FlyBC's Paragliding Site of the Day February 2020 Archive Page - from the Universe's Largest Paragliding Centre :-)

Date	Site	Forecast	Winds @ 3000' in kilometers	Lapse Rate °C/1000' Cloud Base in Meters	Comments
02-11-2020 to 02-29-2020	FlyBC and the Eagle Ranch LZ are now open	Woodside Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Sunny. High 29C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of sun. High 6C.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph Manzanillo: 250° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Mexico Report - we spent the balance of February 2010 snorkelling, swimming and enjoying life rather than chasing the clouds.
02-10-2020	We are on our Mexican Vacation and decided to stay home today	Manzanillo, Mexico Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: A mix of clouds and sun. High 84F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. High 7C.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph Manzanillo: 250° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Woodside Report - it was Monday but the Desperados were out at Woodside in full force. Denny claimed 51 minutes of airtime, Jacek came out later and got 20 minutes so the spring conditions are coming sooner than last season. The road is driveable to the 4 km mark and there is one icy deep cross ditch that seems to be getting everyone stuck. Maybe a few bags of gravel are in order or 3 inch rock to allow for drainage. Launch is clear of snow and the carpet we laid in 2019 is still in great shape. Martin was last seen over the South Knoll. Robert made the trip north from WA as the rest of his flying gang are down in Jocotepec. Even Bev was out braving the cold!
02-09-2020	FlyBC headed to San Marcos today on our Mexican Vacation	Manzanillo, Mexico Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Sunny. High 29C. Winds W at 10 to 15 km/h. Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of light rain. High 1C.	Manzanillo: 250° @ 10 kph Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	San Marcos Report - Colleen, Peter and I headed to San Marcos Lower Launch to meet up with Derek and gang. Plan was for Peter and me to fly as far south as we could as we were heading back that way to go home to Manzanillo. I launched first and it was spicy as the south winds were quite strong. I went straight up and backwards at times but was soon at 2400 metres (Lower Launch is at 1600 metres). Peter had a similarily interesting launch and was soon climbing with me right above launch. I headed south across the saddle once and got flushed so I went back north to climb again. There was a CU forming over the lakebed so I headed out there and climbed all the way out and was going to then head to the south ridge to climb there missing the saddle. It all worked well until I hit the ridge and I was going down at -5 m's. I think the winds was SE there and going catabatic. The sink lasted so long that any lift I hit was ragged and not helping me gain. Peter had followed me and hit all the same sink and I was soon setting up over a field near the road that follows the lake bed. When I came into land, the strong south winds became NW and I landed downwind in a muddy field. Peter was right behind me and he got the strong south wind. We packed up as Colleen drove down to find us but we hiked back to town as the road was a mud hole from last weeks rains. As we hiked north we saw Norm climb high and he crossed over us at 3000 metres saying there was no wind up high. No one else flew as it got too crazy on launch. We loaded up the Suburban and headed to Manzanillo where I tried one short flight at Pelican Bay. Strongish on launch but either not enough wind higher up or the wrong angle so I was on the beach in two passes. No wind on the beach but I avoided "Richard's Rock" and the surf and hiked back to the truck and it was hot!
02-08-2020	FlyBC headed to Tapalpa on our Mexican Vacation	Manzanillo, Mexico Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Sunny. High 29C. Winds E at 10 to 15 km/h. Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of light rain. High 1C.	Manzanillo: 250° @ 10 kph Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Tapalpa Report - Colleen, Peter and I headed to Tapalpa to meet up with Derek and gang. Doug M, Delvin, Harry, Rainer, Dave, Nelson are all here flying with Derek & Norm on the Desperado Tour. Conditions were perfect at launch and folks were climbing out. Nelson has been soaring well on his Buzz Z5 and has added 20+ hours to his log book this month! Colleen launched first and climbed well initially but then the south winds picked up and the thermals got ratty. She was bobbing up and down as she headed north arriving over the HG LZ at 400 metres AGL. Peter launched last and I headed down to pick up Colleen as it did not look like we could top land this trip. It turned out that I was wrong as Peter was soon 700 metres over launch as the winds switched to SW and it was no longer launchable but the thermals were now coming off the plateau behind launch. Good timing on his part. The rest of the gang were waiting at the HG LZ and were headed North to San Marcos so we told Peter to head out north too but he decided to land at the HG LZ for convenience. Norm had launched much before Peter and made it to the Cross and then across the lake bed but he got flushed in the strong wind on the estern side of the valley. We headed north hoping for a San Marcos flight but it was howling on Lower Launch so Derek took the group up to Upper Launch. Derek and Rainer got off in a lull but were not geting very high as it was so windy aloft. They landed over the back by the gas station and we all headed for dinner before it got dark.
