FlyBC "Site of the Day Archives" - January/2007
"The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who ... looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space ...
on the infinite highway of the air. - Wilbur Wright
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San Marcos Report - we headed straight to San Marcos around noon after a great breakfast and walk around Tapalpa looking for gifts. While Colima had parrots for a wakeup call here they have the Z Company Gas Truck (propane delivery). Click here for the movie of the sound the Zed Gaz truck makes starting at 7:00 am. Colleen and I hitched a ride up in Javier's F-150 with Umberto (two Guadalajara PG pilots we flew with in 2005) and Normando, Eduardo and Kirill drove up in the rental Pointer. Kirill was in the air above launch when we arrived. Normando and Colleen launched next into some pretty active air, followed by Eduardo. After about 40 minutes Colleen and Normando flew out to join Kirill in the Airpark LZ because it was getting rough and they couldn't get any higher. Eduardo hung in there and was rewarded with smoother, cloud-sucky air with the Austrians who launched behind him.  Eduardo launching at San Marcos on his Yoki - photo by JPR We went to Jocotepec for lunch and hat shopping and returned back to San Marcos launch by 5:30 pm to decide it was too windy to fly and drove back to Tapalpa before dark. A good day of touristing and flying and NO RAIN.
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San Marcos Report - we headed up early to Tapalpa Launch but it was howling over the back. So off to San Marcos. Kirill located a truck for us to take to launch driven by a local shop owner. |  Ford Limousine Service to San Marcos - photo by JPR We all flew around 1:30 pm, earlier than normal and it was spicy! Collapses from Eduardo and Normando but they kept it under control. Eduardo logged 1:00 and landed with Colleen near the road under launch while Normando and I headed south getting "ass-ripping climbs" along the way. I sunk out at the end of the ridge trying to start flat-land fly, and landed in a nice corn field. Normando landed right after me and was having a hell-ride too! It took a long time for the retrieve as the others went up for a second flight. My last flight around 6:00 pm was a +5 m/s climb right off launch to 2700 meters, landing in the dark.  View from above San Marcos Launch - photo by JPR
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Tapalpa Report - another 25 mm of rain! So we went hiking to Eko Park up in the Tapalpa foothills to check out a west facing launch a HGer was purported to have flown off, but we couldn't find a suitable PG spot. Sad pilots did not get their feet off the ground this day. |  Hikers at Eko Park in the Ponderosa Pines - photo by JPR 6
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Colima Hotel Report - no wakeup service here, they have a squawking parrot instead! Just what you need after the Montreal PGers partied til 5:30 am in the BBQ Pit behind the hotel, close to our room. |  Hotel Cosena parrot - photo by JPR Colima Report - Colleen and Kirill flew first and had extended sledders into a turbulent LZ. We waited for many locals to launch and it wasn't until one little girl headed straight out and climbed fast without turning! I got ready fast with Norm after me. I launched in a good cycle and was soaring above the momument and radio towers, getting to 1690 meters very fast (launch is 900 meters). I waited for some time for Norm to launch and watched him fight for lift for some time. As we decided to head back to Tapalpa tonight I headed over the back towards the "cuota" toll road. I stayed at 1200 meters until the town of Corona, where I climbed back to 1600 meters staying clear of the Colima Control Zone, I saw I was getting close to the airport so I headed towards Colima, eventually landing in the field in the picture.  Corona Town with La Cumbre launch at the red dot - photo by JPR  Not a good thing to find in your LZ! - photo by JPR Tapalpa Report - we arrived back at Tapalpa Launch around 5:30 pm after leaving Colima and met two other Montreal PGers, one kiting and the other repacking his reserve. He said he had a great day and was behind launch and went on full speedbar to penetrate forward and had just got out over the road when his wing "blew out" 70%gone and he tried to brake the remainder and went into a series of spins before chucking his reserve. He landed softly in some trees, no damaage or injuries and was quite non-plussed about the adventure. Tip to all pilots: Full speed-bar is for smooth air, up high not over a turbulent launch! 6
