FlyBC's Paragliding Site of the Day Archive Page for February 2009
"Gliders, sail planes, they're wonderful flying machines. It's the closest you can come to being a bird." - Neil Armstrong
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Merritt and Savona Report - Norm, Gary K and Mike drove up with me to Merritt. We borrowed Derek's snow machine in case the snow was too deep to drive up but there was no wind, perhaps a bit of tailwind as we drove up Merritt's slopes so we bailed for Savona where it was supposed to be 20 kph from the East, good for the Dump Ridge. An hour and a bit later we were on the Dump Ridge watching old friends pack up: Terry Butcher, Dangerous Dave, Jim Mansell, Les packing up their gear as the winds switched to west. Off to the Toilet Bowl ridge where is was light SW. We helped Mike get four flights off the west facing ridge, some close calls with the trees, but good practice, We used the sled to get him back up so he managed all four flights in record time before we headed home at 5 pm. Lots of driving but good reconn' ing for another trip and good flying practice for Mike.
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Woodside Report - Derek and Alan hiked up from the bottom as did Martin N. They were waiting on launch as it was quite leeside, when Al arrived and laid out and flew off getting up fast. Al had flown last night in similar conditions and had a 2.5 hour flight, so he was primed. | When Rob arrived he and I headed up in the Suzuki and made it only to 3.5 kms, where I got stuck and we had to spin the car around on the ice. From there we hiked and arrived as Al had top-landed. He relaunched after us and top-landed again to drive down. I flew for only 20 minutes and totally misread the air and was scratching on the trees before heading out. Ron had a great flight on the R09 and was high out front before heading to the Sasquatch before landing at the Ranch. Derek headed over the back to Harvest and home, while Alan was still up when I was doing chores. Great flying despite the lee conditions.
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Woodside Report - Al was up at launch and calling for a ride back up the hill but I was in town at a meeting. |
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Woodside Report - heavy snowfall in the Valley. Martina sent me a picture from her house at 10 am that made me stay in town despite having chores to do! About 20 cms in total fell today. | Flora Peak Hike & Fly in hi res - Kevin and Carl's Outrageous Adventures on Sunday.
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Woodside Report - pretty windy from the webcam shots. No pireps. | Flora Peak Hike & Fly - Kevin and Carl's Outrageous Adventures on Sunday.
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Woodside Report - Derek decided it looked pretty good and started hiking up around 1 pm, unfortunately as he was almost to the top a huge gust front from the NE suggested he hike back down. Alan was wise and stayed home, expecting something to not happen. | Revelstoke Report - Chris D sent these shots from Revelstoke Flying last weekend off Mount Mackenzie Ski Resort.  Chris launches Mount Mackenzie - photo by ?  Mount Mackenzie - photo by ?
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Woodside Report - Norm and Derek arrived at 2:30 pm, to stretch lines and inspect gliders because it did not look flyable, but the sun did come out and we checked the winds a few times. | Wind on launch looked calm, but the Upper Levels at 6000 feet were smoking along from the SW, and there was a layer at 1500 feet that was equally strong from the NE?? Too weird to waste a trip up the mountain, and discover the sheer layers as we descended though it. So I decided to tackle the broken rear spring on the Van, only 8 bolts but they are all severely rusted on, so a cutting torch is next option. The UniMog is going to be the ride of choice for a few weeks.
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Woodside Report _ it was a good student day . . . not so good for the rest of the dedicated Woodside "Hike & Fliers". | John, Ken and Mike started off the morning kiting in nice east winds at the Ranch, John trying out his new Geo II. Mike drying out one of the student wings that got wet last weekend in Savona. Ken was kiting the Mojo2 as his Geo II has not arived yet. We didn't go up until noon as the cycles weren't started til then and we got to 3.5 km and left the Van there (sorry Al). The plan was to huck off the students and race down to pick them up without plugging up the road for long. The winds weren't agreeable, so we took an hour to get them off, and in the meantime Al had got to the Van, pulled his FJ in the ditch, backed my Van up, and then continued on and he actually made it to the Launch itself! The Fj floats on top of the snow, vs the Van and Mog which sink down to the ice beneath. John had the flight of the day, perfect launch, nice control in the air and when he came over the corn field to the west . . . he started going up. Every S-turn he was a few meters higher and getting bounced around pretty good. Colleen was there on the ground guiding him, and he was doing well but he spent about 10 minutes over the LZ before Colleen sent him to the Maple Tree to desced into an aircraft approach. Total flight time 18 minutes, doubling the flighttime of many flights of others. About 20 people hiked up for at least one flight, some folks we had not seen since fall (Veronica and Greg) and everyone flew (even Cecilia who stashed the HG last night got enough wind to launch). The last flight for the students was a long wait for a cycle as the sun was very shaded and the east started to kick in. Eventually Ken got a good cycle, patiently waiting behind others, and had a great launch on the Mojo2. Mike was almost denied as the east never let up for him, so we set him up to the South and he launched heading South and pulled it off nicely. By the time I got down with all the hiking, most folks had gone home, but at least everyone got to fly but Al who drove him own FJ down as he didn't trust John and I to get it down safely. Nowm went down with Al to drive Doug Marshburns rig down.
