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FlyBC "Site of the Day December 2017 Archive Page"
Pelican Bay later today
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| 12-31-16 |
 Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico Sunny. High 32C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 3200 metres At times they disappeared altogether and apparently got as low as 100 metres but it turned on and they got to 3200 metres under some big CU. We decided to drive back to La Frontera for New Years Party supplies trying a new route directly west of Los Pozos and it was a nice scenic drive. Later in Tapalpa we endured long lines at the bank machine, and gave up on getting gas as everyone is filling up as the price goes up 30% on January 1. At 4 pm it started raining as the clouds ODed, not heavy just enough to keep the dust down. We had plans to have a nice fire for New Years Eve, but the winds were blowing the smoke down the chimney and we had to evacuate the cabin! Memorable Times!  Have a Happy New Year!  2016 in Review - we had our busiest season every in 20 years! Thanks to all of you that supported us in 2016! We started out in January with our biggest Mexican Tour with many guests improving their skills at El Toro, Pelican Bay Soaring Site, Colima and Tapalpa. February brought us more Tour guests with me returning to Canada on March 1 to start lessons. March brought on some great spring conditions with some excellent XC flights in the Faser Valley. April brought out many new student pilots and we had up to 7 per day requiring some additional manpower to help out with Degas in Mission with newbies while I was sending students off Woodside. April enjoyed the first tree-landing of the season as an un-named P-2 pilot 360ed himself into a 200' tree just before dark. May brought out many pilots doing XC flights from Benny to Woodside. This site was improved in 2016 with WCSC & BCHPA funds so we are going to take advancing students there in 2017. We also ran our Annual FlyBC Instructor Course and had many new candidates working with our students. We had to go to Coyote & Mara many times to avoid the weather. June was an awesome month and we had many signed off P-2 students by now. Thanks to all who helped us get them through their courses! July was a productive month but also brought some sad news as a local Bellingham Pilot who had flown Blanchard hundreds of times had a fatal crash while paragliding on a mellow day. TJ had been flying since 2000 and had created a Weather Page that was very useful in predicting the conditions. August took us to Mara Lake for our Annual SIV Course and we had 25 participants over 10 days with only a few wet wings. Either we are getting better at guiding, or the gliders are getting safer, or the pilots are doing more studying prior to the Course . . . or all three but it is a pleasure to put pilots through the maneuvers and see them cain confidence in their gear. September was flyable most days but we did do the odd road trip to Merritt and Coyote. I think we are up to 200 flyable days now. We also had one weekend closed to students and pilots at Eagle Ranch while we married off Aaron & Christy! October turned out to be a complete bust as it rained everyday, as did November. Odd as this is usually our busiest training time. It was okay because we had planned a trip to Australia anyway, but I felt bad for the students that did not get finished in 2016. December was also bad weather-wise with record snow falls, so I went to Mexico to get our winter condo ready for the winter season, and Derek & Norm & I had some nice flights. Thanks again to the 40+ students we signed off in 2016. Thanks also to the pilots that bought a record number of gliders from Gin, Ozone & SupAir from us in 2016. Stay safe in 2017, and we will be here to support you in your flying endeavours. 12-30-16
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| Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico Sunny. High 32C. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h. 2700 metres Quite a shock to the system to go from -8C to +30C in 5 hours, but we survived! We rented a cabin at La Ceja Launch but unfortunately it has been tail here for a few days so we plan to drive to San Marcos tomorrow. 12-29-16
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| Agassiz BC Showers. High plus 4. 700 metres Marian Davenport was born on January 2, 1927 so she is turning 90 in five days.  Fortunately it was sunny and clear out for the many guests that arrived this afternoon. 12-28-16
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| Agassiz BC Showers. High plus 4. 700 metres Budget Rent a Car, true to form, had a car with no snow tires for us and wanted to charge an additional $35 a day for a larger car with snow tires. So we are slipping and sliding around town running errands for Mom's 90th Birthday Party. 12-27-16
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|  Agassiz BC Showers. High plus 4. 700 metres Everyone headed home from Christmas celebrations and we stayed in Vancouver to prepare for our trip to Calgary. 12-26-16
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy with 40 percent chance of flurries this morning. Snow beginning near noon. Amount 5 cm. Temperature steady near zero. 700 metres Valle de Bravo Report - while we were clearing snow, Mark C had a great flight on his new Gin Explorer we were able to get to him for Christmas.  Great conditions with climbs to 4000 metres, in sunny Mexico. Flight Details here! Another great film from Jorge! INSPIRED from Ozone Paragliders on Vimeo. 12-25-16
