoodside/Lil Nic Report - Not all of our students had passports so we couldn't cross to Blanchard for the Fly In and it sounds like we missed out as many wings were reported being in the air by TJ via FaceBook. Gilles and I headed to Woodside launch at 10 am and sat in the clouds for an hour and it was launchable conditions only IFR. When it did clear up and cloudbase rose enough to launch the winds were approaching +30 kph, so we drove down. Near Lower Launch switchback it was calmer. By the time we got to the Ranch it was howling on the ground too. Thomm arrived and we headed to Lil Nic to check out the road condition and to see if we could fly there as it is much lower. We drove thru rain and hail to get to the top and it was howling there too. But the road is in good shape, the Suburban went up there fine in 4x4 Hi and the road even seems to be brushed out somewhat more than we remembered. I took some photos for the WCSC site guide and we headed back down arriving at the Ranch to find it sunny but still nukin' windy. No flying here today except maybe as dark approached it calmed down, but we were done for the day by then.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other April activitiesWoodside Report - I only had Gilles out today and it was a very successful day for him. It was leeside and we didn't get to launch until 11 am, when we saw cycles coming up the front. By the time we got ready to go there was another dozen pilots on launch all "jonesing" to go flying but didn't want to be wind-dummies, so Gilles got to show us the air. He had a brilliant reverse launch and was flying out into the sinky air, and then just near the construction site, he hit some interesting air and he controlled the wing well and then started climbing. He climbed right up through 1200 meters out front and then started boating around Harrison Mills. His flight lasted about 40 minutes landing at the Ranch in strong NW winds right in the circle. All the other pilots hopped into the air and started trying to go XC east and west with mixed results. Al was on the Harrison Bridge after we finished lunch at the Sasquatch and we picked him up, Nikolai was near Harvest Market after getting flushed near the prison. We went back up for 2 more flights for Gilles and they were all soaring flights and he got about an hour of combined airtime today for his first Woodside flights. The last flights today has a mix of sun, snow and light precip but Tom Chromy got to 1200 meters and snow base on his last flight.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other April activitiesLumby/Vernon Report - we met at Randy's LZ at 11 am and headed up to Cooper's with high hopes. Good southerly flows, big CUs, warm day forecasted. As we drove up we missed the turnoff to Coopers, because it was so drifted in. The main logging road is plowed and clear of snow, but not the spur road 3 kms to launch. We start hiking and by 12:45 pm, Chris is saying lets turn back as the trees were dancing and we were 1 km from launch. I asked "are you a man or a mouse" or something like that and we continued postholing all the way in to launch. We arrived on launch and started assessing the conditions: snow squall to the west, strong westerly prevailing winds, the odd cycle up the front but the wind sock on the trees below was pegged from the west. The odd bird flying was going up fast without turning. The trees were shaking and howling with the wind velocity. Logistically it wouldn't help if only one flew to test the air, so we did the sane and safe thing and hiked down. We stopped at the LZ to get Chris's truck and it was strong south now, so penetrating to there would have been dubious. We headed to King Eddie & Baldy and it was westerly in the LZ (now full of cattle and cow patties). We went up to Baldy and the launch is looking good, more trees shortened and some fresh grow-op soil used to reseed the grass. Good work OSA folks. It was cycling from the south and some west cycles and we waited for an hour for it to lull down. Chris got ready and picked a nice cycle and was soon above launch . . . until the sink hit him! He had to sidehill land at the bottom of launch to avoid the trees and got a 30 second flight. We bought him a beer for testing the air for Gilles afterwards. Avoid south winds at Baldy, I remember that from flying King Eddie and getting flushed into the LZ kicking trees all the way down many years ago, 3 hours hiking, 30 seconds airtime, yes a good day! Groupon Report - we sold out by noon! 300 tandems sold in 1.5 days. We are now booking them in and they are mostly Frida-Sunday bookings so logistics won't be too bad. I have a mid-week plan for retrievals involving a quad for days when no one else is out flying and can't get a ride.