FlyBC "Site of the Day Archives" - March/2006
Quote of the Day:
"Dreams are necessary to life." - Anais Nin
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Woodside Report - from News 1130.com - there was a train derailment right at the rail bridge
at Riverside yesterday afternoon.
Train crews were mopping up a hazardous material and evacuated houses at the top on Hwy 7.
News crews had interviewed an official, who said the engineer was distracted by a "parachutist" coming
in to land near the accident scene and forgot to slow down for the curve and the train jumped the tracks.
Due to the hazardous material spill the area could be closed for weeks or even months,
fortunately none of the material leaked into the Fraser River at interview time. Picture of Woodside train wreck from a traffic copter - April 1
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Woodside Report - although I received no reports, I looked at the Woodside Webcam a number of times and a huge CU was developing over launch at 2:15 pm (prime thermal time). I have to get a better camera so I can see gliders at cloudbase, but then many pilots playing hookie might get caught by wives, girlfriends or bosses?
| Al's belated Woodside Report - apparently Andy and Norm were at cloudbase around 2:00 pm! Al arrived later and had an extended sledder, but the other guys who launched earlier were up for a few hours.
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Woodside Report - when I arrived at 1:45 pm, there were lots of pilots in the air, just not very high.
Alan had radioed out for a valley wind report as I drove down Hwy 1 and it was calm in the valley (at that point), apparently he was feeling the air get "chunky" at that point. As I got to the Ranch, Nataliya was setting up a bumpy approach and the wind was gusty. She even had trouble packing up in the protection of the barn. Norm landed about 15 minutes later, and he had an interesting and bumpy approach too. Riverside was similar so Andy, Nicole and Stefan landed at Harvest Market. I was heading to Bridal to fly but everyone else headed to town, so I went back to work.
| Bridal Report - My first flight and first top landing at Bridal this year, 25 minutes airtime, launched at 3:28 pm, fat air with maximum lift at 3.3 m/s, not much sink to speak of, given that I was flying alone, I didn't want to push it, so I stayed well clear of cloudbase (very dark) and the mountain side. Eventhough pilots were blown out at Woodside, I still was making 10 to 15 kmph into the wind with no problem. Rob could only drive to the spur road, but the snow should be gone soon. SE2 is officially scrapped!! It's taken rallies, court cases, and a hearing by the National Energy Board, but plans for the Sumas Energy 2 power plant are officially dead. The company behind it has announced it has given up, pulling all permits and applications related to the project, which was supposed to be built just over the border from Abbotsford. Marlene Noteboom with the environmental group GASP says thousands of people have rallied against the plant over the years, protesting the toxic fumes that would have been released. But SE-2's biggest blow came in 2004, when the National Energy Board refused to let the company connect to the B.C. power grid. This power plant could have affected flying in the Fraser Valley, as well as air quality, so we are happy that it was defeated - J&C
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Woodside Report - some sunny breaks in the afternoon, light winds, but no pilot reports.
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Woodside Report - I caught Andy on the cell between flights. "roughest air he has had at Woodside for some time!".
But he was going back for more. Apparently, Al had a great flight about that time, with mixed sink and big lift out from the mountain (typical lee-side thermals).
Rob was over at Bridal and saw evidence of leeside conditions, with the wind ribbons doing 360 degree rotations. Rob then headed to the Ranch where he picked up Jon Orders after Jon had a spectacular flight.
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Woodside Report - we came back from Peachland around 2:30 pm, and it quit raining at Woodside so we decided to trim the cedar hedges as no one was around. It was flyable from 2:30 pm - 5:30 pm and even a bit sunny, but by 6:00 pm it was raining heavily.
|  Picture of Woodside from the webcam - March 26
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Woodside Report - I was cleaning up the Barn and getting stuff ready for clients to purchase today when Andy floated in before 9:00 am. Al showed up and he and Andy went up again, while I was still working. They were landing at the Ranch by 9:30 and we loaded up the Van and took a load up by 10:00 am.