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Woodside Report - another great soaring day for February!. | Gary K was kind enough to car-pool me out to the Ranch and we arrived at noon to start the shuttles to 3.5 kms. We witnessed Ian J landing his Coyote at the Ranch and he had his PG with him, and he joined the shuttle crew. I took a load of about 10 pilots up to the snowline, and then returned to the Ranch to meet James and Phil who were arriving at 1 pm. Cecilia from Merritt arrived with her hangglider at that time too and was committed to hiking up! When we hiked up to launch we arrived by 2:00 pm, with James and Phil helped by hiking the hangglider. There were already 10 pilots still fighting to get high. Some looked like they were heading to Joe's backyard and then they would appear above launch again.  Some of the gaggle over Woodside today - photo by JPR The four of us were getting ready and the cycles were still pretty good. A few pilots were over the South Knoll, some out front.  Even a hangglider braved the hike - photo by JPR James had a good launch and was headed to the Ranch, and Phil duffed one launch by letting the wing overshoot into an assymetric and he landed just at the lip of launch unscathed, and was soon back on top to try again. Cecilia was busy building her HG. Phil then had a solid launch and was soon on the way to his first thermals, although his turns were a bit big? I waited for Cecilia to get ready for her first Woodside flight and she had a really good launch into a good SW cycle. It was my turn, Darren was still above launch "duking it out" with Alan. These guys ruled the sky today, light lift and erractic tracks but they stayed above everyone for 2 hours. I had to wait for a cycle, and took the first solid one and was ridge soaring in front of launch and maintaining pretty well, but decided the lift that Nikolai was playing in at the South Knoll looked better. Mistake No. 1. Never leave lift! I lost so much height in the transition, that I was scratching the trees to get out to the thermals I left. And I had to stay on the treeline for 15 minutes but it never yielded a strong enough climb, so I headed out to the Ranch low, to get the students back up to fly again. We packed up quickly and headed back up the mountain for round #2. Derek was kind enough to shuttle some gear up on his sled, but the HG wouldn't fit so James helped Cecilia get her glider up to launch again. Unfortunately, it was not launchable for her but James and Phil had brilliant launches and landings. Good news for Cecilia, it looks good for tomorrow and her wing is already at launch! Rob, Robin, Martina, Ian P and Jason flew the last round and got some thermalling in before landing. Rob looks like he is connecting with the R09. Canadian Pilot climbs a Big Mountain - Lucille was one of four + guide that made the summit of Aconcagua - yesterday. Great effort. Martin Polach calls her the 'energiser bunny'. You can read about the trip on Lucille's Web Page . Lucille, a long time paraglider pilot and former AHPA President, and HPAC Rating Chairperson is from Edmonton. from Vincece at Muller Windsports Ltd Our local Team of Climbers for Climb for Prostate 2009 includes Brad Henry, Kevin Ault, and a number of others from Chilliwack and the Interior.
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Woodside Report - another huge group of pilots were out at Woodside today. | Jeremy was out testing the R09 and was "duking it out" with Robin for over an hour. They only got to 1000 meters today due to an inversion layer. Derek also flew for about an hour but he said he couldn't get above 800 meters. There was a correction to Rob's Mantra R09 report from yesterday. He never got above 1045 meters but was still able to fly to Sasquatch Mountain, tag it at 400 meters and fly back over the Ranch for a landing. And yes, we are still hiking from 3.5 kms.
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Woodside Report - a huge crew of pilots attacked Woodside today and had great flying. | Alan and Derek hiked up from the bottom at 10:30 am, and were launched by 12:30. Everything was going well for Alan until he suffered a collapse that caused his leading edge to tuck on one side. He could not free it until near landing. It was not a classic cravate, so conventional techniques weren't clearing it. As he landed, and has a cardinal rule of only launching once per day, the day was over for Alan by 2 pm. I arrived at 2 pm, to find Norm packed up and heading to work (he lucked out and got a ride up with some ATV-ers), Rob was packing his gear and we headed up the mountain to 3 kms, with Norm as our driver to reduce the hassle of retrieve later (thanks, Norm!). There was quite an assortment of vehicles at 3 km, Al was a bit further as he and Martina had driven up earlier. Robin's rig was at 3 kms, with Miguel's. The day wasn't guaranteed as some will attest, as there was +4 m/s lift, but also -4 m/s sink and the sinky areas much bigger than the lifty ones. Norm mentioned being concerned that he wasn't going to make the Ranch, just squeaking in over the fence line due to sink and winds. Some were on their second flights when Rob and I got to launch at 2:30 pm. I handed over the R09 to Rob and I flew a Mojo2 that was soaked from weekend fun to dry it out. Both of us had no problems coring up to 1200 meters to join Derek and Robin. Dennis was still in the air and doing well. Miguel was sinking out on the second flight when we started hiking but appeared magically above launch having caught a nice core on the way to Riverside. Derek had top-landed (?) earlier in the clearcut behind launch and had relaunched before we got there after eating a sandwich on launch. I was hanging around launch thermalling with Derek for a bit until the wake and the sink made me fly back to the nice thermal over the clearcut to bench up a few more times. Really cold without a balaclava, which seemed to be in another kit! I flew out after about 45 minutes, leaving from 750 meters and had to use speedbar all the way to the Ranch to make it. Strong SE winds and sinky areas as Norm and Kent can attest to. Once over Eagle Ranch it was thermic over the LZ but I landed close to Stonehenge to pack up. Rob stayed in the air for +2 hours on the R09 and noted that it definitely moved around more than the Mantra M2, but today even the Mojo2 was being bashed around so there was good turbulence in the first good thermic day of 2009. Rob headed to Sasquatch Mountain from 1045 meters and was able to tag it at 400 meters and still get back to the Ranch, attesting to the good glide of the R09!  