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other April activitiesAshcroft/Savona Report - Gilles and I met at the Miller Crossing Restaurant just outside of Savona at 9:00 am and went straight up to the Dump Ridge. Good news is that the XL-7 can climb the road up the front without damaging the hill, so we don't have to hike for the first flight or to check the winds. We sat there for a bit and confirmed the Kamloops conditions of being 21 kph from the east. It was straight in but gusty and strong for a new student (hell it was too strong for me, but I took the ProDesign Accura for a spin, ridge-soaring the Dump for a bit before top-landing back where I took off). We packed up and headed to Ashcroft and Coyote Hill, and when we got there it was blowing 180 degrees different from Savona. Kim Jenner had told us of a possible south launch yesterday so we went scouting near the south most tower and found the launch, and also a resident Coyote that we flushed out of a den. It was big and well-fed and it ran right past us across the slope to the east. Norm & I had launched near this spot many years ago, perhaps 2004 and soared way above the antennas for an hour or more. Today it wasn't soarable conditions and the LZ below wasn't confirmed by a walkaround so we didn't launch Gilles here. We chose instead to drive to the normal NE launch over the Ashcroft Manor and it was coming up straight there too? It was sunny so I suspect it was thermalling enough to overcome the leeside nature of the prevailing winds. Gilles got ready with the Accura and had a brilliant reverse launch and was above the ridge the entire flight landing at the Manor for a 5 minute flight. Wind on the ground was east now. We checked Kamloops conditions via iPhone and it had calmed down to 17 kph, so we went back to Savona and Gilles had a good afternoon with 6 more soaring flights, including 3 top-landings and 2 sidehill landings! Lots of good kiting too at the Dump, including a fun drag-fest I had on the Paratoys Momentum II 29. I was trying to test the brake travel as the Momentum II is shipped with long brake travel and needs to be adjusted to the kind of motor harness hang-points you have. I brought up the wing and a gust twisted me slightly and I had no brake authority to kill it as I was twisting so I went for a flight and couldn't kill the wing as I touched down despite a few wraps. It is now adjusted properly! We were ready for a post-flying beer at 3:30 pm at the Savona Pub, and we were on the road heading east to Lumby well before dark. Groupon Report - we took a chance on a Groupon Abbotsford promotion that opened today - a Woodside tandem for $79 including helmet cam video that normally retails for $200. This is a real tandem flight from 2300 feet, not some towed-up tandem with 3 minutes of airtime like some HG operators are selling, and it is valid for 6 months ending October 31, 2011. The phone started ringing at 9 am and didn`t stop all day. I received dozens of emails too with questions. At the end of the day Groupon had sold 228 tandems and it looks like the summer will be very busy! Many of these people may have never thought of paragliding until this promo, so it is a success. We may lose some revenue to folks that already knew about us, in this discounted promo but if they bring back friends at the regular rate we are happy. FlyBC`s Groupon
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Savona Report - we got to the Dump Ridge after noon and Gilles had his first flights in strong East winds on the Prima 22. And then we saw gust lines coming up Kamloops Lake. | We headed to Coyote Hill and Gilles got two more flights and even some thermals! We are staying here for a few days. Woodside Report - Nice air at Woodside today. Flew to Bear Mtn and almost back to Harvest W, reached 1750 m and was airborne for 1.8 hours- still on my trusty Swift and "jonesing" for my M4 - Kevin Martina did an "out & return" to Agassiz Mountain and made it back to Riverside, leaving Martin and Derek in Harvest Market. Apparently not student friendly air according to Derek, weird launch cycles and definitely leeside. Vernon Report - I had to hike up King Eddie today because no one was around, but was rewarded with 45 minutes of light lift - Chris D.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other Blanchard activitiesBlanchard Report - I had to drop off a demo glider to the USA today, so I thought why not try Blanchard. It was on April 6 last year that Derek & Martina came down with me and we all soared here. Doug M called me to say that it was looking good, and when I arrived at noon there was no one in the air, an one HGer had just landed after 1:20 of airtime, saying he froze up there. I got Doug on the phone and he had been waiting for it to lull down so I drove up. His car was on the way down with a hiker, so his logisitics looked good . . . if he could get off launch. I arrived around 12:45 on launch and got to see some HGers ``wire off``. Then Doug got bold and stepped up to the plate and had a marvellous launch and was soon climbing. He reported getting 5 mile/hour ground speed. No problem for me flying the Buzz Z3 Small and about 25 kgs over! I launched right after Doug and quickly settled into my Shamane Pod Harness to keep warm and sleek. I was climbing to the NE and had no penetration issues and went deeper than normal to the rocks, to test the lift. A few bald eagles were trying to soar too. Doug was heading NW towards Bellingham, the goal today, and looked like he was climbing al the way out past the water. Sweet. I followed him and when I caught up with him he disappeared over my wing and I lost sight