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Colima Report - Colleen, Norm and the others flew and they stayed in the air for 20 minutes or so, scrappy lift not getting very high. They made me fly later and it was no wind at launch so I had to forward launch and decided to fly to the soccer field (no tangles). As I approached the field there was a soccer game in progress, so I landed at the non-busy end of the game and I was mobbed by 75 kids all saying "dinero, dinero!". I decided the easy way to decide who got "dineros" was to tell them to follow me to the grocery store and the 15 that followed got chips. | 6
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Colima Report - Norm, Colleen, Delvin and most everyone else flew despite windy conditions. We got pinned against the back ridge a few times but all landed in the LZ safely after about an hour. |
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Tapalpa Report - everyone is getting tired of the rain and low cloudbase but we persist here. Today Normando, Eduardo, Colleen, Gerry, Kirril and I stayed in Tapalpa with the San Francisco pilots. | We arrived at launch around 1:00 pm, and it was crossing from the south and cloudbase right at launch at 2100 meters, so we decided to have a best glide contest as there would be little lift. Gerry drove as did Kirill, so Normando and Colleen flew off as Eduardo and I got a tail cycle for 10 minutes. We eventually launched and headed for the Cross Roads for pickup. Eduardo was doing well behind me when he "peeled off" for the LZ. Normando was below me trying to soar the little foothills and Colleen was already at the burned out field near the Cross R0ads maintaining. I came over the burned out field at 1400 meters and saw a red tail hawk and a bird that looked a lot like a bald eagle climbing out over the powerlines, so I centered above them and took a steady climb to 1990 meters and the south drift of the upper levels took me north. I continued on this path with little sun on the ground but nice thermals along the route until I hit the end of Laguna Sayula 26 kms north where the lift died and I landed next to the Libre (free road). I guess that means I win the best glide contest as Normando landed halfway to the burned out field behind Colleen.  Landing Field where I eventually found my cell - photo by JPR  Note the name of this particular tequila! - photo by Eduardo Colima Report - the Bellingham Crew headed to Colima early and bagged 3 flights, arriving back to town around 7:00 pm. Doug got above launch and they had a great time. We may go there tomorrow, after checking Tapalpa Launch conditions.
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San Marcos Report - after about 15 mm of rain last night we woke to a saturated landscape and west wind at Tapalpa so we drove to San Marcos. Three car loads of pilots arrived at launch after much pushing and spinning. | We waited and waited for straight cycles but all we got was down or cross. When the sun came out I tried about 7-8 times to get the glider up and flying but no luck (lots of cursing though). When I hit a good cycle and launched I figured out the problem as launch is shielded by the hill top from south winds, which is what we had at about 20-25 km/hr. I was hitting sink all the way in the lee to the south slopes and hit the point of no return where you bail to the road or try working the scraps of lift. Fortunately the gamble paid off and I worked up the slopes to the top, in mixed ridge and thermal lift, still not penetrating south very fast. I watched Norm launch and then Colleen and they headed north because they thought I had sunk out to the south and their flights were shorter than mine. I logged 38 minutes before the sun was shaded out. Only Russ O flew after us cause it blew down again. We are 4 flyable days for four trip days now, but not stellar flying.
