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

Date	Site	Forecast	Winds @ 3000' in knots	Lapse Rate °C/1000' Cloud Base in Meters	Comments
6-23-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Plentiful sunshine. High 29C. Winds W at 10 to 15 km/h.	230° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Coaches Corner - we will be flying at Woodside today, after 9 am. BlackHawk Paramotors introduces the new 125Lite Paramotor, 5 lbs lighter than the previous model with many cage options to go even lighter. BlackHawk 125 Lite info here. FlyBC is an authorized distributor for Ozone , Niviuk , Gin , SupAir, Flytec, Naviter Products (Oudie 4 Basic & 4+), Blackhawk Paramotors , Wills Wing. Used Gear List: Updated June 15, 2017 SupAir Escape 2 harnesses - $650 new Supair Access Airbag harnesses (new) - $650 without reserve (great lightweight harness) Supair Radical 3 reversible airbag harnesses - $750 without reserve Gin Gingo AirLite L harness (new stock) Light Airbag model - $1000 CDN without reserve. Ozone Fazer 3 - 14 metre Speed wing - new demo - $2250 CDN SupAir EONA (M/L) - EN-A wings - $3200 CDN without harnesses, all 2017 models Ozone Mojo5 M - EN-A - 2017 model with 40 sled rides - $2800 Ozone Swift 4 MS - EN-B - $3100 CDN - 1 year old in excellent shape in Red. SupAir Leaf Lite Small - EN-B - $3500 CDN - 2017 demo model - come for a test flight. Ozone Delta 2 ML - EN-C - 2013 Model - $1500 in great shape with no damage. Ozone Alpina 2 MS - EN-C - light version - 2016 model $2800 CDN with no damage and 100 hours, just completed a 300 km flight in AB last month. Ozone Alpina 2 ML - EN-C - light version - 2015 model $2000 CDN with no damage. Gin Atlas XL - EN-B - two years use at Dallas Road - good paramotor wing too or a light tandem - $2025 CDN Ozone Mantra M-6 MS in Yellow from 2015 - 30 hours - $2700 CDN Ozone Zeno M in Orange - now in stock and ready for test flights! - $4850 CDN BGD Dual Tandem - 40 hours - $2000 CDN - also a good paramotor quad wing Paramotors for sale: Gin Atlas XL - EN-B - two years use at Dallas Road - good paramotor wing too or a light tandem - $2025 CDN BlackHawk 125Lite Paramotor the new 125Lite Paramotor, 5 lbs lighter than the previous model - $7995 USD with Edge glider of your size.
6-22-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Abundant sunshine. High around 25C. Winds light and variable.	230° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were flying students at Woodside today, after 9 am and they got 6 good flights in. They wanted to do 7 flights but their Instructor had to go home for a rest, too much adrenaline! Brad & I did some tandems and we managed to get above launch, but it was hard work. Martin H is pictured here on his ATOS finally getting away after a 2 hour grovel, while we were climbing out under him. He reported that the lift was quite strong and rough at Benny. Same reports from Bridal where pilots got to 2200 metres. Meanwhile, Igor took off from Pemby and flew all the way down Harrison Lake landing at Bridal LZ!
6-21-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights but it will get windy by noon	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: A mix of clouds and sun. High 19C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h.	230° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we hoped to be flying at Woodside today, after 9 am but the gusty winds were a concern so it was back to kiting and ground school for the students. Denis was up on launch at 7 am with his guys and they only got one flight which was soarable for a short time. Measured winds were 29 kph gusting to 41 kph around 3 pm, so it was definitely a no-go. Meanwhile I was flying an ultralite over Glen Valley trying to keep it at 2400 feet clear of cloud while the thermals were pulling us into the clouds amking it interesting doing slow flight and forced approaches. Two more hours on the logbook to get recertified. Landings at King George Airpark were gusty too but the wind was straight down 23 so no issues.
6-20-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights but it will get windy by noon	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Rain showers early becoming a steady light rain for the afternoon. High around 20C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 60%.	230° @ 20	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we hoped to be flying Woodside in the morning but low cloudbase appeared and when we could see launch it was gusty, so we concentrated on getting Scott a quick 10 paramotor flights before the rain hit around noon. It was too windy for aircraft operations at King George so I stayed at the Ranch til late afternoon. Degas took the crew to Mission and Agassiz for kiting but it was pretty gusty at both places.
6-19-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: More clouds than sun. High around 25C. Winds light and variable.	230° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Woodside Report - it was outflow at Woodside today, with strong North Winds. I was out at King George doing circuits on a Beaver 550 ultralite to regain my currency with TC and it was going well until the engine developed a sputter so we landed right away. Meanwhile back at the Ranch Degas & Dennie were herding the students. The students went to Agassiz with Dennie and had a great kiting session, getting dragged a bit at times. They came back at 3 pm to find launchable conditions, but just enough to get off Woodside for sleddies. Delvin & Tim came up for a few flights and Tim took Colleen's Swift 4 home so she is gliderless again! By 6 pm, the students had logged 4 flights off Woodside and were looking great as I got Scott one more paramotor flight on his Blackhawk Quad.
6-18-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights if the clouds lift	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: More clouds than sun. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 18C. Winds light and variable.	230° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Woodside Report - we were flying at Woodside today, but it was after 3 pm when we had good cloudbase. In the meantime students went to Mission to kite and practice reverse launches until it started to rain. When they came back launch cleared but the winds were light to nil, but they all launched with powerful forwards under Dennie's supervision. Great landing conditions in NW winds in Eagle Ranch!
6-17-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. High 19C. Winds light and variable.	230° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - we were flying at Woodside today, after 11 am and had a super day. It turned out nicely thermic for the pros to climb out and top-land multiple times, while the students enoyed 5 flights in smooth air. Colleen, Dennie and I took three girls for a birthday tandem celebration and we had great conditions to soar above launch for over an hour. Colleen's passenger got a bit queasy after that long so she was the first to land in nice conditions if not a bit switchy. We did have one incident on the fourth flight when a student decided to do 360s too close to the trees north of launch and ended up in the trees! This is the first time in over 11 years that this has happened and it was due to inadequate knowledge of aerology and that he forgot to always approach a ridge at 45 degrees. It happens to the pros too, but remember to aways "figure-8" near the trees. Glider is wrecked but the student is unscathed and went back up to fly the fifth flight but it was deemed too cross for that last flight. Claudia saw a flock of pelicans fly through Woodside airspace oblivious to our CYA, heading NE to the Cariboo.
6-16-17	Woodside is looking windy today for student flights, but good for Ground School and preparatory ground instruction-	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Mostly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 19C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h.	230° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we could not fly at Woodside today, as it was too thermic and windy even as late as 7 pm. Scott however got one paramotor quad flight at 5 pm, and it was not nice air so he landed right away. Not so turbulent but just a layer of mixing air that did not allow for a good climb rate. Degas took two newbies to Heritage Park and they worked hard geting back to the Ranch at 7 pm. They are ready to fly Woodside tomorrow if conditions are good.
6-15-17	Woodside is looking wet today for student flights, see you on Friday for Ground School and preparatory ground instruction-	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High near 15C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near 6mm.	230° @ 25	-3.0°C (unstable) 600 metres	Woodside Report - we were NOT flying at Woodside today, at all. It was raining heavily later in the day, good for the crops.
6-14-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 18C. Winds light and variable.	230° @ 13	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we had a keen crew flying at Woodside today, after 11 am. Degas was handling the show with 5 students and lots of nice reversible wind on top to play with. The students got 4 flights and were able to practice "big ears", "rear riser turns" and spot landings next to the firepit when it started to rain. Stuart got to land next to Linda's car in the parking lot as he was the last and was going to be the wettest. omoorw looks like a day off with 100% chance of rain.
6-13-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: A few showers this morning with mostly cloudy conditions during the afternoon hours. High 16C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 30%.	230° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - we hoped to be flying at Woodside today, after 10 am, but at the Launch Coaches discretion it was deemed too gusty for students. So it was a good time to head to Mission for reverse launch training in Heritage Park. After a few hours there, the students came back and we headed up to Woodside Launch. We had Norm & Martin here as "wind techs", and they took off in the NW crossing wind and soared up to 1000 metres right away. All the students had great launches despite the crosswind, some getting their first high solo flights! Degas was landing the students on this round. Degas then took the students up for flight #2 and again they all got off but Ken who was frozen by now, as it was darned cold on launch all day.
6-12-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Sunshine and clouds mixed. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 18C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h.	230° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - we hoped to be flying at Woodside today, after 10 am. It was clear at 7 pm, and launch was open and calm. But by 9 am, it started drizzling and we did some ground school prep work. We had four intermediate students flying today; Jacek, Billy, Ken & Trevor and they got three flights each before it blew out around 5 pm. Degas had three more newbies in Mission working there on perfecting their launch & landing skills. Derek & Martin N had a nice little "scratchfest" landing at Riverside where Derek had parked as Billy flew straight out and was way above them on his new Ozone Ultralite 4. On the last flight of the day it calmed down enough for us to launch Ken & then Rob (newbie) and they went to cloudbase immediately at around 1100 metres and headed out to the Ranch. The winds were different as they went through a NW layer all the way to the LZ, but it was a standard approach with landing to the East? It got too strong again for 30 minutes and we gave up and drove down. We get a few more good days before the rain starts for the weekend.
6-11-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Partly cloudy. High 21C. Winds light and variable.	230° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were flying at Woodside today, after 10 am. The two newbies, Greg & Dave, spent the day with Degas at our training hill and in Mission and were ready to fly last night but we ran out of day and energy. So they came up this morning and got off the mountain for the first time! By the end of day Dave had 4 flights and Greg had to sit the last one out due to food poisoning/stomach ailment. Jacek also got four flight and he missed the Ranch twice due to scratching for lift, Burt is gonna be rich! Scott flew a few different wings today, a Swing and the new SupAir Leaf Light, he liked the Leaf Light a lot better. Dominik is doing well too, now up to 19 flights in just a few weekends and he was rocking a Rush 4 today. The last flight of the day at 5 pm was very nice with Derek, Kevin and Norm skying out and getting 90 minutes of airtime landing at the Ranch. Too busy for photos but I am sure there will be some good GoPro footage from some pilots as a group headed over the Bridal doing some new routes. Gary P flew straight across the river over Rosedale connecting with Bridal. Peter flew the same route and landed near Little Mountain on his way back to Woodside but he looked like he made a good triangle.
6-10-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 18C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h.	230° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were flying at Woodside today, after 10 am. Scott managed to get 4 more flights before it got too windy, newbies Dave & Greg spent the day kiting and were ready to fly but it got too strong so we will get their first solos tomorrow. Micah came and got his first two flights on his new Gin Sprint and got a few hours of airtime in the strong stuff. And the grandkids got to come up to launch a few times before we had a nice BBQ in the firepit and still no mosquitoes.
6-9-17	Woodside is looking good today for student flights	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 18C. Winds light and variable.	230° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we planned to be flying at Woodside today, after 10 am, but the two students here needed tuning up so Degas took them to Heritage Park til 3 pm. In the meantime a group of us went up to Woodside and it was strong! Big climbs to +5 m/s and fairly light winds and we all got to 1200 metres with ease. Dennie was test flying the Gin Explorer L and quite liked it. Norm was flying Bev's Geo 5 and Altirando3. I was flying my Zeno and a new Gin Genie Lite pod harness. After flying for an hour I saw Martin N head over the back to Harvest. I headed that way too followed by Andre, Dennie and Norm. We found out that Martin had landed cause it looked ugly over Cultus but it never amounted to anything on our side. We saw a rainbow forming on the last flight and the development at Bridal had subsided. Thanks to Bev & Paul H for picking us up. We headed back up at 6 pm to get the students a flight and Colleen came out too. Trevor & Scott took off after everyone else and went straight up to 1000 metres all the way to the Ranch, to find nice landing conditions. I later took Scott's Blackhawk Paramotor Quad for a test flight and it was quite trashy over the LZ with latent thermals kicking off and turbulent winds so I shut it down after a few passes.