of him. I continued NW and chased a HGer along the ridge nd we were both climbing slowly and steadily along the ridge. As Bellingham was just coming into sight, he turned back and zoomed past me. Hmmmm? He obviously stopped getting lift. I turned back too and was well above launch and going 45 kph back towards launch and the lift was lighter as I passed Doug & Roger heading north. I had a serious speed advantage over the Addict II L and Roger`s Gradient. As I got back near launch I tried a few passes to top-land (weird air near launch), and I had to come in near the trees as it was northerly. A few times I got lifted up, followed by big sink. After kicking the trees as I dropped away from launch I rethought this plan and went out to find some lift out front and gradually started to sink lower and lower, working some lift with some HGers. I headed out to the LZ as I saw they too were running for a safe landing. We all got flushed at the same time. Doug and Roger worked the lee for a while, and got up to launch height but they too got flushed and Doug had to land in the bailout field (closer to his car at the trailhead). A nice visit to our neighbours to the south! Don`t forget the Blanchard Fly-In is this weekend with camping at Jeff Beck`s house just off Barrell Springs road to the right as you come up Blachard Road. The nice Canuck Border Guard didn`t even charge me duty or tax for my Suburban 4WD actuator I bought this morning and the lineups at Sumas were short.
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Interior Road Trip Report - we headed out to Merrit as it was still calm there at 9 am. Gilles managed to get a few bunny hops on Sugarlof Mountain before it blew out (on the Prima 22). He has developed a great reverse launch even in strong conditions. | After lunch, we headed up to Cache Creek and it was howling there from the SW. At Savona it was even stronger SW, despite a SE forecast, so back to the Ranch where it was flyable after 7 pm, but Gilles had gone home by then. He is here til the 20th, so no rush getting him to fly in the rain or when it is too windy. At least it was sunny all day and we avoided the rain on the coast.
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Woodside Report - we got out the the Ranch after premiere-ing "Rio", a great animated movie about a flightless macaw. | A Rio Review here. We headed up the mountain around 2 pm, to find it too strong for students but Norm, Martin N, Thomm, Rob S and a few others braved the strong conditions. We were kiting at the Ranch when some of the pilots landed and it looked interesting. later we tried again to fly around 6 pm, when it looked softer but by the time we got to launch there were new gustlines on the Fraser River. Belated Friday Soaring from Denis's helmet cam as he flies at other pilots in the gaggle
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Woodside Report - new student Vic came out early and did a great job on the training hill, so good in fact that he was able to do his first two solo flights today. | The early flights today had 12 pilots working the South Knoll together just at launch height. Later flights got pretty high, until the winds picked up forcing pilots to flight upwind or head to Harvest Market. Al was trying out his new Ozone Mantra M4 and headed to Sasquatch Mtn. and beyond with Matt J following him on the M3. They made it back with good height.  Al "The Hammer" Theilmann on his new Ozone Mantra M4 - pic by Nicole When it got too strong, Vic and Gilles headed down to the LZ to kite. They were practicing reverse launches in the strong south wind, getting picked up off the ground many times. They did a great job and look ready for some windy launches now! A great turnout today! The road is good almost all the way in to launch and the snow is almost gone from launch too.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today as well as other April activitiesWoodside Report - Chris B came out for his graduation flights #37 & #38 and was able to thermal around for 45 and 35 minutes each flight. New student Vic came out from Abbotsford to check out the FlyBC system and we were able to take a nice tandem flight after watching Alex, Nicole, Martin and Al fly off various directions. Al was flying his new Ozone Mantra M4 and he went XC to Sasquatch and had to land at Squakum Beach, Nicole went further and landed in Deroche, with Alex doing an "out & almost return" flying east to Agassiz Mountain and coming back low through the saddle he landed in the new cutblock just behind launch. Martin did an "out and return" toward the prison and made it back to Harrison Mills and the Ranch. After reassembling the group was back on launch along with more pilots and the XC race was on! Tom Chromy was out and finally got a thermalling flight on his new M3; flying east with Alex, Nicole, Al, Kevin. We heard them over Agassiz Mountain, then over Bear, then Ludwig, and then near Bridal Upper. Tom Chromy landed at Mount Tomm and got his sister to pick him up, and the retrieve process was on. Al made it to Elk at 1400 meters and headed back to Riverside landing on a sandbar. Alex made it back to Harvest Market with a straight flight from Bridal Saddle. Nicole & Kevin fought til they landed at Bridal LZ, where Tom Chromy picked them up. Derek & Martina flew later that the XC group and has sweet soaring right til 6:15 pm, landing at the Ranch. Late flights were still getting to 1500 meters. Awesome day with some awesome pilots out today enjoying the late spring air. Hope Report - Please alert pilots landing at Hope airport to be aware of giant spiders that are setting up nets to catch unlucky paraglider pilots - Gerry LaMarsh.  