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FlyBC "Site of the Day Archive" - January/2013
El Chante & San Marcos!
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 29°C
We raced back up with a full truck and everyone launched again as the winds switched to South as forecasted, and the last three almost had to drive down as it swung to SW and West for 10 minutes. Sean & Mark C caught a good climb right off launch and were above the ridge and heading north but forgot all the briefings we had earlier the past few weeks and a few moments of indecision made the XC to the Cross impossible so they headed out to the HG LZ. They were definitely in the right place on the ridge to head north and Mark C was the highest at 10,000 feet (he flies the American non-metric system). Maybe tomorrow will be even better for another try before everyone heads home to the cold north.
Colleen launched and was soon soaring with the group, and I drove down to get the few on the ground, but as I arrived I saw 3 more of our group packing up so we waited for them and headed back to launch.
I sent the guys home to the Hotel in my truck and drove down to retrieve Colleen & Derek down near Chela's Beer Store. By the time we drove back to Jocotepec it was dark after another long successful FlyBC Tour day.
 Butterfly Dreams on an Ozone EnZo from FlyBC from Brett Hazlett on Vimeo.
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|  26°C
The launch at El Chante is very nice after last weeks cleanup party, with very little to snag lines now. Nice cycles at launch, with the odd bird soaring so Steve got ready first and had a brilliant launch with not much lift but he made it to the beach behind the hotel with style.
Nice flights over the Malecon for all with great landings in the laminar lake breeze, too bad the flights weren't longer but the wind yesterday seems to have brought some stability to the area today. We drove up San Marcos and arrived to see a dust devil threaten to take our tarp away, but after that we had tailwinds for some time. We need to test an east launch there after everyone goes home, for these types of days.
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| 27°C
The flatland strategy worked well for 15 minutes or so but Steve was finally landing to the south near Chela`s. Mark was higher but soon on the ground too. We went for lunch as the winds built stronger from the north and dusties formed all over the Laguna. We came back up and waited until 5 pm, when we called the day. All the way home and thru dinner at Sean`s Birthday Dinner on our deck it was still howling from the NW.
The day wasn`t a total waste as Sean, Lee, Steve & Chris wrote their Intermediate Exams (the old version) and managed a pass mark despite the bad questions contained. We had a good marking session to explain the answers and hopefully no one got too big a headache from all the thinking.
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| 26°C
Steve was now in the air too and we were soaring together to the south when we had to head back to launch to top up. Oddly, despite the shade we were still able to climb at +1.5 m/s and as I got high enough I saw sun coming out at the second gap so I headed south arriving at the first gap just at ridge height and it was beeping all the way in the shade, so I kept going south. I arrived in the sun and I got a good climb for about 4 minutes and the shade closed in but I was still climbing in the residual heat and topped out with the help of some vultures south of the San Marcos townsite, but couldn`t get the required 3000 metres to fly to Joco. I headed north to the saddle and heard Steve report in at the LZ near the Joco road, so I made my way over the saddle pretty high and into the back fields where the winds were strong SW coming thru the saddle and a bit thermic but I landed nicely by the road as Thomm arrived in the Suburban. The other guys stayed on the north ridge for another hour as I made my way back to the hotel and dropped off Steve & Thomm, aand went to pick up Colleen. She had a flat tire on her bike and we took the wheel into Joco where the local bike mechanic fixed it while we waited for 15 pesos. Awesome!
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| 26°C A quick trip up San Marcos and we arrived to find Derek in the air soaring nicely, great cycles at launch and we got everyone ready again with hopes of flying back to Casa de Marina. With everyone safely off, the clouds gradually shaded out the mountain with thermals still working though. Each pilot swapped at being the highest but no one got much above 2500 metres. As it got cloudier, the pilots started to get lower and lower, milking the lift when they got any and out of nowhere comes a Blue/Orange Ozone Mantra M4 which I recognized as Atuk who had launched 3 hours earlier at Tapalpa. He was working the light lift with our group and disappeared over the north ridge (I assume to fly home to Guadalajara). As it looked like most of our group was going to be at Pedro's we drove down there to retrieve, as Derek got aclimb and announced he was back to 2500 metres and heading over the back. A good day here in Mexico with 45 minute flights at Tapalpa and 1:30 here at San Marcos for most.
