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FlyBC "Site of the Day Archives" - July/2003






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Date
Site
Forecast
Precip.
Winds Aloft
@
3000'
Max. Temp
6000' Temp
Lapse Rate

Cloudbase Forecast
calculated
by SOAR8.XLW

Comments
July 31
Woodside/Bridal later
Sunny with morning cloudy periods. Windy at times
0% POP
280° at 7
28°
17°
-1.8°/1000'
(stable lapse rate)
2900 m
9500 ft.
Golden Report - Well today was another good-looking day, nice development over both sides of the valley. But the air was the roughest I've flown in a long time; my flight was basically a 3 hour maneouver's course, when I decided I'd had enough and bailed at Brisco. Lots of other pilots reported similar conditions. Most did out and returns as a south wind came up down-range. The haze from the forest fires is very noticeable while flying, until you get above the inversion about 14, 000'. One pilot decided to go over the back, and went to around the Mt. Assiniboine area before landing due to a TCU forming ahead.

PS Remember that plane that went missing about 3-4 weeks ago around the Golden area? Well it was found yesterday by a PG pilot about 25 km downrange. SAR are out now recovering it - Nicole

Fraser Valley Report - Derek flew Elk in the morning with Carl, then flew Bridal later, then flew Liumchian with Max later in the day.

July 30
Woodside/Bridal later
Sunny
0% POP
280° at 11
34°
18°
-2.4°/1000'
(stable lapse rate)
3766 m
12200 ft.
Bridal Report - Derek K and Josef flew for 1:30 today early and again around 5:00 PM Derek, Ivan and Alan flew a short soaring flight, failing to get above launch long enough to top-land. Fortunately I had flown over from Woodside, climbed above Elk along the ridge at 1800 meters towards Cheam and made the peak at Cheam (on my new DK Whisper GT Plus motor) just before running out of fuel! I landed at the bottom in the Swamp, refueled and flew up to Logger's Leap to top-land with the motor to drive Derek's truck down. 8 minutes from takeoff to top-landing thanks to the thermals and the new APCO Tetra M (great paramotoring glider, launches easily in no wind and doesn't hang back under power) - Jim

Golden Report - Well today started out another stellar day, with nice development over the mountains. We all launched into light north winds and got high really fast, so we were all following the range staying over the back. At one point Keith and I were in a thermal which took us up to 16,000', which was cloudbase that day (the air was very thin!). At Brisco the weather changed as the cu's changed to TCU's and a big storm cell shaded us out, so we all went on glide to Radium/Invermere (I got to Radium Resort - 96 km). Too bad as we still had daylight left and we could have made Fairmont/Canal Flats easy if it wasn't for that storm cell. As I was getting a ride back I heard thunder and it was raining in Invermere; a local said they just saw a lightening strike start yet another forest fire (there's 3-4 in the valley now) - Nicole

July 29
Woodside/Bridal later
Sunny
0% POP
270° at 5
34°
19°
-2.4°/1000'
(stable lapse rate)
3766 m
12200 ft.
Golden Report - It was windy in the am, but by the afternoon they had died down, so we went up. Stellar blue conditions and light winds according to the smoke from the forest fire across the valley, so we all launched. Many pilots made personal bests today; I made 128 km to land at the Fairmont Airport; Norm and Ian Mitchell landed at Windermere; Rob S. and Mark F. landed at Invermere; and lots of others scattered in between Radium and Invermere. Charles Warren made 149 km by going to the Fairmont skihill and returning to Invermere as he couldn't find the height to continue across the lake to Canal Flats - Nicole

ps: Norm is flying a Presta and made it the furthest of the DHV 1-2 class this day!

Bridal Report - Derek K and John launched at noon and flew for 2:00.

Woodside Report - Derek K and I flew Woodside late and logged 27 minutes in very spotty lift. Later I motored up to try to top land to retrieve but it was too strong around launch later (glassed off).

July 28
Woodside/Bridal later
Sunny
0% POP
light and variable
33°
19°
-2.2°/1000'
(stable lapse rate)
3766 m
12200 ft.
Bridal Report - Derek K flew from Lower Launch around noon and logged 2:00. He flew later with Jack C and logged another 2:00 and then headed to Woodside where we logged a short flight in choppy conditions.