02-07-2020	FlyBC and the Eagle Ranch LZ are now closed until March 2020 as we are on our Mexican Vacation	Manzanillo, Mexico Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Sunny. High 27C. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h. Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of light rain. High 1C.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph Manzanillo: 250° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Colima Report - Peter and I headed to Colima to fly as Colleen had meetings to run. It is Friday so I was not sure who was flying at La Cumbre but Gilles had organized a shuttle and we were all in the truck at noon. Gilles hired a local cab/carga truck and 6 of us went up for 200 pesos. 35 pesos each or about a buck! Gilles launch, then Richard, then a few visiting pilots before I launched. I got up on my Ozone Alpina 2 ML right away despite being 4 kgs over the top of the weight range. I hung out over launch about 300 metres over while Peter launched and followed the group south into the bowl. I flew for 45 minute before seeing Gilles head SW and he did not lose any altitude, but then I saw him head downwind and he lost it all heading to the Mesqua Soccer LZ where he made one turn and landed. I had already committed to a cross wind run to Mesqua north or the cane field near the road. I had great lift across the river and then the bottom dropped out and I was not sure I could even make the Mesqua field but I had some other less clean options. I came into Mesqua LZ with a perfect approach and soft landing as it is quite damp still and not thermic like usual. No pictures or video as my GoPro died on launch. Peter made it to the sugar cane field I pointed out on the drive up and was walking back to the hotel parking while Gilles and I flagged down a local pickup for a ride to the roundabout on the highway.
02-06-2020	FlyBC and the Eagle Ranch LZ are now closed until March 2020 as we are on our Mexican Vacation	Manzanillo, Mexico Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Sun and Clouds. High 27C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of rain. High 1C.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph Manzanillo: 250° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	El Toro Report - Peter G has been in town visiting for the past two rainy days and no flying so we took him up to El Toro today. Thanks to Thomm for coming up to drive the Suburban down for us. The work we did on launch last week is paying off as I launched into light cycles with no snags or sticks. It was cloudy hence the light cycles and minimal lift but I squeaked out 18 minutes. Best landing zone ever here on the Pacific Coast! Peter launched next and had a similar flight. Colleen launched last and flew out to the lagoon and bridge to see if it was possible to land there and walk home, and then flew back to Indio's.
02-05-2020	FlyBC and the Eagle Ranch LZ are now closed until March 2020 as we are on our Mexican Vacation	Manzanillo, Mexico Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Rain and Thunderstorms. High 27C. Winds E at 10 to 15 km/h. Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of light snow. High 1C.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph Manzanillo: 250° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Manzanillo Report - one more day as the rain dries out, big thunderstorms last night out over the ocean.
02-04-2020	FlyBC and the Eagle Ranch LZ are now closed until March 2020 as we are on our Mexican Vacation	Manzanillo, Mexico Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Rain and Thunderstorms. High 27C. Winds E at 10 to 15 km/h. Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of light snow. High 1C.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph Manzanillo: 250° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Manzanillo Report - one more day as the rain dries out, big thunderstorms last night out over the ocean.
02-03-2020	FlyBC and the Eagle Ranch LZ are now closed until March 2020 as we are on our Mexican Vacation	Manzanillo, Mexico Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Rain and Thunderstorms. High 27C. Winds E at 10 to 15 km/h. Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of light snow. High 1C.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph Manzanillo: 250° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Manzanillo Report - we are here in Manzanillo but oddly we have rain in the forecast for a few days, and it is raining inland where Derek and Norm are living (big front).
02-02-2020	FlyBC and the Eagle Ranch LZ are now closed until March 2020 as we are on our Mexican Vacation	Manzanillo, Mexico Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: A mix of clouds and sun. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of heavy rains. High 10C.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph Manzanillo: 250° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	El Toro Report - Thomm, Colleen, our gardener Francisco and I went to El Toro to clean up the trails and the launch area. This is the before picture from a few days ago when we had to launch from on top of the brush. Thomm manned the weed whacker, but it was underpowered for the job. Colleen took care of the loppers and did a great job despite the handle falling off . . . a lot! Francisco had a very sharp machete and he cleaned right down to the roots. I had a chainsaw to cut the bigger trees and roots. It is not perfect but we did a pretty good job with the tools we had. Grass seed and some better blades for the weedwacker should finish it off nicely but we only have four more weeks here anyway if the road survives the rains. Woodside Report - reports flowed in on FB and Gmail about great flying at Mother Woodside today. The usual suspects were out and Degas got some nice shots he shared with us. Martin N on his new Swift 5 (yellow), with Sean (orange/red). Kevin on his Ozone Mantra M7, above everyone at 800 metres. Conditions reported as spicy spring air with collapses.
02-01-2020	FlyBC and the Eagle Ranch LZ are now closed until March 2020 as we are on our Mexican Vacation	Manzanillo, Mexico Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: A mix of clouds and sun. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of heavy rains. High 10C.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph Manzanillo: 250° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	El Toro Report - cloudy skies here in Manzanillo and SE winds meant we stayed on the ground. Derek and the gang flew Tapalpa with mixed results. Kent District Declares an Emergency Situation - the road up Sasquatch Mountain (formerly Hemlock Resort) washed away at 9:30 pm last night and 500 staff and public are trapped on the mountain. The only way off the mountain is by helicopter for $150 a person.br> To make troubles worse roads in Harrison Lake also washed out trapping more residents.