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|  26°C
Lee and Steve got the thermals while others plummetted to the Piano LZ, due to a lack of findable lift. Lee ended up in the HG LZ at the crucero on this flight and as he came out onto the highway, a local pilot picked him up and drove him up. The second flight was better for the others and Sean landed in the HG LZ this time.
Another gorgeous sunset signalled the end of a good day in Mexico.
As we hung out in the centro after dinner, we went on the Imperator Ride. The wind was still west in the centro so maybe a moonlight flight could have been had?
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| 26°C We did a massive cleanup on launch with loppers and a rake and it looked beautiful when done, and everyone flew off and had extended sledders landing at the beach on Lake Chapala behind Casa de Marina.
Unfortunately, as we got to the top it was blowing 5 kph over the back with occassional lulls. Derek volunteered to try the air as we saw birds soaring out front. After 2 tries Derek packed up, as the Zacolaco Policia showed up on launch.
We missed this event but it looks like a nice place to fly, just south of Tenancingo and Valle de Bravo.
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| 24°C Sean launched first and had a fight with the headwind and gulleys and got too far back in the thermals and had to push out to the LZ but made it fine. He had a good view of the others who launched just behind him as they climbed out.
Get UP with O.P.P.! from Ozone Paragliders on Vimeo.
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| 24°C Then on to Tapalpa Main Launch where we waited for someone to launch and see how the conditions were. Soon, some of the Colorado Group started to launch and they were going up but not turning (but they are newbie P2s). One by one our group got ready with Sean & Chris & Lee launching after Colleen, who was marking the thermals for the guys out front. Despite the cloud cover the thermals were forming, but the NE drift was hard to track. Derek was out there too flying with Sean for some time, but it looked like hard work. Once everyone was in the air and soaring around I drove down to retrieve, as it is a 30 minute drive down but at least it is all paved road. By the time I arrived everyone was packed up and ready for flight #2, with great hopes for more sun and less wind. The second flight had nice launch conditions, but not enough sun for some. There was some soaring out front, and the last two to launch - Derek & Chris caught a bubble to the north of launch and got to 2500 metres and about an hour of thermalling.
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| 24°C After last night's fun on the midway at the Fair, the guys woke up to tattoos they had purchased after several margaritas. The "tats" actually turned out pretty good for a Mexican Tattoo on the street at a country fair.
Chris, Lee and Sean were soon out thermalling in the house thermal too and Chris caught a nice climb and headed north after climbing thru the inversion and landed at the HG LZ after an hour.
Despite the clouds obscuring the sun, they guys all soared before landing. Stefan & Sian had relaunched and were doing pretty well earlier and Stefan was on his way to the HG LZ when he radioed to me asking if we had a spare driver for his truck. It just so happened that Thomm was available and he drove down the Yukon BigRig for Stefan & Sian.
Kevin had a pretty nice time on Elk last weekend! Magic Air on Elk - Large from Kevin Ault on Vimeo.
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| 23°C We started out with the finest French Toast in the world, made at La Ceja Launch Restaurant, and they guys ate way too much but it didn't affect their flying with all the extra weight. Then on to the Main Launch area for some XXLite kiting and then around noon the guys all took off and started soaring.
Lee landed last and reported +5.4 m/s climbs and topped out at 2700 metres with 1:20 airtime, not bad for a day that started cloudy. We headed back up the hill and the sky looked more ominous, but Stefan was flying under the black clouds and had no issues with "cloud-suck", so off went the guys for flight #2.
