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FlyBC "Site of the Day" - June/2010 Archives
Woodside until 4 pm, then Bridal
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Woodside Report - I was doing chores until 3 pm, after bailing on joining Derek & Martina at Bridal as I saw the shade over there and heard Alan was struggling below launch. I was waiting for Gary P to arrive for his private lesson, and we went up as we saw nice cycles in the sock on top. We met John on top after he had completed a 2 hour flight with Dennis and they just got flushed into Riverside. Prior to the flush it was quite strong and rough. Gary launched and John followed him and they were soon climbing nicely. After some tips Gary started thermalling smoother and they were well above launch in nice smooth lift. 
Gary & John climbing out at Woodside - photo by JPR After 30 minutes, Gary headed out to the Ranch as I arrived at the Mill Road turnoff. Norm arrived and we went up to unfold the Delta for his first flight on it. 
Norm climbing out at Woodside on his new Ozone Delta - photo by JPR Norm was soon climbing to 1400 meters well back from launch and then he headed to the North Bowl to top up and we saw him head to Sasquatch on full bar arriving at the other side at the same height! We lost sight of him and apparently he bailed and headed back as he saw Rob's Beach at Squakum was pretty small, landing at Bill Best's. Gary launched after Norm and was soon thermalling well all over the mountain with Thomm. This flight was over 2 hours when he finally landed at the Ranch. Thomm had top-landed to warm up when Colleen and I came back up and she launched and was flying with Gary. We saw Rob S flying low at Woodside after crossing from a flight at Benny, landing at Riverside. Thomm relaunched and I laid out the R09 and had quite a time getting a solid wing as the cycles were lame and cross. When I finally got in the air, I could see why there was no pwer left in the thermals as everyone started losing altitude. We scratched around for 20 minutes and all landed within a few seconds of each other at the Ranch. We headed up to retrieve and Gary got one last sledder. Nice day for him as he arrived at 3, got 3 flights and 3 hours of quality airtime. Bridal Gloat Report - Tom C reported he had an awesome day at Bridal on his Addict II. Flew to Elk, and then to Ludwig before top-landing to drive down. Derek was heard flying home to Agassiz from Bridal.
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Woodside Delta Report - what a nice day unfolded today. | It was cloudy and windy thru Mission but when I arrived at the Ranch it looked flyable and Justin and Dennis arrived, and Julie offered to drive us up so off we went to launch. It was strong at launch and dennis got "turtled" on his first try and then he was off and climbing on his Mystic 2. I had the new Ozone Delta here for a test flight, and when I say new we got Serial number 001! Norm is going to be very happy with this ride. I brought the wing up first time and as I turned to go, not enough brake apparently as I had a big collapse. I stopped and re-started with more brakes and this time I was off and climbing fast. Interestingly, the Delta feels like it has a high trim speed so it is perfect for high wind launches. Ridge and +4.5 m/s thermals took us up to 1200 meters easily. Dennis and I were "wing-tip to wing-tip" comparing sink rates and speed. I flew for 35 minutes over Woodside and saw some nice CU past Harvest and headed over there to find wind and small thermals, which translates to turbulence. Good way to test the Delta! After 45 minutes I give the Ozone Delta an excellent rating for speed, ease of handling and glide! Norm will supply more reports soon. Justin and I landed at Harvest in a good breeze. Julie retrieved us just as Derek pulled up from working at Weaver Lake. No retrieve issues today! Later Tom C arrived and he waited up top for some time and drove down as it got too windy, Alan said Bridal was a bust with no sun and strong south wind so we stayed home. Blanchard Gloat Report - I went stateside to pick up some items and hoped to give Blanchard a go. Twas quite windy right into Bellingham and I was unable to get hold of any pilots but I decided to check out the view. Arrived to see Sid soaring a hundred meters above. It was still quite gusty but local sky god, James gave it a thumbs up so into the void I went. It was like some previous flights I've had at Blanchard - mostly smooth with the occasional "hold on for dear life" missiles (bigger than bullets) but very nice flying to about 750 m. 
Kevin in front of Blanchard Launch - photo by KVA I flew for about an hour til I saw James head out on his hangy. He was my ticket back up. Landing was laminar and strong. Overall a very nice last day of school! - Kevin
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Woodside Report - heavy rain most of the day, so I went up Grouse to check out the launch and the LZ. It was raining there too! | At least the grass seed at the new Benny launch will be getting soaked and can start germinating this week. If it hasn't washed away.
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Woodside Report - we started at 9 am, and managed to get 2 tandems in for Bonnie and Trevor, and a solo flight in for James. Then the heavens opened up and it rained hard all day and most of the night. The forecast was all wrong for Environment Canada. Even the winds were much lighter than forecast. | 
Trevor and Colleen's tandem flight captured on the webcam this morning - photo by FlyBC Webcam Golden Ears Report - Richard T flew Golden Ears during the gusty winds on Saturday and survived on his Ozone Geo II! Wouter's Flatland Report - Had a great weekend flying the flatlands in Holland. On Saturday we had probably the best day ever towing and thermalling. +4m/s climbs up to 1000 meters! That is pretty exceptional for our dutch flying. Ten tandems in total and some more student-guiding. Practicing helicopters on an airwave gecko, they are much easier on such stable wings than on the 6907 - Wouter (soon off to the Alps for 3 weeks with Johannes)
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Woodside Report - we had four new students starting today, Gerry & James did some great ground handling yesterday, so they we ahead of Bonnie & Trevor at the start. | Good SE winds for ground handling on the training hill and Gerry & James got airborne on the training hill many times. We took a break for lunch and some classroom time when it got gusty around noon. The vultures were climbing out quickly from the Ranch and not smoothly, very turbulent. A large group of advanced pilots were at the Ranch waiting to get a flight report when Trevor B arrived in his new chopper, a Robertson R44, he recently bought from Vegas. 
Trevor's new chopper - photo by JPR Trevor took Thomm and Gary P for a ride up to check out the conditions, and they reported going up at 500 ft/min at idle near launch! We waited and waited and around 6 pm it was still gusty and everyone was tired so we suspended training until tomorrow, even tandems although possible were not going to help train a new student, so we start early tomorrow. Bridal Report - Nice day at Bridal in the end. Wally actually launched at 2 or something and survived a few low saves and was in the air until late. Ryan and I went off later at 5 ish and had 3 hrs. I did a lap, fun running along in the shade in light suck down by Ludwig - Alex R
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Benny Work Report - a large crew showed up at the Parking Lot around 12:30 pm, and the Mog and FJ went up to launch. Two new students showed up at noon for ground handling but it was too windy so James & Gerry got roped into launch building and off-road adventuring. | 
Benny Work Party, smoothing launch - photo by JPR The hard work at building the launch slope was completed by al this week and we just did some handwork, smoothing with rakes and shovels, spreading grass seed, building a drainage ditch, and a bridge over the small creek. 