Rob's tracklog over Woodside today - photo by CompeGPS In the end airtimes as follows: Norm 1.5 hrs, Dennis +4 hrs, Derek +3.5 hours, Robin 3 hours, Rob +2 hours, Nikolai +3 hours, Miguel 2 hours, Kent 1.5 hours, Martin N 1 hour. Great times for the first thermalling day of 2009. Jeffrey's Honduras Adventures - Flying season in Yuscaran is getting started again...should be getting better weekly, at least through to April or into May when it is still good in the mornings but beware afternoon thunderstorms. Two days flying last weekend and both were cross country days though the cloudbase is not really high just yet.  Cloudstreet in Yuscaran, Honduras - photo by Jeffrey With the help of Carlos who works with the Chamber of Tourism, I am organizing a group of young people that are interested in learning how to fly. Several came to Yuscaran last weekend and we will have more again this weekend coming to Amapala. I will do several of these weekends, hopefully a few tandems as well to see who is seriously interested in flying. Carlos and I are looking into the logistics of forming a club / co-operativo in order to finance wings and perhaps sponsor courses for people who often have a hard time just surviving in many cases. I am keen to see as many of the poor people as possible provided with the opportunity to get involved, learn how to fly and maybe participate in the possibility of a small tourism industry based on visiting pilots (hint?). I am still the only person who flys regularily, we lost Christian who moved to Costa Rica over Christmas and though there are two others (a Dutchman and a Guatemalteco) neither can get away to come out and play on a regular basis so the idea of having some young people learning is quite exciting - Cheers, Jeffrey
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Woodside Report - it was definitely flyable, but pretty lame conditions all day. The only sun came around 4 pm and too late to cause any thermals. And it started raining around 5:30 pm. The forecasters were wrong all day. No one came out to fly. |
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Whistler Report -
James, Phil and I got out flying in Whistler Sunday. |  James flying at Whistler - photo by Stephen The three of us managed to do 4 hike and fly loop in the backcountry of Whistler on Sunday. Here is a pic of James on our last flight back into the ski area off of Flute Mountain. No new snow for days and the weather was quite stable so we figured it was a good day for flying - Stephen Bridal Report - I knew it was going to be windy so no rush to get out to the Valley. +40 kph at the peaks all NE wind. I stopped by Bridal to see the logging happening just east of the Water Slides, apparently it is either a housing development or an RV Park, differing versions are being told by locals.  New developments at the bottom of Bridal, looking east toward Mt. Cheam - photo by JPR  Aerial View from Google Earth, yellow marks the approximate boundaries of the logging - photo by JPR Saddle Mountain WA Report - Monday at Saddle: After reviewing the weather and talking with a few people east and west, Jimmy and I headed for Saddle for President's Day. Dave N. was just about perfect with his wind prediction. What we did not expect, however, was a very low ceiling that never burned off. Jimmy and I stopped and ate a late breakfast when we heard that launch was in the clouds. The delay was just enough to put us on top just minutes after it became launchable. The temperature felt a little warmer than expected. A short time later there were 2 hangs and 2 paras in the sky. Two paras chose not to fly, and nobody else showed. Bummer for them. We had quite smooth air, and just strong enough for making repeated touch-and-go landings. It was great practice; like having a training hill, without having to hike back up. Another surprise for the day was wing icing. We had a bit of mostly-frozen rain at times, including during the first 30 minutes. Less than 10 minutes into his first flight, Jimmy had to set down and beat the accumulated ice off his wing. I didn't know if my glider would react as negatively as his, but I chose to do the same thing, just in case. It was weird to run fingernails along the wing and gouge up frost. It wasn't long before the worst of it had passed, but we still chose to de-ice once more. Note that unlike when wiping off rain-drops, it is not enough to de-ice the leading edge alone (says Jimmy after a handful of flights). Third surprise: The best lift was west of launch, all day. Even the big bowl to the east paled in comparison, and much further east than that I couldn't stay above launch. After a couple exploratory trips out-and-back, I returned a few hundred feet below launch and benched right back up for more easy top landings - Chris A new video posted by one of the Belgium Competitors at the World's in Valle last month - Phillipe exclaims "I am coming back to Mexico every F#CKING YEAR!". Lots of action shots of the Mantra R09's at the Comp. Phillipe in Valle
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Woodside Report - it was very windy from the North, and I couldn't talk anyone into going to Hemlock (too cold, too rotory). |
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Savona Report - as conditions looked poor at Woodside early, we headed directly to Savona at 10 AM. | Ken, John and Rick headed up there but we lost Rick somewhere? He may have kept going towards Valemount and home. We headed to the Toilet Bowl ridge and the guys were flying off there immediately and hiking back up as the road was snowed in. Good kiting winds allowed them to stabilize their gliders and get everything under control before they committed to flight. Some interesting landings in the sage and snow. Three flights and hikes later we headed home.  Ken kiting at Savona - photo by JPR In the end the winds were almost too strong and John was able to stay above launch even fairly far out front and had a slow groundspeed on final. It would be great if the local Band would allow us to log out the pine beetle killed trees on that bowl, and remove them to a safe spot for firewood or burning. This ridge works in SW to NW winds and makes a great training hill. With the trees gone it would make a great soaring site. Photos of the new Ozone Mantra M3 and R09 from the Worlds.
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Valley Report - gusty NE winds all day, no pireps. |
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Woodside Report - a good day to test the stability of the Mantra R09!. Definitely leeside from the NE at launch height. I made a tactical error and followed some Eagles, who sucked me into a rotor pit over Lower Launch before they flew home laughing!