Golden Report - Well conditions looked great, nice cu's popping all over the place. Problem it was too windy all day for great distance; I opted not to try for anything other than Nicholson, and other pilots who went on course reported ugly conditions, lots of wind, and not really worth it. Mark F. ended up at the base of Pagliaro and had to hike out when he hit some bad air, and lots of pilots only got 10-15km on glide from Mt. 7. Tomorrow looks like more wind so may be a couple of days before conditions get unwindy again - Nicole

July 27
Woodside/Bridal later
Sunny
0% POP
310° at 12
29°
16°
-2.2°/1000'
(stable lapse rate)
2900 m
9300 ft.
Woodside Report - great day of flying with a bunch of new students (Alan, Tanner and Lee came for a two day course and did very well), and nearly signed off students. I flew 3 tandems and logged about 3.5 hours between guiding students off launch. Evelyn showed us how to thermal after almost landing at Riverside, then climbing out to about 1200 meters.

Golden Report - Today was a stellar day . . . nice cu's popping, problem it was too strong to launch, even the HGers were not launching! So we had to wait until about 5pm when it calmed down a bit. So we all launched rather late for good XC, but it was windy up high so we were able to make some distance. A bunch of people made Parsons; I made it to Brisco (67 km); Hugo made it to Windermere! Tomorrow looks sunny again, hopefully we'll be able to launch earlier to make some good distance next time! - Nicole

July 26
Woodside
Sunny with morning cloudy periods
0% POP
280° at 8
27°
13°
-2.3°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
1600 m
5000 ft.
Woodside Report - we started flying at 9:45 am and didn't stop until 2:00 pm for lunch (and because it got too windy for students), and my mid-day tandem flight with a student was very lifty easily climbing in one thermal to 1100 meters tempted to go over the back to Agassiz Mtn. but we had a full class to deal with. When we were heading out to Eagle Ranch a B117 Stealth Bomber flew by us over the river just above us and a kilometer away! No wake turbulence was experienced (thank god!) We started flying again at 6:00 pm after lunch, ground school and a long wait at launch. Everyone had a couple flights and no one in the trees at Woodside.

Golden Report - Well the day started out nice, then it shaded out and a gust front came through. After that we launched into very light conditions and scratchy lift. We finally got away...Mark F. and I got about 45 km to Harrogate; Hugo got to Edgewater. A few got to Parsons etc. Now off to Chris' party; a nice way to end the day!! - Nicole

July 25
Bridal
Sunny with morning cloudy periods
0% POP
280° at 8
27°
13°
-2.3°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
1600 m
5000 ft.
Woodside Report - we flew all day with tandems and students, an un-named pg pilot (not a student) was fished out of the trees to the right of launch. No injuries to pilot but wing needs sewing.

Island Report - Worth living over and over again if it is one of the days the Island folks have been having up on the Beauford Range. I haven't been up there yet, maybe next week - kids this weekend. Had an epic day at Dallas yesterday, somply amazing. Suprisingly light wind considering the monster lift. The lift band was 100 meters or more wide, instead of the normal 20. An amazing evening - Bruce McG.
July 24
Bridal
Sunny with morning cloudy periods
0% POP
290° at 14
26°
10°
-2.6°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
1900 m
6400 ft.
Squamish Chief Report - overheard on News 1130 radio "a young paraglider pilot is lucky to be alive after a gust sends him crashing into a gulley on the Squamish Chief. He is talking to rescuers on his two way radio". No idea who it could be?

July 23
Bridal
Sunny with morning cloudy periods. Windy at times
0% POP
light and variable, then 290° at 17 knots after 2:00 pm
28°
13°
-2.5°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
1900 m
6400 ft.
Bridal Report - Derek, Alan, Klaus and Monica hiked to Upper Launch and flew until 1:00 pm when it got very windy in the landing field. Derek reported "the smoothest ridge lift all the way to Archibald", then he had an interesting time on approach with thermals bubbling off everywhere.

July 22
Bridal/Woodside
Sunny. Becoming windy this afternoon
0% POP
light and variable, then 290° at 14 knots after 2:00 pm
32°
15°
-2.8°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
2200 m
7400 ft.
Bridal Report - Derek K flew for 4 hours landing near 8:00 pm, while Kevin was still in the air. Rough at times but smooth overall.

