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FlyBC "Site of the Day" - November 2011 Archive
El Chante & San Marcos!
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Road Trip Report for November 30/2011 to December 2, 2011 - after 4 days of hard driving we arrived in Guadalajara at 2:00 pm, and arranged the house rental. | Click here for more pictures from the Mexican Roadtrip.
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| Guadalajara: Sunny. High of 28°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.6 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2700 m
Road Trip Report - we stopped at Marshall on the way today but no gliders flying and the local caretaker said it was not going to be flyable for a week due to storms and north winds coming so we bailed and drove towards Suprise AZ just outside of Phoenix last night, as we head South to Mexico. | 2500 kms on the odometer so far and about 50% of the way to Jalisco Mexico.
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| Guadalajara: Sunny. High of 28°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.6 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2700 m
Road Trip Report - we only made it to Redding CA last night with a later than normal start and dinner in Ashland with Kevin Lee from Woodrat fame. |  Woodside Gloat Report - You left too soon! A bunch of desperados met at the Ranch at 11 today. Jan and Martin N flew first, both getting pretty much sledders even though we had blue skies & some nice looking clouds. I was next up and just before taking off I saw a gaggle of 20+ eagles towards the north cliffs. I flew over there right away, and was rewarded with a beautiful thermal that took me 300m over launch! Flew with the eagles til the clouds rolled in & they vanished, then Ihor launched with his new camera contraption when the sun popped out. We both got a beautiful 25 minute flight in today, and besides tomorrow the rest of the week is looking good. Hooray for global warming! - Martina ps Bob must know you're gone as she was very talkative, cuddly and ran out to the Pro Circle to greet us when we landed..
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| Guadalajara: Clear in the morning, then partly cloudy. High of 27°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.6 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2700 m
Monsoon Report - just as we were packing up the cars after the heavy rain we found a leaky roof caused by dammed up valleys, requiring a few hours of roof cleaning before dark. It should be okay now for the rest of the year? |
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| Guadalajara is looking fantastic for the next few months! Guadalajara: Clear in the morning, then partly cloudy. High of 27°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.6 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2700 m
Party Report - about 65 desperados braved the rain to come out and dance to a most excellent band, Head over Heels. | Thanks to all that came out and danced and partied! It is not a party without you guys! Thanks to all of you for the support this year, too. Click here for more pictures from the Party. New Video from Martin Henry (on a cheater wing) Go to Cruise from Martin Henry on Vimeo.
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| Guadalajara is looking fantastic for the next few months! Guadalajara: Clear in the morning, then partly cloudy. High of 25°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.8 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2600 m
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Click on the picture for more pictures from FlyBC in November as well as other activities such as today's sweet top-landings on Contour Helmet Cam video.Woodside Gloat Report - a few desperadoes arrived around noon and were rewarded nicely by Mother Nature & Mother Woodside. Ihor was here to pick up his new Gin Tribe courtesy of Gin Gliders & Superflyinc.com. He had uncovered a manufacturing defect after a year of flying his Tribe and after the factory saw the defect they released a new glider to Ihor at no charge. Joe N was here to get his new Swift just in time to fly to Valle on Saturday for a week of flying fun before heading out to meet me in Guadalajara. Maybe the Last of the Year from Ihor Trufyn on Vimeo. Doug M also came out to pick up his new wing, and when I drove down I saw him at 1200 meters thermalling above Woodside, but he had to fly out 'cause he was freezing and heading to Blanchard to hang with his WA homies. Congratulations on Doug becoming the new President of the Cascades Soaring Club for 2012!Both Joe & Ihor flew the first round as I went down to deal with a tree across the road and when I got down to the Ranch, they were soaring high above Woodside. The next round was Derek, Tom Edwards, Tom Chromy, and myself flying. I launched first and followed the ridge to the north and an immature bald eagle showed me the way to 1100 meters right away. He was "360-ing" instead of "figure-8-ing" and I followed him thinking I would get blown back but the thermal was strong enough to block the wind - smart eagle! I ventured to the towers and about 50 bald eagles were thermalling together on the north ridge, very surreal and very smooth. Kevin arrived and flew off as I was hovering over launch, and I going up everywhere in "Idiot-Lift". I flew for an hour with the last 15 minutes trying to top-land and Tom Edwards landed just in front of me, as I was approaching the launch. Tom was freezing and I was retrieving my Suburban. Oddly I was not that cold, but I had installed long johns early in the day cause I saw the temps aloft were pretty cold (-8.6C at 6000 feet). Tom relaunched and had another half hour of soaring while I drove down. We later saw Derek & Kevin high above the towers with a claimed cloudbase and top-out at 1400 meters! All thermic at that point, no ridge lift that high. Both Derek & Kevin top-landed but only one truck on top so Derek flew out to the Ranch just before dark. If one launched at noon, they could have flown for 4-1/2 hours if they weren't frozen. Sweet day! Elk Gloat Report - Steve D and Eddy S hiked and flew Elk, getting an hour of soaring before heading out to land. Lots of new snow on the hike up.