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Tapalpa Report - we woke up to a cloudy day and Normando was pretty glum. He wanted to drive to Valle for some sun, but after we arrived to perfect launching conditions at Tapalpa Despegue, he cheered up. Normando and Eduardo (Kamloops Ed) flew first and Norm top-landed after he saw the valley winds pick up, unfortuantely Eduardo was too low and hung out ridge soaring the bumps out front until he landed safely about 3 kms from the regular LZ. | I launched just as Normando arrived back at launch, and was able to get high enough to buzz Delvin before I climbed out to 2700 meters.  Jim launching at Tapalpa - video grab by Colleen Normando joined me and we were "duking it out" but he outclimbed me in the ratty wind-broken thermal behind launch. I was cursing my poor climbing skills as I pushed forward back into the thermal source (the wind in the air was 20 km/hr+ from the south and the valley winds were exactly the same strength from the north (?). As I started climbing back to 2800 meters I hit some inversion layer that was tossing me around a bit and I was looking up for Normando but he had sunk down to the treetops and was trying to get back to the launch thermal. Delvin, Gerry L, Russ O, and Derek B (who showed up today in town with espouse Bobby) all launched and were soaring around but all top landed including Normando in the big field behind launch. I top-landed on launch a bit later and everyone agreed it was rough in the air. No collapses on the Boom Sport for me, and Normando said he almost had a collapse once (but he caught the brakes in time!). Doug from Bellingham had a few good frontals on the way to the LZ on his Oasis, but he was on the bar trying to penetrate to the north. We went into town for mid-afternoon snacks and we arrived back at launch at 4:30 pm, and it was still coming in nice so Colleen took off followed by everyone: Delvin, Russ O, Doug, Chad, Sid, Gerry L, all flew and they had a buoyant flight down to the LZ, and Normando and I drove down for the retrieve. When we picked up the last car at launch around 6:30 pm, it was still coming in lightly, odd for this east facing site. A great day with little stress!
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Colima Report - after a long drive we located launch and everyone flew. Normando and Colleen showed everyone
where the lift was. | Colleen and Norm above Colima Eventually we located Kirill who outlanded in a field rather hard, and he had to be helped out. We took him to the University Hospital and he was X-rayed and released within an hour for $26.00 USD!
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San Marcos Report - it was raining and ugly in Tapalpa, so Gerry, Colleen and I went for a drive toward San Marcos. We arrived there to dust devils and strong gusty winds. There were 5 HGs in the air soaring with ease, so we headed up. A 30 minute hike from where the car couldn't go any more and we were at launch, we had to wait til 5:30 pm but I logged 1:30 and the BOOM Sport handled well. Colleen hiked down to drive the car. |  Napping after a 30 minute hike  HGers launching after us at San Marcos launch  Gerry L heading out over the salt flats into the sunset
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Travel Day - no flying except on the charter into Manzanillo. |
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Woodside Report - a few clear breaks around 3:00 pm, but pretty wet with 4" of snow still on the LZ. |
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Vancouver Report - more snow and rain! Even Calgary has less snow than us! Tapalpa is looking better every minute we sit in this weather! | Last Ecuador Report - We made it back to San Diego last night and are already missing the 38 degree weather of the beaches in Ecuador! We had a great last week soaring on the coast, everyone left with sunburned arms and knees from flying in shorts and T-shirts every day. The weather was perfect, you could soar out over the ocean with the frigates and not lose any altitude. On one flight I was so high over the water that Kevin radioed me to keep flying west and I could make it to the Galapagos! Ha ha. We hope to fly Torrey a little later today and depending on the forecast we may stay for a few more days. We're definitely dragging our feet about coming home and looking for the sunniest route possible - Martina & Derek New Zealand Report - I think you were wise not to come to New Zealand this year - it's the El Nino thing and the weather has not really been paragliding weather. It is improving as I speak, so I'm going to go body-boarding at a surf beach called the Gap at Castle Point on the West coast. I was there a couple of weeks ago and loved it. I'm about to Email the club here to find out if there are any secret, mini-wind places to launch tomorrow. Time's awasting. I'm on call in two days and I need memories and experiences to sustain me through all of that - Gary K
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Vancouver Report - a grey day with some showers later, interesting turbulence over Kelowna at 37,000 feet on a A320, but short lived. Mist in the Valley all day. |
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Woodside Report - snow then rain. |
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Woodside Report - no pireps. |
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Woodside Report - light conditions at launch, a few little thermals. I was able to "milk" a thermal in the North Bowl for 10 turns gaining 30 meters but it died out leaving me a long glide to the Ranch. Two flights each for Andy, Colleen, Derek P, Martin (thanks for sacrificing the last flight to drive the Van down) and Norm. | Elk Report - Ivan, Kevin, Larry, and others flew from Elk down to the Chilliwack River Valley LZ near Slesse Park. Max flew a 10 meter (?) speed glider and made it back at 70 km+.