Benny Swimming Hole, with log bridge - photo by JPR We installed two Ozone windsocks on metal poles, hopefully no one will steal them. It is a long way up a fairly rugged 4x4 road, so only the odd quad may get up there. Al laid out on some tarps and was off into the clouds which were right above launch height 1100 meters. He flew north to Shotgun and found some wind coming back towards launch. 
Al just back to Benny after venturing north to Shotgun - photo by JPR Alex R launched next and it was much clearer and nice CUs were developing on the ridges south. It was amazingly less windy up there, even though reports from the Fraser Valley said it was very gusty (Hope 35kph+ & Cultus even stronger). 
Alex soaring Benny - photo by JPR We drove down as we wanted to get the new guys some kiting, and Derek volunteered to drive the FJ down, sacrificing a nice flight. When we arrived at the parking lot 45 minutes later, Alex was just arriving at the Dewdney Ridge looking for lift at about 500 meters. Eventually Nicole, Robin and Rob all flew with Al and Alex and they were all soaring Dewdney when Derek got there. More info on the flights at Nicole's Blog Successful work party: 2 bags of grass seed spread, 2 windsocks installed, lots of raking and smoothing. Thanks to Al & Rob's dedication it is nearly complete! It is recommended that only pilots with 100+ hours of experience fly this site until we establish a good bailout LZ and determine the air flows are suitable for lower airtime pilots. When we arrived at the Ranch it was still gusty and not flyable, but we managed an hour of ground handling for James & Gerry. They are ready for tomorrow!
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Woodside Report - a slow start as the day didn't start working until later. | I arrived at 12:30 pm, after doing some errands to find Shane and Brett waiting for me. Shane had to put his glider back together after a Bridal tree-landing several weeks ago. They had to unhook the risers to get it out of a tree, otherwise it was intact. Brett did a line-stretch tuneup on his glider before we went flying. Shane was heading home, and Lucien arrived so it was just Brett and Lucien flying this afternoon. First flight was a sledder, with reversible conditions. Then it turned on and Brett had a 25 minute thermalling flight before landing at the Ranch. Nice work! Third flight, Brett was all alone until Derek, Norm and Martina arrived and he was working some nice ridge lift and thermals and was above launch to the north for about 30 minutes before I sent him over to Harvest Market for his first XC. Airtime for the day now 70 minutes! 
Brett on flight #2 today on his Ozone Rush - photo by JPR I retrieved Brett and we were back on launch for the magic glassoff with Darryl, Martina and Derek. He launched around 5 pm, and landed after 8 pm. Airtime now 4 hours and 10 minutes for the day! Amazing given the conditions earlier on. Today Brett achieved enough airtime to qualify for his Novice rating (4 hours) in one afternoon.
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Woodside Report - student Brock was back after a few weeks away at work, and he had a brilliant reverse launch in light winds but his helmet cam didn't work. He reported it was getting gusty in the Ranch as he missed the circle but he wasn't in a pond :-) | Jim T and Steve D also flew but no one stayed up long as it was still light around noon. Then I went to Benny and helped the crew there by bringing up fuel, interesting drive up and down on the most brutal 4x4 road in the Province! Bridal Report - Tom C sent me his gloat report late last night: 5:45 soaring around with Alan D after they hiked up. Nice! Others were not liking the air as much and landed after an hour, too weird and windy some said.
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Woodside Report - I had to go to Blaine WA to pickup Jim T's new Gin Sprint M so I wasn't back to the Ranch til noon, oddly Canada Customs whisked me through the B3 process in 10 minutes. | I arrived to find John (a pilot from Toronto), waiting for a briefing and Jim T waiting for his new ride, and we went up as soon as Cassie arrived. Cassie was here for her 19th Birthday Present from her Dad Norm. We have taken 2 of his kids previously, oldest son and I ended up in Agassiz High School, middle daughter and I went to Harvest so Cassie was expecting a great flight . . . and the weather gods delivered. We arrived on launch at 2 pm to cloudy skies and lame cycles and an inversion. Dennis R tagged a ride up with us and agrees that waiting was the right call, after enjoying the views for 30 minutes the sun started to poke through and we were getting strong cycles!! Cassie and I got ready and we were soon soaring the South Knoll and caught a nice climb through the inversion to 1300 meters where we waited for Dennis. It was very easy to stay up, but we decided to try the CU over the north cliffs and lost it all and we were back at launch height, but back to the nice thermal and we were back to 'base. We flew out after 25 minutes and explored the Valley. There was no wind aloft or in the Valley so it was fun just boating around until we landed at the Ranch. New student Gary P arrived to try his new Ozone Buzz and we were back in the truck for another round. Cassie wanted to go again and Norm was driving so we loaded up the tandem again. Nice launch cycles for Jim T, John and Gary as they launched solo. Dennis was still in the air from his first launch at 2:30. After Gary landed we setup the tandem and off we went not expecting any great climbs but right off launch we hit a thermal and we took it to 1300 meters again. With the IQSonic audio vario, there is no climb rate indicator but I would guess a steady +3 m/s climb was established. 
Cassie & I were enjoying the views from 1300 meters - photo by Cassie We flew around for another 25 minutes and flew straight out to the confluence of the Fraser and Harrison Rivers and it was super smooth out there, when we turned back to the Ranch we were still at launch height where there was no wind? 
Cassie & I were checking out the rivers and the Kilby peninsula - photo by Cassie We kept driving up to launch all afternoon til 7 pm and managed to get Gary 4 flights on the new Buzz. Excellent reverse launches on his second full day of flying (and many other kiting days). 
Gary on his new Ozone Buzz - photo by JPR Reports from Bridal indicated sledders at this time, so Martina was taking Alan for her first Bridal Tandem to prepare for BFAR. Apparently landing conditions were tricky as one of the pilots was seen doing his best "Ricky Bobby" impression after landing in the pond. For those unfamiliar with Talledega Nights (a Will Ferrell movie about NASCAR racing), see below. 
I'm on fire! I am on fire! No Ricky you are not! . . . as Ricky Bobby strips down and runs around the track in his gonch - photo by ? Martina and Alan had a nice landing avoiding any embarrassment for them after soaring above launch. Derek and Ihor had great flights with Derek making it to 1701 meters and cloudbase several times. Ihor got several good climbs and flew as long as he wanted. Derek toplanded to drive Andrei's rig down after some scratching.  
Bob decided that the Ozone Oxygen I harness looked like a good hiding place! - photo by JPR
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Woodside Report - as forecast, the skies above Woodside Launch started to clear around 1 pm. Not a really high ceiling, in fact our heads were in the clouds but we could see the ground. Jimmy T and Brett R were out hoping to fly. | Not really teachable conditions as I would lose sight of the ground and a possible student flight path at times, so we waited. And waited. Eventually we decided to drive down and do some ground school and everyone left at 4 pm and just after they left the ceiling was at least 200 feet above launch, figures! Word back from Heiko was that he is okay, no damage after his "spin-rotor-drill" landing, except to his glider. Ten cut suspension lines due to an overzealous Paramedic, and a full line set is only 300 euros. Thanks again to Rob H, Dan, Robert, Paul, Colleen and Thomm for coordinating the rescue. Nice teamwork for a fellow downed flier!