Nicole's Excellent Adventure Report - We were treated with a classic east coast lightning storm last night. Big light show and buckets of rain! Good thing we were on our way back from flying all day. Day started at 7am to go flying a beach site called West Bay (launch 60'ASL with cliffs to 400'ASL). Flew there all morning; got to Cape Sharp and saw the nesting peregrines; then crossed the gap over to the south cliffs and went halfway to Partridge Island. After eating we went to a ridge/thermal site called Harvey Allen (launch 300' AGL) and flew there in broken thermals and generally ratty conditions. Then went to Chignecto Provincial Park to fly the cliffs there but it was too cross and that's when we saw the TCU's building so we decided to head back to Parrsboro. Now I am off to Halifax and tomorrow back in Vancouver - Nicole

July 21
Bridal/Woodside
Sunny
0% POP
light and variable
32°
13°
-2.9°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
2200 m
7400 ft.
Woodside Report - Derek T, Stewart and Owen flew PGs at Woodside, second flight was soarable but they couldn't get very high. Kim S was out flying his HG and had a long flight.

Bridal Report - the usual group was out reporting being above Upper Launch, near Elk, etc. Not too windy over on the south side of the valley.

July 20
Bridal/Woodside
Cloudy with sunny periods
60% POP
250° at 10 knots
24°
-2.5°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
1300 m
4300 ft.
Woodside Report - we flew from 9:30 am when it was cloudy til dark. A few HGers flew including George B who had a long flight. It never got windy but the thermals were strong and punchy at around 3:00 pm when I took Arlana for a tandem. Last flights had new students Bob F and Jim M well above launch in smooth lift for over 30 minutes. Only close call was an un-named pilot who flies in a wheelchair who tried to clear some trees next to launch, but only managed to take a few branches with him!

Bridal Report - nice CU above Cheam looked encouraging, quite a few pilots on the radio, Rob S was between Gloria and Elk having a good flight. Igor was doing a B-stall above the LZ and it went bad according to witnesses and he had to throw his reserve and he landed in the paintball park near Dinotown unharmed.

Vernon Report - Norm flew from King Eddy to Cherryville, about 35 kms on his new Presta.

Nicole's Excellent Adventure Report - Back to Hidden Falls today for the students' graduation flights. Got up there and nice cycles so I launched and waited for the others to join me. Michael did a tandem then the locals had nice flights. Got up to cloudbase a few times ~1200'AGL and did some exploring across the gully but nada so crossed back and played around a bit more then landed. After packing up we went to 2nd beach for some ridge soaring but the tide has just turned so the wind died by the time we were set up. Hopefully the weather will hold for a couple more days! - Nicole

July 19
Bridal/Woodside
Sunny. Becoming cloudy this afternoon
0% POP
230° at 5 knots
28°
13°
-2.5°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
2720 m
8800 ft.
Woodside Report - new students Lou and Rick were treated to first flights in smooth conditions through to 2:00 pm, when it got too thermic for safe solo flights, so we headed to Bridal. A few HGers were setting up but we didn't see them fly so no flight reports to post. We went back to Woodside for a late flight and an un-named novice pilot (with five years experience) was helped from the trees to the right of launch. No damage to glider or pilot, just ego.

Bridal Report - it was crowded at the soaring knob, about 15 gliders shared the space with 5 of them not observing standard ridge rules. When the crowd thinned out we launched Chris after Colleen and they had nice soaring flights landing in the "Swamp". I took Rick for a tandem and we had fun cutting Ian J off on the ridge (according to Ian). I talked to Ian J later in the day and he was at Upper Launch height around 7:30 pm, so conditions improved later in the day. A report of a pilot hitting the fence on landing trying to make it into the Driving Range, but no injury reports. Land in the swamp, the grass is shorter and there are no roads or fences to hit.