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Woodside Report - despite the fairly strong NE winds in Agassiz in the morning,
we stuck to the plan of flying Woodside. We observed Derek P standing on launch waiting for a cycle
around noon (after hiking up) and he eventually launched. | We got our gear in the truck and Colleen and I were heading up, when Norm came in and offered to drive as he left his wing at home. There were several trees down across the road, but with a little chain saw work we could drive right to launch. Colleen launched first and then I talked Norm into flying the Boom Sport down as I was concerned about the drive down for him. On the second drive up we were joined by Andy and Jeremy and we met Derek P back on top after his second hike up. And we all flew again with Norm driving this time, light cycles but not catabatic at least. Tapalpa Report - Julie showed up later and told us Justin and Darren are having a fabulous time "skying out" in Tapalpa. They drove down last week and have been getting higher than anyone else and may even come home earlier because they have gotten their flying fix.
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Vancouver Report - clear and -7C in the am, some east wind but much calmer, Grouse looked beautiful all day (too bad we can't fly there!) |
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Woodside Report - 50 to 70 KM/HR winds from the North! Very cold with black ice on Highway 1 all day. Power finally restored after 60 hours. |
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Woodside Report - the power was out at the Ranch, hence no Woodside Webcam, and I had to get a generator going to keep the pipes from freezing. Strong NE winds and cold! |
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Vancouver Report - another high wind day, crews working on my favourite indoor paragliding place "BC Place" had to suspend work due to the winds and rain! | Fraser Valley Report - Marianne called to say she may not be in to clean the house at the Ranch, as her son was injured building a barn on the east side of Woodside. They were erecting trusses as a big windstorm hit them Tuesday knocking the trusses and two workers to the ground. They are recuperating in Chilliwack General Hospital with various fractures, fortunately no one was killed. Derek & Martina's Excellent Adventure Ecuador Report - Yesterday was an amazing day, both for flying and cultural experiences. We started the day getting up at 4 a.m. to get up to a new launch in the Andes for a morning flight. When we arrived we were above cloudbase; as soon as it broke open we launched. Launch is 4500 feet above ground level and an hour or so south of Columbia with spectacular valleys in every direction. We boated around a while as the sun started heating up the valley (it doesn´t take long at the equator!) and landed to a huge crowd. Most of the town showed up to watch us, as this site is rarely flown. It was like landing in another world since the locals are Afro-Ecuadorians. We felt like we´d been transported to Africa, except that they were all speaking spanish! Kevin had arranged for a local band to play for us, so we decided to have them perform in Chotto instead of our hotel. As we rolled into town after dark, all the town children surrounded our bus, jumping on and cheering. They had organized an indoor venue for the band (a concrete lean-to) and made us sit on the only seats as the guests of honour. Some teenagers did a traditional dance for us where the girls balanced large glass bottles full of water on their head while dancing around the room. After their performance they came into the audience and made us dance with them. The children who had come in to watch all fell on the floor laughing at our dance steps, which were probably extra sloppy due to the free sugar cane liquor they kept passing around. Needless to say, today is a travel day and we´re heading to a spa for some relaxation. Next site is beach flying, not sure if there´s internet so this is probably our last post for a week - Bye for now, Martina and Derek. Joke of the Day: THE HUSBAND STORE A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates: You may visit the store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch. You may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building! So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign on the door reads: Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord. She goes back into the elevator and asends to the next floor. The second floor sign reads: Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids. Tempted to go in but ascends to the next floor. The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking. "Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads: Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead good looking and help with the housework. "Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!" Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads: Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak. She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads: Floor 6 - You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day! Please send this to all men for a good laugh and to all the women who can handle the truth!
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Fraser Valley Report - feels like "Ground Hog Day". More wind and rain! |
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Woodside Report - seriously windy from the SW. I suspect there will be some big trees down on the Woodside Road. |
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Vancouver Report - it was sunny most of the day, but a bit breezy in the Fraser Valley. No pireps rec'd. | Derek & Martina's Excellent Adventure Ecuador Report - Flight report: We woke up to sun again this morning (sorry!) and went up to launch at Yahuarcocha. It was blowing lightly over the back, so I showed everyone how to do a Downwind Derek. When we got back up for our second launch it was blowing down really strong although it looked nice due to the rotor. But when the locals pack up so do you! - Martina
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Vancouver Report - snow, rain, high winds and not even safe to drive. | Cochrane Report - very strong winds precluded any flying for PG or HG.