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Woodside Mayhem Report - we had 5 students out today, and three of them bailed as the ceiling was low and they had early evening commitments, leaving new students Robert and Paul to hopefully get their first solos. | Cloudbase was low and we eventually started seeing launch around 3 pm. Rob H, Heiko and Dan came out and were our "wind-techs" and they were able to launch and fly safely and after Dan landed he thought it too bouncy for first flights. For some reason Heiko thought it would be better to fly north of Hwy 7 rather than the preferred line to the Maple Tree? He was pushing into a good headwind and barely making the field. Rob was much higher as he held the correct upwind line to the Maple Tree. Rob had a front row seat to Heiko's SIV maneuvers close to the ground, and I could see it from launch. First thing I saw was what looked like wingovers? Apparently Heiko was overcontrolling some surges and got a few small collapses. Then he had a frontal which he overbraked and it looked like the glider was spinning for 3 turns so I yelled "hands-up" over the radio. The spinning stopped just as he touched down, but he hit fairly hard in the corn field. Rob had a good landing in the circle and ran over to check him out. Heiko was complaining of a sore back and his arms and legs were moving and he had good colour and was breathing okay but he requested an ambulance, so one was dispatched. It must have been a slow day as 2 arrived and got lost on Kilby Road. Thomm drove down to direct them and Heiko was soon on a stretcher and off to Chilliwack. Unfortunately one of the paramedics thaought it would be a good idea to cut Heiko's lines?? Maybe he didn't want Heiko to fly again for a while?? I stopped him but a few lines were severed so we will have to order some new lines. Apparently Cynthia was bored at work and looked at the webcam just in time to see the two ambulances carrying her friend Heiko out of the field and was calling frantically. I assured her everything was okay. Lesson learned: If the glider is not behaving well, go "hands up" and let it fly. Typically when a situation gets worse brakes are not the solution, rather the cause of a cascade of events leading up to a crash or reserve toss. I hope Heiko learned his lesson today. Last report from Heiko this morning at 9 am, is that he is released and heading home under his own steam. Thanks to Tom C and crew for bringing up the extra black carpet for Woodside. I will pin it down when I am up next. Last time I looked up they were soaring under the clouds so it stayed buoyant.
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Woodside Report - good kiting conditions in the Eagle Ranch LZ for new students Robert and Rich. Irene and Gary P joined in for some kiting action too, as Gary was trying out his new Ozone Buzz. | We watched a few gliders come in at the Ranch, but most were staying up above the North Towers for several hours, until they all came out to land in the same space of time . . . into major turbulence as the winds picked up mid-day. Some shaky landings but everyone walked away with only a few grass-stains! It never calmed down until around 7 pm, just before it started raining. So the students didn't get to fly but made great progress kiting. Reports from Bridal early on said 1000 meter cloudbase and hard work staying up. Then it got gusty and turbulent there too. I am not sure anyone flew after 5 pm. Sumasochistic Wackn'fly - Saturday June 19 - Did my annual bushwack up the north side of Sumas Mtn today. The route is well marked by ribbons but whoever the individual who made the trail is, he/she doesn't believe in switchbacks. I think the most mellow part of this route is as steep as Elk gets and most of it is straight up around the various rock bluffs . The 900 meter ascent took me one hour forty minutes and I arrived at launch to find it socked in. However, this turned out to be thermic development and I soon had nice intermittent views of the valley. Launch conditions were a little cross from the west - weird because it was only 10:30 am. However, in the air, I hit some great lift and played in the clouds for about fifteen minutes before heading out to check the Fraser Valley. I was high enough to fly to the Keith Wilson Bailey bridge and back to set up for a landing on the dike near my vehicle. I could have stayed up longer but I could see wind picking up in the trees so landing at 11:15 was a good call. As I drove home through Yarrow, it became very gusty and seemed to increase for the rest of day - Kevin A Grouse Pirep - Alex and I flew Grouse today...it was SE and low cloudbase (1050m) so we launched off the Cut which was barely out of the clouds. Flew about 1 hour before heading out to land. Nice mellow flying but it had the potential to get big (big towering cu's on Vancouver Island). And the best part, only 15 minutes from the house to the gondola - Nicole
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Woodside Report - new student Brad was out again today and we did one more tandem in perfect student conditions to let him fly the approach into Eagle Ranch one last time before commiting to solo flight. | Jimmy Teakles was back after a world trip to Pemby, Saskatoon and lately Calgary and he traded in his Buzz L on a new Gin Sprint. He flew a few times today logging some much needed airtime. Joe C was back terrorizing launch but it was a slow day so no worries. At the end of the day after Alan, Robin S, and Kevin A had flown I had Joe and Brad kiting on launch until they had perfect wings and they both launched. Brad caught a good themal out by the bailout and we had him 150 meters over launch on solo #1. Alan was complaining that cloudbase was only 1000 meters, but he still logged 3+ hours of airtime, only getting flushed around 5 pm. Nice air today but cloudbase was indeed low. Ozone Mantra R10.2 from Brett Hazlett on Vimeo. Rat Race Report - The Rat Race is going full swing here in southern Oregon. 
The Rat Race crew - photo by LB Well in excess of a hundred pilots competing, thirty some wind-techs and many more volunteers. This all makes for some pretty busy, glider filled skies. 
The Rat Race gaggle - photo by LB The organizing committee keeps setting the tasks, tougher and longer with each day. The Canadian contingent seems to be holding its own, thought there are a lot of really good pilots to contend with. 
Louise on glide to the next turnpoint above many gliders - photo by LB This can be taken both ways, great guys to learn from and pimp lift off of, though tough contenders to be competing against. Lift has been strong and the gaggles large, though this helps with finding lift and making goal. All in all - time well spent. See you on the flip side - Louise
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Mt. St. Benedict Report - today looked like a good day to work on the road up Benny with 70% chance of showers and no flying likely, so Al rented an excavator and we headed up around noon. | 
The Benny Convoy today - photo by JPR Alex, Nicole and I met at the bottom and headed up in the 'Mog. Al and Rob were shuttling up the excavator and clearing the big rocks and making some cross-ditches and we ran into them and started hand clearing some brush. It started to rain lightly, and then harder and harder and the temps dropped rapidly. 
Al's excavator clearing the biggest rock off the road - photo by JPR We were making good progress on the brush work and small rock clearing, when Al came down announcing that a track popped off the excavator. 
