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FlyBC "Site of the Day Archive" - March/2016
Woodside looks flyable today after 10 am
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@ 3000' in knots |
Rate °C/1000' Cloud Base in Meters |
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| 3-31-16 |
 Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. High 21. UV index 5 or moderate. 1200 metres Dennie launched first after we waited for an hour for a sign of any lift, not even seeing any birds. It was very stable with no CU anywhere. Dennie sunk all the way down to Riverside, and we thought he was setting up an approach to land when he started circling in "zeros". He started to gain altitude slowly and soon he was at launch height which motivated Al, Bill, Kevin H and Bev to launch. Soon 4 gliders were orbiting near the South Knoll as Bev did her speed run to the Ranch.
The four pilots stayed in the air for almost two hours and Bill did top-land to find that we had left already, so they made the best out of a lame day.
Bill headed out super low but made it so we were confident we would make it. As the windgrams showed, all the lift was at the bottom 100 metres AGL so the landings were a bit choppy. Ali & Pau were kiting in the Hope Airport around the same time and reported that it was quite gusty there.
3-30-16
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 21. UV index 4 or moderate. 1100 metres We got there to see good cycles up the front, but a huge cloud shaded us in and we got some tailwind. After the cloud moved east, I clipped in to the Rush 3 L and got ready. After seeing good enough cycles to kite the Rush, I took off first and worked the clearcut in front and was not gaining so I headed north to the cliffs which often work, and got nothing. I arrived back in the clearcut pretty low and worked a few turns but it was either land in the clearcut, or head out to the Ranch. There was some nice lift over the Construction Zone but it drifted me out to the highway as there was strongish SE wind aloft (leeside). I landed in the parking lot at the Ranch as it is dry and close for storing the wing. By now Martin & Norm had launched and they were above launch. Martin was just above launch at the North Cliff.
At this point we we hearing from Derek & Alan as they got to Upper Bridal Launch. Alan had been in the air for a few hours struggling, but Derek timed it right and got away immediately launching around 4 pm. Gloat Reports from Guy in Pemby on FB as he made his first XC flight to Goat & back on his Ozone Mantra M6. 3-29-16
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 19. UV index 4 or moderate. 1100 metres There was some flying in Pemberton, good enough to stay up to top land but not to go XC. 3-28-16
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| Agassiz BC Partly cloudy skies. High 14C. Winds light and variable. 1100 metres He is here for flight 19 & 20 in his continuing progress and he did very well! We headed up at noon with a full Van as many pilots came out and extended their Easter Weekends. Denis launched first and got to cloudbase fast and then top-landed before anyone else was ready. Al Hammer launched next and got some great climbs too. Several other pilots launched and they were all going up and it looked smooth despite the NE drift to the clouds higher up. Sean stepped up and had a great launch and was trying to follow Martin N up the South Knoll but the thermals were tight and Sean was not getting the good climbs, so I suggested going out to the clearcuts on the way to the Construction Zone and he caught a much better climb out there and the rest of the pilots started "pimping off" Sean.
He did not have to land as it was lifty everywhere, and I drove down leisurely following a logging truck, got into the LZ after talking to some folks and he was still soaring on the way out to the Ranch LZ. He had a classic approach and good flare. After some lunch we headed back up. The rest of the pack had headed West along the Sasquatch Ridge and were reporting in over Norm & Bev's house in Deroche. Near Deroche it got windy and he pilots said they were only getting 5-7 kph ground speed at Deroche. Oddly, the winds were light at the Golf Course where they were burning. Sean launched very nicely the second time, and climbed out fast. Rob W was here flying his new Swift 4 and he was seen getting whited out a few times, enjoying his new ride! Sean worked the lift very nicely and was soon at 'base too and practicing "big ears" to maintain a safe separation from cloud.
The XC guys were coming back from Deroche arriving low but had easy climbs back to 'base at Woodside. Norm reported getting to 1500 metres at the North Cliffs at this time. Everyone headed out to the Ranch at around 5 pm to land, and many maneuvers were required to get down. I drove down and was blocked by the log loader as they finished the last truckload of the day. Monitor 159.660 MHZ when driving to be safe.