We were heading back to San Marcos but changed that plan when Stefan (who was heading to Zacoalco to pick up Wolfie) said he talked to Derek and it was blowing over the back at San Marcos so back home on the Cuota where they raised the toll to 120 pesos!
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| 21°C Steve D launched first as he is the most current with his recent Elk Adventures, and was soaring launch nicely. The wind in the air was more NE than E, and not sinky so it was a good first flight.
We went back up for another flight and it was lighter inflow, but reversible, and the guys flew down to the Piano LZ again. These flights were good tuneups as some of this group hasn't flown for 5 months, although they all did really well launching today in the cross winds. We packed up and headed back to San Marcos but the other group there said it was blowing east so no good, so off to the Jocotepec Fair later for entertainment as a massive crowd floods the streets for food and games. We went on the Space Ship ride and no one hurled so that was fun!
The latest ships from Ozone are now ready for ordering: Buzz Z4 and Delta 2. There are some delays due to the TET Holiday & backorders, so if you want one for spring flying, get you orders in now! We are taking some trade-ins of previous models that will be available soon - Delta M & Buzz Z3.
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| 21°C Colleen launched first and was soaring around launch nicely, with the odd bullet thermal shooting her upwards, before heading out to the El Chante Malecon, and her waiting fans. I was down below launch cutting some bushes when she launched and it looked perfect as she floated off.
I drove down and picked up Steve and we watched an un-named pilot on a Green & Yellow M4 take many tries to get launched off El Chante over an hour after we left. Not sure what the issue was? We then headed off to the airport to drop off Steve and wait for Chris B, Steve D, Lee & Sean to arrive later today after an interesting trip into Old Guadalajara (which looks like any European city, very cool). Anarchist Report - Pecos Pete reports good conditions for an Okanogan Adventure today!
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| 21°C Conditions were strong east wind, but there were some thermals too. Enough to get Derek and others 200 metres over launch at times but no epic XC flights were logged. Wolfie was heading towards the LZ when we drove back up for flight #2 and lunch, and as we were eating pizzas at La Ceja we saw him top-land after scratching his way back up above launch. Steve has only one more day here and he is leaving for Thailand & Nepal to finish off his vacation, but he got two good flights today.
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| 26°C We arrived at Tapalpa Launch around 11 am, and it was gusty and NE and we met Wolfie (who said it was even too strong to kite). We fed the cats and dog, and waited but it never seemed to calm down so we went to La Ceja Launch and watched a flier go off there in the lee and have an extended sledder. We headed back to the main launch and watched Wolfie fly off and have an almost sledder, but he caught a gulley thermal and was maintaining out front. It was hazy and only the odd bit of sun getting through but it was lifty enough.
Thomm launched for his first flight here this week, and was climbing immediately too. He went out experimenting and went back to his original thermal and discovered the fickleness of the first thermal as it was gone. He went out to our original thermal trigger in the gulley and rode it to 2600 metres fast (+5.3 m/s). He said it as weird to be flying after a 2 month hiatus due to weather back home but he did well.
I saw Derek heading out as I landed and Colleen was off quick and thermalling in front of launch but soon everyone was on the ground around 3 pm. I heard Derek say Steve was still thermalling around the LZ as he was coming in to land.
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| 26°C I was having the odd intermittent failed starter activation on the Suburban, a carryover from last spring when it failed a few times but oddly kept going all year. Well today it failed on Colleen and it took her 5 tries to get it to start, and then again around noon it stopped on me too. As we weren't flying today I took it to the Auto Electric guy near our house and he found the armature was shorted and overheated, so he rebuilt the starter: new solenoid, armature and brushes and installation for 1000 pesos (approximately $75).
Thomm McE arrived last night and Derek picked him up at the airport as I was busy with the truck, but we all went out for a nice dinner in San Juan Cosala. We have Tom C, Thomm McE, Derek, Colleen and Steve here now so it should be fun tomorrow at Tapalpa. Elk Report - Kevin, Steve D and others hiked Elk today in Chilliwack, but despite the warm weather it was very breezy on launch and they hiked down. Reports from Woodside said it was flyable there at a lower elevation.