July 18
Bridal/Woodside
Sunny with morning cloudy periods
0% POP
270° at 5 knots
28°
11°
-2.6°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
2720 m
8800 ft.
Woodside Report - I launched around 3:30 pm into moderate cycles and it took a bit of hunting to find a good core, but when I got it I was climbing at 7 m/s all the way to 1100 meters in a few minutes. But it was rough outside the cores and the wind was picking up on the lake. After about 45 minutes I headed out to land while Robin and Colleen waited it out. Robin was rewarded with a 45 minute flight into Riverside, while Colleen took a tandem later. About 12 pilots flew Woodside in all - Jim

Bridal Report - pretty much the same as Woodside, strong punchy cores with wind mixed in for turbulence. Rob was sitting it out at Upper Launch for while hoping it would smooth out. Many pilots headed out to land in these uncomfortable conditions.

Pemberton Report - After reading the Woodside / Bridal reports from yesterday ,it was pretty much the same in Pemberton.The only workable lift was over launch,stay with it without drifting and you could get high. Reports over the radio from a couple of U.S. pilots around 4pm were strong ratty turbulence with plenty of collapses to keep it puckered. I hit big sink and got in behind the ridge and got hammered from strong outflow wind ,even more sink to fly out to land with wind in the l.z. bending over the remaining willow trees at the end of the field. Later on at 6.30 when I went up to retrieve my truck it was still cycling up strong at launch and a couple of fortunate pilots who flew were awarded with a nice glass of about an hour later - Thomm

Nicole's Excellent Adventure Report - I am now in Parrsboro, NS. Met up with Michael and his current students, and we went out to Hidden Falls for the students' first high flights. I launched the students and after they were down, I went for a nice ridgy/thermal flight (launch is ~650' AGL). Nice cu's over the back, but I couldn't get to them so stayed around launch until the fog rolled in. One of the pilots here just got a PPG and is just learning to fly it so we may play around with that tomorrow if the weather doesn't co-operate for free-flight - Nicole

July 17
Bridal/Woodside
Sunny
0% POP
light and variable
27°
11°
-2.6°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
2700 m
7700 ft.
Bridal Report - there were about 20 gliders flying Bridal by 4:30 pm. Some just stayed on the Soaring Knob near launch and worked through the congestion, while others ventured out to find thermals. I flew for 1:04 getting up to Saddle height but it was ratty up top, almost like it was windy at times. Alan and Rob S were the highest all day.
July 16
Bridal
A mix of sun and cloud. Windy at times
40% POP
240° at 8 knots
24°
-3.1°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
1200 m
5600 ft.
Valley Report - windy and dark all day until 7:00 pm, no pilots at Woodside or overheard on the radio at Bridal.
July 15 Woodside A mix of sun and cloud. 30 percent chance of showers. High 24 30% POP 270° at 5 knots 24 8 -2.6°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
1550 m
5050 ft.
Woodside Report - I started flying at 1:00 pm with a tandem passenger and we climbed quickly to 1100 meters and soared in rather rough air for about an hour before heading to Agassiz for a Coke. Our retrieval drivers showed up to take us back to launch to do another tandem and that flight was smoother but we climbed higher for about 1:30 of airtime. It got very windy as we flew out with full trimmers until upwind of the Eagle Ranch LZ. It was punchy coming in to land but manageable if you were on your brakes flying actively.

The last flight I took Bob F up for his 8th solo flight and he launched nicely into soarable conditions and I climbed out to join him in super sweet air. I wore a flight suit this time. We flew for about and hour and as he headed out to land, Mark F joined us but couldn't break thru the layer to climb out. I spiralled down to top-land and missed my appraoach and was below launch grovelling with Mark. We flew out to Eagle Ranch and retrieved our trucks before dark.
Bridal Report - Mark F reported flying to 1500 meters to Laidlaw before landing in the safe fields below. He said he could see the winds picking up and he couldn't penetrate back to Bridal so he landed. Reports were of bumpy conditions from 2:00 pm on, with strong winds in the LZ so I stayed at Woodside to soar instead.

July 14 Woodside after 1:00 pm Cloudy with sunny breaks. High 24 10% POP 220° at 6 knots 24 8 -2.5°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
1140 m
3500 ft.
Woodside Report - what a great day! I went to do some chores in Agassiz and arrived back at the Ranch to meet Carl D. who arrived with his cousin and husband who were going to go tandem.