Alan launched a few minutes after me and was rewarded with 1:10 getting to 1100 meters and freezing his hands. |  Alan at 1000 meters over Woodside on February 12 - photo by JPR I stayed in the air for 22 minutes but didn't get much above launch. Weird North wind and rotor on the way to the Ranch from the bailout to tree top level, landing facing Sasquatch at Stonehenge. Note to self: Don't fly the R09 with an acro harness! The Vamp works way better. Matt J and Jonathon F arrived at the Ranch just before we flew and they hiked up and both had nice flights landing at the Ranch. We then could retrieve the vehicles, after they packed up, allowing Alan to go home to warm up. Nice day for all who flew. Elk Report - Kevin decided Woodside wouldn't work this late and he is training for Aconcogua in December so off to Elk. He arrived at launch to light tailwind but was at Eddie's later and before dark. Kent's Southern California Gloat Report - Howdy Jim!! Mark Tulloch and I flew down to San Bernadino to fly Marshall Peak for a week, with Martin Nowasalski (spelling?) and Steve Parsons (h/p and p/g pilot from Victoria) drove down to meet us and fly for the week. What a mixed bag! Five days of flying out of seven in spite of the weather, with some great fun and big air! First day we flew a few of the local hanglider pilots declined to launch, with our then learning how powerful the pre-frontal conditions can get. I ventured a wee bit too far over toward the "Nationals" launch after launching off Marshall, and found it impossible to penetrate back out toward the LZ. I tried big-earsing down to land on the Nationals roll, but as soon as I got anywhere within 10 meters of the surface my negative ground speed increased to about 20 km/hr, and with my envisioning getting dragged over the back-side I elected to veer out sharply toward the west and try to shadow the ridge-spline out. Ended up getting pushed back into a lee-side ravine/canyon, but just managed to stay high enough to stay out of anticipated horrific rotor ( a miracle), and managed to extend my glide out toward the main valley over a freaking power station/water reservoir and huge high-tension lines to land in clean air. Washed my undies out after that one, but a Water's Works employee drove out to see where I put down (a perfect, 0-ground speed smooth landing!) and I thus got a ride all the way back to the LZ!! It would have been a long trek otherwise.  Kent over Marshall looking out at rain soaked hills, hence green - photo by Kent Day two two sleddies off same launch. Day three brought friggen snow, and Mark who had flown there every winter for years, took us and Dusty - the p/g and h/g pilot who owns the house we stayed in - to Torrey Pines in San Diego for some absolutely splendid, aesthetic and uneventful ocean-cliff ridge-soaring (save for Martin who launched a second time too late and sunk out onto the beach only to then get poured on with rain while packing up!) ...  Looking north while soaring Torrey Pines - photo by Kent One down day for rain (drove to Malibu Beach and Hollywierd only to see a street-bum standing on the busiest section of Sunset Drive at rush hour with his pants down at his ankles!?) and had a coffee/beer at Venice freak beach (50 mph winds) and fish-and-chips at Malibu. Last couple days at Marshall were absolutely fabulous, with BIG air, lift everywhere perfect post-frontal conditions) and superb soaring vistas and opportunities all 'round. The locals are super-cool and friendly and open to foreign pilots, and I can't say enough good things about the area for a relatively cheap, quick winter getaway (seat-sale on Southwestern for $65.00/each way!!). Only 30 minutes from the Ontario airport by rental car. Although on the second to last day we were all blasting around above launch and though it was somewhat raucous, I didn't think it that rough only to turn around and see a fully inflated canopy attached to a fully inflated reserve (such pretty colors!!) gently drifting down just above/behind launch ... Turns out the pilot was probably flying too much brake in rougher air and spun his wing and panicked .... And I read that flying season is opening here now - yeeehaa!! - Kent Rodler  Marshall's Mascot - photo by Kent
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Woodside Report - Woodside looked good a few times on the FlyBC Woodside WebCam . No pilot reports however.
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Woodside Report - it looked ugly in the Valley today. | John Silvester flying the big mountains of Pakistan on an Ozone Magnum tandem glider (same one we fly at FlyBC, just not as high!) Accident Report from the Motocross scene - Freestyle Motocross Star Dies Jeremy Lusk, of Temecula, CA, has died after he under-rotated a Hart Attack backflip and slammed head first into the dirt on Saturday, Feb. 7 in Costa Rica. He sustained severe brain damage and a possible spinal cord injury, said Jorge Ramirez, chief of the intensive care unit at Calderon Hospital. Lusk survived an initial surgery late Saturday night that was intended to stem brain swelling, even though his chances of surviving the procedure were low. I used to race Motocross in the late 70's and early 80's and the worst thing that ever happened was a few broken arms or ankles. Now the competition scene has escalated to these exhibition jumps and X-Games shows that are really deadly. Kind of like the latest PG Worlds pushing the limits? - Jim
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Woodside Report - lots of "humming and hawing" from Alan whether it was too windy, but the afternoon shots from the FlyBC Woodside WebCam looked pretty promising, alas I was in Downtown Vancouver. |  Woodside from Eagle Ranch 49.248N -121.889W - photo by WebCam Elk Report - A third stellar day on Elk. This time Daryl S, Judy and I hiked up in sunny skies to find nice thermal cycles coming up.  Kevin launching his Ozone Geo II - photo by Judy Super launch conditions led me to expect a nice big soaring flight but once in the air, it was inconsistent and a little punchy. I headed after about five minutes of scratching. Daryl had better luck and hooked a very nice one from below the tree line and regained enough altitude to top land.  Daryl flying off on his Ozone Vulcan - photo by Judy By his second launch the high cloud had moved in and he headed out to join Eddy, Monica and I for a light repast. On a more somber note, seven fallers came in last week and cut the future road up and across the trail. They must have cut a path over two kilometers long. It is disturbing to see all those lovely trees down and hopefully the rest of the logging will not disturb the trail anymore. The Elk trail as we knew it is now history. As Tony Soprano would say, "what are ya gonna do?" - Kevin  Logging commenced on Elk Mountain Trail Feb 09 - end of an era - photo by KVA Wouter's Dutch Soaring Continues!