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| Guadalajara: Partly cloudy then sunny. High of 26°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.8 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2700 m
Woodside Report - wet weather but forecasted high winds did not touch down here at the Ranch, Surrey not so lucky I hear. | Click here for more pictures from Woodside today as well as some other sites.
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| Guadalajara: Partly cloudy. High of 27°C. Winds from the ENE at 10 km/h. Guadalajara: 040° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.8 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2500 m
Woodside Report - Derek & I drove up to launch around 3:30 pm, when the sun came out but it was pretty windy. Should have brought up the SCirroco? The main concern was whether we could get out to the Ranch before dark. | Click here for more pictures from Woodside today as well as some other sites. Parahikers in Paradise Part 1 (2002) from Kevin Ault on Vimeo. Parahikers In Paradise Part 2 (2002) from Kevin Ault on Vimeo.
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| Guadalajara: Overcast. High of 28°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.8 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2700 m
Woodside Report - windy early on according to Derek, but not nearly as windy as Vancouver last night. | No damage at the Ranch but the carpets on launch are starting to curl up as usual with the winter winds. It actually looked flyable mid-day but with the icy road up and wet grass in the LZ it didn't look worth it. Click here for more pictures from Woodside today as well as some other sites.
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| Guadalajara: Overcast. High of 27°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.8 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2700 m
Woodside Report - snowed all day, but it is expected to warm up later this week and possibly even be flyable Thursday & Friday. | Charles Cazaux - Team Ozone Member - is 2011 Paragliding World Cup Champ Look what my nephew Rob has been doing with UAVs in Calgary. Too much time on his hands?
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| Guadalajara: Partly cloudy in the morning, then clear. High of 28°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.8 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2900 m
Woodside Report - While the forecast was leeside again, Mother Woodside delivered as Richard came out for day 6 and 4 more high flights, and he is almost up to the required flights and skills for his USHPA P-2 rating. He wrote the exam and got 87% so he has a solid grounding on the academic stuff. Big ears practice today in super smooth, lame conditions. | Interesting driving conditions up to launch, much like a skating rink in places but we got to the top most parking each time. Click here for more pictures from Woodside today as well as some other sites.
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| Guadalajara: Clear in the morning, then partly cloudy. High of 27°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.5 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2600 m
Woodside Desperado Report - Wouter and I were making a stage for Head Over Heels, while Peter, Claudia, Paddy and others were flying off Woodside. | Kevin, Daryl, Steve, Eddie, Ivan were flying off Elk and managed to soar for a bit. Click here for more pictures from Woodside today.
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| Guadalajara: Clear in the morning, then partly cloudy. High of 25°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.5 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2600 m
Woodside Report - there were outflow winds but it did look flyable in the afternoon. All the desperados stayed home I guess? |
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| Guadalajara: Clear in the morning, then partly cloudy. High of 27°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.5 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2500 m
Woodside Report - heavy rain at the Ranch today but I kept busy cleaning out the barn for the Christmas Party. | Click here for more pictures from Savona and Woodside today. Raptor Rapture in Woodside Skies from Kevin Ault on Vimeo. A new weather viewer is available here thanks to Phil Ibis note the nice conditions at Tapalpa and San Marcos, newly added locations.
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| Guadalajara: Clear. High of 25°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 200° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.5 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2900 m
Woodside Report - snow at the Ranch today, time to start hiking up Woodside if it clears up? |
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| Guadalajara: Clear. High of 24°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 200° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.5 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2500 m
Interior Report - Richard and I stayed in Cache Creek today, and he flew his first flight off Coyote Ridge around 8:30 am, a nice reverse launch in light SE winds and I raced down for another flight as 10 flights is our target today. | Click here for more pictures from Savona and Woodside today. It takes 10 minutes for the retrieve, and by the time we got back up the winds had switched to SW and over the back so off to Savona. At Savona the winds were coming up the Toilet Bowl ridge and Richard had 7 reverse launches and nice landings there. Quicker turnaround with the Ozone Easy Bag/Stuff Bag which eliminates the folding at the bottom. Richard was doing so well, we moved up to Oscar's Launch where he had perfect 10-15 kph inflow winds at launch and enough thermals to get him to the Crash Pad LZ 3 more times. We are now at 11 flights for the day! We headed west towards Basil's Bump with new beta on how to get there and found a locked gate on the front road, necessitating a longer drive up the snowy back road with many trees down over the road. We never found a launchable spot and found ourselves back down at Hwy 1 where a farmer let us out of his yard. By now it was almost dark and we headed home. The phone was ringing now with gloat reports from Mother Woodside - 1.5 - 2 hours reported and climbs as high as 5 m/s! Many top-landings so no retrieve issues, cloud base at 1100 meters, Alan got +5 m's lift before getting shaded out. Even Derek and Kevin who arrived after 3 pm got 2 hours well above launch. Kevin counted 50 eagles flying with him today so watch for some good eagle footage on his next video. Horacio Llorens doing acro at San Marcos, one of our favourite Tour Stops.