New Paramotor Product from Ozone - All sizes of the Speedster are now certified and available on the order form. The Speedster 24, 26, 28, 30 are all new fully reflexed wings that are very easy to launch thanks to advanced profile and high tech sail construction, with agile handling and high passive safety (EN C certification with speed bar (not trims)). Independent speed and trimmer systems for acceleration can be combined for high speed flight. Enhanced structural integrity from bbHPP/R10 technology with varied diagonals, A/D spanwise straps and a 5.79 aspect ratio give a perfect balance of ease or use, top speed and compact feel. High top speed (60kph) and high collapse resistance from the Oz full refelx profile. Renowned Ozone fuel efficient profiles for excellent fuel economy at high speeds. Risers feature a large trimmer range, enclosed tip steering and magnetic toggle retainers.
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Woodside Report - after a quick trip to the Sumas Border to get some gear thru customs, I hoped to be flying Woodside. | But alas, the weather was very unstable and whenever the sun came out it OD'ed and we got rain, or hail, or snow (and sometimes all three!). And the gusts were huge when it OD'ed. Derek, Martina and Martin N came over at 4 pm as Agassiz was sunny and calm, and I put them to work collecting scrap metal into my trailer. Thanks for the help and sorry you couldn't fly.
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Coquihalla Report - drove up to Merrit this morning to drop off the grandkids and drove through some of the worst driving conditions ever up there. | Good news is that the Merritt hills are melting as is was 11C up there, so anyone looking for a decent training hill should go up there. High winds were gusting thru the airport when I left as the front moves east.
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Woodside Report - some say you can fly Woodside everyday even when the weather is really bad if you watch for small flying windows, but not today! I was heading to Westbank to drop off the kids when I turned back as it was starting to snow between Kilby and Agassiz. | We still have a few sets of free passes to the Rio Movie opening in vancouver on April 9 at 10 am. Call me if you want one.
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Woodside Report - the students arrived on time but the clouds were too low to launch til 1 pm. |  Cloudbase was just 5 meters below us but never cooperated til later - pic by JPR We went down and arrived at the bottom to see launch in the clear, but we assumed it would stay launchable all day and went to lunch. We went back up at 2 pm, and a few brave pilots were already in the air including a new HG pilot named Lucas from the eastern seaboard who ultimately got 2 hours airtime for his first Woodside outing. Nicole and Alex launched and got lifted to cloudbase fast. Peter, Gerry L and Gary P also flew, but it got too spicy for others later. It was clearly too strong for the students and there was a rain squall over Chilliwack heading this way. It looked like "idiot-lift" with pilots going up all over the mountain and the valley.  Some of the Woodside Desperados heading out to the Ranch - pic by JPR We got to see Gary P's approach into the Ranch in strong south winds and the students were glad they weren't fighting the turbulence like Gary. Alex said he was on 1/2 bar all the way into the Ranch but he stayed further east over Duncan's and had a nice approach. Gerry L got knocked around a bit but his new Delta stayed together.
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| Merritt: Cloudy. 70 percent chance of showers this morning. Snow level near valley bottom. Wind becoming northwest 20 km/h this morning. High 6. (unstable)
Woodside Desperado Report - Tom & Eddie met at the Ranch at 10 am. Cache Creek and Merritt were forecasting some gusty winds and we decided to stay here and do some ground school and paramotor prep work. | We got daring and went up to launch at 3 pm as cloudbase started to rise and sat on launch in the fog. It seemed to be getting thicker, so I checked the Webcam and sure enough cloudbase had dropped. We went down to the Ranch and as we arrived Kevin called to say Cultus Lake was getting windy, so we bailed and sent the guys home. After that it was calm and launch stayed clear for the rest of the day (of course after everyone went home). We possibly could have flown 3 flights after 4 pm - til dark? The LZ was pretty wet as we went out on the ATV to check the area we cleared last fall, so kiting was out for today. Rio opens April 15 and FlyBC has some double passes available for free for the Vancouver Premiere on April 9 at 10 am.