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Woodside Report - heavy winds and snow falling in the morning, by 3:45 pm the sun came out according to the Woodside Webcam. | 
View of Woodside Mountain - photo by WebCam Derek & Martina's Excellent Adventure Ecuador Report - We got into Ecuador on the 3rd around midnight. We spent the day getting used to the altitude (Quito is at 9,000 ft ASL), and went to check out the local site at around 3pm. The LZ is overgrown as they are doing archeological digs nearby, so we were looking at landing in something that looked like the bailout swamp at Woodside (but dry of course!) Up we went, to Pichincha launch at over 12,000 ft! We had to ¨hike¨ about 100 metres to the actual launch, and we were all pretty breathless and giddy from the thin air. Launch is a gentle slope with knee high grass, and Kevin stressed the importance of running your butt off, due again to the thin air. A couple of locals launched first, and it was a quick flight down. We got about 20 minutes, and I won best landing of the day as I was the only one to land on the road. Wohoo! We´re off to another site today, going inland so not sure when we´ll find internet access again - Adios!, Martina
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Vancouver Report - more monsoons. |
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Monsoon report - heavy rains in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Gusts to 76 km/hr in Abbotsford! Around 3:00 pm, the sun came out and the clouds cleared except for the North Shore Mountains. Even some sun on the FlyBC Woodside Webcam later, but still too windy to fly. |
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Woodside Report - it looked good around 8:30 am, but by 10:00 am, it was raining. A good day to work indoors.
| Derek & Martina's Gloat Report - a great day at Torrey Pines. Martina reported a good flight up to the Golf Course and back down to the "Fancy Mansions" ending with her first Torrey top-landing! Later, as it got light Derek was starting to sink out, and the manangement at Torrey closed the airspace except for tandems, but they weren't worried about Derek cause he was so low . . . but he pulled off a great low save and came in for a perfect top-landing with a standing ovation from David Jebb (who rarely complements anyone!).
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Woodside Report - after several frustrating hours working on the heater core of the Van, I decided to go flying. Ken showed up after a 3 month hiatus and Colleen, Ken and I drove up. No wind to catabatic winds at launch, Colleen launched first, then Ken and rather than miss the last sledder of the year, I flew too. No thermals but buoyant over the highway so I followed it all the way to School Road, and landed at the Community Centre, scaring a Bald Eagle perched in a tree as I flew over. No wind in the field either, but some smoke at the bridge told me to land to the east. | 
View of Woodside Mountain from School Road - photo by JPR 
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FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
November 2006 Site of the Day archives - the wettest November on record. We flew a few good flights but mostly we were rained out.
October 2006 Site of the Day archives - lots of good days with 3-4 hours airtime. The Women's Fly-In was on again in Chelan with about 18 Canucks, and a good day Saturday with 85 registered pilots.
September 2006 Site of the Day archives - still soarable in the Fraser Valley, little or no rain. Colleen is back flying! Some mayhem in the valley.
August 2006 Site of the Day archives - a great flying month everywhere, we had a super successful SIV clinic at Mara Lake with everyone SAT-ing and heli-ing.
July 2006 Site of the Day archives - road trip to Lumby, then on the 8th Colleen spun in below Gloria cancelling her summer plans (but she is recuperating well).
June 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Valley dried out, and we flew most days and every weekend.
May 2006 Site of the Day archives - more rain that ever imagined in the Fraser Valley. Very few soaring flights and even less XC.
April 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Easter Bunny was "run over" on Kilby Road, plus the train wreck on April 1.
March 2006 Site of the Day archives - a new pilot was born, Chloe. We also flew a few days between showers, some long flights up to 4 hours. A few Out & Return Flights to Deroche and Bear.