Good day for Sean as he got 2 flights and about 3 hours of quality airtime. 3-27-16
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|  Agassiz BC Periods of rain. Becoming windy this morning. High 8.Clearing in the morning. High 14. UV index 4 or moderate. 700 metres 3-26-16
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| Agassiz BC Clearing in the morning. High 14. UV index 4 or moderate. 1500 metres We did not miss anything as we saw Martin N struggling to stay aloft on the drive up and had to land at Riverside and wait for a ride up. Peter launched after Martin and reported in at 1200 metres right after launching. The XC crew followed Peter east on the Agassiz Mtn. ridges. They did relatively well crossing to Bridal and Peter/Claudia/Tom/Vladimir made it back to the Harvest Market side around 5 pm, with Al on the wrong side of the Fraser River (he must have found a big sink home over Rosedale?). Their tracklogs up on Leonardo here. Colleen and I did a couple of tandems on the first round, Colleen taking prospective student Brian for a thermalling session on the SORA Tandem. He was a big dude over 250 lbs but they stayed up for sometime. My passenger, Isabella, turned up not knowing anything. What she found out was she was going paragliding after we explained the launch and landing areas. What she also did not know was that her boyfriend Jim was staying down to video her landing . . . and to roll out a banner that said: "Will you marry me?" We had a nice flight after several launch attempts with cross NW winds, getting above launch and taking some nice video footage, After 15 minutes of soaring I headed on to the Eagle Ranch LZ to circle over the banner, which she had trouble reading so I had to spell if out for her (I could see the writing fine).
She said "YES!" and we had a huge crowd of on-lookers including the next set of passengers who did some filming for the lucky couple. We regrouped and this time Colleen got to fly solo as I hired Denis to do the second tandem with me. Denis took off first with Sarah and climbed over launch fast, I took off next with Jordan and we got a nice climb right away too. We probably topped out at 1100 metres and there were a few solo pilots hanging around the launch with us.
I caught a nice climb over Harrison Highlands and we almost got back up to launch. Perfect landing conditions with a NE breeze in the LZ. We had to drive up one last time to retrieve Denis' car and Sean G got another flight in, soaring at 6 pm as it glassed off.  Elk Report - I hiked up with Daryl Sawatsky to join him for his first flight on Elk in six months and we scored big launching at about 1:00pm into light south cycles.
I carried on to Ludwig passing some of the valley crossers and then flew back past Elk and landed at my car at Prest for a personal best Elk flight - Cheers KVA
3-25-16
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| Agassiz BC A few showers ending late this morning then a mix of sun and cloud. High 11. UV index 4 or moderate. 1100 metres I was working on the greenhouse with Al and we missed two truckloads of pilots that left from the Ranch at 1130 am. It was no big deal as by the time we loaded up my Van, and headed up the mountain it was drizzling and we had to sit inside on launch for 30 minutes anyway. When it cleared we had very light NW wind and pilots were having issues getting launched. It took a long time to get pilots off launch and there was about 30 pilots out on this very nice first good flying day this month. I was setup and clipped in at the back of launch and inflated from there and took off before anyone else could get in front of me. The queue was rather disorganized. I was flying one of the Rush 3 Ls today at the bottom of the weight range and it climbed very well . . . too well at times as it got pretty white near 'base at around 1000 metres. I made my way thru the clouds and followed a yellow glider as they made their way across the Harrison River towards Sasquatch and as I got there still around 1000 metres, I saw a few pilots who had been trying to get up at Sasquatch setting up to land at the Golf Course Airstrip. I turned back towards launch and all the places I found lift on the way across were now not working. I saw Hammer working around launch as he got a late start, as well as 5-6 others trying to get up there and it was slow to climb out as some parts of Woodside shaded out.