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|  Woodside Report - it rained hard all day so we played in the barn all day trying out new harnesses. The grandkids particularly like the new SupAir Loustic harness (for 3-6 olds). We also ordered up some new tandem passenger harnesses from SupAir called the VIP, very nice split leg airbag design with pockets on the back for radios, varios etc. Can't wait to try them out! |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
February 2011 Site of the Day archives - last days of the Mexico Tour went very well and then I headed to New Zealand to meet Colleen in Auckland and we had a great time flying there for 2 weeks.
January 2011 Site of the Day archives - Mexico Tour went very well with 8 attendees getting great airtime and safe guidance from us at FlyBC.
December 2010 Site of the Day archives - weather was so bad in BC, that Colleen and I had to book 5 days in LA to get a flight.
November 2010 Site of the Day archives - we had some sweet soaring flights at Woodside, and a really cold cold snap that limited flying for a week or more.
October 2010 Site of the Day archives - we had some sweet soaring flights in October at Woodside, and Robin flew to Hope in less than an hour!.
September 2010 Site of the Day archives - the wettest September in history had us running up to Savona and points east to fly, but we "got-er-done".
August 2010 Site of the Day archives - unstable conditions made for some great days at Benny and Woodside. Al & I had a Delta Day with me stealing Colleen's Small Delta and he on a Large one and we went over the back to Seabird on a strong day.
July 2010 Site of the Day archives - fantastic road trip to Revelstoke for 11 days of SIV Training and super weather.
June 2010 Site of the Day archives - wettest June on record so road trips to Savona a few times. Deltas are rolling in now!
May 2010 Site of the Day archives - nice flying in the Valley.
April 2010 Site of the Day archives - worst April in years weatherwise but we managed to do some awesome tandem groups and some nice flights with Justin, Nicole and Norm flying to Mission late in the month.
March 2010 Site of the Day archives - Crappy weather in the US on my return trip from Mexico. But when I arrived back at the Ranch there were some great days soaring Woodside.
February 2010 Site of the Day archives - super flying in Mexico for the FlyBC Mexican Tours. Good XCs. The locals were already flying at Mother Woodside back in BC due to the warm weather!
January 2010 Site of the Day archives - nice flying in Mexico for the FlyBC Mexican Tours. Good XCs.
December 2009 Site of the Day archives - our first time in Mexico for a full December and we flew everyday. 40-50 km XCs from Tapalpa.
November 2009 Site of the Day archives - very few flights as we had record rains and high winds.
October 2009 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly-In in Chelan WA with the Barbie Theme, took first place honours again! More good soaring flights of 2 hours plus on special days.
September 2009 Site of the Day archives - more decent flying weather with a few road trips to escape wind by heading to Savona.
August 2009 Site of the Day archives - best flying conditions in years with little rain. My first hike up Cheam with pals went well.
July 2009 Site of the Day archives - the FlyBC SIV in Revelstoke was a blast, 280 SIV flights and only one wet pilot intentionally that is. Jeremy wished he had landed in the water.
June 2009 Site of the Day archives - dry all month locally so lots of flying, Al has been test flying the new ShotGun launch near Stave Lake having great flights out to Woodside.
May 2009 Site of the Day archives - local flying is getting great with nice XC's! Bridal was working well. The new bathroom was installed in the Barn at Eagle Ranch enriching the FlyBC experience.
April 2009 Site of the Day archives - we escaped the local weather by flying in New Zealand for 3 weeks. We will be heading back soon!
March 2009 Site of the Day archives - we were flying locally in snow, relying on Derek's sleds and chains on the 'Mog to get up Woodside.
February 2009 Site of the Day archives - the Worlds PG Championships in Mexico was hard work for the Canucks, the tasks and speeds were unreal.