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| Guadalajara: Clear. High of 25°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 200° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.5 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2600 m
Cache Creek Report - after a scary stretch of icy Hwy 1 between Spences Bridge and Ashcroft, the highway stopped moving for an hour because of a rollover accident near the Cornwall Rest Stop so I was a bit late. | Richard met me at the Manor and we went up Coyote to find light west winds, not launchable so we drove to Savona and arrived to find 40-60 kph SW winds. Back to Ashcroft to kite in the public park and Richard got very good at kiting. After a few hours we went to the west facing slope in the Ashcroft Band Reserve and the winds were light to NE? Too weird to bother taking out a glider, so we drove back to Coyote where it was blowing light NE, but it was nearly dark so off to dinner. Not much flying but important ground handling techniques were learned today. Tuesday looks good for flying at all the local sites with light winds and no rain. Parahikers In Paradise ll from Kevin Ault Team Ozone Ringleader on Vimeo.
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| Guadalajara: Clear. High of 27°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.8 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2900 m
Woodside Report - spent the day cleaning the barn for the Christmas Party which is less than 2 weeks away. No flying as a windy front pushes thru BC. |
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| Guadalajara: Clear. High of 26°C. Winds less than 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 090° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.7 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2700 m
Barn Project Report - we are finished insulating the top floor of the barn for the Christmas Party, 3 days of work by Derek, Wouter, George & Travis will make the dancing much warmer and hopefully keep the bats out next spring. |
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| Guadalajara: Clear. High of 29°C. Winds from the ESE at 5 km/h. Guadalajara: 210° at 3 knots Guadalajara: -2.7 ° (super unstable) Guadalajara: 2700 m
Woodside Report - the barn is 50% insulated thanks to George & Travis and it feels warmer already. Wet all day with heavy rain til dark. |
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Woodside Report - we were waiting for the winds to pick up but Joe & I headed up early to get him some flights as he has graduated and we are waiting for his new wing to arrive so he flew the Swift demo. | Joe got 2 sled rides in north launch winds, good for kiting practice but nearly 90 degrees from the north at times. Around 3 pm a truckload of us went up to launch and it was stronger but still north. When we arrived we saw Roger soaring on his HG, doing well. Ian J launched first, then Derek. Ian stayed out front and was just maintaining, as Derek drove close to the trees and got some lift and was soon climbing out but getting only 3-7 kph forward seeds as he climbed out. I was flying the R10.2 and it was doing the snake dance in the north wind rotors, and when I finally got a solid wing I dove off launch , pulled up the landing gear to fly off and butt-skidded to a stop when I got no lift. Tom E flew off and got no lift either, looking like Riverside was inevitable but his Rush III got Tom back to the Ranch. Martina tried a few inflations and even the Delta was snaking around, and she launched and flew out to try and find some lift but there was little. Derek was now thru 1100 meters and soaring with the eagles all around him. I got the R10.2 inflated and got popped off launch and headed north along the treeline but got nothing but sink. It was like the South wind layer was 100 feet above launch wnd everything else was north and not generating lift? I flew over back to launch and was just maintaining and sinking slightly as I went through some bubbles that lifted me up but not big enough to turn in, so I flew alongside of Martina and we were getting 35 kph ground speed, so no wind where we were but Derek was still soaring high. We landed in no wind at the ProCircle, and Derek landed just behind us as the sun was setting. These days are short as winter closes in. Windy Rotor Fun at Woody from Ihor Trufyn on Vimeo. A Tapalpa Video I found while searching YouTube. Do not know the pilots shown here but it is a good view of this launch spot we use on our FlyBC Mexican Tours .
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Barn Report - no flying today but it did look sledder-able, instead Derek and I were insulating and finishing the end walls of the Barn for the Christmas Party. |
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Woodside Report - it was flyable around 3 pm when I went to launch to measure up the carpet area for the hopeful day we receive the new carpet from the Gibsons Pulp Mill. |
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Coaches Corner for November 7/2011 - we are back at the Ranch after 10 am today, doing chores but no flying as it looks wet til Thursday. If you are sitting around bored today I could use some help insulating and finishing the end walls of the Barn for the Christmas Party. |
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Woodside Report - Woodside delivered again for new student Richard as he was ready for his first solo after extensive kiting, a tandem flight to cloudbase yesterday with me and a regular late day tandem with Colleen. | Richard launched his first solo on the Element II around 1 pm and had a nice little soaring flight with some turns and 360s with a perfect landing in the circle guided by Colleen. There were many pilots out today hoping for a replay on the glorious conditions yesterday but it was mostly sledders with the odd thermal here and there but pretty stable. Richard got another solo flight mid-day with some more turns and another good landing, in fact Cynthia wanted some pointers on landing from Richard! As Richard got ready for flight #3, a bunch of others flew off and were trying to thermal in front of launch when we saw an un-named pilot fall out of a thermal facing the mountain downwind in a 360 heading for the trees and the trees snagged him. He was stuck in the top of 2 tall trees but okay. Richard was un-phased and got laid out and had a brilliant forward launch and flew straight out to the Ranch. Oddly, on his second flight he tried to get in too close to the exact spot where the glider was in the trees and I mentioned that it was not prudent to fly too close in case one hits sink and can't maneuver away from the treetops. A truly "teachable moment"! After I handed Richard off to Colleen, I hiked in to the tree lander and helped him get down with his tree-rope kit with a few pointers but he was well equipped with: 150 feet of 7 mil rope, 3 slings, 2 carabiners and gloves to belay down with. The glider was still in the trees and a tree-climber is being dispatched for a morning rendezvous to remove the glider without cutting the trees as they are too tall and in a bad place. Click here for more pictures from Woodside today and a brilliant self rescue from a tall tree.