Tom C reported in from Hope Airport where he caught a ride with a guy from the sailplane club back to Bridal Falls. We watched many pilots returning from their westbound XC flights and climbing out at Woodside after coming in low. There were a few clearcut landings as pilots failed to climb out, one in particular landed near a naked man suntanning?? I drove down as the last pilot to launch was pretty much just sinking down towards Riverside. They did get back above launch but it was not guaranteed to be able to top-land so I drove down. There are some tracklogs up on Leonardo here. Some made it to Dewdney Peak and out to Bear east before coming back to Woodside. Alan reported in from Bridal, doing better on the flats than on the mountain, but he got a few hours in. 3-24-16
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy. Rain beginning this morning. Amount 20 mm. High 9. 700 metres Two and a half hours in to the Cargo Terminal, then spent an hour in the main terminal, out to Burnaby to pick up a radio battery and I was still not back to the Ranch til 8 hours later due to holiday traffic on Hwy 7 and rainy conditions (Hwy 1 was closed in places due to accidents). Definitely no flying anywhere around here as Alan D said it was very windy at Bridal. 3-23-16
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|  Agassiz BC Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers early this morning. Rain beginning this morning. Amount 5 mm. High 9. 700 metres No flying to report as the front comes in with lots of rain and forecast thunderstorms. 3-22-16
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy with showers. High 12C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%. 800 metres Rain at Sasquatch and Cultus but clear over Woodside.
Blanchard WA Report - About twenty-five pilots converged on Mt. Blanchard to today arriving about noon to clearing skies with a light south breeze. The early launchers like me either sunk out or scunged very hard for the first half hour when the lift improved. However, it didn't improve enough to easily bench up to the Oyster Dome, particularly with up to seventeen gliders all fighting for space in the short tight Blanchard thermals.
Max Altitude: 1200 meters Max lift 4.2 m/s Max sink 5.6 m/s Dynamic but beautiful Blanchard - Kevin 3-21-16
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers this morning. Showers beginning near noon. Fog patches dissipating this morning. Amount 5 mm. High 12. 800 metres One bit of flagging tape on the way up showed strong SE winds, but we contined to launch and there were nice cycles at times from the SW. Colleen got ready first, with a new SupAir Escape 2 harnesss as I sold her harness in Mexico. She also has a new Delight 2 harness on the way as she is going to join the pod generation! Colleen took off in a light up-cycle and headed north over the new clearcut and started to climb. I took off a few minutes later, testing out the Nova Factor in case it started to rain, but did not catch the lift like Colleen had. There was lift over the clearcut but just light bubbles, as we were under cloud. It is going to work well in sun for sure as it has opened up some nice terrain to be heated up right in front of launch. I did quite a few passes but was losing height and once I got to tree top height I had to bail out to the Valley. Colleen managed to get above launch but was worried about the approaching virga over Chilliwack so she too flew out.
It was blowing about 15-20 kph in the Eagle Ranch LZ so I decided to land at the firepit, in the only grass triangle and it worked out well. Colleen got parked at times over Duncan's and decided to land just east of the training hill rather than risk landing in the muddy corn fields. We went to Chilliwack to get some tractor parts and drove thru rain on Hwy 1. But you could see the NW winds were keeping the rain away from Woodside. 3-20-16
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| Agassiz BC Raining. High 13C. Winds NE at 10 to 15 km/h. 600 metres 3-19-16
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 13C. Winds NE at 10 to 15 km/h. 1300 metres Over 100 pilots came to the clinic and it was quite well organized.
Alex R was doing the briefings for the PGers and Pedro was managing the HGers, thanks for the coaching! If you missed the clinic we will be running an alternate clinic here at Eagle Ranch in April, just email me when you want to come out. Woodside Report - Martin N, Norm & Bev were on Woodside but only Martin got off for a sledder, too much tailwind for the others. 3-18-16
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 13C. Winds NE at 10 to 15 km/h. 1300 metres 3-17-16
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 13C. Winds NE at 10 to 15 km/h. 1300 metres
3-16-16
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| Agassiz BC Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High near 10C. Winds light and variable. 1000 metres Martin N arrived and we got in the van to head up the mountain, and as we arrived at the top, Brandon decided it was nap time, so he stayed in the van while we hiked in to launch. The snow is all melted and we saw Denis in the air with his tandem, while Nikolai got ready to fly. The snowline to the west is pretty low after the past storms.
Martin N took off from the back despite NW winds on launch and he too was at 'base without turning.