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| 25°C Rainer launched first and got too far east and had a rough ride in the gulleys, but Derek guided Steve next in the smooth air out front and he got him 20 minutes before Steve headed out to the Lake LZ behind the hotel. I launched after Steve and barely got above launch also landing at the Lake LZ.
After getting the truck back we re-grouped and headed to San Marcos for some of the nicest soaring air ever. I took Memo tandem after Colleen and Steve launched and climbed out, and we were soon above 3000 metres heading south but the winds were stronger than forecasted and we were parked at the second gap. We watched Steve head over the back and it looked windy there too. Eventually as we got lower over the back we saw the winds were +25-30 kph and gusty. We had a great landing but Memo fell over and we got dragged a few metres thru the cut corn. Too windy to pack normally so we just bunched the tandem into the bag. Derek drove down to retrived us and Colleen and we had to go a few kms to find Steve as he turned downwind for some reason on final? A very successful day for Steve with about 1:30 of airtime and two really solid flights! Memo is in for lessons as soon as he has some money.
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| 25°C
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| 24°C Nice cycles at launch but barely soarable according to the local vultures, but Derek suited up and flew first getting above the North Peak. Colleen launched next and was working light lift for 45 minutes, followed by Rainer & Steve before the sink cycles took everyone out of the air and they all landed at Pedro's.
Meanwhile back in BC, a dedicate group of Elk fliers summitted Elk. Nine pilots flew Elk this morning...........Eddy, Larry, David, Ivan, Carl, Alan, Richard, Kevin and me plus several spectators looking on. Minus 6 at the LZ so probably at least minus 10 on launch, rather less than you're used too right now Jaime. Super day with apres PG lunch in Eddies old cabin - SteveD A few others hiked Woodside and got sleddies too! Enjoy the dry weather for a few more days before the next pineapple express comes thru.
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| 24°C
Colleen worked all morning and biked over to Derek's house to join the group for a last flight, but it looked like pretty strong winds with dust storms zooming across the San Marcos Lakebed . . . send Jaime to test the air.
The only other glider in the air was Yakin on his Falcon 225 HG and he was above me by 50 metres as I headed south and he headed out to Pedro's. I climbed up to 2500 metres to the south at the second gap and the thermals were drifting back towards Jocotepec, but the better climbs were upwind over the lakebed so I played there for 15 minutes topping up before letting the winds drift me back to Joco.
I passed the Malecon, the Lake LZ and was heading to the El Chante Malecon LZ when I thought . . . hmmmm, there is no truck or people there so I will have a long wait and I turned back to the Lake LZ behind the hotel. Strong West winds at the lake at altitude with light south at lake level made for a nice approach and touchdown. I was packed up by the time the truck got here. Nice 45 minute flight for this 25 km dog-leg run, which has become the classic run for this tour. My new amigos in the LZ were very helpful folding my M4 too.
