FlyBC "Site of the Day Archives" - February/2017 - from the Universe's Largest Paragliding Centre :-)

Date	Site	Forecast	Winds @ 3000' in knots	Lapse Rate °C/1000' Cloud Base in Meters	Comments
2-28-17	Woodside is clear of snow and rain at 830 am	Agassiz BC Cloudy skies. High 4C. Winds light and variable.	270° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - there were some blue holes over Woodside but mostly cloudy low base and lots of snow to melt.
2-27-17	Woodside is clear of snow and rain at 830 am	Agassiz BC Cloudy skies. High 4C. Winds light and variable.	270° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - I was in Chilliwack til 5 pm but it snowed hard all day in the Valley. Shot taken from the FlyBC Bottom Webcam today while I was at lunch
2-26-17	Woodside is covered in new snow at 830 am	Agassiz BC Sunny. High 6C. Winds NE at 30 to 45 km/h.	040° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1300 metres	Woodside Report - at Eagle Ranch watching the snow melt with strong NE winds but a high of +6 which did get rid of most of the white stuff. Will this winter ever end? Bridal Road Report - Too much outflow for flying today so we went on a search for the plugged culvert up Bridal Road. Managed to locate the upstream end under a big puddle of mud, dirt and branches and dug it out. But water has been running down the road below so its not in the best shape - Alex, Pete and Claudia
2-25-17	Woodside is sunny at 830 am	Agassiz BC Increasing clouds with showers arriving this afternoon. High 6C. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 60%.	270° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1300 metres	No Fly Report - we were at Eagle Ranch monitorng the weather, hoping for some flying today after noon but it was forecast to be pre-frontal and strong and no one showed up so we did chores.
2-24-17	Woodside is sunny at 730 am	Agassiz BC A mix of clouds and sun. A few flurries or snow showers possible. High 7C. Winds light and variable.	270° @ 3	-3.0°C (unstable) 1700 metres	Woodside Report - Claudia & Pete went up around noon and were soon seen way above launch. Kevin arrived much later and flew to Agassiz and back and top-landed to drive down at 4 pm as we arrived on launch. Alex W, Paul and Colleen got ready and were soaring as I drove down the mountain. Apparently it was quite cold at 800 metres, so Colleen flew out after watching the boys landing. Bridal Road Report: Alan Dickey reports that a culvert has been plugged at 1.5 kms up Bridal Falls road and has created a 0.5 metre washout down the road for 0.5 kms. We may have to get a construction company out to fix the road as Forestry will not fix it as the road is deemed deactivated. Does the WCSC have funds available?
2-23-17	Woodside is sunny at 730 am	Agassiz BC Partly cloudy skies. High 6C. Winds light and variable.	230° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we headed up the mountain at 1230 pm and it was coming in strong when I laid out. Bev was in front of me and she waited for a lull bt then it got too light as she tried a few inflations. It got strong again and I duffed a few inflations too as my ballcap was obscuring my view of the wing, so it came off. I was kiting closer to the north trees to stay out of Bev's way and it was rotory but I managed to kite the Zeno up nicely and get off into a nice climb right away. It was developing fast out front and soon the entire mountain was shading up. I tried the north bowl and there were mild climbs there. I tried the South Knoll and was soaring with Claudia, Matt and Dennie and it was working but we were not getting higher than launch. I saw some mist forming out over the swamp, so I headed out there and found a climb to 1200 metres clear of the 1000 metre cloudbase and it was strong and smooth at the same time. Soon Claudia, Delvin and Matt joined me. Norm ended up flying Bev's wing as she wisely drove down and he was finding some nice climbs and he headed out over the Fraser River almost out to Chilliwack and I followed him and we were at 900 metres on the the south banks. It was a magical cold day, going wherever we wanted and getting high. Norm, Linda and I landed at the Ranch and it was sporty! Gusty south winds and lots of thermals made it interesting but I did land on my feet in the circle by some miracle. Lovin' the Zeno! There were some strong turbulent climbs but I did not eve lose a wingtip during the 1:30 flight. Nikolai had launched earlier with Igor and Igor made the crossing to Bridal Falls, but could not make it back to Woodside but Nikolai top-landed to go chase him later in the day. Denny tried a Sasquatch Crossing but got flushed in the lee and landed at Squakum Beach. Colima Report - local hotshot pilot Benjamin had a really long flight straight line to Lake Chapala on his Zeno today. +7.6 m/s climbs and a 5 hour duration with a 145 km distance and a 245 point XC score.