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Woodside Report - we started kiting at 11 am in nice NW winds and were able to practuce forward and reverse launches with Terry & Richard, new students this month. | As the winds switched to light east we loaded up the truck and drove up for some flying. A group was already at launch and George went first to test the air and started climbing immediately! Everyone hurried into the air and that left Terry to launch first and then I took Richard tandem. And what a tandem we had! We launched into a nice thermal and started climbing out through the gaggle of previous pilots and within 10 minutes we were at 1100 meters with clouds forming all around us . . . magical! Richard started flying as we left the clouds and after about 5 minutes he was saying he was dizzy, oh no. We flew out to the Ranch on "big ears" but it still took 15 minutes to land at the ProCircle but by now Richard was done. We had a nice landing and went back up to launch to relaunch Terry for flight #2 while Richard recuperated. Click here for more pictures from Woodside today as well as other November activities like the WCSC AGM. Terry had another great flight and many others were still in the air from the 1 pm flight, over 2 hours of airtime now. Colleen came up and flew Richard for tandem #2 after she had a great solo flight getting chilled from not having the right gloves, and they feel he is ready for a solo tomorrow. Kevin A was out at Woodside soaring around after a earlier Sumas "hike&fly", where he soared also . . . so a good day everywhere in the Valley. Some interesting top-landings by un-named pilots!
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Woodside Gloat Report - NOAA was right on today with some light outflow in the morning and almost soarble inflow after 2 pm. | Some folks got 2 hours of soaring and Alex R top-landed mid-day, others had a scratchfest into Riverside or Joe's. I drove a few loads up as I was hanging out with Remy and watched the pilots have mixed results until 3 pm when the mountain was working well and everyone stayed up. About 11 fliers were out today, not bad for a November 4th! Click here for more pictures from Woodside.
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Williams Lake Report - snow all morning in Williams Lake with the first icy roads many trucks and cars in the ditches. No flying, just family time. | Woodside Report - no reports but the CU on the webcam looked great. Derek saw CUs to 20,000 feet. Click here for more pictures from Woodside.
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Williams Lake Report - it was very windy on the drive Williams Lake today 50-60 kph from the south helps with gas mileage. | No flying today and even the ravens were hanging on to the tree limbs in fear!
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Click here for more pictures from today's Woodside flights as well as the WCSC AGM. | Woodside Report - Joe arrived at the Ranch at 9:30 am and started writing his Novice Exam while we waited for launch to clear of clouds. Congratulations to Joe on his passing of the written exam at 86% followed by 3 successful graduation flights, with an unplanned landing in the Construction Zone on flight 2 when he scratched too low. Others had fantastic flights, yes it is November 1, with Derek getting 2 hours and up to 1100 meters at 'base. I flew the Ozone Mantra R10.3 and my hat is off to Rob S for flying this beast for a full season. It flies fine in the air but it is a handful to launch with full cells! I was having fun "duking it out" with Derek and was above him for part of the flight (rare), and had to bail out to see if Joe was okay as the radio was buzzing with reports of his construction site landing. Ihor retrieved Joe so I could have stayed in the air, after all. At 3:45 pm the lift shut off and everyone was soon on the ground. WCSC AGM Report - one of the largest gatherings of the WCSC with over 60 attendees discussing Pemberton Tenure and other matters. A new Board was elected with 2 additional Directors (Pemberton Site Director & Pemberton Membership Director). Jim DeLaHunt Matt Jesson Peyman Imani Tom Martinson Jim Orava Dion Vuk Samson Danniels Robin Sather Supair at Coupe Icare 2011- all these harnesses and wings are available at FlyBC Coupe Icare 2011 with Sup'Air from Team Supair on Vimeo.