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| 24°C Derek, Claudia, Normand & Rainer went earlier and got a nice soaring flight before noon which lasted 1:30. We were working in the house til 1"00 pm, and then we headed over to join them at San Marcos. On the way up we ran into Stefan & Wolfie driving a rental car up San Marcos road, to find out laer that it was Scott Amy's car, and he was flying XC from Tapalpa to here and we watched him top-land on San Marcos just after Normando took off. Decent soaring but rougher than the earlier flight as reported by everyone. Colleen is liking her glider again after the line stretching, it was definitely out of trim before. I drove to to meet Scott & son Jack as they were buying the Mojo4 for Jack, slong with a nice harness & reserve setup. I offered to guide Jack off launch as he finished his course here with Miguel a few months ago but was rusty. He got off fine after several kiting sessions, but forgot my landing briefing as I turned my back to un-snag Rainer's wing and I turned to see him head downwind at Pedro's and landed in the scrubby trees north of launch. No damage to trees, wing or Jack (a teachable moment fo him too!). Colleen almost saved the day as she saw him head downwind and radioed Jack to turn around fast and get into the LZ, but too late. Jack will be back for more lessons soon. Meanwhile, Normando was at the end of the south ridge at 3600 metres and heading east taking a different route to the south side of the lake before heading back to the hotel. He has only one more flying day Sunday before heading back to the cold north, but at least it is sunny back home to acclimatize him slowly. Astralfly PARAGLIDE 2013 from Ricardo Palafox with FlyBC.org on Vimeo. Monarca Report - Brett in first place overall on his Ozone EnZo after being 3rd at goal today on a shorter 65 km task, Nicole in goal too and keeping her 16th Overall place and 1st Woman. These folks are representing Canada well! Overall Results.
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| 23°C The hike was much hotter than our normal start time as we were an hour later, but it still took about 1:15 even without gear. Good launch cycles when we arrived but not many birds soaring. Derek said he saw many more birds and CUs at 10 am. Colleen launched first and had a rodeo-ride in close to launch, but the others bravely launched too. Derek had a 50% collapse after climbing over launch. Maybe the inversion was causing the roughness?
Normando launched and was soaring nicely and had the nicest climbs of all and headed east above the ridge as I drove down. He made it to Chapala and back easily and landed behind the hotel as I drove down to get the others. He said it was smooth going and no turns required to do the 40 kms out&return in less than an hour. We went to lunch at Herman's in Joco, and then off to San Marcos for the afternoon flight. San Marcos had perfect cycles and Derek launched first this time and was climbing to the north nicely. We noticed the thermals were further out today as birds were very high about 1 km out. One by one everyone launched and climbed slowly to the north and then headed south to try the gaps. Colleen said she bailed and headed over the back low at the first saddle. I saw Normando dive into the same saddle low (below the powerlines) and climb out in the first gulley. Rainer & Camilo also climbed at the same spot but Derek was past the second gap by now and reporting in at 3000 meters. I headed down to get Colleen as everyone was getting good climbs by now and we headed back to Joco to get some supplies to make a line stretching machine as I noticed her Addict II seemed to launch a bit slowly. We needed soga, cubo, polea, rocas to make said machine for our back yard.
Derek was seen at 3000 metres back in Joco, soaring the El Chante ridge, Normando also came home and did another run to Chapala and back late in the day. We all regrouped in Joco later for dinner and to take in the festival in the square. The midway is almost filled up with booths and the rides are running so Normando, Rainer and I took a ride on the Impaler (or something like that). It is a twirling circle of seats attached to a long arm that spins the assembly high above the ground. The ride was pretty long and Normando looked pretty scared! Another successful soaring day in paradise with an awesome sunset!
Monarca Report - More difficult conditions today, less clouds and rougher climbs. Brett Hazlett got a most-excellent 3rd for the day and I managed 13th. Some of us are getting tired of all this flying! - Nicole Overall Results. Jeff Smith's reserve ride at Valle yesterday, note his shadow so close to the hill before he threw. Woodside Canada Report - Ihor and Martin N hiked up to Woodside as it was clear but the outflow winds denied them a flight. Denis drove all the way up as the road is being plowed for logging.
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| 23°C This time it was dead, no refiring. Hmmm? Felt like a fuel issue and GMs have an internal fuel pump in the tank and they go with little warning. Colleen jumped into a cab as she had to be at the embassy at 10:30 am, and I found a tow truck company (Gruas) and he took me back to my truck to tow it to a garage to fix it. He drove to the Suburban but stopped a few doors away and took me into a little shabby shop with no roof and 20+ old wrecked cars & trucks to talk to the owner. Of course his english was non-existent so I had to use my pigeon spanish. I was not feeling very confident that he would have the tools or knowledge to get me going again. The mechanic and his cousin came over to my truck and we pushed it around the corner off the main road, and the cousin spoke some english as he is from Yakima WA, here on vacation. I conveyed my feelings that it was the fuel pump (bombe de gasolina). The mechanic went back to his shop and came back with a voltage tester and checked the fuse panel - okay there. He climbed under the gas tank and checked there and then said - try it. The engine started fine.