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|  Agassiz BC Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this afternoon. High plus 3. 1100 metres Facebook video here of his nice launch 12-24-16
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| Agassiz BC Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this afternoon. High plus 3. 1100 metres 12-23-16
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy. Periods of rain beginning this morning. Snow fall warning in the afternoon. Temperature steady near -1. 300 metres 12-22-16
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy. Periods of rain beginning this morning. Temperature steady near plus 3. 1100 metres 12-21-16
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers this morning. High plus 5. 1100 metres  Lots of snow on the road to Woodside Launch, and he took 1.5 hours to hike up yesterday "post-holing" from Lower Launch to the top to find north or downwind cycles. After 4 tries he got off for a 8 minute sled ride to the Ranch, once the sun came out and made some up-cycles.  Later we had an interesting band of ground fog come over the Ranch just before dark.  Reports from Elk said very strong cycles made launching un-assisted very dangerous, and Kevin was forced to hike down after Claudia got off. 12-20-16
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|  Revelstoke BC Periods of snow. Amount 25 to 35 cm. High minus 3. 300 metres 12-19-16
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| Revelstoke BC Periods of snow. Amount 20 to 40 cm. High minus 5. 300 metres We rented some snowboards as we felt our gear was too old, at least 8 years or more old.  We would have done better on our old gear as it took several runs down the Stoke Chair to get everything tuned up and by then I was done. We did get to go for an awesome massage after that though! 12-18-16
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| Revelstoke BC Periods of snow. Amount 2 to 4 cm. High minus 8. 300 metres  Fortunately the heated pool and hot tubs were open for us to use.  Tenancingo Report - Brad H, Rainer & Derek went east to Tenancingo where Brad has a house. They flew and top-landed, because they could not get enough height to go XC. Brad was flying his new Ozone Alpina2 with Ozone Ozium Pod harness, looking stylish.  Good launch conditions and they had dancers to entertain them before launching.  Yesterday we met local pilot Pablo in Tepotzlan to fly the local launch. We drove to this mountain village launch, one of the prettiest villages I have seen. The contours of the mountains wrapped the village. The launch is single wing only and I would rate as intermediate site. You cannot glide to the LZ and require a bit of lift. There is an established LZ called ¨happy ending". The south facing launch is 600 meters. The flying terrain has thermal collectors everywhere with cliffs and valleys throughout the entire range. Beautiful country with natural XC potential, 80 km triangle is common. The prevailing winds are always light in this valley.  There is an excellent training site at 100 meters called Tres Marias. If you want information call local pilot Pablo at 325548046675 - Brad 12-17-16
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| Agassiz BC Sunny with the ocassional clouds. Temperature steady near minus 6 except near minus 9 near Hope. Wind chill minus 20. 300 metres We made it to Revy Mountain Resort before dark and settled in to our fabulous penthouse suite in "The Sutton Place Hotel", as we are splurging for our 25th Anniversary. 12-16-16
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Wind northeast 40 to 60 km/h diminishing to 20 this afternoon. Temperature steady near minus 6 except near minus 9 near Hope. Wind chill minus 20. 300 metres 12-15-16
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Windy. High minus 4 except temperature steady near minus 10 near Hope. Wind chill minus 21 this morning. 300 metres We did get a nice sunset on Cheam at 5 pm though to brighten the day. I even got Andrei & Elena's new house in the shot.  Tenancingo Mexico Report - Derek, Rainer & Brad H are in Tenancingo to check out the scene. Brad has a tour house there called "Casa de Piloto" set up for para & hang pilots, low cost rooms for rent and local site guide Daniel P is there to orient you. If you want more info email me and I can get you in touch with Brad and Daniel. Derek was talking to me on the phone reporting that Rainer was just top-landing as they were not getting high enough to go XC. No snow there for sure with +27C temps. 12-14-16
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| Agassiz BC Periods of snow and local blowing snow ending this morning then sunny. Windy. Temperature steady near -7C. 300 metres 12-13-16
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| Agassiz BC Periods of snow and local blowing snow ending this morning then cloudy. Local amount 2 cm. Windy. Temperature steady near minus 2. 300 metres 12-12-16
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| Agassiz BC Periods of snow and local blowing snow ending this morning then cloudy. Local amount 2 cm. Windy. Temperature steady near minus 2. 300 metres 12-11-16
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| Agassiz BC Periods of snow and local blowing snow ending this morning then cloudy. Local amount 2 cm. Windy. Temperature steady near -2 C 300 metres   Good news was that the tractor started up and I was able to dig out the driveway as the propane tank is almost empty after 2 months of cold weather.  San Marcos Gloat Report - it was reported on FB that Norm, Derek, Rainer and Brad all flew and got to 3600 metres (1600 metres above launch) and played in the clouds until they all flew east back to El Chante Futball Field or further on to San Juan Cosala Beach on Lake Chapala. Looks like it is turning on in Mexico! Colleen and I will be back in Mexico by January 4th. 12-10-16