6-7-17	Woodside is looking wet til Friday	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Cloudy with periods of rain. High around 15C. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around 6mm.	240° @ 20	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we were NOT flying at Woodside today, as the rain started falling by 6 am. Heavy rains from Harrison Mills to Surrey and strong SW winds. But it looked like it would clear up by dark, so Friday may be good.
6-7-17	Woodside is looking okay for some flights after 9 am	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: A mix of clouds and sun. High near 30C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we got up early to launch and had Brianne in the air at 8:15 am. She needed 6 more flight to complete her P-2 and her boss wanted her back at work in Lake Louise on Thursday morning so we had to hustle today. By the end of the day she had completed her 6 last flights, wrote her P-2 exam and got a nice 87% score and she is now a signed off pilot! The other students only got 5 flights but by the end of the day everyone looked pretty tired with the 30C heat and lots of packing and unpacking. Ian D, and Endre both finished their required flights sometimes mid-day, but kept on flying til we quit at 6 pm. Newest student Scott from Sudbury got 5 flights too and he is up to 11 flights in only 2 days.
6-6-17	Woodside is looking okay for some flights after noon as there is outflow earlier	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Sunny to partly cloudy. High 29C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - we spent the morning kiting and doing ground school with new students Scott & Dino, getting them ready for their first high flights. Then we started flying Woodside after noon when the outflow stopped. We had 6 students today and they got between 3 & 4 flights each depending on the timing. Scott & Dino got 3 flights in today looking very good for Day One. Here is Dino on the downwind leg flying a SupAir EONA. Bianca made a breakthrough today and actually enjoyed her flights, wanting to stay in the air. We quit flying at 6 pm, as everyone was hot & tired. Derek flew from Woodside to Agassiz, got a ride to Bridal and then flew to 1800 metres flying back to Harvest Market (which is still an LZ) where Bev picked him up. Meanwhile, John R was playing with a flight off Cypress Bowl in North Vancouver and he headed north. He made it to Britannia Mines and kept on going. And he eventually made it all the way to Squamish! He says he loves his Ozone Alpina 2! And it was high tide the entire route so no beach landings!
6-5-17	Woodside is looking okay for some flights after 10 am as there is outflow earlier	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Plentiful sunshine. High 24C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 6	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside Report - we were flying at Woodside today after 10 am. I was doing admin duties and doing Landing Guidance for 8 students today. I knew I should have bought a bigger Van, but I though 8 seats would be more than adequate 2 years ago. Dennie was launching the students and they were all doing very well, getting them all off easily in an hour. They managed to get 5 flights in today in nice conditions. On the last flight, I launched my AirMax 125 paramotor and flew up to launch to watch the students fly off and it was mildly thermic so it didn't even take 10 minutes to get above launch. I love the SupAir EONAs on a paramotor! I launched from next to the firepit so I didn't have to haul the stuff out too far and was in the air in 3 steps in light East winds and climbing fast over the Ranch before aiming at Launch. Whistler Report - while the students enjoyed mild conditions here in the Valley, Alex & Paddy & Scott F had very nice flights launching off Rainbow Launch (formerly called Claude's Folly) and flew a great distance to the NW before landing at the School Field in Pemberton. Here is Alex & Scott's tracklogs overlaid, they only deviated a few times off the others heading. Alex is on a Gin Explorer and Scott is flying an Ozone Alpina 2.
6-4-17	Woodside is looking okay for some flights after 9 am but it will get windy later	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Sun and clouds mixed. High 18C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside Report - we were flying at Woodside today after 9 am. Good thing too as it got windy early today, but only after we got two really good flights - one to the Ranch & one to Harvest Market. We went back up for a third flight but it was pretty strong by now. We tried one inflation with Chris W, and there were two un-named PGers in the air but they were parked and sometimes going backwards. After the one inflation we had to bag up the glider, and we watched Bill B wait forever in his HG as it went very North and strong gusts on launch. After 30 minutes we headed down and hatched a plan to hike Lil Nic. We arrived around 4 pm to see a paraglider in the air over Lil Nic. But it was gusty in the LZ. We headed up anyway down the trail on the east side of Norrish Creek. This is the first time hiking up Lil Nic in many years and I knew there was a new tril but I missed the trailhead and blundered my way up the creek til we hit the logging road. I called Dennie and he said we missed the trailhead so we were already at 200 metres so we bushwhacked a few kms til we found the actual new trail and finally got to launch after 2 hours of rock scaling and bushwhacking. We got to launch around 7 pm and it was strong yet I could not kite a solid wing due to the north wind here too. We waited til 8 pm and it never went straight and I kited an EONA for the entire time and never got a solid wing. We had to hike back down, but we stayed on John Weiland's trail and it was just an hour down to the Van and Beer! This it the first time I have ever had to hike down, although once in the old days circa 95 we had to wait til almost dark to fly down one time.
6-3-17	Woodside is looking okay for some flights after 10 am	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. High 18C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 9	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were flying at Woodside today after 11 am when cloudbase lifted. It was a classic ground school moment while discussing the relationship between Temperature & Dewpoint in a real world setting, and comparing the forecasts to the actual cloudbase. The forecasts predicted a lifting trend at 11 am, and we were on launch at 11:15 am and it was safe to launch. We had quite a few students today, some who had not flown since last fall due to work commitments but they had been kiting. I managed to get 8 students off in less that 35 minutes, and Yves was down in the Eagle Ranch LZ guiding their landings. It was soarable from the first flight on throughout the day. Here is Ivan soaring in front of Launch on one of our SupAir EONA gliders. We got 4 flight rounds in today and some of the students got to fly to Harvest after we decided the Ranch was a bit turbulent for beginners at 3 pm. Here is Dominik soaring on his new Ozone Rush 4 before heading to Harvest. We had out last flights at 5 pm, and I decided that was enough for one day and it was perfect timing because just after I launched the last student and drove down, the winds went SE for almost an hour making plots wait on launch. Big thanks to Paddy and the crew who worked on Bridal Launch all day cleaning out the firepits, cutting trees and mowing the launch proper.
6-2-17	Woodside is looking okay for some flights after noon	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High 19C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - we bailed on Savona as it looked too windy in the forecasts, and that was confirmed by Marc as he drove down from Kamloops for lessons. It was a good kiting day for Blake & Marc in the Eagle Ranch LZ, with 15+ kph of east wind. Around 3 pm it calmed down enough for students, and we saw Denis in the air on his AirDesign Volt and he top-landed to go to work, so we went up with Marc for his first flight of 2017. I guided Marc from the top but he did not need it as he already has 15 flights. He did get really high out front. We went right back up with Derek, Colleen, Yves, Marc & me and we all flew. It was nicely thermic out front and I managed to snag a few good climbs and everytime I came in to top-land I was too high and then sunk out. I finally nailed a good top-landing just below the sock cross-wind touching down on the gravel and the wing was on the carpet. No retrieve tonight! Derek made a few passes too for practice and he would have landed easily too. The water is very high in the Fraser and Harrison Rivers. The farms on the south banks of the Fraser that are on the wrong side of the dyke are flooded. The water is right up to the dykes on the south bank of the Harrison River too. All the gear is moved up to the hay loft in the Barn just in case. Martin H had a super weekend - he cleaned the Parking Lot on Woodside Launch, got 7+ hours on the Buzz Z4, did the Bridal Milk runs both days (Launch - Ludwig - Elk), got over Cheam both days, Mia much the same, loving her Geo5 - Martin H.
6-1-17	Woodside is looking wet for two days so we are heading to Savona	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Rain. High 17. Savona Forecast: A few showers this morning with overcast skies during the afternoon hours. High 22C. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 30%.	210° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2100 metres	Woodside Report - we hoped to be flying at Savona for Thursday but we rechecked the weather and it looked too rainy so we stayed home. Woodside was clear but very windy between rain showers.
5-31-17	Woodside is looking good with soarable winds once cloudbase lifts around noon	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. High around 20C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - as forecast cloudbase was low til after 1 pm. New student Chris was in Ground School til 11 am, then on the training hill for 3 hours getting his forward launches tuned up. We had very light winds in the Eagle Ranch LZ today but enough for forward training. An un-named pilot flying a Red/Yellow Delta 3 was seen shopping for houses in Harrison Highlands, where he discovered the new student LZ! Chris got to come up and see some others fly off for a few flights before getting his first solo flight in around 6 pm. Bev offered to drive so I even got to fly the last flight of the day on our used Ozone Swift 4 L. Some light bubbles in front of launch to soar in, but no ridge lift as was forecast.
5-30-17	Woodside/Bridal are looking bad with possible late thunderstorms	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High around 20C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 40%.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2100 metres	Valley Report - we got the gust fronts that were in today's weather forecast, and there was no flying at Woodside. There was heavy rain in Chilliwack & Abby too, good for the crops.
5-29-17	Bridal is looking good today with possible late thunderstorms	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 31C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2100 metres	Woodside Report - I was in Vancouver at appointments and saw a few folks flying on the webcam at Woodside, and Bridal had good conditions after 4 pm. Here is last weekends shot of the day. Colleen taking a tandem passenger in to land. Thanks Mark aka FlyingOrange!
5-28-17	Woodside is looking good today with possible late thunderstorms	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 31C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2100 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had good student conditions all day. We were rather busy with 7-8 students of various levels of skill. In the end of the day were were down to 4 students and as it was windy we sent them over the Harvest Market for giggles and their first XC. Bridal was good flying to 2000 meters according to Derek. Unfortunately one pilot never came home and Search & Rescue was called in around 4 am. Pilot was found around noon on the 29th after wandering around in the woods all night, folks should have SPOT or InReach Trackers. It was not this Pilot! The : Source II from Brett Hazlett on Vimeo.
5-27-17	Woodside is looking good today with stronger winds around 4 pm	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Plentiful sunshine. High 29C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside was good student conditions all day. We got 4 flights in for 7 students and many tandems too. Here is Colleen landng her Ozone SwiftMax tandem, copyright FlyingOrange. The thermals were good mid-day as Dominik, Steve and Eugne all thermalled up high. We quit at 4 pm, as everyone looked pretty tired from the +29c heat. I am sure we could have flown til dark. Bridal was working as Derek & Nicloe summitted Cheam at 2003 metres. Highlight of the day was rounding up cows off Mill Road for our neighbour Bobby.
5-26-17	Woodside is looking good today with stronger winds mid-day	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Abundant sunshine. High 26C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h.	240° @ 6	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside was good for Micheal & Aurora until 4 pm, when it got too strong for Aurora. Micheal was finishing up his P-2 flights and got to 26 flights and made it to the Ranch despite the strong valley winds on his last flight. Bridal was working well til 8 pm according to Lee S. We went to Alex's XC Talk last night all the say into Surrey, and he had some great tips. Thanks for sharing your "secrets"!