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Woodside Report - a very successful day for the students; three flights each for John, Ken, Mike.
One flight each for Dan and Heiko who had to leave early. | Derek helped us out by shuttling the first group up on the sleds, with the remaining flights being "hike & flys" from 3 km. Hats off to the hikers who had enough energy to keep going til 4:00 pm. There is lots of dirt showing through in places so we hope the road will be driveable in a few weeks. Andrei, Peter and Claudia also hiked up in their own group after flying Hemlock yesterday. Conditions were light tail to good inflow around 2 pm. Cloudy all day, but enough energy got through to generate the odd cycles. No wind in the Eagle Ranch LZ. At least no wind in the LZ when I did the only tandem with Julia, but good cycles at launch. Colleen took time out for one flight on the last flights, hiking with the guys. Rob S even came out to fly the R09 again, bonding with the hottest ship in the Valley.  Colleen's view from over the Harrison Highlands construction zone at Woodside - photo by CMV
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Woodside Report - a successful training day for John and Ken, who started their beginner training today. John has had 12 tandems over the years, so he was quite comfortable with a solo flight off Woodside after hours of ground handling at the Ranch. Ken went tandem with me as I was test-flying Marty's new ParaToys Tandem before shipping it out. It flew very nice, nice turns onto final as Ken flew most of the flight. | Old student (2008) Mike was back to get signed off, flying some demo gear. While we were ground handling Martina flew in around 11:30, nice conditions at launch and perfect kiting conditions at Eagle Ranch. Pretty busy at the Ranch as pilots were jockeying for rides up to 3 kms, where we hiked and shuttled with Derek's sleds. The last shuttle up arrived at launch around 3:45 pm, and the sun was getting obscured so the east winds picked up. Rob was not dismayed as he flew the R09 off the sout side of launch peeling off into a right turn to avoid the trees. Tomorrow looks promising for some soaring as the South winds are picking up.
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Woodside Report - I saw the North winds in the clouds and no one was around so I went up to the North Side of Woodside at 3:00 pm,
as far as I could drive (not that far) until I hit deep snow, then started hiking to the North Launch we have scoped out many times before. | I started up the GPS to record how far I hiked and it looks like it was 4-5 kms until I hit the launch. I put out some ribbons to confirm that the wind on the back of my neck was indeed catabatic. A few lulls occurred but they were associated with thick clouds out front. I finally decided that I got there too late and the conditions were not right for a first flight off the North Launch, But a nice hike: 1 hour up, and 45 minutes back with a full kit.  The view from the North Launch on Mount Woodside - photo by JPR I arrived back at my truck just as it got dark, and watched a Search and Rescue Buffalo doing sweeps of the area all around Woodside, so there must be somebody missing in a boat or plane? Valle de Bravo Report - Task 11 was cancelled mid-task today due to unsafe conditions. Two helicopters busy retrieving pilots! The results from Task 10 stand. Cumulative Results after ten tasks are Cumulative Results . Cumulative Team Results after ten tasks are Cumulative Team Results . Czech Team is number one. UK is in 4th place flying Ozone Mantra R09's! More details in the blogs below. FAI World's Site. Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Anders Baerheim flying a Mantra R09 Nicole's Excellent Adventures, flying very far every day! Keith Mac is working well with his Boomerang 6
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Elk Report - Elk has been the place to be two days in a row! I received a late report from Kevin A on Wednesday night that he logged 45 minutes soaring in 20-30 kph winds forcing himself to land before it got too dark. | Today, Eddie, Alan and Derek flew Elk and all soared too. Alan got over and hour. Derek said it was punchy at times and strong. There has been some new logging at the base of Elk, a woodlot managed by the local band that starts about 40 minutes into the hike that has the local hikers upset, but it has been approved and work has already started. Blanchard Report - I arrived at noon on the dot, but it was completely wind still. Forecast was for 15-20 knots from the SW? The smoke stacks at Port Angeles went straight up to 300 feet then hung in the inversion. No one around so I drove back to Vancouver. Not a wasted trip as I had to come down to pick up Martie's tandem for his Paratoys Quad anyway and the border has 3 minute lineups. Mantra R09 Report followup from Yesterday - we got some nice pictures of the R09 yesterday, but I forgot to post them. These pics show the aspect ratio pretty well.  Rob thermalling the R09 near the Harrison Highlands Resort - photo by JPR  Jim on the R09 near the Ranch - photo by Martina  Jim looping the R09 over the Ranch, nice moon - photo by Martina Valle de Bravo Report - Task 10 was conducted today, 117 kms with Matt B (Farmer) arriving in under 4 hours for an average speed of 28 kph. Keith McC came in to goal in 9th place! Goal field was at 3000 meters so it required a climb out of the speed section to get there, a few pilots landed short of climbing the last ridge.  Task 10 Turnpoint Map - photo by Google Earth Tenth task individual pilots results are Task Ten Results . Cumulative Results after ten tasks are Cumulative Results . Cumulative Team Results after ten tasks are Cumulative Team Results . UK is still in 4th place flying Ozone Mantra R09's! More details in the blogs below. FAI World's Site. Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Anders Baerheim flying a Mantra R09 Nicole's Excellent Adventures, flying very far every day! Keith Mac is working well with his Boomerang 6  Available at Vibe Computing from Mark DowsettWatch Keith M fly his Boomerang 6 during the tasks after 10 am PST. Watch Anders Baerheim fly his Mantra R09 during the tasks after 10 am PST using Spot.