Al's excavator blew a track partway up the road - photo by JPR The service truck was called and we started hand clearing further up the road and made it to launch to scope the area. There are a few trees need clearing when Derek gets home, if he is up to it after a hard week at the Rat Race. The launch need to be sloped with the excavator. When we hiked back to the excavator, Al and the service guy were almost finished and the track was on and tensioned and the unit went about 2 feet and the track popped off again, so the tensioner is faulty requiring a major fix on the trail tomorrow. We got off the mountain around 8:30 pm, and I was soaked and frozen and a hot shower felt pretty good. Al & Rob are heading back up tomorrow to help the service crew and hopefully can make it to launch and get started as it looks much better to work today without the rain.
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Woodside Report - I was expecting a tandem at noon, and new student Brad was here from 10 am for his first training day. | Brad and I went out to the LZ to kite and he did about 10 perfect forward launches on his Buzz, and then proceeded to dazzle me with his reverse launches! When the tandem failed to show by 1:00 pm, we decided to go for our own tandem, although Brad had done 2 tandems in Nepal last winter it is always good to go tandem to show a new student the approach into Eagle Ranch. Ivan was picking up his new Ozone Swift and also was out kiting, and offered to drive for us so retrieves were not an issue. We had an awesome launch, picking the perfect cycle and we were off before the carpet edge and climbing fast under a cloudy sky. It was forecast to be unstable, but we had little sun and we were still climbing at +3 m/s. It was rough in spots and Brad commented that it was much rougher than Nepal thermals. After we climbed up to 1000 meters, I gave Brad the brakes and he was on course for his first Woodside landing approach. 
Woodside today, cloudy but thermic - photo by JPR We had a nice smooth flight out arriving very high so Brad could practice his figure-8's into the Ranch. We had a super-landing too, despite the windsocks all pointing in different directions. I decided a straight-in south approach felt right and even though the main windsock was limp we had a no-step landing? More kiting for Brad as he didn't feel ready to solo and it was strongish in the air for a first solo. He did even better than before kiting the Buzz! Ivan wanted me to take the Swift for a test flight, so we went back up with tandem, Swift and Mojo 3 in case conditions improved for Brad. When we arrived at launch, Wally and Andrei were there trying to decide whether to fly or not and it was quite gusty. They stood down and after about 20 minutes it calmed down enough for me to lay out the Swift. A nice lull came and I launched the Swift and was climbing and going slightly backwards. Good thing I hooked up the speedbar! I flew staright out as Ivan had a dinner date with home, but was climbing all the way. A few turns over the bailout swamp took me higher and backwards again, and when I hit the ridge I had to go on 3/4 bar to penetrate out even though I was 3 kilos over the placarded weight range. I held bar on til the Maple Tree and then did a sideways approach into some pretty big gusts. When we left the field was calm?? Big change in 30 minutes. Nice landing nowhere near the circle, but it was soft. Ivan took his new ship home satified that Ozone had put it together right! Blanchard Report - Matty Senior from Seattle posted that he had a great flight at Blanchard on his Ozone R10 , but had to land short of Canada as he forgot his passport again.
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Lumby Report - Kevin reported weird, awesome flying on Saturday and dangerous conditions on Sunday. | The Comp Pilots registered had a 50 km triangle task and Claudio came in first place with Greg H close behind flying a nagged out Boom 2 and an acro harness! Greg should have borrowed the R09 from me but I didn't know he was even going. Kevin's Report - A good time was had by the many pilots at Lumby this year but for us Fraser Valley flyers it wasn't so much about the comp. Friday was cloudy with about 4 hours of parawaiting for a fifteen minute scratch/sled. Saturday looked to be epic from the forecast - light winds and high base, so Alex, Nicole, Al and I decided to try going our own way, possibly to Revelstoke or East to Nukusp. Glenn D was thinking the same way so we agreed to watch for each other. We all launched within a few minutes which was lucky with approximately hundred pilots lined up. We all got up pretty quickly and soon Alex and Nicole headed east to the Saddle. I followed and we worked a thermal but there were not great height gains to be made compared with my last visit to Lumby. We headed to Rawlins Cliffs, Alex in front. Nicole found a thermal about one k before the cliffs and I joined her in it. Alex went all the way to Rawlins and was soon getting flushed. Alex could not recover and ended up landing. Meanwhile Al Theilmann joined Nicole and I. I started for the Camel Hump and didn't like my sink rate so I turned back to rejoin Nicole and Al who had stayed put. They got higher and left for the Hump while I worked to et high enough to cross again. I could see Nicole getting above, Al working hard to join her. Shortly after, they disappeared around the back and I made the crossing. There was a fair amount of west wind and I found it hard to get high over the "hump". If you got low, you needed to start out to land because apart from the hump cliff, the surrounding terrain is actually low angle forest which meant working a lot over trees. Several minutes later, Al and Nicole reported that they had landed in a high plateau area behind the hump . I worked my way west towards Norm who had also come to try out the hump. He got a nice climb to the west and then got low heading back to Rawlins and like Alex, got flushed down to the same field. I also low and was lining up to join Norm when I felt a bubble and worked and worked and a few minutes later I was high above the hump. All my mates were down now so I decided to try to make this flight an out and return. I arrived back at Rawlins high and spent 30 minutes fighting to stay up. Jonas, a swiss pilot, joined me as did a young french pilot tandeming his girlfriend. We all found our own thermals which converged and for at least five minutes, we cored this thermal agressively. The tandem pilot was amazing on his small Magnum. He had that thing absolutely wound up to the point where I wondered why his passenger wasn't puking her guts out. I think I reached 1700 meters and started north for Saddle, the tandem following me lower, Jonas heading to the Camel. I was able to get high again at Saddle, make it to back to Coopers, get high and then just to push my luck, I cruised to the turnpoint at the south end of Lumby Ridge, hit the west wind and got flushed down to join Veronica in a field just out of town. A fun and challenging flight even if I didn't do the task (which only one pilot, Claudio fully completed.) Sunday was a wash for the comp. Coopers had significant wind blowing over the back. The organizers decided to relocate to Saddle but a bunch of us decided to try out luck at Baldy in Vernon. We arrived just as a few pilots were getting up and just before it started to get quite gusty at the LZ. Alex got high pretty quickly and announced that he was going over the back. I got high enough to do the same about ten minutes later only to hear that Alex had landed in pretty unfriendly conditions. This deterred me and I fought my way back to launch where conditions were getting more and more gusty (Glenn cancelled flying for his students). As I was going out to land I hit a very powerful thermal and went for it. I could see Norm L and Max Fanderl far above me but not for long. Soon enough I was at 1800 meters and heading for Lumby hopefully to land in better air than the reports I was hearing from the LZ, (pilots hitting the wall and going backwards)I. As I cruised east, my GPS registered 70 km/hr. The air was trashy. I flew though one thermal holding on for dear life and reviewing my reserve throwing procedures. When I hit the next violent one I decided to turn in it and within seconds I was at 2000 meters. Lumby was now in clear view and getting to Randy's looked easy. In fact, I flew to the Saddle launch where all the hangies were stacked on the tiny launch. I was a few hundred meters over and when I turned back towards Randy's I was catapulted up a hundred meters in washing machine air which apparently was enough to have most of the paraglider competitors head for their cars. My descent was eventful - constant turbulence, looking for sink, fighting the west wind but observing the east wind down at Randy's and getting ready for the sheer layer. I had seen a paraglider landing as I entered the valley and took some comfort. Later I learned it was the hot french pilot on a small acro wing and the guy was just getting the hell out of the sky. I landed dramatically by getting dropped from about two meters up and plf's rather than risk injury. The LZ was insane; up to 25 km/hr gusts from 270 degrees. I had to stake down Matt's 16X12 canvas cabin to avoid it getting flipped. One hangy veered of course on final and almost clipped a vehicle whose driver had stupidly parked it by the runway. I'll end this report by forwarding Glenn D's tracklog from Saturday. While us hotshot visitors were bobbing around trying to make this valley work, this local bugger did what he said he was going to do. He landed in Revelstoke! Way to go, Mr. D! Fantastic flight - Kevin A 
Glen's tracklog from Lumby to Mabel Lake to Revy - photo by Google Earth
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Woodside Report - I suspected we would have a windy day, so we got to launch early around 10 am. Josef C & Glenn L were out today, Glenn on his 5th day and Josef back after a 7 month hiatus due to too much work. | Glenn got his new Ultralite 19 in the air with ease despite the stronger cycles and he was soon climbing all the way to the Ranch. Josef took some time to get off as he hasn't been kiting. But he managed to scrape off launch and head to the Ranch too. I could see it was fairly windy but good lift all the way. 