I picked up Colleen and we headed back home, and it looked skinkin' windy by the airport, but Normando, Derek & Rainer went up San Marcos around 1 pm and had to wait for it to calm down. There was one paraglider in the air but they didn't know it was Herminio on a small speed wing, having no problems staying up and doing acro. We went home for some time leaving at 5 pm, to go to San Marcos andwhen we got there we got to see Normando "doing the turtle", and then finally he and Rainer got off just before sunset. Derek, Colleen & I drove down as we would run out of sunlight soon. They boys got up high and made it to the Pemex for retrieve, saving the ride down the front, and we were off to dinner. Monarca 2013 Report - Another perfect day with awesome skies and cu's popping. 60 pilots in goal! Fast flying with strong climbs and oodles of lift on final glide over the lake. Valle delivers yet again! - Nicole Overall Results. Brett Hazlett is still in 5th place & Nicole is holding on to 16th place Overall and #1 Woman.
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| 20°C Some improvements were noticed like a new elevated casita behind launch, but it is still a daunting launch with trees right below to catch a sinky paraglider. Some day we may fly this site but after 4 visits the winds have never been right. We drove back towards San Marcos but the birds were getting banged around and there were huge whitecaps on Lake Chapala, so no flying for us on Gary's last day here. He was happy though as he had done his first XC from San Marcos a few days ago, managed to get high above all the launches and get more airtime in a week that all of last season. Monarca Report - tough flying reported with strong winds and cloudy skies that did not allow any pilots to make the 75 km task to goal. Lead gaggle "dirted it" at 47 kms. Not much change in the standings after 2 tasks. Overall Results.
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| 23°C Normando went first and got up right away, Derek & I went next and we were kicking trees in the gulleys and I saw him find a small climb so I went over to the same place and got nada, but Derek worked it up above launch. Rainer and I were then working the gulleys for 20 minutes before heading out to the LZ. Kevin launched last and worked the launch ridge and got up too. Gary was not feeling too good, so he drove down for us and we chased the guys down the ridge in the truck, watching them get flushed at the big gap over the flats.
We regrouped and met Colleen at the Pemex behind San Marcos Launch and Gary took Derek's rig home. We arrived at launch to really strong cycles and Normando went first again and had to work hard on the North Peak. Soon all were in the air and working the lift but only Normando made it back to the hotel.
Once we found everyone we headed for an early dinner. Monarca Comp Report - Both Brett (#2) and I (#16) made goal after a 80+km flight over deep gorges and powerlines. Results not up yet, but I think 25-30 pilots may have made goal. Many landed just short after a tricky End-of-Speed section on the far north side of Valle de Bravo. Cloudbase 3600m by the end of the day; epic conditions! - Nicole
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| 23°C Kevin flew first and had a few turns but was in the Joco Malecon early even before we started up the mountain. Derek flew next after we arrived, and we could see an inversion setting up over Lake Chapala with two bands. Tough work staying up. Colleen, Rainer and Kevin went again and I told the others to drive the Sub down as I readied the M4. Kevin got above launch this time for a few minutes. I had many tangles and without any helpers it was tough to get a clean inflation but I got off finally and there was one thermal over the Cross here, but nothing else all the way to the Joco Malecon where I landed in the locked futball field. Fence was climbable but tough with spiky chainlink. We regrouped at the Malecon, and drove two trucks up San Marcos as we had Claudia and friends along. Derek & I were taking Ricardo & Rodrigo for tandems and when we arrived 2 hangies were above us at 3000 metres heading NE to Cerro Viejo as their drivers headed down to chase them. Cycles were kinda lame, but Derek got ready and was off and sort of climbing but it wasn't as good as the hangies got. I waited for a cycle and we got away first try and were also just maintaining. I saw Derek go south and get more lift but he was heading back toward launch, so I turned north to the Peak and we ridged right up the face until we heard a solid tone and started circling and we were soon 1000 metres over launch. We waited for the others to launch but no one was getting the same climb we did, so after 20 minutes we headed south.