January 2009 Site of the Day archives - Manzanillo, Mexico was a BLAST, many new sites flown and we have a new tour Destination for 2010.
December 2008 Site of the Day archives - the annual FlyBC Christmas Party was a cold success with Head over Heels entertaining us all night. And we left early for Manzanillo, Mexico on Dec 28th.
November 2008 Site of the Day archives - some soaring between rain storms, and it was pretty dry in Agassiz.
October 2008 Site of the Day archives - we went ot the Women's Fly In on Chelan for the annual Halloween Costume Fly-In, great conditions there to offset the wet month on the West Coast. Steve Fosset's crash site was found in Nevada after a year of searching.
September 2008 Site of the Day archives - great student conditions at Woodside and Bridal all month, with 10 students getting signed off this month, a record.
August 2008 Site of the Day archives - our second SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke (except for a few water landings and minor injuries). Wet all month at Woodside except the weekends.
July 2008 Site of the Day archives - our first SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke.
June 2008 Site of the Day archives - a few good soaring days at Bridal, lots of new students this month.
May 2008 Site of the Day archives - the cost of gas is keeping pilots at home and the weather isn't helping either. One good XC in May for me, leaving Woodside with Norm and Martin H and ending up at Elk at 1600 meters before landing by Hopyard Hill. 3 hours and 85 kms later by the GPS.
April 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years but we flew every day we could.
March 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow and still hiking to launch at Woodside! But some major airtime for the locals committed to coming out to fly.
February 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow in BC than I can remember in 25 years of living here. We are still hiking to launch at Woodside!
January 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico and logged many hours of airtime, while it snowed heavily in BC.
December 2007 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico on Dec 29th for three weeks.
November 2007 Site of the Day archives - Colleen and I went to California to fly the new Falcon A-16 Advanced Ultralight prototype and it flew very well. Some good soaring days at Woodside, some folks were still trying to fly Bridal but that is a waste of time this late in the season.
October 2007 Site of the Day archives - mid-air at Woodside caused Martin H some paraglider damage, some great soarable days. The Women's Fly In was a success with the Canuck Team taking top spot for the theme of "Celebrities in Rehab".
September 2007 Site of the Day archives - we re-discovered and flew 'Horsefly' Launch for the first time, some mayhem at Woodside due to tree-suck, lots of good soaring in afternoon glassoffs, a great Indian Summer until late in the month when the rains came early. Derek, Martina, Robin and Diane went to Europe. Kirill went to Australia for a paramotor Fly-In.
August 2007 Site of the Day archives - fun two weeks at Mara Lake, followed by steady flying at Woodside and Bridal, making up for the dismal spring and summer.
July 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights at Bridal, some mayhem at Woodside from visiting pilots.
June 2007 Site of the Day archives - more crappy weather on the weekends. Some awesome flights between showers as Norm and Thomm flew to Mission on the last day of the month.
May 2007 Site of the Day archives - flyable every weekday, but the Fraser Valley XC Comp got crappy weather on the weekends, although it was student flyable.
April 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights are starting. Some complete triangles from Woodside to Bridal and back, some "musical triangles" from others.
March 2007 Site of the Day archives - fifth month of crappy weather on the Coast. We went to Santa Barbara for some flights, and to dry out. Some good days were also recorded locally.
Febuary 2007 Site of the Day archives - fourth month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we stayed in Mexico.
January 2007 Site of the Day archives - third month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we went to Mexico to fly Colima, Tapalpa, and San Marcos, while Brad and gang headed to Tenacingo, Mexico.
December 2006 Site of the Day archives - more ugly weather on the Coast. Severe winds damaged trees and property so not much flying happened. Some good flight reports from local PGers travelling world-wide.
November 2006 Site of the Day archives - the wettest November on record. We flew a few good flights but mostly we were rained out.
October 2006 Site of the Day archives - lots of good days with 3-4 hours airtime. The Women's Fly-In was on again in Chelan with about 18 Canucks, and a good day Saturday with 85 registered pilots.
September 2006 Site of the Day archives - still soarable in the Fraser Valley, little or no rain. Colleen is back flying! Some mayhem in the valley.
August 2006 Site of the Day archives - a great flying month everywhere, we had a super successful SIV clinic at Mara Lake with everyone SAT-ing and heli-ing.