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Woodside Report - while the Comp Folks are doing 100 km+ tasks in Valle, we have to be content with "hike and flying" at Woodside. | Norm, Jeremy, Jason and I hiked the first flight around noon and we all had sled rides. The forecast winds never picked up all day and we had mixed cycles at launch. I was kiting at launch for a bit hoping to get a stronger cycle but it never happened. Derek, Martina and Rob arrived as I was launching and we all went back up the mountain (except Jason who went back to work). This time we used Derek's sleds to get up and I was the shuttle bunny, responsible for getting at least one sled down to the truck. Rob's turn on the Mantra R09 and he even got to thermal for a few turns. The last flight was required as we had to go up to retrieve the last sled anyway, so Martina, Rob (back on the M2) and Jeremy flew the R09. Very light to tail wind cycles but everyone got off fine. Big smile from the R09 pilots, who enjoyed the speed and glide it offers. Valle de Bravo Report - Task 9 was conducted today, 106 kms with Urban Valic arriving in under 3 hours for an average speed of 32.9 kph. Jim Orava got 585 points for staying behind to watch for a pilot who landed in a gulley, despite getting flushed for waiting around. Ninth task individual pilots results are Task Nine Results . Cumulative Results after nine tasks are Cumulative Results . Cumulative Team Results after nine tasks are Cumulative Team Results . Wow, the UK is in 4th place flying Ozone Mantra R09's! More details in the blogs below. FAI World's Site. Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Anders Baerheim flying a Mantra R09 Nicole's Excellent Adventures, working hard! Keith Mac is working well with his Boomerang 6 Available at Vibe Computing from Mark DowsettWatch Keith M fly his Boomerang 6 during the tasks after 10 am PST. Watch Anders Baerheim fly his Mantra R09 during the tasks after 10 am PST using Spot.
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Valle de Bravo Report - Task 8 was conducted today, 115 kms with a long glide over the lake into the Lake LZ, with a local Calgary pilot not quite making the goal LZ but landing in the golf course. Read Keith's blog below!
Due to the heavy scoring for the Speed Section, Keith had a better score than those that did make goal.
| Eighth task individual pilots results are Task Eight Results . Cumulative Results after eight tasks are Cumulative Results . More details in the blogs below. FAI World's Site is back online. Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Anders Baerheim flying a Mantra R09 Nicole's Excellent Adventures, working hard! Keith Mac is working well with his Boomerang 6 Available at Vibe Computing from Mark DowsettWatch Keith M fly his Boomerang 6 during the tasks after 10 am PST. Watch Anders Baerheim fly his Mantra R09 during the tasks after 10 am PST using Spot.
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| Valle de Bravo Report - Task 7 was conducted today, 95 kms with a long glide over the lake into the Lake LZ. Speed Section was the first 77 kms, so no points were lost for getting high enough to cross the lake.  Worlds 09, Task 7 Map from Google Earth - photo by JPR Seventh task individual pilots results are Task Seven Results . Cumulative Results after seven tasks are Cumulative Results . Day 7 Nevil Hulett Reserve landing - this guy is amazing! Nevil just completed the World's Longest XC Flight in 2008 in South Africa (507+ kms) and is videoing his own reserve landing in 2009. More details in the blogs below. FAI World's Site is back online. Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Anders Baerheim flying a Mantra R09 Nicole's Excellent Adventures, working hard! Keith Mac is working well with his Boomerang 6 Available at Vibe Computing from Mark DowsettWatch Keith M fly his Boomerang 6 during the tasks after 10 am PST. Watch Anders Baerheim fly his Mantra R09 during the tasks after 10 am PST using Spot.  Some of the Ozone Mantra R09 gliders flying in the Worlds 09, Task 4 - Photo provided by Martin Scheel at azoom.ch
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Woodside Report - it was cloudy and dry until noon. No wind at launch so I didn't hike up with a retrieve issue, and left the valley early as the weather looks bad for a few days. | Valle de Bravo Report - another rest day was called to have a memorial for Stefan Schmoker where the pilots flew with flowers in their harnesses to drop over the Lake LZ. More details in the blogs below. FAI World's Site is back online. Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Anders Baerheim flying a Mantra R09 Nicole's Excellent Adventures, working hard! Keith Mac is working well with his Boomerang 6 Available at Vibe Computing from Mark DowsettWatch Keith M fly his Boomerang 6 during the tasks after 10 am PST. Watch Anders Baerheim fly his Mantra R09 during the tasks after 10 am PST using Spot.