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Woodside Report - I arrived at the Ranch after noon Monday and cloudbase was still too low to launch safely. | John M was waiting for more pilots when I arrived and eventuallly drove up to pick mushrooms and assess conditions from launch. It did clear before he left for the top, but there were gusts blowing pretty hard at the bottom. I did some chores and John came back down and said it was gusty at launch also, and he left for town. Later I got a text from Tom Chromy saying he was launching at 4:30 pm, followed by one around 6:00 pm that he had landed and got 1:30 of airtime. 
Southern California Excellent Adventures - Well, the only puddles here are from draining the cooler because the ice keeps melting! We arrived in L .A. to sunny skies and 79degrees F. Picked up the "asteroid van" (photos to follow). And head to San Bernadino to locate the Andy Jackson Flightpark at the Marshall LZ. Hooked up with the locals and headed up to the north blowing over the back and not launchable but got the grand tour of the mountain! What a beautiful site with views all over the San Bernadino valley. Next morning headed to Elsinore because it loooked better than the Marshall forecast . Arrived to fairly strong conditions blowing in at 15- 25 and the launch is basically a cliff, the technique here is, hoist it up turn and your feet leave the ground. Laura launched first quite nervous but had a perfect inflation and launch with the locals commenting on how the Canucks came to show up the locals. My turn next and with the back of my boots at the edge of the cliff it was blowing up at over 20 and the local "everyday Mike" saying "pull hard and fly"! Ok, so here goes (a bit on the strong side for my comfort zone). Yarded it up and uneventfully lifted off. Long story short I flew for about 2hr 15 mins and had many low saves and topped out higher than other gliders in variable wind/ thermic conditions. Max climb about 3.9 ms and about the same sink. Laura got skunked and had a second flight to end the day . The next morning we stayed at Marshall and took the 12 pm shuttle up the launch. It was in the transition stage when we arrived blowing slightly down, but within a few minutes it started to cycle up. I launched first and Laura about 20 or so minutes later. I was already over launch about 350 metres and waited for her to climb out. And climb out she did! She soon joined me and another local and flew all over the mountain with some strong climbs in one thermal that never stopped pumping all day. I mangaged to fly to Crestline ridge at almost 1200 metres but hit some really good sink close to the ridge as expected . Oh well, top up on the way back, this continued until the 3pm shuttle came and left as it was blowing down at launch but we stayed in the air for about 3 hrs 30 mins. Laura did really well outflying a local pg and hang glider. She still has a smile on her face. The flight park LZ had an impromptu dinner by donation but we opted to bathe in our flights and went out to dinner. (two flights for me and almost 6 hrs of airtime!). Off for the noon shuttle again today at Marshall as it looks better than yesterday. Enjoy the " puddles" - Thomm & Laura |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
September 2011 Site of the Day archives - another 150 tandems done this month by the Awesome Tandem Team!
August 2011 Site of the Day archives - another 200 tandems done this month by the Awesome Tandem Team! Almost done the Groupons!
July 2011 Site of the Day archives - another 120 tandems done this month by the Awesome Tandem Team!
June 2011 Site of the Day archives - over 100 tandems done this month by the Awesome Tandem Team!
May 2011 Site of the Day archives - another rainy month with more road trips.
April 2011 Site of the Day archives - many long XCs in the Fraser valley by many pilots, and we roadtripped to the Ashcroft area many times to get flights between rain storms and snow storms.
March 2011 Site of the Day archives - got home from 2 glorious months in Mexico & New Zealand to try to fly in the Valley, but due to rain & snow we roadtripped to the Ashcroft area many times to get flights.
February 2011 Site of the Day archives - last days of the Mexico Tour went very well and then I headed to New Zealand to meet Colleen in Auckland and we had a great time flying there for 2 weeks.
January 2011 Site of the Day archives - Mexico Tour went very well with 8 attendees getting great airtime and safe guidance from us at FlyBC.
December 2010 Site of the Day archives - weather was so bad in BC, that Colleen and I had to book 5 days in LA to get a flight.
November 2010 Site of the Day archives - we had some sweet soaring flights at Woodside, and a really cold cold snap that limited flying for a week or more.
October 2010 Site of the Day archives - we had some sweet soaring flights in October at Woodside, and Robin flew to Hope in less than an hour!.
September 2010 Site of the Day archives - the wettest September in history had us running up to Savona and points east to fly, but we "got-er-done".
August 2010 Site of the Day archives - unstable conditions made for some great days at Benny and Woodside. Al & I had a Delta Day with me stealing Colleen's Small Delta and he on a Large one and we went over the back to Seabird on a strong day.
July 2010 Site of the Day archives - fantastic road trip to Revelstoke for 11 days of SIV Training and super weather.
June 2010 Site of the Day archives - wettest June on record so road trips to Savona a few times. Deltas are rolling in now!
May 2010 Site of the Day archives - nice flying in the Valley.
April 2010 Site of the Day archives - worst April in years weatherwise but we managed to do some awesome tandem groups and some nice flights with Justin, Nicole and Norm flying to Mission late in the month.
March 2010 Site of the Day archives - Crappy weather in the US on my return trip from Mexico. But when I arrived back at the Ranch there were some great days soaring Woodside.