July 2006 Site of the Day archives - road trip to Lumby, then on the 8th Colleen spun in below Gloria cancelling her summer plans (but she is recuperating well).
June 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Valley dried out, and we flew most days and every weekend.
May 2006 Site of the Day archives - more rain that ever imagined in the Fraser Valley. Very few soaring flights and even less XC.
April 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Easter Bunny was "run over" on Kilby Road, plus the train wreck on April 1.
March 2006 Site of the Day archives - a new pilot was born, Chloe. We also flew a few days between showers, some long flights up to 4 hours. A few Out & Return Flights to Deroche and Bear.
February 2006 Site of the Day archives - another wet month with some soarable days (2).
January 2006 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South for great Mexican or Chilean flying.
December 2005 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South.
November 2005 Site of the Day archives - rain, snow and not much flying.
October 2005 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly In in Chelan yielded two soarable days before the snows hit.
September 2005 Site of the Day archives - dry most of the month. Some great 4 hour flights at Woodside getting to cloudbase most days. Three crash-landings in the same clearcut by pilots scratching too low, but no injuries.
August 2005 Site of the Day archives - road trips to the Interior gave us an opportunity to rag out some gliders at FlyBC SIV 2005 (Part II). Also a great road trip to Savona.
July 2005 Site of the Day archives - good flying all month, no rain but some windy days shut us down. The Willi started in Golden with a few good days, but one tragedy as Charles Warren perished in a crash near Harrogate.
June 2005 Site of the Day archives - too much rain, but good days to fly between showers.
May 2005 Site of the Day archives - our Instructor/Tandem seminar yielded some good flying. Our May 2005 SIV Clinic had a good turnout, with many wet wings/pilots! Many nice flights at Woodside and Bridal, with some long "out & returns" at Bridal.
April 2005 Site of the Day archives - some great soaring at Woodside and Bridal. Sad news from the US Hanggliding Nationals as Chris Muller crashes at goal.
March 2005 Site of the Day archives - we had to head out of town to Savona a few weekends due to wet weather on the Coast. Wetter than normal according to Environment Canada.
February 2005 Site of the Day archives - some good soaring despite early time of year. Flights as long as 3 hours at Woodside, some good flights at Whidbey Island for first timers, too!
January 2005 Site of the Day archives road trips to Mexico, not much flying locally due to strong north winds and rain. Record rain kept Eagle Ranch quite wet for kiting.
December 2004 Site of the Day archives a dry month with some good soaring including a fantastic day on Dec. 11 where we thermalled for 2+ hours!
November 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain. We installed a fireplace in the barn to keep pilots warm between winter flights.
October 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain, but sweet soaring between showers. Many new students signed up and making quick progress. We missed the Women's Fly In for the first time in 9 years, and there was some interesting flying on the Sunday!
September 2004 Site of the Day archives rainiest September on record for the first 3 weeks, made flying difficult. But Alan and others logged some pretty nice flights later in the month. Lots of student tandems for both Colleen and Jim.
August 2004 Site of the Day archives Great Maneuver/SIV/ACRO course at Mara. Jack got wet! Some great soaring at Woodside. Norm made it 68 km from Mara to King Eddie, Derek made it from Lumby to Enderby the opposite direction for 67 kms. We also did our BC roadtrip from Ashcroft to New Denver, and flew everyday.
July 2004 Site of the Day archives the Willi was on at Golden. We missed the mayhem due to work and school commitments but Norm did a great job representing the West Coast.
June 2004 Site of the Day archives Canadian Nationals came off with many great rounds. Pemberton-Whistler Championships were blown out most days so we headed to Cornwall.
May 2004 Site of the Day archives great flying at Woodside and Bridal. We held a very successful SIV Course at Mara Lake, and hope to run another one in August if they keep the forests open.
April 2004 Site of the Day archives good flying in the Valley. The Fraser Valley Cross Country PG Series was successssful.
March 2004 Site of the Day archives Nicole won in Brazil, otherwise the month sucked for flying time.
February 2004 Site of the Day archives some local flights extended to an hour with vigourous scratching above the trees. Good paramotor month.
January 2004 Site of the Day archives Mexican road trip yielded 20 hours of flight and a wet Canadian January kept most local pilots on the ground.
December 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew a few times but it got really cold at the end of the month as we prepared for a gala New Year's Party for 40 of our close personal friends and neighbours.