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Woodside Hiking Report - a dedicated group of desperados showed up at 12:30 today. Smart pilot Alan stayed home as he thought it looked pretty windy at his house at 10 am. | We went up in the FlyBC Van and Derek's truck to 3 kms. Unloaded two sleds and Derek, Martina and I drove up to install new poles and windsocks. It was howling! We shuttled Matt J, Matt S and Al up to launch and waited awhile. No change and Martina was getting bored and frozen so we drove down to the Sasquatch leaving Al and cronies at launch to wait. I had just ordered food when Al called to say they too were heading down. I picked them up just below lower launch. We ate and headed back to the Ranch to check out the winds and it was still strong so we went kiting the R09, sure enough as soon as we pulled it out the winds died so Rob had to try forward launches. I guess we showed have stayed with plan A, heading to Blanchard, but it looked too good at Woodside to wait in border lineups and drive 3 hours for a flight? Read below: Blanchard Gloat Report! Blanchard HG Report - Many multiple hour flights were made today by maybe as many hangs as I've ever seen together on one day at Blanchard. You could barely navigate the parking lot and the sky was pretty crowded too. We were whiting out around 2600' and flew as far as Chuckanut Mt to the north and the Bow hill area to the south in a nice mix of thermal and ridge lift. Mike Kee made his return to the scene today proving his place at the top of the stack on many occasions. I wish it was all fun today but as many of you know a good friend was injured in a launch mishap. I don't have the latest update about veteran pilot Joel Johnson's condition but he was taken down the hill in an ambulance after a very long and tenuous extraction by mountain rescue. The early news was that he broke both of his legs but was in stable condition. I was in the air when it happened so I don't have the details other than his wing was to the South and 30'-50' below launch and pointing back at the hill with an obvious broken LE. Joel's many friends were at his aid throughout the ordeal and did a great job of keeping him calm and did their best to relieve him of his immediate worries. This comes at a particularly tough time for Joel as his long time partner Tia has recently begun Chemotherapy and was let go from her Job. I am sure we will band together and find a way to help our brother through this tough time. Plans are already underway to create a relief fund for Joel and Tia. If you have recent information please keep us informed of Joel's progress. - Jeff Beck Valle de Bravo Report - Sixth task individual pilots results are Task Six Results . Cumulative Results after six tasks are Cumulative Results . Eighty plus pilots in goal including Jim Orava. Notably, Helmut Eichholzer, the pilot who top-landed to attend to Stephan Schmoker after he crashed was awarded 885 points. Not much has been published but I found this post in Spanish that might shed some light on the accident . Babelfish does a so-so job s you have to read between the lines. It confirms pretty much Nicole's rendition of what she saw in her Blog. FAI World's Site was offline yesterday Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Anders Baerheim flying a Mantra R09 Nicole's Excellent Adventures, working hard! Keith Mac is working well with his Boomerang 6 Available at Vibe Computing from Mark DowsettWatch Keith M fly his Boomerang 6 during the tasks after 10 am PST. Watch Anders Baerheim fly his Mantra R09 during the tasks after 10 am PST using Spot.
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Woodside Report - desperadoes: Alan, Kevin, Norm and I flew Woodside after a hike from 3 kms.
Aware of the forecasted winds we didn't wait long at launch and all got a nice sled ride landing at the Barn on
nice clean snow. Ian J was in the field in his Coyote ultralight but I did not want to land where it was muddy. By the time I was packed up to go say "Hi", Ian had to take-off to beat the weather coming in. |  Woodside today - photo by JPR The R09 flew nicely now that I have figured out the dual trimmer system. I was flying it at fast trim last night. Kevin and I decided to hike up for flight #2 and didn't even get to launch before it blew out and started raining. At least I got some exercise. Valle de Bravo Report - Sixth task of the Worlds '09 with a shorter task before rest day January 31. A competitor had a massive cascade of cravattes and hit the back side of the Penon. He was pronounced dead on the way to the Hospital in the ambulance. No one is blogging tonight except Nicole, who witnessed the crash. Even the PW Mex site is down, but that could be a coincidence. No name officially released but he was on the Swiss Team. Some news outlets had his name released but until proper confirmation from the Meet Directors it is not appropriate to release it here. More info available on Nicole's Blog.
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Woodside Report - "hike" is a four letter word, but I need to loose some Christmas Pudding fat!. | Derek was tied up, so Rob and I drove to 3 kms and hiked starting at 4:30 pm. We arrived at launch at 5:00 pm. Light SW winds but definitely flyable, so I unpacked the Mantra R09. What a ship! No split A's, so don't pull it up too fast or you get a "horseshoe". I got it up second try (after unstuffing a wing tip) and flew off in nice smooth air, and I was immediately rewarded with a very fast air speed! I landed just before dark and Rob a few minutes later, he was liking the landscape as the lights in Chilliwack started coming on. Valle de Bravo Report - Fifth task of the Worlds '09 with the longest task ever. Some upsets as the leaders dirted it along the course. With 5 more days at least, it is anyone's game. FAI World's Site Task 5 Results Cumulative Results after Task 5 Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Anders Baerheim flying a Mantra R09 Canadian National Team News Nicole's Excellent Adventures, working hard! Keith Mac is working his Boom 6 Watch Keith M fly his Boomerang 6 during the tasks after 10 am PST. Watch Anders Baerheim fly his Mantra R09 during the tasks after 10 am PST using Spot.
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Woodside Report - despite the forecast winds, Derek and I met at the Ranch at 3 pm, and headed up the hill. | We made it to 3.5 kms, then unloaded a sled to go to the top. My right arm is still sore from the Bridal work party and it wasn't happy hanging off a sled but it was better than hiking! At launch I unrolled the new Mantra R09 . . . and it is beautiful. Almost the width of launch, with a chord about 5 feet high! A few lulls encouraged me but in the end I stood down as it was too gusty for a first flight of the year on a new comp wing. And Derek was freezing too, so we packed up and sledded down around 4:30 pm. Nice skies today, just a bit windy! Valle de Bravo Report - Fourth task of the Worlds '09, Russ ogden in goal third place on an R09, Jamie Messenger in 6th on another R09. Canuck Team had Keith McC in goal, Jim O (65.2 km), Nicole (65.9 km) and Brett Y (29 km) were landing a bit short of the 89 km goal line . FAI World's Site Task 4 Results Cumulative Results after Task 4 Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Anders Baerheim flying a Mantra R09, currently 9th overall Canadian National Team News Nicole's Excellent Adventures kicking the guy's butts Keith Mac is thawing out here with his Boom 6 Watch Keith M fly his Boomerang 6 during the tasks after 10 am PST. Watch Anders Baerheim fly his Mantra R09 during the tasks after 10 am PST using Spot.