5-25-17	Woodside is looking good today	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 23C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 6	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had good student conditions all day. It was a bit busy with many students getting close to their P-2 sign-offs and Endre & Micheal were doing great with awesome launches in light and stronger winds, and had hours of thermalling practice too. Many other visiting pilots were flying too from as far away as Iran! It was also a big day for Vlad & Ivan from Seattle as they got their first three high flights today after a gruelling 9 hours session on Heritage Park Hill last weekend. It got quite windy mid-day as forecast on the CanadaRASP but we only had one pilot end up in the HG LZ afte hitting a big sink patch (he was a P-2 not a student). Pilots at Bridal were handed some nice climbs to 1800 metres very near the big development over there, some chose not to fly as they thought it might OD but by 6 pm it was all gone.
5-24-17	Woodside is looking windy all day so no flying here	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 17C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h.	240° @ 20	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had some strong winds in the morning and we got reports that the carpets on launch suffered from the high winds.
5-23-17	Woodside is looking good for student flights up to 11 am when the prefrontal winds kick in	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Plenty of sunshine. High 24C. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 km/h.	240° @ 19	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Eagle Ranch Report - Woodside was forecast have some strong winds by 11 am but it was good paramotoring before that for us. James got his final 8 flights in for a toal of 25 flights and 5+ hours on the AirMax 125. There were some pretty big hay bales to navigate around as we got 60 1000 lb bales from the first cutting yesterday. We also managed to get 2 flights in for Endre on his new Ozone Ultralight 4 and the last flight was smooth with a stronger wind layer at the bottom of the valley, and everyone else flying got in before it really blew hard at noon. The tree that had split and was blocking the Spotting Scope Webcam view of launch fell down during this afternoon's windstorm.
5-22-17	Woodside is looking good for student flights after 11 am when the outflow subsides	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Abundant sunshine. High 29C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 6	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside/Eagle Ranch Report - Woodside was forecast to have some outflow winds until 11 am but it was good paramotoring before that for us. James logged 4 flight on the Blackhawk AirMax 125 before 11 am, but we wewre having air bubbles in the fuel system making it run too lean, so back to the shop. Meanwhile, it was perfect for Eugene and Marwan to do some solo paragliding flights while Colleen was working hard in 29C heat on the training hill. What a great coach she is and what a waste of her weekends, she would rather be gardening. Eugene & Marwan got 3 flights each but no thermals to be had for them, but Derek & Norm were "dukin' it out" for at least 90 minute in light lift. Bev even got to fly a few rounds dodging windrows as we are haying this weekend. The baling was completed after we fixed the AirMax 125 by replacing all the fuel lines and ditching the primer bulb and filter. Thanks to Brian H for the tip, apparently they have all had to do the same thing on their motors. James did three more flights and he is much happier with the throttle response now. 8 more flights to finish tomorrow morning, and he can go home with the required flights to achieve his Ultralight Rating.
5-21-17	Woodside is looking good for student flights after 11 am when the outflow subsides	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 21C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 6	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had some outflow winds until 11 am but had some good paramotoring before that time with James getting 7 flights in today. Colleen worked with Monte & Dominik on the training hill til 11 am too, and then we headed up to fly Woodside. It was quite busy on launch and the launch queue was very slow as Instructors had their students lay out wings in a line leaving no where for others to sort out their gear. Sort out your gear in the back and then move forward into the launch spot to launch. I was launching my students from the back to avoid the long wait, and they all did fine. Stefan, Dominik, Monte, AJ all flew several flights and it was quite stable for the first flight guys so they had easy approaches and landings. We did three runs today and then got back to paramotoring in the evening but it was still gusty and sinky due to thermal activity even at 7 pm, so we quit after 2 flights.
5-20-17	Woodside is looking good for student flights after 11 am when the outflow subsides	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Partly cloudy. High 21C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside was sunny all day but had some early outflow. We got James his first paramotor flight in today on the AirMax 125 and EONA L. He did very well on his first launch and landing and he got about 25 minutes of nice cruising before he landed for a break and then it got too thermic to try again. The West Coast Soaring Club had their May Fly-In today and the launch was very crowded but we managed to get two student rounds in before it got too strong for anyone to launch until after 730 pm. At one point there were about 30 gliders soaring Woodside with climbs to 1500 metres. Billy was test flying the Ozone Ultralite 4 and he won "New Pilot of the Month" award for an excellent thermal flight at noon! He took it home with him along with an OZO 26 harness. Miles for May Alberta Report - Peter, Nicole & Alex are representing BC at the Miles for May Event near Rosalind AB just NE of Edmonton in nice open uncontrolled airspace. They are using a tow winch to get aloft and then looking for the best line for a open distance day. Alex and Peter headed south on nearly identical lines and here are their tracklogs for XCanada. Alex managed 340 kms for a new Canadian Open Distance Record. He was flying the new Gin Explorer EN-B glider which is remarkable. Peter got over 300 kms that would have also been a record if Alex had not been in the air!
5-19-17	Woodside is looking good for student flights after 11 am when the outflow subsides	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Partly cloudy. High 21C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had some outflow wind until 11 am Dennie was at the Ranch managing the students today, so I could celebrate Colleen's Birthday in Town, and we had a good day with getting her a new bike and jewelery. Dennie reported that James, AJ & Endre all got 4 flights and some great thermalling practice too.
5-18-17	Woodside is looking good for student flights after 11 am when the outflow subsides	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Cloudy early, becoming mostly sunny this afternoon. High 19C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside did have some outflow until noon. After that we were flying all day. We had a smaller group of foor P-2 candidates today and they all did very well with Dean showing us how to thermal his paramotor wing, with about 2 hours of soaring today! Endre also had some amazing flights getting his new Ozone Ultralite 4 up to 1200 metres for two hours of airtime over 4 flights today. I took Matthew tandem at 2 pm and we had some +5 m/s climbs to 1200 metres too, and the Ozone SwiftMax tandem proved to handle the turbulence very nicely! Matthew was a tall slim looking guy but he was in fact 215 lbs and it did not affect our climbrate at all in the strong lift. Good thing I had the students take a lunch break for this flight as it was quite strong. The last flight at 6 pm was still buoyant with some turbulence in the LZ for the students to deal with and they all landed softly and safely. Dust of the Universe Ozone Delta 3 Test Report - Ozone has finally released their Delta 3 certifying it as a C glider without collapse line. The glider stays as the older version with 6 aspect ratio, with all unsheathed lines . Launching the ML at 100 all up, showed a very easy inflation without any hang back or surge. I’ll try to show in the following test the difference between the Delta 2 ML and the new Delta 3 ML with some reference C gliders. In June I’ll receive the MS and will hopefully comment on it. In the air, the Delta 3 ML feels more comfortable to fly than the D2 ML . The structure feels very taught and compact overhead. The handling and the way to turn the glider is also improved on the Delta 3 ML but there a little bit of less feedback through the risers. The brake travel could be described as a bit medium to hard in pressure and moderate to short in reaction. The pilot has a nice authority on the brakes with fair precision and good agility. The pressure is slightly heavier and slightly less linear if i want to compare it to the Rush 4 for example. The Delta 3 ML was tested for four consecutive days, in turbulent choppy conditions and sometimes ‘spaghetti’ style conditions. I flew also next to the Delta 3 ML with a Cayenne 5 XS (80-95) and a Trango X-Race MS (80-100) in order to place and see the Delta 3 potential in terms of comfort, efficiency, and overall performance. In turbulent conditions, the Delta 3 ML showed me a high degree of comfort in turbulent air. I think this glider is built to give maximum comfort for the C category pilots. I can place it easily near the Sigma 8,9 and the Elan 1 in terms of comfort feel. In strong thermals the Delta 3 needs control as a moderate C glider. The sharp surges and movements that were in the Delta 2 are now gone, and replaced with a ‘smooth’ glider that pulls into thermals in a soft way even in strong ones. Usually some reference C gliders has some pitch movements before entering rough thermals. The profile used on the Delta 3 is one of the most efficient one for its ability to ‘slide’ into the airmass quite efficiently. And that’s the strongest point on the Delta 3. Climb rate in very weak ‘smooth’ thermals was the Delta 1 strong point. i still remember the leading edge biting through those tiny lifts especially on the MS size. The Delta 3 leading edge is tamer on those super weak thermals (+0.2 m/s) With little information through to feel that surge. I can say that an LM6 or a Delta 2 similarly loaded could be slightly floatier in those tiny thermals. The Delta 3 will hover a bit in the same position waiting for that (+0.4 m/s) to hook in and climb rapidly. Now, in difficult and turbulent conditions climbs on the Delta 3 are clearly seen as the D3 goes upward on every bubble ! The ability to cut through rough air and climb efficiently is as i described above clearly showed on the Delta 3. The leading edge doesn’t pitch back at all, and it doesn’t have a neutral pitch either. It has a very slight smooth pull into thermals, even in rough ones with an excellent comfort underneath and a very efficient climb. Glide in calm air and in moving air : Doing some glides ‘in calm air’ with the Delta 3 ML loaded at 105 next to a Mentor 5 S, Cayenne XS, Trango X-race gave me the following result. The Delta 3 ML has a very slight edge or the same glide angle at trim as the Cayenne 5 XS. (I don’t have a Cayenne M available). The Cayenne 5 XS loaded at 94 at 800 ASL, is now at full speed. Next to it the Delta 3 ML at 105 has a better glide angle probably (±0.3 ) in L/D at the same speed. The Delta 3 ML has more 4 cm pull to reach its top speed which showed me afterward a 16 km/h over trim. The pressure is similar to the Delta 2 and the top speed is fully usable. In turbulent air its easy to control the glider by the C risers. It’s not a Zeno in that matter, and the leading edge at full bar isn’t also as solid as the Zeno one. Back off 3 cm of travel, and surf turbulent air in a super cool mode ! Glide in moving conditions, showed me many times the Delta 3 ML ability to surfs the air efficiently and move upward. I’m totally convinced that the Delta 3 will be a strong tool to race on ridges going on long XC days. For example gliding next with a Mentor 5 showed a similar glide angle on the same line staying super close. But when the conditions are moving with lifts, the Delta 3 began to surf upward even though i was very close behind on the same line. Of course , the M5 is a B, but i’m just trying to show when those differences occurs. The Trango X-race is much more demanding fly, and also has slightly more overall glide and climb performance. The advantage the Delta 3 has is the ability to turn quickly into strong small bubbles that the Trango X-race would need slightly more time to settle in before going on a turn. Surges are converted quicker into climb on the D3. I just wished that the delta 3 had that subtle and linear handling found on the Trango -X-race, but the Delta 3 just turn on command. The difference between the Delta 2 M and the Delta 2 MS in handling was noticeable. So i’m waiting for the Delta 3 MS size to see what it will feel like. Ears are stable, but don’t open by themselves. They need a good pilot input to re-open them. Induced asymmetric collapses are a child play ! Holding the A riser I could easily fly to the other side just by pulling 5 cm of brakes or even turning my head … When the glider is half closed, the sink doesn’t increase much… Conclusion: In keeping the aspect ratio of 6.0, It was clear enough that Ozone wanted to offer a comfortable, easy to use, efficient XC glider. The new profile used on the Delta 3 works well in turbulent conditions. The overall gliding performance is slightly increased over the Alpina 2 but more when using the bar. The quality of efficient flying is well improved, letting the pilot concentrate on the scenery, task, and their XC routes. Cheers, Ziad
5-17-17	Woodside is looking good for student flights after noon	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 17C. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 km/h.	240° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - the forecast said Woodside may have some low clouds obscuring launch until noon. And the reality was that we could not see launch at 10 am, so we headed to Mission for a training hill session. Even though most have done high flights at Woodside or at Savona, the training hill flights are a great way to tuneup launch & landing skills repetitively. We did 5-6 flights in mild conditions and we only had two tree landings! Amanda was here for her first day and she is very small (under 90 lbs) and the Ultralite 4 was perfect for her as she flew off the right side launch at Heritage Park. The hill was not launchable until the Park Board took out an ailing apple tree. We headed back to Woodside when I could see launch was open on our webcam using the MyDlink App on my phone. We had a lot of students. New students AJ & Amanda, Jaime, Jose, Bianca, James, Endre, Dean were all keen to fly and Dennie was here helping me out so we needed 2 trucks to get our group up to launch. Amanda went tandem with Dennie and they had a really long flight outlasting all the other solo pilots out today, perfect for Amanda to feel the air and understand the approach. AJ got his first high flights today on the SupAir EONA L, this glider has a large weight range of 100-130 kgs and AJ loads it up to the top and it performed very well as he was able to catch some thermals and came out with lots of altitude. Everyone did very well and we managed to get 2 flights in before 7:30 pm to end the day off. Amanda was the last one off launch and she did well on her first solo flight. Ozone News Release - lots of new stuff is coming! ULTRALITE 4 is now available, 150g lighter than the Ultralite 3 with better performance, such as more speed, we think this is a worthy successor. We now have 21 & 23 sizes in stock for demo flights. Ozone Ultralite 4 info here. Thanks to Brad for the Video!