November 2003 Site of the Day archives windy and wet with the odd good soaring day, not many pilots out these days.
October 2003 Site of the Day archives Women's Fly In was great fun, some good soaring days mid-month, most of the students are signed off.
September 2003 Site of the Day archives good conditions until the last days of the month when it got stable. Most days were flyable at Woodside or Bridal.
August 2003 Site of the Day archives Forest closures made the end of the month a non-flying period unless you headed to Blanchard. FlyBC SIV 2003 was a great success with 9 stunt pilots and no deployments or crashes.
July 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most days early at Woodside until it got windy, then over to Bridal. Good Golden flying reports from the "Willi".
June 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most weekdays at Bridal, Woodside worked most weekends. Bridal Air Races had one great day with only two tree landings!
May 2003 Site of the Day archives not a great weather month on the coast, especially on the weekends but a few pilots managed to get some great airtime at Bridal. The Nationals were held in Lumby and it didn't rain!
April 2003 Site of the Day archives rain for 28 of 30 April days, but we managed to get a few flights in between showers. Even the golfers were complaining!
March 2003 Site of the Day archives some high spring flights in early March, but not a great weather month. Still no HPAC Insurance!
February 2003 Site of the Day archives some nice long spring flights in late February. HPAC Insurance expired on Feb 14, so many pilots stayed home instead of getting USHGA coverage.
January 2003 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month in BC so we bailed and headed to Tapalpa Mexico for three weeks. Norm and Lucille had a great XC flight the first day we arrived.
December 2002 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month.
November 2002 Site of the Day archives not a great flying month, lots of rain in the beginning and then super stable and inverted for the balance of the month. Even the Savona Road Trip wasn't that great. Looking forward to Mexico!
October 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable some days, great fun at the Women's Fly In 2002 in Chelan. Allan logged 15 hours and only flew a few days. Most of the students are ready for signoff soon to get ready for Mexico trips!
September 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable most everyday! Some scary incidents at Woodside. Fun flying at Ashcroft.
August 2002 Site of the Day archives More spring-like days with super lapse rates, great fun up-country at Revelstoke and Mara, with some good XCs for all.
July 2002 Site of the Day archives Some spring-like days with super lapse rates, but still rather wet at times.
June 2002 Site of the Day archives another rainy and windy month with great lapse rates, some great flights at Bridal with some getting above Cheam Peak. The Club Cup was nearly rained out but they got one valid task in on Sunday June 30.
May 2002 Site of the Day archives an extremely rainy month with the more spring mayhem, another reserve deployment at Lil Nick and a pilot crashed at the top of Deroche Mountain, uninjured but with a ripped glider and long hike down the mountain. Colleen placed 5th place at the Canadian PG Nationals in rainy Lumby!
April 2002 Site of the Day archives a rainy month with the usual spring mayhem, one reserve deployment at Woodside and a pilot hit a parked car at Bridal LZ, fracturing his leg.
March 2002 Site of the Day archives a few great days days with lots of snow and rain mixed in.
February 2002 Site of the Day archives two epic days already (4.5 hours and 2.5 hours!).
January 2002 Site of the Day archives Mexico vacation shots, some local flying but it was wet on the coast.
December 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, wettest December on record, some good days sprinkled thru the month.
November 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, had some good days at Woodside +2 hours, lots of rain later in the month.
October 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, but great flying at Chelan at the Women's Fly In.
September 2001 Site of the Day archives starting to get pretty stable, more sled rides forecast for October.
Aug 2001 Site of the Day archives Mara, Bridal, till some great flights locally
July 2001 Site of the Day archives Road Trip Month, Golden, Mara, points east!
June 2001 Site of the Day archives Great Month, 3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower! Some getting up to 6 hours in a single flight!
May 2001 Site of the Day archives Unstable Month, 2-3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower!
April 2001 Site of the Day archives Rainy Month, not as much airtime for some pilots
March 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring has Sprung!
February 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring is in the Air!
January 2001 Site of the Day archives - Mexico Flying Trip
December 2000 Site of the Day archives
November 2000 Site of the Day archives (great month for airtime!)
October 2000 Site of the Day archives
September 2000 Site of the Day archives
July - August 2000 Site of the Day archives
June 2000 Site of the Day archives
March - May 2000 Site of the Day archives
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