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| Tapalpa, Mexico Sunny. High 29C. Winds N at 10 to 15 km/h. 3000 metres 12-9-16
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| Tapalpa Mexico Sunny. High 29C. Winds N at 10 to 15 km/h. 3000 metres No big XC as there was sink over the flats. I met them all back at the Hotel where I got kicked out due to an overflow. I found a nice hotel in Ajijic. Brad is taking the Suburban for Casa de Piloto in Tenancingo to improve their tours. I sure hope the Bronco is done by Jan 4! 12-8-16
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| Jocotepec Mexico Sunny. High 29C. Winds light & variable. 3000 metres  After several low saves he made it to 3600 metres at "The Cross" and headed east to Magic Hill and then Cerro Viejo before heading to El Chante Futball Field after 5 hours of fun. The others landed in various locations after many hours of scratching around. I was back at the Hotel trying to heal from a cold bug, too sick to even drive up the hill. 12-7-16
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| Colima, Mexico Sunny. High 29C. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h. 3000 metres Stefan had reports of a break-in in his normally secure location, so we were not sure what we would find left in his bodega. I stored a bunch of our stuff there in March, including Colleen's beautiful Mexican RockHopper bike. We found Stefan had lost a generator, a dead weed-whacker, and a bunch of tools. We only lost one weed-whacker that was new last year. It was not flyable by the time we got to Tapalpa Launch, but Derk and the gang had flown with mixed results, as Bev drove down to locate them all over the vally. 12-6-16
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| Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico Mix of sun & Cloud. High 25C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h 3000 metres The first clue that the forecast was wrong was the strong east wind at the Pemex where I left the Suburban. We arrived at the new launched called "The Gulley at San Marcos" and it stunk from the feedlot behind launch, which meant east winds ovr the back. We headed to El Chante to check out the road in, as Camilo had to abandon an attempt last week when his Jeep Liberty kept bottoming out. Good news was that the Suburban and Dodge Ram made it through without a problem. But once we got to the Red Gate we left the trucks as we knew the last part of the road was grown in. We hiked in with tools and arrived at launch to nice SE cycles, so Brad went back to get his wing while Derek, Rainer, Norm and I chopped brush. Brad launched and soared in front of launch nicely before heading to the El Chante Futball Field.  I drove down to get Brad while the others drove to "The Gulley at San Marcos". I won't lie . . . the road in/out to El Chante is pretty bad with deep ruts and lots of rocks sticking out. When we got to "The Gulley at San Marcos", Derek was laid out and soon in the air as the light was getting low, but he got above launch.  I bailed and headed west to Manzanillo to check on my Bronco, hoping to get there before dark (I didn't but I did arrive to pick up Stefan safely where he was waiting at the Bus Depot). Meanwhile back in Colima, Benjamin completed another nice XC on his Ozone Zeno flying north to San Gabriel over Tiger Country. Benjamin to San Gabriel.  12-5-16
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| Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico Mix of sun & Cloud.. High 23C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h 3000 metres Brad, Derek, Norm, Bev & I drove up to the main launch as it was cross at "The Gulley Bev stepped right in and was our "wind tech". She had a perfect launch and found a nice thermal out over the lakebed where she turned more than 10 times! Derek was feeling somewhat under the weather so he drove down to get Bev while Brad launched his new Ozone Alpina 2. We lost sight of Brad but after I launched I saw him to the south of the saddle on top of the ridge. I climbed out at The Gulley, and then transitioned to the saddle while Norm was staying at The Gulley. Brad hit some sink that almost took him to the lake, and then he caught a climb over San Marcos. I was at ridge height when Norm came overhead somewhat higher than me. I too hit some sink and was grovelling until we saw some birds out front climbing and we took that climb back to the ridge. I did see some cloud coming over and I got shaded out for sometime, but the odd thermal kept me in the game. I was joined by a redtail hawk and we played for many turns but never got back to ridge height. Norm bailed over the back low and found a climb over Joco that took him home. I landed just south of San Marcos in a nice grassy field after and hour of rough thermalling. No collapses on the Zeno despite the turbulence, which Norm called "the roughest flight here this year". Ice Bombs in Vancouver on the Port Mann & Alex Fraser Bridges and mayhem in Montreal, another good reason to be in Mexico. 12-4-16
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| Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico Mostly cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 21C. Winds SW at 25 to 40 km/h 3000 metres It looked like rain too, but it was too windy to tell if the raindrops touched down, and there were whitecaps on Lake Chapala. Back at Mother Woodside Denis & Tonya were flying in the snow. True Desperados. 12-3-16