5-16-17	We are looking at another wet day throughout BC	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 12C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.	240° @ 11	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Valley Report - the valley was very wet today and the parking lot was still busy with pilots picking up gear. We did find a dry period around 4 pm to head to Mission so James could get a few low flights in, but we got rained on there soon after arriving.
5-15-17	We are hoping to fly Woodside today but it looks wet so maybe Merritt is a better choice	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High 11C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near 6mm.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside was flyable from 9 am til noon, but it was too gusty for a second solo flight for James. Then the rains came for the afternoon, but James did get out for some kiting mid-day between squalls. We decided the Interior Weather was too wet for a 5 hour roadtrip early in the day and later looks at the Interior Radar confirmed that it would have been a wasted trip, Merritt - Cache Creek - Savona was in the rain all day.
5-14-17	We are hoping to fly Woodside today	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by increasing clouds with showers developing this afternoon. High around 15C. Winds W at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 40%.	240° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looked good this morning so we went up at 10 am and Stefan, Kelly & Chris flew and had a morning sled-ride. We went back up at 11 am and it was soarable, with vultures buzzing launch. Kelly got his last three flights leading up to his 25th and graduating flight today! Stefan is on his 2nd day here and he is already thermalling like a pro, enjoying the Ultralite 4 lightweight glider. Norm joined us on his first Ozone Delta 3 flight and he had no problems staying up on it. He says it is "very efficient in finding lift". It has a unique shape of the wingtips, and later flight around 5 pm with Derek & Norm "duking it out" showed Norm had a better climb rate. Derek is usually "top of the stack" on his Swift 4, but not today. More flight tests to come. We got new student James (an aspiring paramotorist from Thunder Bay), his first high flight after a session in Mission and on the Eagle Ranch Training Hill.
5-13-17	We are hoping to fly Woodside today as Clearwater looks like 60% chance of showers	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Sunshine and clouds mixed. High around 15C. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 km/h.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1300 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside took some time to clear up this morning due to low cloudbase, but we still managed to get 5 flight rounds in today ending the day at 6 pm with a nice glassoff flight. The first flight was a light wind sleddie to wake up the guys. The second flight got exciting as Hayden took off and went straight up to 1300 metres and the towering CU near Woodside made him pull "big ears" until he could fly around it towards Riverside and then out to the Ranch where he hovered for 30 minutes until he found a shadowy bit of ground to descend in. Meanwhile the others found normal sink to land at the Ranch. He said he learned more in that flight than all the previous 13 flights. We then got a rain cell moving through the area so Colleen and I broke away and had lunch in Agassiz, a rare treat on a busy day. The students stayed in the Barn Classroom and watched videos. Then around 3 pm it opened up and we started flying again after watching Pedro, Brian & Micheal fly off on Hanggliders. We got three more soaring flights completed with Colleen joining the guys for the last one. Here is Robert on his last flight flying a SupAir EONA L here before heading back to Edmonton.
5-12-17	We are hoping to fly Woodside today between showers, then head inland to Clearwater for the weekend	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Overcast with rain showers at times. Thunder possible. High 14C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.	240° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had some weather windows today, and we went up to launch after 9 am. Good launch conditions right away and I launched Robert, Kelly & Tom as new student Stefan watched. There were CUs popping near the south knoll at this time and the students got to enjoy some light lift. We went back up immediately and on this flight the students were thermalling to the NW in nice smooth lift. Chris G joined us on this flight on his Ozone Mojo4 M (which is now up for sale here). The students all landed pretty much right in the circle and were packed up by the time we headed down after kiting with Stefan on launch. The third flight started around noon, and there were rain cells out near Sumas that looked threatening. One passed us heading to wards Agassiz and the other one looked like it would move North to Chehalis, but it stayed stationary over Harrison Mills and unloaded just after the students packed up. We did some ground school and Brian H wrote his exam, now that he has +25 paragliding flight to add to his +600 paramotor flights he qualifies as a P-2 pilot. Exam marking for Kelly and Brian while the others watched videos, congrats to both for passing the P-2 exam. Everytime the sun would come out, I got excited and headed out to check the weather and got rained on. We headed towards Mission to do some training hill stuff but the monsoon there had us turn back and call the rest of the day off.
5-11-17	We are not flying today due to rains everywhere, some flooding even expected in the Interior	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Showers and thundershowers this morning, then overcast during the afternoon with occasional rain. High near 15C. Winds W at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 90%.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 600 metres	Valley Report - forecast said - "Woodside wet today with possible thunderstorm activity". We had a small bit of drizzle this morning but by noon it was a monsoon near Chilliwack. Dangerous driving conditions for sure on Hwy 1. Good timing for the rain as our corn field to the west is now seeded in Orchard Grass so the seeds needed rain to germinate, and the new grass is going to look so nice for landings. Rest assured that landing at Eagle Ranch is always free to our loyal customers.
5-10-17	We are flying Woodside today after 10 am, when the outflow should subside	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: A mix of clouds and sun. High 22C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside should have had a great flying day with some thermals up to 1200 metres . . . but the inversion layer kept the thermals kind of quiet. But that did not stop the students from logging five more flights with some incredible circle landings in light winds. We had Robert, Kelly, Andre and Om here flying today. The Instructor Candidates did a great job of coaching at launch while I manned the LZ guiding duties and lawn mowing. Om decided to focus on paramotor launching and we tried a used Dudek Nucleon paramotor wing for kiting and tossed it after 2 tries, instead using the SupAir EONA M (a far easier wing to launch and fly). Once we got Om clipped in to the EONA M he had good launches and was off and flying on the Blackhawk Airmax 125. He had unfortunately turned down the radio volume so he could not hear me encouraging him to go high and far, so he landed instead to sort out the radios. We then took out the Kangook MZ100 and he liked that configuration better, lighter frame and smaller harness fit him better as he is only 140 lbs. He had another great launch and flew around for 20 minutes waiting for the others to land, and he burned very little fuel as the EONA is so efficient. At the end of day, most of the students had five logged flights and the new HPAC student log books are working well as I saw students dutifully filling in their flights and exercises at the end of each flight. On the last flight Linda flew her new Falcon Hangglider off Woodside in a sled ride landing here at the Ranch, with a perfect approacch & landing (what a keener). Om left with his new SupAir EONA M/Ozone Oxygen I harness and is saving pennies for the Kangook motor too! Today was the sixth & final day of our Instructor/Tandem Course and the Instructors all did an amazing job of training new students from Ground School Lessons to actual flying exercises and finally supervising exam writing sessions. We had 13 attendees, some doing re-certs and others that were new to the Instructor Program. These new Instructors are the liveblood of our sport . . . spreading the word and adding more pilots to the mix.
5-9-17	We are running our Instructor Tandem Course at Eagle Ranch for the last day today, but today we are flying tandems and students after the outflow subsides	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Sunshine and a few clouds. High 21C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 14	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside offered up a great flying day with some great ridge lift for soaring after 3 pm as predicted. We managed to get 3 student rounds in before it got too strong. New students Andre and Declan joined our existing group and integrated quite well, getting 3 flights in as well as did Kelly & Robert. Robert had a first flight today with a failed radio and landed right in the centre of the circle, this due to our system of flight preparation (making sure the students know the approach and their role in controlling the approach). Here is Declan on his third flight today, going straight up all the way out to Eagle Ranch where landings are always free for students & clients of FlyBC.
5-8-17	We are running our Instructor Tandem Course at Eagle Ranch for the next 2 days, but today we are flying tandems and students	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Becoming windy this afternoon. High 16. UV index 4 or moderate.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had a forecast that sounded like we would have to watch out for wind later. The RASP also looked rather lame lift-wise, but it turned out that neither were true. New student Kelly spent yesterday ground handling and went tandem with Xavier for his first flight last night as it was too windy for first solos. And he was ready to fly today on his own! His first launch went brilliantly on his new Niviuk Koyot 2. Video here thanks to Tony Later he was seen way above launch thermalling with Martin N. Another new student, Robert for Edmonton, arrived at 9 am and was ground school prepped along with Kelly while we were waiting for wind on the hill. Later in the day Robert was deemed ready to fly after many hours of kiting and going over the landing briefing presentation one more time. By the end of the day Robert had three solos and Kelly and Marwan logged five solo flights, a pretty big day! This is what the mountain looked like today after the clouds cleared. We are so fortunate to have this in our backyard! ' Derek, Martin and others got to over 1400 metres despite the lame RASP predictions. Meanwhile, over on Vancouver Island Hunter and Clair were flying at Prevost and they had a really sweet day. Hunter is flying an Ozone Swift 4 that he bought last year while training with us at FlyBC. Cloud Surfing from Hunter Viator on Vimeo.
5-7-17	We are running our Instructor Tandem Course at Eagle Ranch for the next 3 days, but today we are flying tandems and students	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Mainly sunny. High 14. UV index 6 or high.	240° @ 14	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside provided great soaring conditions today for our graduating students on their last flights before signoff. Kim & Tom both got finished today, just their paperwork to send in and they both gained over 15 hours of airtime during their training and both are very good thermal pilots. New student Kelly was kiting most of the day working with Xavier & Lee in the LZ and the training hill. New Instructor/Tandem Candidates were flying practice tandems in pretty strong conditions getting used to 41 metres of cloth in the stronger cycles. Jason was flying his APCO Play 42 here with Terry as ballast. Mukunda was flying Brad M's gear practicing his tandem skills and launching forward launches in the strong inflow cycles like a pro! Flight of the Day honors go to Alex R flying from Bridal doing a reverse Raymont Challenge, taking off from Bridal then heading to Elk before crossing the Valley to Woodside and then to Green Hil and on to Ludwig landing at the Bridal LZ. We went up the mountain at 7 pm, after hearing Dennie taking off with a tandem and getting high. We waited sometime as had Dennie and Craig launched and then Mukinda. We were packing up when Ky took off and was going backwards apparently forgeting to hook up her speedbar. She must have gotten it reconnected as she did make it to Eagle Ranch before sunset. Tip of the Day: Preflight checks include doing up the speedbar and having it easily accessible right after launch. Add velcro straps to your harness to hold the bar ready for use.