February 2006 Site of the Day archives - another wet month with some soarable days (2).
January 2006 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South for great Mexican or Chilean flying.
December 2005 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South.
November 2005 Site of the Day archives - rain, snow and not much flying.
October 2005 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly In in Chelan yielded two soarable days before the snows hit.
September 2005 Site of the Day archives - dry most of the month. Some great 4 hour flights at Woodside getting to cloudbase most days. Three crash-landings in the same clearcut by pilots scratching too low, but no injuries.
August 2005 Site of the Day archives - road trips to the Interior gave us an opportunity to rag out some gliders at FlyBC SIV 2005 (Part II). Also a great road trip to Savona.
July 2005 Site of the Day archives - good flying all month, no rain but some windy days shut us down. The Willi started in Golden with a few good days, but one tragedy as Charles Warren perished in a crash near Harrogate.
June 2005 Site of the Day archives - too much rain, but good days to fly between showers.
May 2005 Site of the Day archives - our Instructor/Tandem seminar yielded some good flying. Our May 2005 SIV Clinic had a good turnout, with many wet wings/pilots! Many nice flights at Woodside and Bridal, with some long "out & returns" at Bridal.
April 2005 Site of the Day archives - some great soaring at Woodside and Bridal. Sad news from the US Hanggliding Nationals as Chris Muller crashes at goal.
March 2005 Site of the Day archives - we had to head out of town to Savona a few weekends due to wet weather on the Coast. Wetter than normal according to Environment Canada.
February 2005 Site of the Day archives - some good soaring despite early time of year. Flights as long as 3 hours at Woodside, some good flights at Whidbey Island for first timers, too!
January 2005 Site of the Day archives road trips to Mexico, not much flying locally due to strong north winds and rain. Record rain kept Eagle Ranch quite wet for kiting.
December 2004 Site of the Day archives a dry month with some good soaring including a fantastic day on Dec. 11 where we thermalled for 2+ hours!
November 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain. We installed a fireplace in the barn to keep pilots warm between winter flights.
October 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain, but sweet soaring between showers. Many new students signed up and making quick progress. We missed the Women's Fly In for the first time in 9 years, and there was some interesting flying on the Sunday!
September 2004 Site of the Day archives rainiest September on record for the first 3 weeks, made flying difficult. But Alan and others logged some pretty nice flights later in the month. Lots of student tandems for both Colleen and Jim.
August 2004 Site of the Day archives Great Maneuver/SIV/ACRO course at Mara. Jack got wet! Some great soaring at Woodside. Norm made it 68 km from Mara to King Eddie, Derek made it from Lumby to Enderby the opposite direction for 67 kms. We also did our BC roadtrip from Ashcroft to New Denver, and flew everyday.
July 2004 Site of the Day archives the Willi was on at Golden. We missed the mayhem due to work and school commitments but Norm did a great job representing the West Coast.
June 2004 Site of the Day archives Canadian Nationals came off with many great rounds. Pemberton-Whistler Championships were blown out most days so we headed to Cornwall.
May 2004 Site of the Day archives great flying at Woodside and Bridal. We held a very successful SIV Course at Mara Lake, and hope to run another one in August if they keep the forests open.
April 2004 Site of the Day archives good flying in the Valley. The Fraser Valley Cross Country PG Series was successssful.
March 2004 Site of the Day archives Nicole won in Brazil, otherwise the month sucked for flying time.
February 2004 Site of the Day archives some local flights extended to an hour with vigourous scratching above the trees. Good paramotor month.
January 2004 Site of the Day archives Mexican road trip yielded 20 hours of flight and a wet Canadian January kept most local pilots on the ground.
December 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew a few times but it got really cold at the end of the month as we prepared for a gala New Year's Party for 40 of our close personal friends and neighbours.
November 2003 Site of the Day archives windy and wet with the odd good soaring day, not many pilots out these days.
October 2003 Site of the Day archives Women's Fly In was great fun, some good soaring days mid-month, most of the students are signed off.