I had opened the trims for the glide from the south San Marcos Ridge to this point and only slowed down for the occasional beep when we hit sun again but we had the El Chante Futball Field on glide with a few turns to boot. Rodrigo said it would be okay to interrupt the game in progress but the referees whistled to stop the play and dragged us off to the edge to restart the game. It turned out it was the final game of the season. Oops! Our flight covered 25 kms of distance in one hour.
Off to dinner after a shower and we were done, another successful day of fun.
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| 22°C We arrived at Tapalpa to perfect conditions and Robert & Deanna flew down to the LZ where Colleen was waiting to guide them with the rest of the group who arrived in Derek's truck. We had a new addition to the group as Rainer arrived from Fernie last night. The flight down for Gary was very nice and I guided him into a nice thermal that had him high above launch, and he was thermalling around with Miguel on tandem for sometime. He lost the lift and headed out to the LZ and had to get a ride up with the local tandem guys.
As usual on retrieves, messages get mixed up, and today Biff got a ride from a local to a restaurant by the Libramento. There are two Pemex stations here in Sayula and Biff said he was at the Pemex in town. So Colleen & Derek spent 30 minutes looking for the restaurant in the wrong area but they finally found Biff and had lunch while I retrieved Normando from the soccer field. After lunch we headed to San Marcos for an evening flight and the conditions were perfect for soaring and Derek reported getting to 2600 metres at the north peak.
Nicole's Valle Report - Another awesome day . . . lots of pilots went big and some over remote country. Some landed up by the Butterflies, Brett Z and I did La Pila and then Saucos ridge return (I landed at the airport to "dump ballast"), others landed up by the Saucos ridge. Cloudbase around 3300m by the afternoon. Tomorrow is a practice day and then things get started for real on Monday!
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| 22°C Deanna took off right behind Gary K and he looked like he was getting a sledder, but she "went to the moon" on her Mojo4. She wasn't even turning and she was 300 meters over launch all the way to the LZ. She had to do many 360's over the crops east of the LZ to lose height and she had a great approach and landing too!
We waited for them to make the crossing but it didn't happen and we located Derek near the Cuota Hwy over 30 kms from Tapalpa. We gave him his truck and continued on to San Marcos as he retrieved the others. We went up to San Marcos arounbd 4 pm, and we had to wait a long time for any cycles and Derek launched first thinking he would just get a sledder down to his Dodge to drive home. He launched in the first cycle which was a short one, and he caught a thermal and rode it from launch height (2000 m) right to 3100 m in a short time. Rob was in the launch slot next but had a couple of un-committed tries (he is a new student after all), and we moved out of the way for Biff. Biff also had 3-4 aborts but got off clean and was sinking like a rock until he found some sun on the south slopes and he was then chasing Derek south. They got 10 kms south and could not find any lift so I got in Rob's harness and was ready to fly down to get the truck when both Derek and Biff flew overhead. I was already hooked in so I flew off as the others drove home.