5-6-17	We are running our Instructor Tandem Course at Eagle Ranch for the next 4 days, but today we are flying tandems and students	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: A mix of clouds and sun. High 14C. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 km/h.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looked like a great flying day when I did the forecast and SOD update at 6 am. Then it started to rain. We were doing a reserve repack seminar in the Barn while it rained and we repacked about 10 reserves. We also found some packed improperly which were fixed and some repacked in proper containers. Once the sun came out we headed up to Launch to get the required practice tandems and some student flights. Conditions were good around Woodside but to the west it was ugly. There was a threatening cell over Sumas which bypassed us towards Hope. The tandem candidates had very nice launches in +20 kph winds, as did Kim M who is close to becoming a P-2, just 5 more flights. We went back up and flew around 2 pm and it was getting stronger as the RASP predicted. Guy flew his new Ozone Zeno and was the last one to launch on this round. Denis had top-landed and said the air was rather rough. Mike M took Kim over to Harvest Market on her second flight after an hour of soaring in front of launch. We headed to dinner in Harrison Hotsprings, and when we returned we heard stories of great glassoff flights.
5-5-17	We are running our Instructor Tandem Course at Eagle Ranch for the next 6 days, so rain is not an issue	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Showers. Risk of a thunderstorm early this morning. Local amount 15 to 25 mm. Becoming windy late this morning. Temperature steady near 13. UV index 3 or moderate.	215° @ 25	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Instructor Seminar Report - Woodside had rain all day, but we needed an indoor theory session anyway. Fourteen participants here at FlyBC were attending the seminar and we covered glider trim and maintenance, Ground School Preparation and Tools, Risk Management and Limits. Here are the four teams preparing their student presentations. We did some line replacements on a student glider using our glider rack. We also measured the trim of matching Magnum 2 - 41 tandem gliders and found them to be well within tolerances.
5-4-17	We are running our Instructor Tandem Course at Eagle Ranch for the next 6 days	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Mostly sunny early, then thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 26C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.	180° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 2500 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside forecast called for some early ouflow, with strong lift potential up to 2500 metres around 4 pm. Possible thunderstorms forecasted to wreck the afternoon plans. But today showed the difference between forecast & reality. We did some morning introductions and briefings in the Barn Classroom, and then sent students to the training hill with new instructors while we were waiting for the outflow to diminish. We had Gerrit, Clayton, Martin & Micah here today, not newbies but rather accomplished students with an excess of 15 flights and solid skills so it was easy for the new instructor candidates to work with them. By noon the first truckloads headed up the mountain, and we got the students Flight #1 for the day. After the students got a few flights I kept Gerrit & Clayton on the ground to practice paramotor flights once we got some wind in the LZ. Another odd day for LZ winds as we had NW wind in the field. As the students came in for flight #3, Clayton got his first motoring flight not geting that high as he had trouble getting into the seat despite my instructions. So he came back in to land in light winds to adjsut the harness. He had the leg straps too loose, which was a simple fix. Next up was Gerrit and he strapped on the Blackhawk AirMax 125 Paramotor and when we got a nice 10-15 kph of wind he was off and flying in the seat and he flew around for 20 minutes staying out of the way of the other pilots. He did have a burble in the powerband that we traced back to an air leak in the fuel filter, which was fixed upon landing. Clayton got the next paramotor flight and he got really high, much higher than launch in the North winds. He was probably the only one to get above launch as it was very stable today. After coaxing him down to land, Gerrit got another flight and he was cruising all over Harrison Mills too enjoying the freedom of power. At the end of the day the last group of pilots got the students off in light tailwinds, easy as they were flying Ozone Ultralite 4 gliders! These gliders inflate so easily, grat for long hike up flights on tight launches. By 6 pm, the first sounds of thunder echoed through the Valley and lightning was observed over Chilliwack. A very long day but very productive with 4 paramotor flights for the new paramotor students, and 6 solo flights for the P-2 students. Happy Whitehorse customer Ksenia got her new gear and will soon be flying the Yukon skies!
5-3-17	We are flying in Cache Creek area today	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Rain ending this afternoon then cloudy. High 16. Cache Creek Forecast: Cloudy. A few showers early this morning. Wind east 20 km/h. High 22. UV index 5 or moderate.	090° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2200 metres	Coyote Report - Woodside looked like some rain today so we did a one day roadtrip for the new students to get them some variety. We met at 8 am at the Ranch and did a weather briefing and concluded that the temperature/dewpoint spread was very close all day which was resulting in a very low cloudbase or maybe 200 metres. The winds looked okay but "no visibility" means "no fly" and I am sure the students have had enough ground school for now. We left at 9 am heading north on Hwy 1 and by Hope cloudbase had risen but it was still raining. By Boston Bar the sky was brighter but still some drizzle. Thanks to modern technology we could keep checking out the Interior Radar which provides a one hour loop of the conditions/precip. All the way to Ashcroft it was light rain in places and when we arrived at Coyote Hill the winds were perfect and the sun was trying to come out. After a drive to the LZ to point out obstacles and preffered approach path, we headed up to the top. Winds on top were reversible but too light to soar and we got off the first round of flights for 4 students. Markus was kiting on top working on his reverse technique and missed round one, but he was looking like a "rock star" once he got the technique down. The students were doing great and got 5 high flights in with some nearly soarable flights and great landings. Around 5 pm we arrived to find the winds had picked up to nearly 20 kph! The past two Kamloops Reports had winds gusting to E 41 kph, so I was on the watch for approaching gusts but it stayed pretty safe so the students launched. First off was Clayton and he got a few passes but went too far north and slid out of the lift band. Micah went off next and got some nice lift right away flying the SupAir EONA S. Steven was off next on the Ozone Ultralite 4 - 21 and he was getting great altitude. Instructor Candidate Andrew launched his Rush 3 and was soaring with the students cheering them on as the observed perfect ridge etiquette. I was working with Markus showing him how to control with the C's and it got stronger and stronger on launch so we bagged his wing while everyone soared. Steve was the first one to top-land back behind the Van. With some briefing Micah also top-landed right on launch! We were packed up and back on the road to Woodside by 6:30 pm. We arrived to outflow winds at Woodside and the sun was close to setting so we headed straight to the Ranch to debrief. Six more flights for the logbooks with Soaring Signoffs and Top Landing Signoffs in hand. What a great day! SupAir Leaf Light Test Report - I had the opportunity to test fly the Leaflight on Woodside on May 2. It was the end of a very nice day of thermal flying that turned into smooth ridge lift at day's end. When I arrived at launch there was still some wind coming up but the soaring pilots were all sinking out. The leaflight has nice, well-coloured, sheathed lines, perfect for sorting and avoiding tangles and twigs. At 3.4 kg for the size S, I flew at about 95 kg (75-95 kg weight range). I really liked the solid risers that flared at the connection loop to prevent it from sliding down the carabiners. The brake handles are quite thick and comfortably padded as well. The glider launched perfectly coming up in a light cycle and was easy to control. The first thing I noticed was how light the brake pressure was, even lighter than my Alpina 2 which also has light pressure. The glider used a little more brake but turns were well coordinated and smooth as I cruised back and forth on the ridge. The second thing I noticed was how "talky" the wing was considering how heavily loaded it was. I could feel lots as it moved through the different types of air and was able to get a few week climbs as the day's lift ended. The speed seemed comparable to my Alpina 2 although I was really trying to stay up so I didn't test the speed system much. When I did, it required a good push to initiate. The glide and sink rate were fine as I began the glide out over Lenami's cut where you don't want to get too low. Landing the LL was easy with great speed control and a nice easy flare into the circle. This glider would make an excellent travel/ hiking wing and is just an all round winner for general flying - KVA
5-2-17	We are flying Woodside today	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 18C. Winds light and variable.	230° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looked good right from 8 am on, despite outflow forecasts. We started flying at 10 am and we had 6 to 7 students depending on time of day as students were dropping in after working the morning. Bev even got a flight in today but no XC. Derek claimed to have gotten to 1600 metres over Woodside but most complained that when they got to 1200 metres the NE winds starting rocking them around. It got so busy that I had to use the Bronco to shuttle students up as the Van was full, first official trip up Woodside and she hauled up the hill with no problems, and crawled out of launch with not a slip! Highlights of the day included Micah learning how to thermal, with a little coaching and then staying up on the third and forth flights for over an hour on one of our EONA gliders. The fifth flight of the day had nice glassoff conditions and everyone got off fast despite very light conditions. Thanks to Dennie & Andrew for being instructors today, while I lounged around on my Quad watching the landings. Here someone captured Dennie guiding some students from the top. Alex R got the flight of the day from Lil Nic, making it past Woodside and over to Bridal and almost back to Riverside. Nice given the weak conditions in the Valley. James was on Alex's heel most of the flight and he ended up back in Riverside after getting to Agassiz Mtn.
5-1-17	We are hopefully flying Woodside today	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. A few showers beginning in the morning and ending in the afternoon. Temperature steady near 9.	230° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looked like we would get some weather windows for the new students, despite rain and gloomy skies at 8 am. We did a great ground school session in the Barn complete with simulator practice. Then around 1 pm the skies opened up and I headed up the mountain with Micah, Gerrit and Chris G. We arrived to rain drops on the launch, but Dennie was kiting hard with the other 5 students on the Eagle Ranch LZ. No rain on the ground but the clouds close to launch were precipitating. We waited in the Van and the skies opened up and we got some "big ears" practice in for Micah and others to aid in cloud avoidance. We did another round of flights after this one and the air just got liftier but cloudbase rose to 1100 metres. I checked out the student progress in the LZ and all the newbies were kiting and reversing with great skill. Conditions were perfect for kiting and for the others landing with 10-15 kph of SE breeze. After a landing briefing, we took the entire load of students up and conditions were perfect for forward or reverse launching. New students Max & Clayton got their first solo flights in, but as Jon H got ready it got gusty and cross and he had too many attempts and was getting frazzled. I normally stick to my "3 tries and then bag it" routine but it seemd like he was going to get it when the clouds dropped too low for safe flights. Clayton here just after launching was soon at 1100 metres without a turn as it was quite lifty. Jon, Gerrit and Markus were denied the last flight of the day but they are here all week so they will catch up soon.
4-30-17	We are NOT flying Woodside today as it looks too windy at 7 pm and expected to get windier	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Becoming windy this afternoon. High 11. UV index 5 or moderate.	230° @ 22	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside was blown-out all day. It was a wild mix of wind, rain and gusts and the FlyBC Webcam was showing +35 kph on launch most of the day. A group of Canucks went south to Blanchard WA and were rewarded with +2 hour flights. Thermals reproted to be "spicy" at times.
4-29-17	We are flying Woodside today as soon as we can see launch to avoid the rains	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Cloudy with occasional rain during the afternoon. High 12C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near 6mm.	230° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looked like nice conditions in the morning with rain expected mid-day, and that is what we got. Colleen came up for the first two flights test-flying the new SupAir Leaf Light Small we have here for demo. She concluded in glide tests with Derek on his MS Swift that the glide was similar and the inflation was smooth and easy. There was little lift and light winds to launch in but we managed to get three rounds in before 2 pm when it started raining as we attempted round four. New student Dale from Rosedale got his first two solo flights after last night's awesome tandem soaring session (and he dressed warmer today). Micah from Saltspring is doing very well and even completed his first flight today sans radio, but he did everything perfect and almost nailed the circle on landing. He is up to 6 solo flights after two days.