2-22-17	Woodside is cloudy and low base	Agassiz BC Rain and snow tapering off this morning. Decreasing cloudiness for the afternoon. High 6C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.	230° @ 7	-3.2°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - I was at Eagle Ranch monitoring the weather this morning and it was raining and the snowline was down to 100 metres. I did not think anyone would show up . . . but by noon Alex, Nicole, Paddy, Claudia and Martin N arrived and we drove up to launch as soon as the clouds thinned out. We arrived on top to find Denis, Robert and Dylan waiting for the clouds to lift as it OD'ed as we drove up. By 1 pm Claudia launched first and started soaring out front. Weak cycles from the south and sometimes the SE but evenually everyone got off and most were soaring the South Knoll where Alex said he encountered the white room at 1000 metres. I was the last one to set up and just as I was ready to launch Alex said "here comes the shade" as he headed in to top land. Al also top-landed as I tried to launch and got my lines tangled in my helmet . . . twice! All my launches in Mexico were very strong and today I was having to yard up the Zeno and turn before it fell back. I finally got a good cycle and was off and spent 20 minutes soaring with Martin N, Claudia and a bald eagle and it was tight keeping out of everyone's way. The eagle gave up and landed in a tree to watch us. I tried some sunny patches to the northwest but they were not working so I flew out to the Ranch as Alex thoughtfully drove my Van down. Thanks! Nice boaty conditions on the way out with little wind in the LZ. Claudia took this picture of me trying to find lift over Kilby Road. Reports from Pemby said stronger cycles on launch and Guy H did a 30 km out and return in the cold Pemby air.
2-21-17	Woodside looks soarable	Agassiz BC Mix of sun & cloud. High 6C. Winds light and variable.	230° @ 7	-3.2°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - headed up Woodside with Derek, Martin N, Bev and myself at 430 pm. We arrived after hiking in from the main road to find gusty SW winds and it was cold! Martin N laid out his new Swift 4 and had a great launch and never turned for 30 minutes getting to 1200 metres. Derek and I wimped out . . . too cold and too gusty so we drove down. Derek drove Bev home while Martin called in over the golf course runway at 700 metres. Martin ended up landing at Eagle Ranch in nice conditions and we met at the Sasquatch for dinner. Colima Report - the boys were flying Colima today and they said it was windy.
2-20-17	Canada is getting closer	Phoenix AZ Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 61F. SSE winds shifting to WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.	210° @ 10	-3.2°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Road Trip Report - started driving at 4 am and thought is was 730 am cause the clock in the room was flashing that time, power must have gone out? Left Wells in the dark and a jackrabbit did a suicide dash towards my Bronco and hit the rear diff, sorry buddy! The plans was to make it home and I did at around 130 am, thanks in part to the CBSA taking a long time to clear the Bronco despite perfect paperwork from A & A Customs Brokers. The worst part of the drive was the I-90 over Stevens Pass in a blizzard. Bronco did very well averaged 110 kms per hour, only one litre of oil used and just one small issue with the alternator mount that slowed me down in Idaho for an hour. And it is now home ready for shuttle duties! Colleen had a nice steak dinner prepared when I got home!
2-19-17	Phoenix is wet so I am heading north	Phoenix AZ Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 61F. SSE winds shifting to WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.	210° @ 10	-3.2°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Coaches Corner - driving from Goodyear AZ just north of Phoenix towards Canada but I had to stop in Wells NV when it got too dark to see the deer. And there were many dead deer on the road looking for food as there is snow covering their food. I did get 12 hours of driving in before I stopped though so not a bad day. Bronco running great!
2-18-17	AZ is cold and wet	Phoenix AZ Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 61F. SSE winds shifting to WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.	220° @ 10	-3.2°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Road Report - not so productive a driving day but I did get insurance for USA & Canada in Tucson and got some lights working that were out in the dash. Sounds easy until you disassemble the dash, find the offending bulbs and replace them with LEDs . . . only to find after you reinstall the dash that the LEDs that O'Reilly's sold me were differnt colors in the package! After 2 hours and driving to 2 different O'Reilly's to replace the bad LED I was on the road towards Phoenix in a huge rainstorm. The storm that hit Hawaii and then California with damaging rains is not inland but with less punch. I did arrive in Goodyear AZ, north of Phoenix around 9 pm for the evening.
2-16-17 and 2-17-17	Manzanillo is windy I am headed North to Canada	Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico Sunny. High 31C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h.	220° @ 10	-3.2°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Road Trip Report - I left Manzanillo at 1030 am, heading north toward Canada. I called Jonathan to wish him a Bon Fete, and he was on Colima Launch waiting for Richard S to fly before it got too strong and it was only 11 am, and the gustw were heard through the phone. I hit a nasty duststorm at Sayula on the Toll Road, at first it looked pretty small. But within minutes it enveloped the road and made driving dangerous. It cleared up a bit further north but then it got even worse near San Marcos. At the last toll booth, the Federal Cops had the highway blocked to southbound traffic, Norm & Derek got out of here in good time. It was howling all the way to Mazatlan, my first stop and I arrived there just as it got dark. The next morning I got up and on the road by 630 am. I was going to check out Guaymas, where Sean G's Mom and Dad have a house, but I thought I should get to the US Border as the weather was changing to rain soon. I drove through a spit of rain on the way to Nogales but it was short-lived. For those curious as to the Bronco's reliability: so far so good, averaging about 16 Litres/100 km driving her hard and fast, 120 - 130 kph all the way. Good old 1980 Technology with a carb and no computers. I made it to the US Border by 830 pm, and a short wait and I was through with no searches or questions about my Mexican Plated Bronco! Woodside Gloat Report - while I was driving on February 17th, folks were soaring with the eagles til they were too cold to fly. Kevin top-landed and maybe some others too, and there is still snow around launch.