Woodside today from the ranch between flights - photo by JPR We headed back up and Glenn again launched first and had a 45 minute soaring flight with 20 minutes of climbing and maintaining over Duncan's and the riverbanks before a super landing near the circle. Josef then launched and he got super-high over launch on his glider before I sent him to the Ranch. After those 4 brilliant flights it got a bit windy for newbies, so we went to the Sasquatch for a debrief and lunch. Some more kiting and as it never clmed down by 6 pm, the day was done. Rob S and Martin N were at Bridal LZ but no flight reports.
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Woodside Report - Colleen had the first flight at 10 am, testing the air for the students, but it wasn't good even that early. Too windy near Duncan's barns, very thermic and not appropriate for the newbies. | So we drove down, and by the time we arrived at the Ranch the launch was closing in and it was gusty on the ground at Eagle Ranch. We decided kiting was the best use of our time waiting and Joe, Richard, Hava and Lee were having a great time learning our patented "FlyBC Reverse Technique", guaranteed to make you look like a "rockstar" in a few tries. Brock showed up a bit later and was on a slightly larger medium wing and got blown over the back of the training hill and flew backwards to land! I observed a large unidentified group on launch getting setup and then a Sky ATIS launched and I didn't recognize the pilot who promptly got sucked into the CU above launch and I overheard the others commenting as he got spit out the backside of the CU and into the rotor on the way towards Harvest! One other pilot launched and the rest packed up and dropped in at the Ranch - it was the Kamloops Fliers and Dangerous Dave was the cloud flier. They got blown out Saturday & Sunday so they came to Mother Woodside for some airtime. We sent the students home after it started raining, and at 5 pm, the skies cleared. Ryan L finished writing his Novice Exam with a 87% pass mark, and we were all ready to fly as the skies cleared. A group of us headed up and I was designated wind tech on the R09. Nice launch cycles and some CUs, but I launched too soon as the lift was pretty broken up unless you stayed in close. After 15-20 minutes I headed out not recommending student flights and landed softly at the Ranch in no wind. Flavio from Brazil came out to get his HPAC Temp Insurance and launched after me and got above launch, and enjoyed some valley thermals before landing at the Ranch, as I got a ride up with Rob S. By the time we got up there Thomm had launched on the demo Mantra M3 and was climbing fast, Ryan L joined him and they were heading skyward . . . glassoff! 
Thomm testing the Mantra M3 - photo by CMV Colleen launched next and was soon climbing too. Rob was in the launch slot on his R10.3 and into the abyss, not wasting any time. Reports back from Colleen and others that it was smooth didn't convince Annette & John as they "grew roots" on launch. 
Colleen and Thomm over Woodside - photo by JPR Thomm flew all the way out to the Ranch and arrived at 800 meters and returned to launch not losing a meter! Colleen did an ``out &return`` too to test the air and was suggesting everyone fly, but the rest of us were tired and hungry so we drove the vehicles down. 
The clouds over Bridal suggested good lift too, but no pilots were out there - photo by JPR
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Woodside Report - three new students: Hava, Lee and Joe teamed up with older students Richard and Glenn and we had a fabulous day. | Senior students Irene & Robin were also out flying and Robin got way above launch when I talked her into a thermal! Not bad for being away 7 months, come back soon. 
Robin thermalling out on her Ozone Geo II - photo by JPR Colleen spent most of the morning kiting with the newbies, while the other students flew and later in the day we took Hava and Lee tandem, but Joe decided he wanted to fly solo without a tandem first and he had a brilliant first flight. Richard had 2 solos to add to his 2 Savona solos and he is looking pretty good too! Amazing progress in a few days. Havii and Lee are ready to solo tomorrow morning. 
Gary P was out kiting and testing out the UP Kantega we have for sale, and under 2 year old Reese was helping Dad lay out the glider. Pretty cute! - photo by JPR Gloat Reports from Bridal came in later with Alan D getting 6+ hours, and Rob S was doing Sammy's from Elk to Butterfly in under 1:45 on his R10.3 race ship flying for 4 hours. There was an early inversion at about 1200 meters, but it apparently broke enough for climbs to 1500 meters at Bridal. Rob`s flight detailed here 11 TH FAI EUROPEAN PARAGLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP - results and live tracking here. 9 out of top 10 pilots flying Ozone R10.2s!
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Savona Report - we made the call around 8 am, to head to Savona as cloudbase was low at Woodside and it was lightly raining. | As we got to Lytton, it was clear and dry and light west winds. We cruised by Ashcroft Drag Strip and it was still west. Arriving at Savona, we had perfect west winds at 10-15 kph right up the Toilet Bowl and we started kiting. Dave M, Glenn L, and Cheryl T were old hands after 2 days at Woodside, but still learned a lot flying off the Bowl 5 times. Everyone mastered the reverse launch technique, and had perfect reverse launches on the Bowl Ridge. Amazing. 
Cheryl flying the Prima 22 off the Toilet Bowl . . . and soaring - photo by JPR New student Richard W arrived late yesterday and saw some flights but was just learning to kite this morning and after a few hours he too was flying off the Toilet Bowl enjoying the perfect conditions. 