4-28-17	We are flying Woodside today as soon as we can see launch	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Sun and clouds mixed. High 14C. Winds W at 10 to 15 km/h.	230° @ 14	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looked good in the morning. We got two flight rounds in before it blew out. Martin N was out as usual and was our wind tech for the first flight. All the student flights were really good with new student Micah getting his first two flights after a solid training hill session today, with his first flight being 30 minutes long with a circle landing! I even got to fly a tandem after 4 pm with Dale, when it calmed down enough to safely launch and it was very soarable. Martin N & Derek had launched an hour before and just got away before it gusted up, and they got high to the North before heading to Harvest Market which is stll in hay. Unfortunately Dale was not dressed appropriately for the weather and was shaking from the cold but did not want me to end the flight! We also landed at Harvest where we had a nice no wind touchdown. A couple of highlights today: 1. Martin S got his first thermal lesson and he thermalled so well he disappeared into a cloud despite me telling him to pull "big ears", and he kept pulling the stabilo. Tip of the Day: Practice "big ears" before you need to use them. He later did them properly in the the second flight. 2. Apparently there was an un-named pilot that landed in the 3.5 km clearcut when he got stuck in the venturi between Launch & the South Knoll. Of course he was not on radio so Search & Rescue got called out needlessly. Second Tip of the Day: Do not fly into this area on windy days, and wear a radio and use it.
4-27-17	We may be flying Woodside today but watch for strong winds	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. High 12C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h.	230° @ 20	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had strong inflow today so no student flying. Ground handling for new students was not a go either due to winds and wet grass. But Phil got to try out his new Advance Alpha 5 and Cult Harness, following Pete and Martin N who wind-tech'ed today after 4 pm. Quite strong lift and +20 kph wind in the air. Martin got high to the North probably 1100 metres. Pete got high too and they bailed over to Harvest Market LZ when it started sprinkling. Phil had just launched and did not hear the Harvest Market briefing and lost sight of the others as they headed east so he flew out to the Ranch. We waited for the rain to stop and got several sunny periods but it kept OD-ing and raining harder. Rob H made this nice video of his visit with us while we were training in Cache Creek, Savona & Woodside.
4-26-17	We are NOT flying Woodside today due to strong winds and rain	Agassiz BC Woodside Forecast: Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. High 12C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 50%	230° @ 18	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Valley Report - Woodside had strong inflow winds today and it was gusty on Harrsion Bay & the LZ. Good news is that the Delta 3s are now shipping, and some owners are now posting videos of their flights. I don't know how they got their D3 first as we placed several orders on the very first hours of the Order System opening for the D3 ML?
4-25-17	We are NOT flying Woodside this week due to outflow winds and rain but we are flying in Savona area all week	Agassiz BC Savona Forecast: Partly cloudy this morning. A few showers developing during the afternoon. High 17C. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 30%.	270° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 2500 metres	Savona Report - Woodside looked like outflow today and rain so we are staying in Savona. We go up to the Toilet Bowl around 10 am today and the winds were straight in but light, but there were thermals popping off allowing some soaring by Master Gerrit (who soared the old Bolero last night!). Light wind reverse launches for Martin, Cole, Gerrit, Rob H and Brian. They got 4 flights off the Toilet Bowl Ridge before noon, except for Cole who hiked up once and got 5 flights! After the last flight we arrived on top to find the wind had switched 180 degrees and strong. We headed over to the Dump Ridge and the guys started flying there in 15-20 kph NE winds that were soarable. They were hiking up to keep the cycles going and by the time I stopped them for an afternoon break some had 9 more flights including top-landings for Martin and Cole. The Dump Ridge is truly a meteo-marvel, which has seabreeze thermals being fed by Kamloops Lake, despite the prevailing winds. We could have kept going but the guys were getting tired so we broke camp and headed down to Woodside hoping to fly, but when we arrived it was kind of light. I decided they needed to write their P-2 Exams more than get one more flight today (14 is probably enough to absorb). While they were writing the exams, Bev & Derek dropped in off Woodside where they had to do either forward launches or running reverses to get off while Norm drove. Apparently the mid-day flights at Woodside were good, with strong lift over 1000 metres.
4-24-17	We are NOT flying Woodside this week due to outflow winds and rain but we are flying in Savona area all week	Agassiz BC Savona Forecast: Showers in the morning, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 16C. Winds NW at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 40%.	270° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 2500 metres	Savona Report - Savona was really windy today despite a nice 20 kph NW forecast. We managed some nice kiting for new student Martin in the school ground in Savona and he mastered the reverse launch techniques within an hour. We kept going up to the Toilet Bowl and watched some Kamloops speed fliers "hucking off" and getting short flights. We drove to Ashcroft and the winds were exactly 180 degrees opposite there but just as strong so back to Savona for the afternoon. We called the day and had a late dinner, and just before sunset the wind dropped so we went up to the Toilet Bowl and the students got to soar and Gerrit had at least 30 passes at launch height on the Bolero. Keener Brianne hiked up and got two flights before dark. And newbie Martin got his first flight in too landing at Sunset. Then back to the lake side campground for late night drinks. Meanwhile back at Woodside the big guns were going XC to Ruby Creek, Bridal and Vedder under a bg developing sky with some rain & hail mixed in for fun.
4-23-17	We are NOT flying Woodside this week due to outflow winds and rain but we are flying in Savona area all week	Agassiz BC Savona Forecast: Partly cloudy skies. High 16C. Winds light and variable.	040° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 2500 metres	Savona Report - Woodside looked like outflow and rain this week so we headed to Savona. I arrioved at 930 and unloaded the travel trailer and met the students for first flights at 10 am. Mitch, Tom, Brianne and Ryan were all flying well today as was newcomer pilot Dean who is working towards paramotor lessons. Dean got his first 5 high flights in on his paramotor wing (free flying). He was pumped! Tom & Mitch were working hard and got 15 & 14 flights respectively from the Dump Ridge. Here is Tom soaring and almost top-landing! I was at the bottom and got one of Mitch's flights too. Ryan got 11 flights and he is now over 28 flights. Brianne arrived later today and still managed to get 5 flights in and some excellent high wind kiting! We were finished by 430 pm, and headed for a beer at the Savona Pub. Meanwhile back at Woodside folks were flying, but it looked ominous. Here is Martin's launch captured by FlyingOrange. I saw Martin N's tracklog on XCFind and I saw his run to Harvest Market to avoid the rains. Apparently Derek was right on his tail. I saw someone coming into the Ranch on the FlyBC WebCam and it looked "rock & roll".
4-22-17	We are NOT flying Woodside today due to strong outflow winds and rain later	Agassiz BC Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy early, then off and on rain showers for the afternoon. High near 15C. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 km/h. Chance of rain 70%.	040° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had outflow today and rain later so called the day off. It looks like Savona all next week so I may be moving the entire operation there for the balance of April.
4-21-17	We are at Woodside today	Agassiz BC Agassiz Forecast: Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 19C. Winds light and variable.	270° @ 2	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looked like outflow today but we hoped the thermals would cancel out the winds. We went up for the first try at 11 am, and we had light inflow cycles but the prevailing wind was showing NE in the cloud drift and smoke in the valley. First student off was Ryan M and he had a great launch and a bit of lift on the way out. Harry S launched next on his Ozone Swift 4 and was climbing by the South Knoll in some leeside thermals, as Rob H came in below him but bailed when he did not think he was getting anything. All of the students (6) got off clean and were doing non-standard approaches into the Ranch, while their landing coach Dennie was happily thermalling over the flats (actually they are all at 15-20 high flights so should not need coaching). I had to run a banking errand in Chilliwack so I handed the reins over to Dennie and he took the students up for another flight, while I watched from our webcam during an oil change. Again a non-standard approach as the NW winds picked up in the Eagle Ranch LZ, but it was still good launching conditions. They went up for a third round but only three students got off and the last student in Brian (a nely minted USHPA P-2) was parked over the Maple Tree causing Dennie to shut down operations until it got lighter. It never got lighter and many pilots on launch had to drive down, while Dennie had the students liting in the perfectly laminar NW wind in the LZ. It was very pretty seeing all the wings in the LZ as I drove past on Hwy 7! We did a debrief on the day and the folks headed to the Sasquatch Inn for dinner and drinks and the plan for tomorrow is a trip to Pembie for the hot springs and then to meet in Savona for Sunday.
4-20-17	We are in Sunny Savona today	Agassiz BC Kamloops Forecast: Cloudy with occasional rain showers. High 13C. Winds NW at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 40%.	270° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Savona Report - we started early with the eager students, on the Toilet Bowl Ridge at 7:45 am today. It paid off as we managed to get 6 flights off the ridge in light NW winds, at times it was almost soarable but the students were geting ready by themselves, doing the proper safety checks and launching unassisted and landing well too. We had the winds switch around noon to unuasable and everyone needed a break so we headed down to Woodside, in hopes that it would be soarable there. I got a text from Martin N that it was OD-ing at 1 pm and raining hard in Chilliwack but we were already heading that way. The Ranch is a total mudhole with all the rain, so park at the Kettle or ?? Everyone straggled in at different times and we assembled a shuttle load at 4:00 pm and headed up the mountain. Norm, Bev, Martin N and Derek also arrived and were our official wind-techs. Of course as we arrived on launch a huge cell unloaded just west of Harrison Knob and we got rained on. It looked like it was all clear behind that cell on the Radar, so we waited and it opened up while we waited like true "Desperados" on launch. Martin N launched first and headed to the South Knoll. Last time we saw him he was grovelling into Riverside, as there was no lift on the South Knoll. Bev and Derek launched and they were soaring nicely to the North. One by one the students launched, with Gerrit being the last one off. They had been properly briefed at how to land at Woodside/Eagle Ranch before we headed up and with 15 flights under their belts I thought it would be easy for them after the complicated approaches at Savona avoiding cactus and sagebrush. They all landed fine even though some were downwinders, but the winds were light to calm. A very successful day with 7 flights and good launch skills from all of the six students.
4-19-17	We are in Sunny Savona today	Agassiz BC Kamloops Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. 30 percent chance of showers this afternoon. Wind becoming east 20 km/h this morning. High 16. UV index 5 or moderate.	100° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Savona Report - Woodside looked like rain again today, so we stayed in Savona to get some flights for the students. We started at 7:30 am, picking up the students at the campground and we headed up to the Dump Ridge. We found Luke, Paul, Austin and their dogs camped on top. We had nice 10-15 kph NE winds straight up the slope and everyone was kiting and I told them they did not have to fly, rather spend time kiting but they all eventually flew. It got stronger and we were able to get Tom & Cole top-landing as they learned how to stay in lift. It got stronger and stronger to the point that by 1030 am, it was hard to move forward and Luke & the other signed off pilots were way above launch soaring on the ridge. Here Austin was kiting his LOL at the back of launch, note how easy it is too keep the wing overhead in the laminar winds. We headed to Coyote Hill after collecting new student Brianne. Chase arrived after we had one flight too. The students are doing very well! Tom & his brother Mitch arrived just a day ago and they are reversing with precision and style and getting themselves ready with little need for me already. Ryan M is up to 19 flights now after just 5 days and is ready for signoff soon. Ryan G is here on a P-2 refresher course and is up to 29 flights and is very independent too. Savona & Coyote are good for rapid independent training with the varied slopes and launch directions which keeps us flying many hours in the day. As we saw today, Savona got blown out yet Ashcroft was still good despite being only 32 kms apart. Coyote had light NE winds but the students were all reversing off with ease. No one is needing landing coaching now either, which is what a good instructor wants to see in his students: independence with focus. Ryan G was trying out our Advance Alpha 5 demo wing and looked good on it, finally a nice Advance colour scheme! On the second round of flights Rob H joined us and he found a thermal out over the LZ and was working it with Ryan G and Chase. It got rather crowded over the LZ but they all followed ridge rules and there were no issues. We had completed 2 flights here before it blew strong from the SW. The students are now at 6 flights today and it is only 2 pm. We headed back to Savona hoping for calmer winds and arrived on top to launchable conditions. Ryan G took off on the Alpha 5 and was soon 30 metres above us in strong SE winds and parked as he found a lifty bubble in one pass. He top-landed next to us but the conditions suggested it might get strong again and I almost got dragged packing up Brianne's wing. Chase had taken off before Ryan and had a sled ride down to the LZ. He landed fine and was bunching up his wing when he rolled his ankle on a rock and needed our assistance. Good thing we had Rob, Ryan and others along that know first aid. We got him on top in the back of his truck and splinted his ankle and he refused to let us drive him to Kamloops Hospital. He said this has happened a few times this month just walking around his shop. He got checked out in Kamloops and it was just a dislocation. Tip of the day: Wear good ankle supporting footwear when outdoors. After we fixed up Chase, we went for a late lunch and after lunch the apparent cause of the gusty winds revealed itself as a rain cell burst off and caused a big windstorm. After the rain stopped we did another trip to Ashcroft to get Brianne some kiting but it was far too strong so we quit by 6 pm. A good day for the students! Six flights or more off two different slopes and some great kiting practice.