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| Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico Partly cloudy. High near 25C. Chance of afternoon thunderstorms. 80% Chance of Rain. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 2000 metres It had rained at breakfast and they were calling for thunderstorms and 80% chance of precip so we weren't too optimistic but Derek had not seen the launch here so we headed up. The road has been repaired and even cold-patched in sections so it was a smooth trip up. The sign on launch has a nice description of how to launch a parapente: easy to understand even if you don't understand Spanish.  Light launch conditions and no birds soaring so we waited and round 1 pm I suited up and got ready to fly with hopes of top-landing so Derek could have a turn. I did a few inflations but had no pressure in the Zeno, so I aborted until I got a good strong inflation. It was soarable in front of launch for a few passes.  I saw the vultures out front so I headed out to join them and a nice +5 m/s thermal was there, smooth and strong which took me over launch and the towers,  When I scoped out top-landing conditions the ribbons were blowing every direction, just how tthe thermal near launch felt so I headed north, I crossed the river out to the flats and got only few beeps and the birds were showing me a light thermal near the cane fields, so I dove in there to find nothing. I lined up a nice road through the cane fields and landed there, dropping my wing on the dirt and not on the burned cane stalks.  Derek came down to get me but decided not to fly so we headed to San Marcos, where it was strong! Chapala was the next stop for money and dinner. 12-3-16
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| Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico Partly cloudy. High near 25C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 2000 metres The road has a few washouts and cross ditches but it was generally pretty good. There was a machine working halfway up so maybe it will get better as the months roll by. The two launches look alright, just some weed-whacking to do and the beach looks great for an LZ.  The gate was unlocked when we drove up, but somehow got locked when we got back down but Solomon arrived just in time to free us. We had a lazy day of napping and hanging out by the pool and there was a huge thuderstorm just after dark, so the road to El Toro might be compromised. 12-1-16
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| Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico Partly cloudy. High near 25C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 3000 metres We skipped the Gulley again as it was light there. We waited on top til we got some action on the socks and then I launched and hung out on the south ridge for a bit followed by Derek. We never got above the ridge so I headed North as Jorge launched on his Delta 2. I got higher on the North Hill but it was ratty and inconsistent so back to the place Derek was soaring. It was still lame there so I headed to the Gulley and got a strong climb there.  Derek and Jorge followed me to that spot as I climbed out enough to get to the saddle and beyond. My new GoPro DIY boom is working well. A wood-working clamp attached the boom to my right carabiner, out of the way of lines and reserve handles. It is very stable in rough air without the "bobble head effect" one gets with a helmet mounted GoPro. I headed south to the Saddle pictured here toward the sunny spot where I saw birds circling and got some strong stuff there.  Oddly the thermals were tilted way back, without any meteo wind. Must have been sideways cloud suck, but it required lots of into wind thermalling with quick 360s back into the wind or one would get blown back. Derek and Jorge hung back at the Gulley and then Jorge bailed over the back low. I was working the thermals on the south side of the saddle, when I saw a cloud form out front. It was smoother out front when I got out of the windy thermals, I did have a frontal on the transition but it reinflated before I could look up. The Zeno was doing some yawing today in the strong stuff but it seems very solid. After getting beat up in the rough thermal fo around an hour, I too bailed over the back as the mountain was getting shaded out. I made it to the long grass field and Derek was heading there, but caught a climb out and went a few field further as Norm and Jorge came to find us. Hot hiking out to the Pemex, in the 28C heat. 11-30-16
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| Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico Partly cloudy. High near 25C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 3000 metres We arrived at the Gulley to find very light winds so continued to the top launch. Just as light there, but there is more runway so Derek and Norm got ready. Derek went first, followed by locals Fabio & Casper. Derek caught a climb to the North, so everyone followed him out there. They all climbed out to 2800 metres fast, as Norm launched. I drove down to the Gulley to watch their progress hearing complaints about the rough air, as Casper flew out to the lake bed a few times but always climbed out there too. I saw Norm head south towards Magic Hill where he got some good climbs and he eventually got up enough to head to El Chante. Derek landed in the tall grass field near Pemex #2. I drove down to get the guys and we went for pizzas at Rueben's next to Casa de Marina. |
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