Valle Report - Another beautiful day in Valle . . . some clouds that went big but no storms. Oodles of shade all over the place but lots of people still flew back to the Lake after various XC's. Today was either fighting cloudsuck, or scratching low, as base was only 3100m which is barely above some of the larger peaks around here . . . makes the XC interesting :) - Nicole
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| 21°C Up on launch it was perfect inflow cycles at this east facing site and the experienced guys headed for breakfast at La Ceja Launch and Colleen got ready to take Deanna for tandem #2. Rob decided to forgo his tandem and suited up for solo #1. Colleen launched nicely and it looked very smooth and no problem for Rob to fly so as she approached the halfway point to the LZ, we launched Rob too. Rob has a really solid launch with no aborts and he was on his way out to the LZ. Yippee! Colleen talked him into a perfect landing with some SE wind in the LZ. I was driving down to retrieve them as Biff, Normando and Gary arrived at launch from breakfast but I didn't wait to see them launch with Derek. As I arrived at the LZ, the others were thermalling above launch and had an hour plus thermalling around.
She reported good conditions with smooth lift she had to spiral thru to get to the LZ which had now no wind. Rob had a 100% perfect launch on flight #2 and was able to S-turn in some light thermals on the way out and had another perfect approach and landing. Deanna also had a flawless first solo launch! Amazing as she had some problems running during ground handling but she mastered the art of running as she inflated her Mojo4. Deanna hit some stronger air as conditions had changed in just a few minutes with stronger lift, but the Mojo4 handled the air well and she was soon headed out to the LZ for a perfect landing. Oddly, as she was almost to the LZ, the winds on launched switched from 10 kph from the east to 20 kph over the back in just a few minutes?? The forecast said switching to south first then west after 2 pm but this is a micro-climate and things change fast. Once everyone was on the ground, we headed to Zacoalco for lunch before heading up San Marcos.
Undaunted, Biff and Norm got ready to fly and they were immediately above launch. Colleen launched too and tested the air for the students and she reported it fine as she was soaring in light lift out front. She also reported zero wind in the LZ which later became an issue for the newbies. Deanna launched first and had a few issues misunderstanding the launch commands, but after try #3 she was kiting the wing in 15 kph winds and was lifted off smoothly and was able to soar a bit and practice her weight-shifting turns on the way out to the LZ. Rob had a beautiful launch on first attempt and was also able to get above launch in smooth lifty air.
Valle Report - I received two SPOT messages yesterday from Team Vancouver: Nicole & Brett H as they were both in the Lakeside LZ, so it was flyable there. They are there for the Monarca starting on January 6. Really sweet flying today, maybe 100 pilots on launch but plenty of skies for everyone. Flew to Divis via 3 Kings along with pretty much everyone else, then home to the lake LZ. Cloudbase about 3100m and not much wind, mellow conditions maybe because of the rain yesterday. Got a nice tan going :) - Nicole
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| 18°C The kiting went extremely well despite wet wings from yesterdays kiting, and no wind. Launch after launch went very well. After about an hour we started heading to Tapalpa but at the top of San Marcos we called Juevo and he said it was raining there so we continued up to San Marcos Launch. When we got up top, it was blowing +15 kph from the east and over the back, so more reverse kiting this time for the students. They were getting really good at reverse launching too! It was tough with wet slippery ground and inconsistent cycles, but most inflations were launchable. The sun came out and broke up the cloud and some thermals started to form which changed the wind enough that we put the student wings away and readied the tandem.
Apparently, we got the last cycle up for 45 minutes as we took off. Deanna flew me down to Pedro's LZ and we had a nice soft landing. We packed up on the grass as everything else is very wet from 3 days of hard rain. The others could not launch so they went hiking up to the upper launch area, and we went for lunch. By the time we got back, the winds had switched on the ground 180 degrees and the guys all launched and had a nice soarfest for 30 minutes until the clouds rolled in and shut things down.
We tried one more attempt to fly by going up El Chante in the Suburban, but the winds were not favourable there. The road in is a greasy mess so we will probably leave this launch site for "hike & fly" only for a few weeks. A few of the guys hiked down the front this afternoon and the trail is in good shape. As we went to dinner a huge rain storm hit Jocotepec and rivers were running down the streets, but tomorrow is forecast to be clear.
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| 18°C
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