4-18-17	Woodside looks like heavier rain so we are heading inland	Agassiz BC Kamloops Forecast: Partly cloudy. High 16C. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h.	180° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 1800 metres	Savona Report - Woodside looked like rain today. So we planned a roadtrip to Savona for the students. I arrived in Savona at 9 am to meet the eager students and we headed up the Dump Ridge early to find nice NE winds. We had two new guys, brothers Tom & Mitch from Trail here, and Tom was so keen he flew off on his first forward inflation and had a perfect approach. Good thing he had a radio and a briefing! Everyone but Mitch got in a flight before the winds went cross and down. Good kiting session up there for a few hours before the winds switched. Luke & gang from Squamish was here too with some speed wings and assorted gear also avoiding the rains on the coast. I checked the Cache Creek weather and it was still NE there so we headed to Coyote Hill, and we got three launches in and on the last flight Ryan G had launched and was in big sink, odd because everyone else went up? And then a big gust from the back ensued for several seconds? And then it went quite strong from the front and Tom's wing went up in a dusty (fortunately he was not clipped in yet!). I sorted out the wing and when I tried kiting it another dusty grabbed it out of my hands! Okay we are done here for now. We headed in to Ashcroft to kite in the town park in gusty SW winds and the guys spent 2 hours plus, perfecting their skills. By the end of the session they were all doing quite well! We headed back to the Toilet Bowl as the winds calmed down here in Ashcroft. To arrive to find the gusts had not abated here as Luke was trying to tame his Eiko 20 in the strong winds. It was quite cross too so we went to the first bump near the International LZ and it was way too strong for normal wings but Austin flew off on a Fazer 14. It was now after 6 pm so we headed to the Pub in Savona for a debrief. Hoping for lighter NE winds tomorrow for a good Dump Ridge session. We did get a Woodside Report from Martin: he was heading up the mountain as it looked good, but he arrived to gusty NW winds and then it started thunderstorming and he was walking down in rain/hail as Derek rescued him.
4-17-17	Woodside looks like drizzle this morning and heavier rain later	Agassiz BC Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy with rain developing this afternoon. High 13C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looked like rain today. Maybe a roadtrip if the students are up to it. But then . . . it cleared up arond 10 am as they were writing exams and we headed up to fly! It was cross from the NW but the students nailed some excellent forward launches. We managed to get 4 student rounds in by 5 pm when we were joined by Bev, Norm and Derek for the last flight of the day. Unfortunately we are going to have to head inland Tuesday as a week of rain is forecast.
4-16-17	Woodside looks like we can fly after noon if the outflow calms down	Agassiz BC Agassiz Forecast: Partly cloudy. High 18C. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 km/h.	040° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had strong outflow winds today. We have some repacks to do and ground school sessions, after heading to Mission to find the winds too gusty to even think about kiting. The students wrote their P-1 exams and "aced" them! Then some brave students wrote their P-2 Exams and also "aced" them, somebody has been studying their manuals. By 5 pm it had calmed down enough to do some kiting in the NW winds and Ian, Om & Steve did quite well with varying techniques. I kept checking the windsock on top and it was down and cross, but somehow George G got off and was parked heading out to the Ranch in NW winds, but it looked smooth.
4-15-17	Woodside looks like we can fly but watch out for higher winds after noon	Agassiz BC Agassiz Forecast: Rain showers this morning with some sunshine during the afternoon hours. High 13C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.	240° @ 14	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had rain at 8 am but we did some ground school and by 10 am it opened up and we had a glorious day in the sun. First flights were in the haze but the students stayed VFR during that flight. The students included Ksenia, Brandon, Chase, Steve, Ian and Ryan and they all flew 5 flights by 6 pm. And good quality flights with some soaring, some thermalling, some spirals and one flight with a tangle that Ksenia handled well. Ksenia even did her first reverse launch today. The pro-pilots were out today and got some climbs to 1200 metres over the South Knoll, and Alex R did a top-landing and "touch & go". Our last flight had some switchy winds on launch and some waiting but we pulled it off and there was even a late team of pilots that went up at 7 pm and bagged a flight in calm conditions but the students were done by then . . . too much adrenaline was spent! Reports from Savona had more hail, strong wind but some Hangies flew to Cache Creek in the strong SW flow.
4-14-17	Woodside looks like we can fly but watch out for higher winds by noon	Agassiz BC Agassiz Forecast: Overcast with rain showers at times. High near 10C. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 50%.	240° @ 16	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Savona Report - Woodside looked like occasional rain today but it was blowing down at 8 am so we packed up and headed inland to Savona. We arrived at Savona at 1130 am, to see Nicole and Andrew in the air. And then it started raining lightly, and they flew back towards launch where it was sunnier. When the rain stopped we got the students ready on the rim of the Toilet Bowl and Brad and I went down to the bottom to install wind ribbons. We launched Ksenia, Brandon and Chase and then it started hailing quite hard, so back to the van. Ksenia seen here on her first high flight and she got to soar for some time in the 20 kph SW winds. After that it got really windy so we went to lunch. When we came back to the Toilet Bowl we saw Dylan hiking up his 14 metre speedwing, and watched an un-named instructor getting dragged backwards on a student rig so we decided it was too windy to try for students. After waiting some time we gave up and headed to Cache Creek where it was lighter, but when we got there it was just as gusty. On to Spences Bridge where we found some lighter winds in the Community Centre fields and the students got to practice reverse kiting. We packed up and headed to Woodside where it was sunny and the winds were the right direction but very strong, so we headed back to the Ranch. Not so productive a day but we tried! There were 17 hanggliders setup on launch but we only saw one fly all day, so we were not the only ones affected by the weather.
4-13-17	Woodside looks like we can fly but watch out for thunder	Agassiz BC Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy with occasional showers this afternoon. Thunder possible. High 12C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looked like only occasional rain today in the forecast. After first planning a trip to Savona, the forecast at 8 am changed for rainy there and better here so we stayed and the students got there first two high flights. Conditions were a bit cross on the top from the NW but nice strength for first flights. Ryan, Ian, Chase and Brandon all flew and had really nice conditions in the air despite the rain we saw at Cultus and behind us in Agassiz. On the second flight Ryan went almost to cloudbase without a turn to over 1200 metres. He was above launch out at the Ranch doing his figure 8's. We took a lunch break and as we packed up to head up the mountain I saw some light mist forming between the Ranch and Woodside so I asked the students to tell me what was happening "meteorologically". They all responded with "RAIN" even though we were in the sun at the Ranch. So maybe intuition, the smell of the air, or good sense it seemed everyone agreed to wait a bit before heading up to launch. And then we heard thunder and saw lightning over by Chilliwack through the trees to the south. And then the hail and rain hit all at once, it would not have been a good time to be in the air. And it happened fast, from direct sunlight to hail in a few moments (just like the forecast warned). When it cleared up the winds in the LZ turned to North, and the wind on top looked strogn so we waited and then as true desperadoes we went up at 7 pm to find strong gusts, thermals popping off that looked like 8-10 m/s (with whispy clouds getting sucked to base) and sometimes a light drizzle. So we drove down for a debrief of the day.
4-12-17	Woodside looks rainy with outflow, a good day to stay indoors and study your Paraglding Manuals	Agassiz BC Agassiz Forecast: Steady light rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High 13C. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 km/h. Chance of rain 70%.	060° @ 20	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had outflow and rain today as was forecast. Fortunately for Paul & I it only sprinkled a bit in the morning as we were finishing up the bay window install, but it was quite windy from the North all day. Paul is available if anyone needs any reno work done, call him at 604-703-8010.
4-12-17	Woodside looks rainy with outflow, a good day to stay indoors and study your Paraglding Manuals	Agassiz BC Agassiz Forecast: Suuny. High 13C. Winds NNE at 10 - 15 km/h.	060° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had outflow. We met all the six new students at the Ranch at 10 am for ground school and equipment fitting. Degas ran a ground school theory session for a few hours while I prepped the gear. After a blackboard session, we headed up to the loft to test harnesses and body position in the simulators. The outflow wind was not letting up and it was on the strong side so Degas took the students to Mission at noon. They all did very well with many doing their first reverse launches on Cherry Hill. The class returned to the Ranch at 7 pm, a very full day of lessons and practical skill development. I wish some of our Intermediate students could have been here to perfect their skills too, as it is not always about high flights and airtime . . . the finesse on launch is more important for safety.
4-10-17	Woodside looks wet and windy today	Agassiz BC Agassiz Forecast: Steady light rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. Thunder possible. High 52F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.	060° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 600 metres	West Mountain Report - after a grueling 10 days in class we finally get to do some flying. West Mountain near Provo was chosen as it has launches to the East and West and the forecast said SE til 2 pm. The Point was out as it was very gusty there, only speed wings were out there. We arrived on top at 10 am to no wind! But we have to do our tandem testing so forward launches it is. Never forget how to forward launch. I was taking Kit tandem for my maneuvers and he is a big boy, over 100 kgs so it will be crisp handling on the Ozone SwiftMax Tandem but we are going to have to run very far on this flat launch to get off through the sagebrush. Our first launch went well, getting off quite far down. I entered the maneuver box, and Marko said to do the Double 360s with a stable on-axis exit in less than 20 seconds - 3,2,1 Go. Open trimmers 5 cms. Hard weight shift into entry, crank it around watching the horizon. One 360, nose is down, second 360 and exit towards the lake. Done in 19 Seconds! Try it sometimes on your solo glider and watch your GoPro footage to evaluate your time. Second maneuver is reversing 360s with on-axis exit in 25 seconds. Entry is good, not so nose down to facilitate the reversal, and we nail the reversal and the glider dives hard left and the exit is off axis - must redo it next flight. Time is good though. Enter the landing field and we must land in a 30 metre circle, sound easy except we are going fast in 5000 foot density altitude and the winds are switchy. I nailed the circle but Kit fell on his nose. Another do over. Back on takeoff, we have still no wind or crosswind. Another forward launch. Glider comes up good, we are running but Kit trips on a sagebrush or something and he is going down. I hit the brakes hard and we are off but he scraped his ankle when he tripped. He is okay so we enter the box for the reserving 360s and nail that maneuver is 22 seconds! Coming into the landing we are dodging Jonathon on his approach and he goes long as he hits a bubble. I am right behind him and we get no bubble and we land short by 2 metres. Apparently there is no latitude for conditions in this testing. Hard Asses! It is now my turn to be Kit's passenger and we move to another launch folks have cleared out. Another forward launch. We get off fast and clean as this slope is steeper. Kit does his turns too slow and off-axis, so he must do them over. These turns need some very fast inputs and no colapse are allowed . . . not even a wingtip! We do the approach and we are getting bubbled up everywhere, and of course on final a big pop, followed by a surge and we miss the circle. These conditions are not taken into account for the evaluation. At the end of the day only 2 pilots land in the circle twice, Babu & Okada, both really good pilots. And lucky as the two approaches I saw were perfect and they got no bubbles or wind switch on final. It is just luck that they hit the target, although the approaches were very smooth too. Some talk was heard about letting people through if they were close but I had to run to the airport to fly home so I will get an evaluation later in the mail.