February 2010 Site of the Day archives - super flying in Mexico for the FlyBC Mexican Tours. Good XCs. The locals were already flying at Mother Woodside back in BC due to the warm weather!
January 2010 Site of the Day archives - nice flying in Mexico for the FlyBC Mexican Tours. Good XCs.
December 2009 Site of the Day archives - our first time in Mexico for a full December and we flew everyday. 40-50 km XCs from Tapalpa.
November 2009 Site of the Day archives - very few flights as we had record rains and high winds.
October 2009 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly-In in Chelan WA with the Barbie Theme, took first place honours again! More good soaring flights of 2 hours plus on special days.
September 2009 Site of the Day archives - more decent flying weather with a few road trips to escape wind by heading to Savona.
August 2009 Site of the Day archives - best flying conditions in years with little rain. My first hike up Cheam with pals went well.
July 2009 Site of the Day archives - the FlyBC SIV in Revelstoke was a blast, 280 SIV flights and only one wet pilot intentionally that is. Jeremy wished he had landed in the water.
June 2009 Site of the Day archives - dry all month locally so lots of flying, Al has been test flying the new ShotGun launch near Stave Lake having great flights out to Woodside.
May 2009 Site of the Day archives - local flying is getting great with nice XC's! Bridal was working well. The new bathroom was installed in the Barn at Eagle Ranch enriching the FlyBC experience.
April 2009 Site of the Day archives - we escaped the local weather by flying in New Zealand for 3 weeks. We will be heading back soon!
March 2009 Site of the Day archives - we were flying locally in snow, relying on Derek's sleds and chains on the 'Mog to get up Woodside.
February 2009 Site of the Day archives - the Worlds PG Championships in Mexico was hard work for the Canucks, the tasks and speeds were unreal.
January 2009 Site of the Day archives - Manzanillo, Mexico was a BLAST, many new sites flown and we have a new tour Destination for 2010.
December 2008 Site of the Day archives - the annual FlyBC Christmas Party was a cold success with Head over Heels entertaining us all night. And we left early for Manzanillo, Mexico on Dec 28th.
November 2008 Site of the Day archives - some soaring between rain storms, and it was pretty dry in Agassiz.
October 2008 Site of the Day archives - we went ot the Women's Fly In on Chelan for the annual Halloween Costume Fly-In, great conditions there to offset the wet month on the West Coast. Steve Fosset's crash site was found in Nevada after a year of searching.
September 2008 Site of the Day archives - great student conditions at Woodside and Bridal all month, with 10 students getting signed off this month, a record.
August 2008 Site of the Day archives - our second SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke (except for a few water landings and minor injuries). Wet all month at Woodside except the weekends.
July 2008 Site of the Day archives - our first SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke.
June 2008 Site of the Day archives - a few good soaring days at Bridal, lots of new students this month.
May 2008 Site of the Day archives - the cost of gas is keeping pilots at home and the weather isn't helping either. One good XC in May for me, leaving Woodside with Norm and Martin H and ending up at Elk at 1600 meters before landing by Hopyard Hill. 3 hours and 85 kms later by the GPS.
April 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years but we flew every day we could.
March 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow and still hiking to launch at Woodside! But some major airtime for the locals committed to coming out to fly.
February 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow in BC than I can remember in 25 years of living here. We are still hiking to launch at Woodside!
January 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico and logged many hours of airtime, while it snowed heavily in BC.
December 2007 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico on Dec 29th for three weeks.
November 2007 Site of the Day archives - Colleen and I went to California to fly the new Falcon A-16 Advanced Ultralight prototype and it flew very well. Some good soaring days at Woodside, some folks were still trying to fly Bridal but that is a waste of time this late in the season.
October 2007 Site of the Day archives - mid-air at Woodside caused Martin H some paraglider damage, some great soarable days. The Women's Fly In was a success with the Canuck Team taking top spot for the theme of "Celebrities in Rehab".
September 2007 Site of the Day archives - we re-discovered and flew 'Horsefly' Launch for the first time, some mayhem at Woodside due to tree-suck, lots of good soaring in afternoon glassoffs, a great Indian Summer until late in the month when the rains came early. Derek, Martina, Robin and Diane went to Europe. Kirill went to Australia for a paramotor Fly-In.
August 2007 Site of the Day archives - fun two weeks at Mara Lake, followed by steady flying at Woodside and Bridal, making up for the dismal spring and summer.
July 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights at Bridal, some mayhem at Woodside from visiting pilots.
June 2007 Site of the Day archives - more crappy weather on the weekends. Some awesome flights between showers as Norm and Thomm flew to Mission on the last day of the month.
May 2007 Site of the Day archives - flyable every weekday, but the Fraser Valley XC Comp got crappy weather on the weekends, although it was student flyable.
April 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights are starting. Some complete triangles from Woodside to Bridal and back, some "musical triangles" from others.