2-6-17 to 2-15-17	Manzanillo is sunny and warm and SW so maybe Pelican Bay will work after noon	Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico Sunny. High 31C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h.	210° @ 10	-3.2°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Tourist Report - we have been in Manzanillo most days, hoping Pelican Bay will work again after 1 pm and most days it turned on even earlier . . . somedays too strong to even attempt a visit with huge rollers and too many whitecaps to count. Sorry I have been offline for ten days but it is all pretty mundane: swimming in the ocean or the pool, two trips to Puerto Vallarta to get Colleen to a flight to Vancouver for a few meetings (600 km round trip), and one last trip to Guadalajara (600 km round trip) for Colleen to fly to Toronto for her last day here on Valentine's Day. We stayed at the beautiful La Vita Bella Hotel & Spa in Chapala for her last night here in Mexico, and enjoyed a nice dinner on the terrace. My last day in Manzanillo consisted of errands and a trip to the mechanic for an oil change and fluid level check to prep for the long trip home to the cold North. I think the Bronco will do fine as we have done 1800 kms in road trips the past few weeks, which is almost half way home anyway. Last night's sunset was amazing! ` It was flyable most days here in Manzanillo or Colima this trip, just too many logistics for only myself and Colleen as she was working most weekdays, but we had planned this as a vacation time. Next year we will re-start the Tours with the month of January as the main Tour Month, book soon. Looks like not so nice weather back in Agassiz, based on the webcam shots!
2-5-17	Manzanillo is sunny and warm and SW so maybe Pelican Bay will work after noon	Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico Sunny. High 31C. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h.	220° @ 10	-3.2°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Beach Report - we are in Manzanillo for the day, maybe Pelican Bay will work again after 1 pm. Camilo and Kiki are here for a visit enjoying the beach. Canadian PG Nationals is coming in July . . . here is a preview of the mountains in Pemberton where it will be held. This. Is. Canada. from Brett Hazlett on Vimeo.
2-4-17	Manzanillo is sunny and warm and SW so maybe Pelican Bay will work after noon	Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico Sunny. High 31C. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h.	210° @ 10	-3.2°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Puerto Vallarta Road Trip - we are heading to PVR for Colleen's flight home for a few days. Just like Google Maps says: 4:45 with traffic. PVR is too busy for me, much bigger than in 1999 when we first visited Mexico.
2-3-17	Manzanillo is sunny and warm and SW so maybe Pelican Bay will work after noon	Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico Sunny. High 31C. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h.	210° @ 10	-3.2°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Chore Day - we are in Manzanillo for the day, but no flying as we prepared for Colleen's flight home on the 4th. Another sunny day in paradise as BC gets ready for another snow dump.
2-2-17	Manzanillo is sunny and warm and SW so maybe La Cumbre & Pelican Bay will work	Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico Plentiful sunshine. High 31C. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 km/h.	220° @ 12	-3.2°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Coaches Corner - Colleen Varcoe and I dropped the Bronco off at Volumen Stereo for new stereo, alarm system, daytime running lights (to be BC Legal) and power locks. We hiked back to our condo past the crocodile swamp in Manzanillo. Interesting that this mangrove swamp is right here in the city with a walkway so close, I was walking fast just in case. Then a nice windy dinner at Pacifica Restaurant with Pelican Bay flying site in the background. Rollers and whitecaps suggest it might have been too windy to fly today! But it has been coming on before noon most days, now that the Bronco is fixed we can go flying. Roldanillo Open Report - Full Results here after 6 tasks . . . with Peter, Andrew, Steven and Al competing for Canada.
2-1-17	Manzanillo is sunny and warm and SW so maybe La Cumbre & Pelican Bay will work	Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico Plentiful sunshine. High 31C. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 km/h.	220° @ 12	-3.2°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Chore Day - we are in Manzanillo for the day, instead of travelling to Colima I picked up the Bronco finally after 13 long months of waiting . . . ridiculous even by Mexican time standards. Roldanillo Open Report - Full Results here with Peter, Andrew, Steven and Al competing for Canada. 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.