Conditions were fantastic as Alan D even showed up for a few hours with an old friend "Utaca" from Japan.

The first tandem was over an hour getting to cloudbase at 1100 meters.

The second tandem with Michelle proved to be even better with us hitting cloudbase and some moderate thermals before heading over the back for a mini XC flight towards Agassiz with Jack coming too. Flight time over an hour again.

Then I took new student Jim for another tandem while Rob S dazzled us with top-landing twice. Tandem flight time 55 minutes.

I went back up a last time to take Norm to retrieve his car and Jack, Barry and I flew with Barry logging over an hour in glass off conditions. I neglected to put on a flight suit or gloves and logged another 2 hours before top-landing to drive Norm's car down after he decided to launch half-way thru our flights. Norm and Jack landed at 9:30!

My total airtime for the day - 5 hours+.
Alan D - 2.5 hours
Jack - 3+ hours
Norm - 3+ hours.
Barry - 1+ hour!

Overheard in the LZ after Jack landed on his new Presta, "There was something I hadn't seen before . . . the top of Alan and Norm's wings!".
July 13 Woodside later in the day (after the ground dries out) Cloudy with showers. High 21 30% POP 280° at 14 knots 21 7 -2.5°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
2640 m
8580 ft.
Fraser Valley Report - lots of rain. No flying to be had!
July 12 Bridal later, Woodside earlier Sunny. High 30 40% POP 280° at 10 knots 30 13 -2.5°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
1650 m
5300 ft.
Woodside Report - we flew from 10:00 am 'til around 3:00 pm when it got windy. Some interesting launches but everyone did well landing at the "World Famous Eagle Ranch". I took my little girl Megan for a tandem after that and we had a great XC flight landing in the Agassiz High School soccer field in very smooth conditions (our flight path took us over the Fraser towards Bridal and when we saw the rain over there we headed back to Agassiz). What a great flight with my kid! She loved the flight and many townspeople came out to see our landing.

Bridal Report - Alan and a bunch of pilots had great flights despite some leeside warnings from an inexperienced weather briefer who posted an obnoxious briefing on the WCSC forum.

July 11 Bridal later Sunny. High 28 0% POP 280° at 6 knots 28 12 -2.5°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
2640 m
8580 ft.
Bridal Report - Alan and others flew from 1.0 to 4.5 hours in tough to stay up conditions, I had a so-so flight from Toronto with a smooth landing at CYVR.
July 10 Bridal later Sunny. High 30 0% POP 260° at 8 knots 30 13 -2.9°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
2640 m
8580 ft.
Bridal Report - when I flew over at 12,000 feet en route to Toronto there was no development and not bumpy over Bridal, but Alan went to Ludwig after getting high fast.

Nobody in the trees, and they couldn't get to the glider left in the trees a few days ago.

July 9 Bridal later Sunny with cloudy periods. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 25 0% POP light and variable 25 9 -2.5°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
2120 m
6880 ft.
Woodside Report - Mt. Woodside turned out to be a great day for flying. Jim T hiked up the hill early this morning, around 7am, to get the first flight in. Nice steady inflow and smooth flying. As he was landing at the ranch, Andy and Barry was there waiting. Later during the day Gerry joined the trio. Jim T bagged 5 flights the rest got 4 flights. What a difference in flying as the day went on. Started smooth and nice and then went thermic, with bumpy rides. Two people had partial collapses and recovered well from them to land at the ranch. At one point around 13:00, the hill went catabatic for about 15 minutes and then it returned back to a steady flow of cycles. The last flights for all 4 were around 17:00 which was pretty much smooth with some lift available, certainly soarable. There was 1 other person who launched and landed at Riverside. There was no roaming wildlife to be found this am - Jim T.

Bridal Report - tougher flying than previous days at Bridal, some stayed in the air 1.5 hours, some had to go up twice to relaunch as they missed the cycles. A visiting pilot managed to hang from the trees just below launch after being in the air for some time, then colliding with the trees. He was okay, but he had no radio and no one knew if he was alright until he climbed back up the face to launch.