Cheryl landing the Prima 22 at the Toilet Bowl . . . notice how green Savona is after months of rain - photo by JPR It is incredibly green here. Months of rain and cold have changed the flora here. Less cactus, and a crop of fall rye is sprouting on the Crash Pad. All the cleared areas have a nice yellow flower growing creating a perfect target. The trees are falling at a great rate due to the pine beetle and winds, and I counted only 40 trees left to fall on the Toilet Bwol before we have a perfect soaring ridge. At 5:30 pm, we headed up to Oscar's PG Launch, and waited for some cycles. It was cross and down from the north. after a few clouds cleared away we had nice cycles and Dave laid his Rush out, and was soon in the air and climbing. He caught a nice thermal just east of the HG launch and was well above launch and made many turns getting used to the setup with the hiking harness and Rush combo. He landed at the Crash Pad near the cars. Nice control. 
Dave just off Oscar's Launch at Savona - photo by JPR Glenn launched next on the Ultralite 19 and he was soon soaring the same thermals as Dave, and doing really well again getting above launch and he headed out a bit sooner and was surprised on landing as the winds switched to SE as he was flying and he had a bit of a "down-winder" but ran it out on the Crash Pad. Cheryl was next off the launch on her Prima 22, as the Sky ATIS got left in another vehicle. She was climbing at first but hit some sink and wind and she was concerned about making the Toilet Bowl, and radioed back her concerns so she landed at the Valley LZ to be sure. Nice decision making for her third day flying! We went to the Pub around 7:30 to regroup and discuss the day, and everyone seemed happy with the flights! It was a long drive home getting back at 11 pm, for a late dinner, but worth the kms and the time to get some quality flying in. It did clear up at Woodside around 3 pm, but we had a better day with the kiting and reverse training on the Savona flights. Lumby Report - Kevin, Al and Matt J are up in Lumby and the flights there were pretty short as the North wind we were enjoying at Savona was blowing over the back at Coopers. Flights were just 9 minutes to 30 minutes long. Saturday looks good though! Woodrat Report - good soaring as early as 10 am according to Derek. The comp starts there Saturday and there are many BC pilots there along with the D & M Agassiz Team.
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Woodside Report - dedication and perseverance required today but we managed 3 first solo high flights and second solo high flights for Dave, Cheryl and Glenn on their second day here. | We had to use the FlyBC Webcam to check cloudbase when we were sitting in the clouds to see how long we had to wait to safely launch, using the iPhone. 
Dave on his first flight off Woodside - photo by JPR Everyone had marvelous flights with awesome first landings, some unguided as radios can fail, but everyone landed very close to the circle! The second flights were soarable, and lasted 20 minutes and Colleen was there to receive them and give them the finer points of landing. We have a new student joining us tonight that is here for an Intermediate Course so we are heading to Savona to avoid the low clouds and rain til Saturday.
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Savona Monsoon Report - we arrived at Ashcroft Manor at 10:30 am, to light rain. After a few hours of ground school, the rain lightened up and we saw the sun a few times! | The wind was too light to kite and the ground too wet as the hay hasn't been harvested, so on to Savona. Sheesh! I haven't seen rain this bad even lately on the coast! We got some breaks around the punch bowl, but it was nasty. I looked at the FlyBC Webcam and it looked a lot better at home and Alan confirmed that, so we headed down to the Ranch arriving late so no flying :-( 
FlyBC WebCam image from today - photo by WebCam Maybe tomorrow??
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Woodside Report - a fairly late start with gliders getting in the air around 1 pm, due to the lee conditions. | I launched after about 6 gliders, and found a sweet thermal near launch that a redtail hawk pointed out, and I climbed up with the hawk getting to 1200 meters. As more folks joined the thermal it got a bit busy, so I headed to the north ridge where climbed higher again. Pretty smooth air for me on the R09, but others were complaining of "dis-organized thermals" and turbulence. I had enough height to try a Sasquatch Crossing, and the R09 sure glided over there nicely losing very little across to the first hump where there was no lift. 
My toes heading over to Sasquatch at 1100 meters - photo by JPR I had a student arriving at 2 pm, so I didn't want to land out so I headed back to the Ranch and saw Rob heading over to Sasquatch on his R10.3 raceship, and I said there is no lift over there but he continued on and eventually landed at the Squakum Park Beach where driver Thomm (down with a sore back from a non-paragliding related activity) went to retrieve him. 
Rob heading to Sasquatch on the Ozone Mantra R10.3 - photo by JPR Super nice landing conditions with the long grass in the Ranch and I pegged the circle easily and packed up quick to take Gary P for his 3 & 4 th flights. His first reverse launch went well and he had a 45 minute flight soaring like an expert! Flight 4 was another reverse launch with a shorter flight time but still very nice buoyant air. Alex R and Nicole arrived around 2 pm and launched and headed over the back despite the cloud cover and they both landed at Ruby Creek. Rob headed over to Bridal and logged another 2.5 hours, with Alan (4 hours) and Kevin (3 hours) all landing rather late in the day. Bring on the rain for 2 days or more . . . ughhhh!
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Whidbey Report - The call for Whidbey was the right one. | 
Alex W at Whidbey`s Fort Ebey - photo by Nataliya We got there by 2:30 PM, it was on from the West, a bit gusty at times but not unmanagable. 
Alex W at Whidbey`s Fort Ebey - photo by Nataliya Conditions made for a great kiting session, and a bunch of short touch-n-go flights. The locals were out as well, pilots on slower wings were very occasionally flying backwards, but no mishaps. 
Alex W at Whidbey`s Fort Ebey with some local fliers - photo by Nataliya Locals eventually decided and went XC to Ebey's landing, but it got too strong to my liking by that time, so we packed up and left. All in all, the place was flyable, and I got some airtime! - Cheers, Alex W Blanchard Report - I went down to Blanchard after 2 pm, to see if it was flyable as i thought I was too late and the winds looked too light for Whidbey and saw 4 paragliders in the air. They werenèt very high and they were transmitting on 158.400 mhz about going XC to Sumas?? One had no passport, so I guess they thought they would cross the border there? 
Four unidentified pilots in this picture at Blanchard - photo by JPR I waited for 20 minutes and they were not getting higher and no one came along to pick me up, so I headed home with the small demo Ozone Rush II and small demo Ozone Mantra M3 that are now availbe for demos for a few weeks from the Ozone Demo Pool - Jim 
Rainbow at Woodside last night as I mowed the circles - photo by JPR Chelan XC Report - Steve Thibault flying an Ozone Mantra M3 flew for 100 Kms. Steve's flight here
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Woodside Report - there was one clearing around 2 pm, but it didn't last long and was followed by a huge rain cell that hit as I was mowing the landing circles. | Undaunted I continued mowing, but looked like a drowned rat when finished.