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Vancouver Report - snow again here, much nicer in Valle!. | Elk Report - Long time no see... Happy New Year to you and Colleen. Just wanted to let you know that I hike and flew Elk with Al yesterday. The hike was great but I was jealous of Al's hiking harness. What an awesome experience. Love that steep launch. Just a little cycle and two steps and you're off. We got a little ridge lift just off launch for a couple turns then just a light wind out to Eddy's for great landings for both of us. Fricken cold and the hands definitely told us to wear bigger mitts next time when they wouldn't work right after landing. It felt good to fly after so long and get some rust out. My Vulcan has only kited a few times since my last flight in September. I never again want to go that long without flying. Gave out your website to a number of hikers that were interested in this great way to get down from a good hike. Hopefully some new students to come. Talk to you soon, Matt J Jesson Contracting Woodside Report - Derek flew after the winds calmed down, a bit weird in the air but he managed to stay aloft until he saw Drew load the snow machine. Jeffrey's Honduras Report - Volcan Amapala, Gulf de Fonseca is proving to be very nice. I have spent both of the last two weekends here, clearing a launch and flying. So far every day has been flyable. This may end up being a very nice destination for cold northern pilots. I think the best conditions are during the winter months. The island is very pleasant with cheap accommodation, food, beer etc. It will soon be blowing from the south and there is no launch site on that side of the mountain but perhaps next year some one will consider visiting during winter? - Jeffrey  Amapala Launch - photo by Jeffrey Valle de Bravo Report - Third task of the Worlds '09. Canuck Team had 3 pilots in goal,unfortunately Nicole was not one of them. FAI World's Site Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Anders Baerheim flying a Mantra R09, currently 9th overall Canadian National Team News Nicole's Excellent Adventures kicking the guy's butts Keith Mac is thawing out here with his Boom 6 Watch Keith M fly his Boomerang 6 during the tasks after 10 am PST. Watch Anders Baerheim fly his Mantra R09 during the tasks after 10 am PST using Spot.
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PG Worlds Day 2/Task 2 - a 91.7 km task with 89 pilots in goal, Leader was Brad G from Utah, coming in in 3:03 at an average of 27 kph (compared to yesterdays average of 32 kph for the leaders).
| Rougher air today according to some fliers. PW Mex FAI World's Site Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) coming in 48th Mads Blog from UP, securing 23rd spot today Canadian National Team News Nicole's Excellent Adventures kicking the guy's butts, arrived 4.7 km short of goal Keith Mac is thawing out here with his Boom 6, arrived in goal #58 Watch Keith M fly during the tasks after 10 am CST using Spot, kind of like watching paint dry!. I thought he landed short of goal watching SPOT, but it only updates every 10 minutes max, so he had turned off the unit in goal before it updated his last spot around 5 km from goal. Other notables, Jim Orava in goal again in 49th place, Russ Ogden #58 on a Mantra R09. Jamie Messenger #85 on an R09 also. Note 3 gliders in 58th spot due to scoring program.
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Wouter's French Adventure -
Just returned from a snowboarding trip in Tignes, France. At first,
the whole week looked totally blown out but fortunately the weather
changed and it was flyable on wednesday. Had three very nice flights
launching at 3000m and landing at 2100m. You really notice the different
airdensity, especially in the take-off run! - Regards, Wouter | (ps: hopefully the east outflow winds change to upflow thermals in BC soon!) Hope you like the movie: Wouter in Tignes, France Valley Report - when I flew in from Calgary it was so windy there were sand storms on the Harrison River near Woodside, and the plane used less than 1/2 the runway at Abbotsford!. Valle de Bravo Report - first task of the Worlds '09. Canuck Team had 3 pilots in goal, with Keith McC being in the top 10. Nicole was there too, but no results are up yet. FAI World's Site Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Canadian National Team News Nicole's Excellent Adventures kicking the guy's butts Keith Mac is thawing out here with his Boom 6 Watch Keith M fly during the tasks after 10 am CST using Spot, kind of like watching paint dry!. Salton Sea Paramotor Fly-In Report - Kirril and Leon went to the Salton Sea this weekend, 400+ paramotorists were there.  The action at Salton Sea - photo by Kirril
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Calgary Report - I would rather be in Valle than here, -27C with north winds. | Valle Reports - look below and click to read the mayhem reports. FAI World's Site Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Canadian National Team News Nicole's Excellent Adventures kicking the guy's butts Keith Mac is thawing out here with his Boom 6
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World's Practice Days in Valle de Bravo, Mexico - lots of action apparently. The blogs listed below tell the story and I wish I was there instead of freezing in Calgary! | FAI World's Site Mark Hayman's Blog (flying a Mantra R09 from the UK) Mads Blog from UP Canadian National Team News Nicole's Excellent Adventures kicking the guy's butts Keith Mac is thawing out here with his Boom 6
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Vancouver Report - more fog and black ice, will it ever end. | Valle PG World's Report - Mark Dowsett has arranged a series of RSS Feeds from various bloggers in Valle at Go Fly XC . Apparently a hairy day in Valle, 4 reserves tossed. Ewa landed in the lake, no details. Another pilot in th trees on a high peak waiting out the night to get rescued (it is cold up high even in Mexico) |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
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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