September 2003 Site of the Day archives good conditions until the last days of the month when it got stable. Most days were flyable at Woodside or Bridal.
August 2003 Site of the Day archives Forest closures made the end of the month a non-flying period unless you headed to Blanchard. FlyBC SIV 2003 was a great success with 9 stunt pilots and no deployments or crashes.
July 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most days early at Woodside until it got windy, then over to Bridal. Good Golden flying reports from the "Willi".
June 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most weekdays at Bridal, Woodside worked most weekends. Bridal Air Races had one great day with only two tree landings!
May 2003 Site of the Day archives not a great weather month on the coast, especially on the weekends but a few pilots managed to get some great airtime at Bridal. The Nationals were held in Lumby and it didn't rain!
April 2003 Site of the Day archives rain for 28 of 30 April days, but we managed to get a few flights in between showers. Even the golfers were complaining!
March 2003 Site of the Day archives some high spring flights in early March, but not a great weather month. Still no HPAC Insurance!
February 2003 Site of the Day archives some nice long spring flights in late February. HPAC Insurance expired on Feb 14, so many pilots stayed home instead of getting USHGA coverage.
January 2003 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month in BC so we bailed and headed to Tapalpa Mexico for three weeks. Norm and Lucille had a great XC flight the first day we arrived.
December 2002 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month.
November 2002 Site of the Day archives not a great flying month, lots of rain in the beginning and then super stable and inverted for the balance of the month. Even the Savona Road Trip wasn't that great. Looking forward to Mexico!
October 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable some days, great fun at the Women's Fly In 2002 in Chelan. Allan logged 15 hours and only flew a few days. Most of the students are ready for signoff soon to get ready for Mexico trips!
September 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable most everyday! Some scary incidents at Woodside. Fun flying at Ashcroft.
August 2002 Site of the Day archives More spring-like days with super lapse rates, great fun up-country at Revelstoke and Mara, with some good XCs for all.
July 2002 Site of the Day archives Some spring-like days with super lapse rates, but still rather wet at times.
June 2002 Site of the Day archives another rainy and windy month with great lapse rates, some great flights at Bridal with some getting above Cheam Peak. The Club Cup was nearly rained out but they got one valid task in on Sunday June 30.
May 2002 Site of the Day archives an extremely rainy month with the more spring mayhem, another reserve deployment at Lil Nick and a pilot crashed at the top of Deroche Mountain, uninjured but with a ripped glider and long hike down the mountain. Colleen placed 5th place at the Canadian PG Nationals in rainy Lumby!
April 2002 Site of the Day archives a rainy month with the usual spring mayhem, one reserve deployment at Woodside and a pilot hit a parked car at Bridal LZ, fracturing his leg.
March 2002 Site of the Day archives a few great days days with lots of snow and rain mixed in.
February 2002 Site of the Day archives two epic days already (4.5 hours and 2.5 hours!).
January 2002 Site of the Day archives Mexico vacation shots, some local flying but it was wet on the coast.
December 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, wettest December on record, some good days sprinkled thru the month.
November 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, had some good days at Woodside +2 hours, lots of rain later in the month.
October 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, but great flying at Chelan at the Women's Fly In.
September 2001 Site of the Day archives starting to get pretty stable, more sled rides forecast for October.
Aug 2001 Site of the Day archives Mara, Bridal, till some great flights locally
July 2001 Site of the Day archives Road Trip Month, Golden, Mara, points east!
June 2001 Site of the Day archives Great Month, 3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower! Some getting up to 6 hours in a single flight!
May 2001 Site of the Day archives Unstable Month, 2-3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower!
April 2001 Site of the Day archives Rainy Month, not as much airtime for some pilots
March 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring has Sprung!
February 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring is in the Air!
January 2001 Site of the Day archives - Mexico Flying Trip
December 2000 Site of the Day archives
November 2000 Site of the Day archives (great month for airtime!)
October 2000 Site of the Day archives
September 2000 Site of the Day archives
July - August 2000 Site of the Day archives
June 2000 Site of the Day archives
March - May 2000 Site of the Day archives
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