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Woodside Report - we started early and Martina went off first to check the air for Matt S. Perfect launch cycles early on, and light thermals even at 10 am! | Martina and Matt had two flights before the rest of the gang showed up, and then the mountain got busy. Martin H had his ATOS ready when we took a Vanload of pilots up. Alex R launched on the MacPara Magus XC test ship, and was working hard in the leeside air. Oddly, I didn't see any forecast of leeside winds, but the clouds at Woodside and Sasquatch showed the truth. Alex R climbed out well near the South Knoll, Martin H not so well for a time until he got above and to the NE of launch. Martin H was soon headed to Sasquatch with Alex R tagging along. Alex R was soon above Martin on Sasquatch. Complaints were registed at the bar later that Alex was right on Martin's keel the entire flight. Dennis, Nikolai, and Greg H (on Norm's Factor) was also headed west on Sasquatch when I went to get propane at Lake Erroch, and doing quite well despite the leeside conditions. They all went to Dewdney and return to Woodside, except Alex R was soon reporting soaring on the backside of Cheam in south winds before heading back to Harvest Market. Alex R's flight here Norm was flying a loaner Rush I and complaining about the thermals, so we put him on a Mojo 3 later. Meanwhile we had suspended student flights due to the leeside conditions and Martina took them kiting at Eagle Ranch. Around 4:30 pm, we went back and they had some brilliant soaring flights with Matt S, Brock and Irene all above launch for 30 minutes or more. 
Brock just off Launch on his new Sky ATIS, he was soon above launch enjoying his new ride - photo by JPR As the students were climbing out, Al slipped in in a bad cycle from his glide over from Sasquatch to end his XC from Mt. St. Benedict where he was met by Alex R headed the other way earlier. Many other nice flights were enjoyed in the later air, including Mia who hiked all the way up from the HG LZ with her new Gin Sprint and was soon at 1500 meters over Woodside, and we were still launching at 7:30 pm, so it was a long day! 
Matt flying above Woodside on his new Ozone Rush - photo by Martina in air Lots of XC today. A few reports from Bridal but only a few gliders spotted there including Alan D who finally decided to fly despite concerns.
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Interior Report - we drove back through Sicamous to take Megan & the grandkids back to home in Westbank with a stop at the World Famous Goat Bridge at the Log Barn to feed the goats. | I was going to get dropped off at Mara Launch and then I could fly to the Log Barn about 30 kms south but it was raining in Sicamous and cloudbase was rather low, so we just went to see the goats. 
Shot from the the Log Barn towards the ridge that runs from Mara to Vernon, today - photo by JPR It rained all the way from Vernon to Agassiz and then it dried out for the evening, hoping for a good weekend of flying. Ozone Mantra R10.2 Report - Awesome. I just got back from flying the R10.2 today at Cochrane with Bernie and Keith. I was impressed. They were too. It was an industrial day earlier, then pure magic later. Compared to every comp glider I have flown... it has the fastest handling, lightest brake pressure, lightest bar pressure, highest trim speed, and fastest acceleration with bar. My first bar sped the wing up so much the air noise started to whistle so I'm going to have to loosen my speedbar line! First bar is normally just for best glide kind of speed. The bar pressure is so light it's insignificant.. I immediately switched my Harken ratchets off so they are just nice pullies now. The cell openings are so low that Keith said that flying head on he couldn't see them. Pilots on the hill couldn't stop staring at the wing, not believing how few lines there were. The As are set far back from the leading edge and the Bs are right in the middle. The rear of the glider is completely unsupported! It just doesn't make sense. Looking back on the 2 months of racing against this glider with a Boom6, I really see how it was hard to stay with them. Can't wait to take this machine out racing. My next comps are the US Nats in Chelan, the Chelan PWC, and the Golden Nats - Brett H.
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Woodside Gloat Report - Derek, Martina, Martin N., Andrei and Chilliwack Jeremy were out flying Woodside today. Jeremy's cousin Will was driving so everyone got to fly! | 
Shot from the FlyBC WebCam at 10 am - photo by JPR There was some confusion at the Weather Office, as the forecast at 4 am said "sunny w/cloudy periods", yet they changed it around 9 am to be just "cloudy". I had already made my analysis/prediction based on the 4 am forecast and stayed with it. Mother Woodside delivered again! Bridal was "socked in" with low clouds and OD'ed many times. Derek didn't launch til after 4 pm, and got to 1500 meters near cloud and very cold. Lots of cloudsuck! Martin N went XC towards Bear Mtn. Martina kept her altitude around 900 meters, bit still froze. Derek flew over the back towards Agassiz at the end of the flight after 1:30, leaving Martina to land at Riverside to retrieve the truck. No word on how Martin N got back to his car? 
Shot from the FlyBC WebCam at 5:30 pm - photo by JPR Alberta Report - a nice front moved through Calgary today and the rain just missed us out on the Highwood River south of town. The wind from the front definitely hit us with gusts to 60 kph from the NW. I doubt there was any flying unless a brave HGer was setup at Cochrane late evening? Even the local hawks were staying grounded out here. Good visits with family though, which was the purpose of the trip.
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Alberta Report - winds were forecast to be 20-40 kph from the SE, perfect for the ridge behind Mom's farmhouse. | 
The hill behind the family farm in Davisburg, AB - we flew it back in 2002 - photo by JPR I hiked up the hill around 2 pm, after seeing a hawk thermalling around. But when I got to the top, it was too gusty, so back to visiting and napping. 
The grandkids are having fun with the farm critters - photo by JPR Tomorrow looks like SW winds at up to 30 kph, so Cochrane will be on.
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Road Trip Report for June 1/2010 - best laid plans were made to leave the Ranch at 6 am . . . but at 6:30 am, I was still in bed trying to wake up! | I finally got on the road by 7:30 am, quick stop at the Popkum/Bridal Shell for gas and food and I was on the highway. Little to no traffic until Kelowna, where the Highway 97 mess starts in town. I picked up Megan/Chloe/Remy in Westbank and we were on the road by 10:30 am heading north. 
CUs a poppin' north of Kelowna - photo by JPR Nice development all the way to Sicamous, reminded me of an XC flight back in 2002, where I flew from Mara Launch to the weigh scale north of Vernon when the Airwave Sport I came out. Rain east of Sicamous all the way to Revelstoke, where we stopped at Macdonald's for lunch. 
Sikorski heli was circling over Revy downtown today - photo by JPR Lots of construction slowdowns on Hwy 1, where we were going 40 kph at times, but we made it to Golden in pretty fair time, to hit more rain. Mt. Seven was in cloud when we drove by. 