A few more gliders appeared throughout the day as I watched Brandon sleep and no one sunk out, only landing when frozen. This is a classic video from 1999. The tricks are a lot looser than they now perform, but they were not using specialized acro gliders like today. 3-15-16
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| Agassiz BC Showers. Risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. High 10. 1000 metres I didn't see him in the air, but Martin N strolled in from the Eagle Ranch LZ around 5 pm. He had hiked up Woodside and was treated to some spring cloudsuck near the North Cliffs.
Lots of logging trucks on the Woodside Road so beware as they clear out the new clearcuts below launch. Meanwhile . . . back in Colima Mexico, the Volcano has a new topping of snow due to some unseasonably cold weather.
3-14-16
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| Agassiz BC Showers. Risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. Amount 10 mm. Becoming windy near noon. High 8. 1500 metres 3-13-16
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|  Agassiz BC Showers changing to rain at times heavy this afternoon. Amount 5 to 10 mm. High 7. 700 metres We got back to Harrison Mills before dark just as the storm hit here, it was very wet and windy. Should have stayed in Mexico longer! 3-12-16
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| Agassiz BC Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 13C. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 km/h. 700 metres 3-11-16
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| Agassiz BC Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 13C. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 km/h. 700 metres Now I have another chore to do on top of removing all the tree debris left by Scott's Tree Care in January. 3-10-16
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. High 11. Periods of rain beginning early this evening. Amount 10 to 15 mm. Windy. Low 6. 1000 metres Meanwhile back in Guadalajara, Miguelon sent videos of hail and snow in Jalisco where I just left, good timing! But today's forecast for Manzanillo looks typical. Sunny 28C and South winds. 3-9-16
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. High 11. Periods of rain beginning early this evening. Amount 10 to 15 mm. Windy. Low 6. 1000 metres Meanwhile . . . someone is in big trouble with his Principal! 3-6-16 3-7-16 3-8-16
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| Agassiz BC Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 11C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. 1000 metres I will be available for glider repairs, retrimming, reserves, harness setups as I am working at the Ranch getting things organized for spring flying. March 8 was flyable at times, with a low base but you could see launch. Cloudstreets are forming over the new clearcuts so this year may be interesting?
This just in from CH where Wouter & Team won first prize at a video competition! Nice work!WHITESTYLE VIDEO CONTEST: A PLAUSIBLE DREAM from wouter on Vimeo. 3-5-16
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| GDL MX Abundant sunshine. High near 30C. SSE winds shifting to W at 15 to 25 km/h. 2500 metres
3-4-16
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| GDL MX Abundant sunshine. High near 30C. SSE winds shifting to W at 15 to 25 km/h. 2500 metres We got ready and Elena did a great jo of staying on her feet as I inflated the SORA tandem and we were off and soaring over the rocks, getting to antenna height but not above. We flew for 30 minutes waiting for Juan Jorge to launch and then hit a sniky cycle where I thought we would not even make it to the golf course, but on the other side of the sink was lift. We stayed in the air for 45 minutes eventually landing on the beach at Indio's Restaurant in perfectly laminar conditions. 3-3-16
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| GDL MX Abundant sunshine. High near 30C. SSE winds shifting to W at 15 to 25 km/h. 2500 metres
We went down to Secret Cove and explored waiting for the sunset and we saw a black Jaguar (not the car but a real jungle cat), but it sliked away before I could take a picture.
3-2-16
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| GDL MX Sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 26C. Winds light and variable. 4200 metres 3-1-16
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| Manzanillo MX Plentiful sunshine. High 31C. Winds WSW at 15 to 30 km/h. 2200 metres It looked good on the soundings for San Marcos with cloudbase at 4200 metres, getting stronger everyday. I had a nice stay in the hotel there before heading back to Manzanillo. 2-28-16
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| Manzanillo MX Plentiful sunshine. High 31C. Winds WSW at 15 to 30 km/h. 2200 metres Separate reports from Denny & Claudia showed great climbs and extended soaring until one could not stand the cold!
Mike M had some fun in Mexico last month on the FlyBC Tours and is now preserving it for all of you on YouTube in 5 sessions. |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports click to select the month and year you wish to review.
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1253 Kilby Road, Harrison Mills, BC V0M 1L0 Cell: 604-618-5467 Skype: flybcpg E-Mail: FlyBC E-Mail |