March 2007 Site of the Day archives - fifth month of crappy weather on the Coast. We went to Santa Barbara for some flights, and to dry out. Some good days were also recorded locally.
Febuary 2007 Site of the Day archives - fourth month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we stayed in Mexico.
January 2007 Site of the Day archives - third month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we went to Mexico to fly Colima, Tapalpa, and San Marcos, while Brad and gang headed to Tenacingo, Mexico.
December 2006 Site of the Day archives - more ugly weather on the Coast. Severe winds damaged trees and property so not much flying happened. Some good flight reports from local PGers travelling world-wide.
November 2006 Site of the Day archives - the wettest November on record. We flew a few good flights but mostly we were rained out.
October 2006 Site of the Day archives - lots of good days with 3-4 hours airtime. The Women's Fly-In was on again in Chelan with about 18 Canucks, and a good day Saturday with 85 registered pilots.
September 2006 Site of the Day archives - still soarable in the Fraser Valley, little or no rain. Colleen is back flying! Some mayhem in the valley.
August 2006 Site of the Day archives - a great flying month everywhere, we had a super successful SIV clinic at Mara Lake with everyone SAT-ing and heli-ing.
July 2006 Site of the Day archives - road trip to Lumby, then on the 8th Colleen spun in below Gloria cancelling her summer plans (but she is recuperating well).
June 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Valley dried out, and we flew most days and every weekend.
May 2006 Site of the Day archives - more rain that ever imagined in the Fraser Valley. Very few soaring flights and even less XC.
April 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Easter Bunny was "run over" on Kilby Road, plus the train wreck on April 1.
March 2006 Site of the Day archives - a new pilot was born, Chloe. We also flew a few days between showers, some long flights up to 4 hours. A few Out & Return Flights to Deroche and Bear.
February 2006 Site of the Day archives - another wet month with some soarable days (2).
January 2006 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South for great Mexican or Chilean flying.
December 2005 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South.
November 2005 Site of the Day archives - rain, snow and not much flying.
October 2005 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly In in Chelan yielded two soarable days before the snows hit.
September 2005 Site of the Day archives - dry most of the month. Some great 4 hour flights at Woodside getting to cloudbase most days. Three crash-landings in the same clearcut by pilots scratching too low, but no injuries.
August 2005 Site of the Day archives - road trips to the Interior gave us an opportunity to rag out some gliders at FlyBC SIV 2005 (Part II). Also a great road trip to Savona.
July 2005 Site of the Day archives - good flying all month, no rain but some windy days shut us down. The Willi started in Golden with a few good days, but one tragedy as Charles Warren perished in a crash near Harrogate.
June 2005 Site of the Day archives - too much rain, but good days to fly between showers.
May 2005 Site of the Day archives - our Instructor/Tandem seminar yielded some good flying. Our May 2005 SIV Clinic had a good turnout, with many wet wings/pilots! Many nice flights at Woodside and Bridal, with some long "out & returns" at Bridal.
April 2005 Site of the Day archives - some great soaring at Woodside and Bridal. Sad news from the US Hanggliding Nationals as Chris Muller crashes at goal.
March 2005 Site of the Day archives - we had to head out of town to Savona a few weekends due to wet weather on the Coast. Wetter than normal according to Environment Canada.
February 2005 Site of the Day archives - some good soaring despite early time of year. Flights as long as 3 hours at Woodside, some good flights at Whidbey Island for first timers, too!
January 2005 Site of the Day archives road trips to Mexico, not much flying locally due to strong north winds and rain. Record rain kept Eagle Ranch quite wet for kiting.
December 2004 Site of the Day archives a dry month with some good soaring including a fantastic day on Dec. 11 where we thermalled for 2+ hours!
November 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain. We installed a fireplace in the barn to keep pilots warm between winter flights.
October 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain, but sweet soaring between showers. Many new students signed up and making quick progress. We missed the Women's Fly In for the first time in 9 years, and there was some interesting flying on the Sunday!
September 2004 Site of the Day archives rainiest September on record for the first 3 weeks, made flying difficult. But Alan and others logged some pretty nice flights later in the month. Lots of student tandems for both Colleen and Jim.
August 2004 Site of the Day archives Great Maneuver/SIV/ACRO course at Mara. Jack got wet! Some great soaring at Woodside. Norm made it 68 km from Mara to King Eddie, Derek made it from Lumby to Enderby the opposite direction for 67 kms. We also did our BC roadtrip from Ashcroft to New Denver, and flew everyday.
July 2004 Site of the Day archives the Willi was on at Golden. We missed the mayhem due to work and school commitments but Norm did a great job representing the West Coast.
June 2004 Site of the Day archives Canadian Nationals came off with many great rounds. Pemberton-Whistler Championships were blown out most days so we headed to Cornwall.
May 2004 Site of the Day archives great flying at Woodside and Bridal. We held a very successful SIV Course at Mara Lake, and hope to run another one in August if they keep the forests open.