4-9-17	Woodside looks flyable after noon, Colleen is running the show while I am gone	Agassiz BC Agassiz Forecast: A mix of clouds and sun. High near 55F. Winds light and variable.	060° @ 4	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had sun & cloud Sunday, and Colleen was be running the show at the Ranch while I was in mh last days in Utah. She had Kim, Dawson & Tom training today and they bagged three flights while the pro-pilots were going XC towards Mission and back. Leonardo Track Logs today. Alex & Kevin took our demo Ultralite 4s out today, the 19 & 21 metre versions and had a good time flying to Agassiz Mtn and back to Woodside. Thanks to Brad for the Video! Spring Eagles from Wetcoast Views on Vimeo. A great pilot's view of what the day was like from Claudia, looks like an Ozone Commercial.
4-8-17	Salt Lake looks windy today with rain/snow later	Salt Lake UT SLC Forecast: Rain and thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 58F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%.	160° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Utah Report - I am in Utah til April 10, and it definitely was not flyable today! I woke up to rain and wind, but when you are in a classroom anyway it doesn't matter. But it was not enjoyable trying to get to lunch through hail and rain. After class, Kit & Ma & Ho asked me to join them to study for the presntation test tomorrow so we worked in the hotel til 9 pm. Then as we were leaving we opened the door to a blizzard, a full on snow storm in mid-April. Wlecome to Utah!
4-7-17	Salt Lake looks windy today with rain later	Salt Lake UT SLC Forecast: Cloudy with gusty winds. High around 65F. Winds S at 25 to 35 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.	160° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	SLC Report - today had big winds and snow in the mountains in Utah. As there was no flying we worked on Polar Curves and Performance Flying Theories in the APPI Course. We also did some refined glider measurements and retrimmed some older gliders Instructor brought to the course. I will run a seminar on this for rainy days if anyone is interested. It didn't look very good in BC either with collapsing buildings, cancelled ferry sailings and power outages as the "super low" hit the coast. Colleen arrived to the Ranch to find the power on and little debris so we were spared by the winds.
4-6-17	Salt Lake looks sunny today and SSE winds so maybe we can fly all day	Salt Lake UT SLC Forecast: Sun and clouds mixed. High 71F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.	180° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 2800 metres	POM Report - too windy in Utah even for speedwings today, so we stayed in the classroom.
4-5-17	Salt Lake looks sunny today and SSE winds so maybe we can fly all day	Salt Lake UT SLC Forecast: Partly cloudy. High 59F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.	180° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 2800 metres	POM Report - I am in Utah til April 10 at an APPI Instructor Certification Course. After 8 hours in class we were headed to the hill for some flying. All day the wind was SSE 16-26 mph, too strong for even the levels of pilots at this course. Some of the attendees include Babu from Nepal . . . famous for his Everest to Indian Ocean flight. He also flew off Kilimanjaro in Africa at a charity event in vicious winds that defied physics by launching leeside according to reports. That said he is a super humble guy! At 6 pm, I arrived at the South Side of Point of the Mountain where Chris Santacroce was teaching newbies. Chris G from Santa Barbara took off on a Rush 4 and was soaring in light to nil wind. Chris used to teach for Chris S before moving to Santa Barbara to buy the paragliding school there so knows this hill well. Chris G soared and top-landed while everyone else sunk out. When he top-landed after his final flight, I went over to check out the Rush 4 (yep, it was an XL and he weighs 70 kgs!). Cheater wing soaring! Some of the APPI attendees flew tandem and some flew solo but everyone else ended up on the bottom, but they flew.
4-4-17	Salt Lake looks sunny today and NW winds so maybe after class we can fly	Salt Lake UT SLC Forecast: Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 49F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.	320° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2800 metres	Point of the Mountain Report - I am in Utah for 10 days at an APPI Workshop, and today was a long classroom day that ended with a 2 hour soaring session on the North Side of POM. Kit & I took each other tandem on the SwiftMax 41 and we got to soar on both flights, weaving our way through the masses of students and other tandems. I also got to see the new Ozone Delta 3 in action and it is a floater machine, much like the Zeno. It only came down with some maneuvers even as the winds died down.
4-3-17	Salt Lake looks sunny today and NW winds so maybe after class we can fly	Salt Lake UT SLC Forecast: Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High around 50F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.	320° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2800 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside was flyable & soarable today, but I was in Utah so I got to watch Dennie coaching for us this week on our webcams. There was a lot of NE winds occuring but the students (Kim, Tom & Marwan) went kiting with Dennie early on perfecting their launches and then they got to fly later in the day when it turned on. Kim & Tom got 3 really nice flights, and then Dennie took Marwan tandem for his first flight. Meanwhile the local hotshots went XC. Mike M, Claudia, James & Martin N were the Ozone Swift 4 group that did the Raymont Challenge Triangle to Bridal and back to Woodside! Here Claudia caught a nice shot of James heading to Mt Cheam, where they surfed up the snowy slopes. Here is a tracklog from Mike & James' Spot Trackers on XCFind, a local service that tracks pilots. Some of our other past graduates made it to Hope and back to Woodside on this classic XC day, good for those who could play hookey. Meanwhile, I was in class learning how to be an APPI Instructor til 7 pm, and Point of the Mountain was not flyable by then as it was too late . . . oh the sacrifices!
4-2-17	Salt Lake looks wet today,	Salt Lake UT SLC Forecast: Cloudy with periods of rain. High 53F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.	240° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	APPI SLC Report - I am in Utah for 10 days at the APPI Certification Course, in class while Colleen reported windy & rainy conditions at Woodside all day. In this day of the 10 day APPI Seminar, we covered reserve certification, reserve testing and repacking before moving on to aerodynamics & flight mechanics. At the end of the day the rain had stopped, the sun had come out and a group headed to Point of the Mountain North Side to fly. The earlier launchers benched up and got high, while late arrivals got some soaring down lower. I assessed the conditions as I watched a wheelchair pilot launch, giving hope to Sean G's return to flight soon (still recuperating from a bad launch at Benny last year where he injured his heel). I suspected it was shutting down so I drove down to the highway to return to my hotel to deal with orders and emails and as I got to the highway I noticed most of the gliders had sunk out in 5 minutes. It was close to sunset now. By now I hope everyone discovered that I was joking as in April Fools Joke about moving to Utah and buying Cloud9. It is too cold here to survive in my mind! Happy April Fools! Blanchard Report - the smart money was on Blanchard today as a group of Canadian Pilots descended on Bellingham to fly and they were not disappointed. Claudia took this nice shot of Peter on his Ozone Alpina 2 over Blanchard. Canadian pilots should remember that they need USHPA Insurance as our HPAC Insurance no longer covers the USA sites. Another group went to Pemby and got snowed out. Woodside was way too windy and rainy with low base.
4-1-17	Woodside looks wet today, but I am off to Utah for 10 days so Colleen will be coaching on her own when she has time	Agassiz BC Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 52F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.	240° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside was wet today, and then cloudy and Colleen said it did not clear up til 5 pm because it is a weekend. APPI Course Report - we started the first classroom sessions of the APPI Instructor Seminar today. It was tough sitting in a classroom all day as it was finally clear here after many days of rain, but the winds were gusting to 45 mph, so it made it easier to concentrate on the course content: Glider & Line Aging & Trimming a Glider. Here we were measuring the trim of a newer BGD Glider and found it to have out of trim risers, which one can compensate by shorting some lines. Or send it back to the factory which is the only way to stay in certification legally in Europe. After 6 pm, I headed to Point of the Mountain to check out the conditions and saw a few gliders soaring the North Side on the way. I got the Ozone Alpina 2 I brought along out of the trunk and got ready quick as sunset was approaching fast as some of the Cloud9 tandems were soaring out front. I got some airtime, and despite having only a hoody on it was not too cold in the air. As mentioned yesterday, the north winds are quite cross making the fingers a bit turbulent but not too bad. What was bad was the low light of the sun was glaring in my eyes on the downwind passes making it hard to see the approaching gliders, unless you stayed above them (which I did). The Alpina 2 I brought is an MS and I am overloading it by 15 kgs so it had snappy handling and was fast! I top-landed as it got lighter, to avoid the hike back up to the Parking Area. Some of the tandems snuck in too as it got really light. Brett had a good day in Pemby last weekend, while we were having fun hucking students at Woodside. ANTICIPATION \| SLR Magic 8mm f/4 \| BMMCC from Brett Hazlett on Vimeo. 2016 in Review - we had our busiest season every in 20 years! Thanks to all of you that supported us in 2016! We started out in January with our biggest Mexican Tour with many guests improving their skills at El Toro, Pelican Bay Soaring Site, Colima and Tapalpa. February brought us more Tour guests with me returning to Canada on March 1 to start lessons. March brought on some great spring conditions with some excellent XC flights in the Faser Valley. April brought out many new student pilots and we had up to 7 per day requiring some additional manpower to help out with Degas in Mission with newbies while I was sending students off Woodside. April enjoyed the first tree-landing of the season as an un-named P-2 pilot 360ed himself into a 200' tree just before dark. May brought out many pilots doing XC flights from Benny to Woodside. This site was improved in 2016 with WCSC & BCHPA funds so we are going to take advancing students there in 2017. We also ran our Annual FlyBC Instructor Course and had many new candidates working with our students. We had to go to Coyote & Mara many times to avoid the weather. June was an awesome month and we had many signed off P-2 students by now. Thanks to all who helped us get them through their courses! July was a productive month but also brought some sad news as a local Bellingham Pilot who had flown Blanchard hundreds of times had a fatal crash while paragliding on a mellow day. TJ had been flying since 2000 and had created a Weather Page that was very useful in predicting the conditions. August took us to Mara Lake for our Annual SIV Course and we had 25 participants over 10 days with only a few wet wings. Either we are getting better at guiding, or the gliders are getting safer, or the pilots are doing more studying prior to the Course . . . or all three but it is a pleasure to put pilots through the maneuvers and see them cain confidence in their gear. September was flyable most days but we did do the odd road trip to Merritt and Coyote. I think we are up to 200 flyable days now. We also had one weekend closed to students and pilots at Eagle Ranch while we married off Aaron & Christy! October turned out to be a complete bust as it rained everyday, as did November. Odd as this is usually our busiest training time. It was okay because we had planned a trip to Australia anyway, but I felt bad for the students that did not get finished in 2016. December was also bad weather-wise with record snow falls, so I went to Mexico to get our winter condo ready for the winter season, and Derek & Norm & I had some nice flights. Thanks again to the 40+ students we signed off in 2016. Thanks also to the pilots that bought a record number of gliders from Gin, Ozone & SupAir from us in 2016. Stay safe in 2017, and we will be here to support you in your flying endeavours.