Everyone should have at least a FRS Family Service Radio on board while they fly, and let others know what frequency you are on (at least there are only 14 channels to scan and test in an emergency). London Drugs had these FRS Radios on for $19.98 last week, cheap insurance and even when flying alone you could raise someone in the Valley to call 911 if you needed help.
July 8 Woodside Cloudy. 70 percent chance of showers. High 18 70% POP 200° at 10 knots 18 3 -2.5°/1000'
(stable lapse rate)
1950 m
6350 ft.
Woodside Report - Barry joined me early for three flights at Woodside, the first flight was "the liftiest" with 20 minutes of airtime and I did a "touch and go" on the new training hill (top landing on it and relaunching to land at the bottom. The rest of the flights were sledders.

If anyone is out at Eagle Ranch this week please move the sprinkler around the new excavation so the grass will re-seed, thanks in advance.



Mara Lake Report - Mara Lake weather was superb; nice unstable days with lots of XC potential . . . one of the visiting pilots from San Diego flew from Mara to Mabel Lake; too bad I was driving that day! The maneouvers went well; by the end just about everyone was doing full stalls and spins. 2 reserve deployments: one was pre-planned; the other was after a front horseshoe cravatted and went bad. One of my maneouvers I cravatted big time and multiple line twisted after a full-stall so re-stalled to recover it before it locked in a spiral. Now I am in NS so won't be flying for about 10 days until I finish up the family visit, and then head up to Parrsboro to do some coastal beach flying with my instructor and the gang! Hope the flying stays good in BC! - Nicole

July 7 Dallas Road Sunny with cloudy periods. High 27 0% POP 280° at 7 knots 27 10 -2.8°/1000'
(stable lapse rate)
2000 m
6380 ft.
Victoria/Dallas Road Report - I arived at 12:00 pm to see Bruce and Claudio committing to flight. Claudio top-landed as it got lighter and Bruce disappeared over the edge. No snorkel required! Later it turned on again and Claudio soared past the gap, I was offered a few wings but I had no time and no flying apparel.
July 6 Woodside/Bridal Sunny with cloudy periods. High 27 0% POP 280° at 7 knots 27 11 -2.8°/1000'
(stable lapse rate)
2000 m
6380 ft.
Woodside Report - we flew students until it got too windy, then I flew Kelly's Oasis for a while, nice wing! I landed in a gust front and got dropped into the Eagle LZ from about 50 feet up. I then took a new student tandem and he loved the strong punchy thermals we were hitting! We had a very smooth landing with a bumpy approach. We finally got the last flights in for the students (Max, Bob and Brian) and they logged 40 minutes getting way above launch over the LZ - Jim.

ps: two separate tree landings in Riverside (by experienced pilots) because pilots failed to stay upwind of the LZ in strong conditions, no injuries. Watch the conditions!

Bridal Report #1 - Good flight at bridal yesterday, got from the foot of cheam to the shoulder of elk. low cloud, kinda' windy 3h15. hope the tree'd glider and pilot were ok - Jeremy

Bridal Report #2 - Bit bumpy lower down at Bridal but nice once you got higher. Alan, Rob, Mark D and Igor (Russsian fellow) headed over to Elk. Igor found himself unexpectedly on the ground on the back side of Elk. He used up several horseshoes landing safely and getting a ride right back to the LZ. No one even knew he was missing.....no radio and out of cell range....could have been nasty. Bliss had another leading edge tangle and lots of 'maneuvers'. Joseph had a nice 90 minute flight and Frank bagged his first Bridal flight. Most people landed in the swamp given the wind and thermals - Kelly

Bridal Report #3 -I flew Bridal yesterday and had a great soaring flight. Norm was way up of course and I couldn't catch up to him, what else is new. I landed after flying over an hour as my hand was getting sore and I didn't want to over do it. Finally Norm landed and we were coming out to Woodside about 7 pm and we couldn't get over the Aggasi Bridge, there was a person that apparently was attempting to jump off the bridge, so the police was turning us around, it would have been too late to travel the 7. I don't know the outcome of the jumper, Hope he changed his mind - Bev

Revelstoke Report - We've had great flying around here lately. Yesterday I flew back to town from Sale - Tchau, Alan P

July 5 Woodside after 11:00 am 60% chance of showers early, clearing in the afternoon. High 24 60% POP 280° at 12 knots 24 12 -2.0°/1000'
(stable lapse rate)
1500 m
4820 ft.
Woodside Report - the day started out rainy and dismal . . . but by 2:00 pm we were flying! New students Bob, Terry and Brian all had 2-3 flights, with excellent altitude to do exercises. The last flights ended at 9:35 pm just before dark. Kelly bagged 3:04! Norm had 2:35. Colleen had a late flight with 1:20. Gerry L had a mini-maneuvers course with a collapse into a few turns before getting it sorted out!