April 2004 Site of the Day archives good flying in the Valley. The Fraser Valley Cross Country PG Series was successssful.
March 2004 Site of the Day archives Nicole won in Brazil, otherwise the month sucked for flying time.
February 2004 Site of the Day archives some local flights extended to an hour with vigourous scratching above the trees. Good paramotor month.
January 2004 Site of the Day archives Mexican road trip yielded 20 hours of flight and a wet Canadian January kept most local pilots on the ground.
December 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew a few times but it got really cold at the end of the month as we prepared for a gala New Year's Party for 40 of our close personal friends and neighbours.
November 2003 Site of the Day archives windy and wet with the odd good soaring day, not many pilots out these days.
October 2003 Site of the Day archives Women's Fly In was great fun, some good soaring days mid-month, most of the students are signed off.
September 2003 Site of the Day archives good conditions until the last days of the month when it got stable. Most days were flyable at Woodside or Bridal.
August 2003 Site of the Day archives Forest closures made the end of the month a non-flying period unless you headed to Blanchard. FlyBC SIV 2003 was a great success with 9 stunt pilots and no deployments or crashes.
July 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most days early at Woodside until it got windy, then over to Bridal. Good Golden flying reports from the "Willi".
June 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most weekdays at Bridal, Woodside worked most weekends. Bridal Air Races had one great day with only two tree landings!
May 2003 Site of the Day archives not a great weather month on the coast, especially on the weekends but a few pilots managed to get some great airtime at Bridal. The Nationals were held in Lumby and it didn't rain!
April 2003 Site of the Day archives rain for 28 of 30 April days, but we managed to get a few flights in between showers. Even the golfers were complaining!
March 2003 Site of the Day archives some high spring flights in early March, but not a great weather month. Still no HPAC Insurance!
February 2003 Site of the Day archives some nice long spring flights in late February. HPAC Insurance expired on Feb 14, so many pilots stayed home instead of getting USHGA coverage.
January 2003 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month in BC so we bailed and headed to Tapalpa Mexico for three weeks. Norm and Lucille had a great XC flight the first day we arrived.
December 2002 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month.
November 2002 Site of the Day archives not a great flying month, lots of rain in the beginning and then super stable and inverted for the balance of the month. Even the Savona Road Trip wasn't that great. Looking forward to Mexico!
October 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable some days, great fun at the Women's Fly In 2002 in Chelan. Allan logged 15 hours and only flew a few days. Most of the students are ready for signoff soon to get ready for Mexico trips!
September 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable most everyday! Some scary incidents at Woodside. Fun flying at Ashcroft.
August 2002 Site of the Day archives More spring-like days with super lapse rates, great fun up-country at Revelstoke and Mara, with some good XCs for all.
July 2002 Site of the Day archives Some spring-like days with super lapse rates, but still rather wet at times.
June 2002 Site of the Day archives another rainy and windy month with great lapse rates, some great flights at Bridal with some getting above Cheam Peak. The Club Cup was nearly rained out but they got one valid task in on Sunday June 30.
May 2002 Site of the Day archives an extremely rainy month with the more spring mayhem, another reserve deployment at Lil Nick and a pilot crashed at the top of Deroche Mountain, uninjured but with a ripped glider and long hike down the mountain. Colleen placed 5th place at the Canadian PG Nationals in rainy Lumby!
April 2002 Site of the Day archives a rainy month with the usual spring mayhem, one reserve deployment at Woodside and a pilot hit a parked car at Bridal LZ, fracturing his leg.
March 2002 Site of the Day archives a few great days days with lots of snow and rain mixed in.
February 2002 Site of the Day archives two epic days already (4.5 hours and 2.5 hours!).
January 2002 Site of the Day archives Mexico vacation shots, some local flying but it was wet on the coast.
December 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, wettest December on record, some good days sprinkled thru the month.
November 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, had some good days at Woodside +2 hours, lots of rain later in the month.
October 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, but great flying at Chelan at the Women's Fly In.
September 2001 Site of the Day archives starting to get pretty stable, more sled rides forecast for October.
Aug 2001 Site of the Day archives Mara, Bridal, till some great flights locally
July 2001 Site of the Day archives Road Trip Month, Golden, Mara, points east!
June 2001 Site of the Day archives Great Month, 3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower! Some getting up to 6 hours in a single flight!
May 2001 Site of the Day archives Unstable Month, 2-3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower!
April 2001 Site of the Day archives Rainy Month, not as much airtime for some pilots
March 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring has Sprung!
February 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring is in the Air!
January 2001 Site of the Day archives - Mexico Flying Trip
December 2000 Site of the Day archives
November 2000 Site of the Day archives (great month for airtime!)
October 2000 Site of the Day archives
September 2000 Site of the Day archives
July - August 2000 Site of the Day archives
June 2000 Site of the Day archives
March - May 2000 Site of the Day archives
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