Mt. Seven was obscured and it was raining lightly - photo by JPR All the way from Golden to Banff was slow, heavy rains and construction but by the time we hit Morley Flats it was sunny and drying out and we were at Mom's house by 8:30 pm MDT. The grandkids were great for being cooped up for 9 hours plus in the car, and when we arrived they attacked the dog, llamas and anything else crawling around. Woodside Report - The best thing about living in Agassiz? When the skies clear & you can grab Alan & race up Woodside to do Tandem #20! Here's proof - Martina 
Martina and Alan getting clipped in for tandem #20 and Martina's final training flight - photo by DK 
Celebrating with Bob afterwards at Eagle Ranch. She wasn't terribly impressed! - photo by ML 
Derek got a quick flight at the end of the day as his reward for driving :) - photo by ML Tandem #20 on YouTube 
a photo of Mother Woodside: Downloaded from the FlyBC Woodside Webcam while we were driving in AB last night, looked a lot better than forecast - photo by JPR Woodside Deer Warning - there is a Mama doe and 2 fawns on the road to launch to watch out for. Claudia and Peter stopped to witness the family trying to get off the road when they were driving up last Sunday to fly. 
Deer on Woodside Road, the doe is trying to get the fawns off the road - photo by Claudia 
The fawn is trying to "hide" in the middle of the Woodside Logging Road - photo by Claudia 
The doe finally gets both fawns up and into the bush - photo by Claudia |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
April 2010 Site of the Day archives - worst April in years weatherwise but we managed to do some awesome tandem groups and some nice flights with Justin, Nicole and Norm flying to Mission late in the month.
March 2010 Site of the Day archives - Crappy weather in the US on my return trip from Mexico. But when I arrived back at the Ranch there were some great days soaring Woodside.
February 2010 Site of the Day archives - super flying in Mexico for the FlyBC Mexican Tours. Good XCs. The locals were already flying at Mother Woodside back in BC due to the warm weather!
January 2010 Site of the Day archives - nice flying in Mexico for the FlyBC Mexican Tours. Good XCs.
December 2009 Site of the Day archives - our first time in Mexico for a full December and we flew everyday. 40-50 km XCs from Tapalpa.
November 2009 Site of the Day archives - very few flights as we had record rains and high winds.
October 2009 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly-In in Chelan WA with the Barbie Theme, took first place honours again! More good soaring flights of 2 hours plus on special days.
September 2009 Site of the Day archives - more decent flying weather with a few road trips to escape wind by heading to Savona.
August 2009 Site of the Day archives - best flying conditions in years with little rain. My first hike up Cheam with pals went well.
July 2009 Site of the Day archives - the FlyBC SIV in Revelstoke was a blast, 280 SIV flights and only one wet pilot intentionally that is. Jeremy wished he had landed in the water.
June 2009 Site of the Day archives - dry all month locally so lots of flying, Al has been test flying the new ShotGun launch near Stave Lake having great flights out to Woodside.
May 2009 Site of the Day archives - local flying is getting great with nice XC's! Bridal was working well. The new bathroom was installed in the Barn at Eagle Ranch enriching the FlyBC experience.
April 2009 Site of the Day archives - we escaped the local weather by flying in New Zealand for 3 weeks. We will be heading back soon!
March 2009 Site of the Day archives - we were flying locally in snow, relying on Derek's sleds and chains on the 'Mog to get up Woodside.
February 2009 Site of the Day archives - the Worlds PG Championships in Mexico was hard work for the Canucks, the tasks and speeds were unreal.
January 2009 Site of the Day archives - Manzanillo, Mexico was a BLAST, many new sites flown and we have a new tour Destination for 2010.
December 2008 Site of the Day archives - the annual FlyBC Christmas Party was a cold success with Head over Heels entertaining us all night. And we left early for Manzanillo, Mexico on Dec 28th.
November 2008 Site of the Day archives - some soaring between rain storms, and it was pretty dry in Agassiz.
October 2008 Site of the Day archives - we went ot the Women's Fly In on Chelan for the annual Halloween Costume Fly-In, great conditions there to offset the wet month on the West Coast. Steve Fosset's crash site was found in Nevada after a year of searching.
September 2008 Site of the Day archives - great student conditions at Woodside and Bridal all month, with 10 students getting signed off this month, a record.
August 2008 Site of the Day archives - our second SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke (except for a few water landings and minor injuries). Wet all month at Woodside except the weekends.
July 2008 Site of the Day archives - our first SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke.
June 2008 Site of the Day archives - a few good soaring days at Bridal, lots of new students this month.
May 2008 Site of the Day archives - the cost of gas is keeping pilots at home and the weather isn't helping either. One good XC in May for me, leaving Woodside with Norm and Martin H and ending up at Elk at 1600 meters before landing by Hopyard Hill. 3 hours and 85 kms later by the GPS.
April 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years but we flew every day we could.
March 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow and still hiking to launch at Woodside! But some major airtime for the locals committed to coming out to fly.
February 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow in BC than I can remember in 25 years of living here. We are still hiking to launch at Woodside!
January 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico and logged many hours of airtime, while it snowed heavily in BC.
December 2007 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico on Dec 29th for three weeks.
November 2007 Site of the Day archives - Colleen and I went to California to fly the new Falcon A-16 Advanced Ultralight prototype and it flew very well. Some good soaring days at Woodside, some folks were still trying to fly Bridal but that is a waste of time this late in the season.
October 2007 Site of the Day archives - mid-air at Woodside caused Martin H some paraglider damage, some great soarable days. The Women's Fly In was a success with the Canuck Team taking top spot for the theme of "Celebrities in Rehab".
September 2007 Site of the Day archives - we re-discovered and flew 'Horsefly' Launch for the first time, some mayhem at Woodside due to tree-suck, lots of good soaring in afternoon glassoffs, a great Indian Summer until late in the month when the rains came early. Derek, Martina, Robin and Diane went to Europe. Kirill went to Australia for a paramotor Fly-In.
August 2007 Site of the Day archives - fun two weeks at Mara Lake, followed by steady flying at Woodside and Bridal, making up for the dismal spring and summer.
July 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights at Bridal, some mayhem at Woodside from visiting pilots.
June 2007 Site of the Day archives - more crappy weather on the weekends. Some awesome flights between showers as Norm and Thomm flew to Mission on the last day of the month.
May 2007 Site of the Day archives - flyable every weekday, but the Fraser Valley XC Comp got crappy weather on the weekends, although it was student flyable.
April 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights are starting. Some complete triangles from Woodside to Bridal and back, some "musical triangles" from others.
March 2007 Site of the Day archives - fifth month of crappy weather on the Coast. We went to Santa Barbara for some flights, and to dry out. Some good days were also recorded locally.
Febuary 2007 Site of the Day archives - fourth month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we stayed in Mexico.
January 2007 Site of the Day archives - third month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we went to Mexico to fly Colima, Tapalpa, and San Marcos, while Brad and gang headed to Tenacingo, Mexico.
December 2006 Site of the Day archives - more ugly weather on the Coast. Severe winds damaged trees and property so not much flying happened. Some good flight reports from local PGers travelling world-wide.
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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