Bridal Report - not many pilots at Bridal. Alan, Ian J, Rob S, Joseph (50 minutes!) flew and the only report was from Rob who said "he was scaring squirrels" near Elk Falls?

July 4 Woodside Becoming cloudy this morning then 40 percent chance of showers late this afternoon. High 20 40% POP later 280° at 8 knots 20 6 -2.3°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
850 m
2600 ft.
Woodside Report - Barry, Brian, Andy and I flew a few flights until it got windy around 2:00 pm. Landings were quite thermic with blasts of cottonwood fluff being sucked off the LZ floor, but we all had good landings. We headed to Bridal after 3:00 pm but it was just too windy to even head up so Alan entertained us with ground-handling his old Flame.

July 3 Bridal Cloudy with sunny periods. High 22 0% POP 280° at 12 knots 22 7 -2.5°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
850 m
2600 ft.
Bridal Report - a few pilots were already on the ground when I arrived around 6:00pm. Sled rides for those that could get off the launch as it had clouded over.

Woodside Report - Jack, Joseph and I headed over to fly Woodside and were rewarded with sweet soaring conditions! I launched from the back of launch while the others were pre-flighting and was over Jack's head by the time I reached the front of launch, I climbed immediately and was above the towers in a few minutes. Jack launched and had a problem with his glider so he flew straight out while Joseph was sorting out lines after an abort. I tried to top-land to help Joseph but was still climbing with "big ears" so I didn't bother and flew for a while but noticed Joseph packed up but not driving down so I thought he had a problem with the Suburban so I flew out to retrieve it. Jack drove me back up and when we arrived I persuaded Jack to fly again, as well as Joseph and Jack climbed up to 1000 feet over launch and stayed there until dark, what a surprise after the conditions at Bridal.
July 2 Woodside/Bridal Cloudy with sunny periods. 60 percent chance of showers. High 21 60% POP 290° at 6 knots 21 3 -3.0°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
850 m
2600 ft.
Woodside Report - Around 9am, after Para-hiking up the mountain to launch, the conditions looked very favorable. Nice steady inflow.

On the hike up and very close to the turnoff to launch, ran into a bear that was more content with tearing a tree apart then me, fine, I left him a lone and he left me alone.

The cycles were coming light at first but then picked up, which was evident when clouds started to form in front of the other eagle launch.

Right in front of the launch there was a lot of sink and seriously considered Riverside LZ, but once you got further out, you were hosted up to near cloud base.

Once below 300m, the air was sinking again at the LZ. Made for a very nice landing. Packed it up and went home - Jim T.

July 1 Woodside/Bridal Cloudy with sunny periods and a few showers. Risk of thundershowers this afternoon. High 16 30% POP 240° at 12 knots 16 2 -2.5°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
850 m
2600 ft.
Woodside Report - it started out as a great training day for PGers, with a couple of early flights before 1:30 PM. Then it started pumping in strong cycles that even the HGers were waiting to launch into! I ended up flying Colleen's Simba into the gas station on east side of Woodside after a bit of soaring, then when it calmed Gerry L flew for 45 minutes in strong thermals before also heading over the back. Then it was HG time for Daryl S, Kim S, Mia, Joseph M and Mark T who logged 2+ hours.



Edmonton Canada Day Report - from Mike Spencer, only in Edmonton!

June 30 Woodside/Bridal Showers. Risk of thundershowers this afternoon. Rainfall amount to 25 millimetre. Westerly wind 30 to 50 km/h. High 17 100% POP 230° at 14 knots 17 3 -2.5°/1000'
(unstable lapse rate)
850 m
2600 ft.
Woodside Report - rain all day, no high winds materialized and there were a few flyable periods if you didn't mind landing on wet grass.

Jun 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 Clup 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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