| New student Brad was out kiting with Colleen doing very well as we left, and when we arrived at launch for Andy's flight #3 t was soarable. Andy, Martin, Al, Jeremy and some local birds were out soaring having a good time. I drove down quickly to load up Colleen and Brad for their flights. I took Brad tandem (as we do with all new students, regardless of the fact he is a HG pilot) and we picked a bad cycle as we were soon soaring the tree lines near the big clearcut. It got worse and we were soon down to an estimated 100 meters over the spring near Hwy 7 (with a planned landing on the sandbars if we didn't climb out). We started getting some pulses that allowed for some altitude gain, and were patient and eventually a good thermal took us to the top of the South Knoll and to cloudbase from there. By now everyone was at base too, and scattering all directions. We saw Martin heading towards Sasquatch with Andy and they made it and Martin was flying with a bunch of his HG cronies (someone should tell him that is not a normal 6th high flight on a "bag"). We climbed high above the towers several times and soon started shaking from the cold, so we would descend to watch the launch action. Then point at the towers and soon be up to 1500 meters. No vario as it died on the flight down low. We heard from pilots at Seabird Island, Bear Mtn, Laidlaw, over Sasquatch. Nicole did an O&R to Big Nic. Peter G did a OLC triangle from Woodside Launch to Bear Mtn., then on to Sasquatch landing at the Ranch. Norm got to Bear and got trashed. Pilots were reporting getting up to 2000 meters over Woodside. Kelly said WestJet flew north of launch about 200 meters above her, but well over Harrison River. We flew on to Sasquatch with Brad flying and the wind was picking up so we flew back to the Ranch thermalling along the way to allow other pilots to land. Lots of planes below us on the glide to Sasquatch. Landing was a bit thermic but manageable. Apparently Ken N's landing near Seabird was a bit more exciting, with mangled instrument mounts but no downtubes blown out. Last flights at Woodside were pretty windy with Jeremy being the last one to get off before the "big blow" came through as everyone headed to the Sasquatch Inn for the "gloat reports". We drove on to Kelowna to see Megan, Jamie and Chloe, so we missed that meeting.
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Woodside Report - Colleen and I arrived around 4:00 pm and it was starting to lay down, but a bit gusty at launch. We went for a walk on the Fraser River and it was still a bit brisk on the dyke, but probably flyable. No pilots out or pilot reports filed.
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Woodside Report - Ken P came down to do some paramotoring at the Ranch and had one short flight, then a later flight that he said was "pretty much straight up and straight down" as it was too windy. Kelly had to rescue the telescope from the rain, please put it away after you check the conditions. |
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Woodside Report - Overheard on the Air Canada PA enroute from Calgary yesterday afternoon,
"Folks . . . this is the captain speaking, tighten up those belts. ATC says it is gonna get bumpy in a few minutes!". And it was all teh way from Kelowna to the ground, so I assume it wasn't flyable at Woodside given the strong conditions.
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Woodside Report - Andy flew up to 1000 meters for an hour and top-landed before it OD'ed.
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Woodside Report #1 - Derek & I met up with Andy and were in the air by 9:30. Here are some pictures from the 2nd flight, first one is Derek and Alan (on the Mantra), scratching their way up. Photo # 2 is the "locals" - Derek, Andy, Alan and a bird who decided to join their thermal.
| It got quite light afterwards, heard a bunch of people at Woodside around 2:30 pm while at home getting ready for work - Martina  Team Ozone scratching up at Woodside (Derek and Alan) - photo by Martina  Derek's new red Addict, Alan's Mantra and Andy's Zoom with a local bird - photo by Martina Woodside Report - I arrived at launch at 12:40 pm. Ralph was still setting up his hang glider, Alan was making the crossing to Sasquatch at some incredible height and Derek, Andy and Norm were at various altitudes between launch and 2000 meters ASL. The sky was still mostly clear with clouds developing at 6000 or 7000 feet. Andy eventually crossed over to Sasquatch as well. Alan had problems with the shade at Sasquatch landed at Eagle Ranch. Andy toughed it out and had some luck with the sun and managed to get to 2000 meters at Sasquatch in order to make the glide back to Woodside. About this time Nicole, Alex and Larry showed up to launch followed by Robin. They set up and launched working the lift that had now become considerably lighter due to shade from cloud. At this point the pilots who were in the air (Norm, Andy, Nicole, Alex, Robin and I) had to work hard to occasionally climb up to 1400 meters. We then were joined by Brett and Mark D. who were out flying hang gliders. Eventually me and Andy sank down to launch height ant top landed just as Nicolai was getting ready to launch. Jack Carlson launched after Nicolai. Alex and Nicole then top-landed (being the last two pilots who were above launch) and Andy re-launched. Kevin Ault was the last to launch. The best that the pilots who launched after Brett and Mark were able to do was to make a few passes and get a couple meters over launch. At the end of the day the tally was 16 pilots observed (3 HG, 13 PG) (one unknown PG pilot) Launched @ 12:57:36, flight time 2:19:23, max height 1589 m ASL, 4.6 m/s, -4.0 m/s, didn't go anywhere, top landed - Rob Samplonious
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Woodside Report - great kiting until 1:30 pm (in 25-35 km winds!), when Brett and Gary launched into the "lee" and smoked up to 1400 meters. Garry H was still floating around when we drove up to fly. | New student Jeff was showing Gerry how to kite his Zoom, when we switching up to a Prima 24 and he did really well. We headed up to launch to do his first tandem and it was an interesting flight, +7.9 m/s up to 1390 meters. -10.2 ms down in a spiral I assume (it was sinky but not -10 m/s down). Jeff has seen the Woodside area from that altitude many times on his topless, but not on a "jellyfish". Eventually lots of pilots were in the air, some at 1300 meters, some lower. Rob made it to 1500 meters before chasing Ken N across the Sasquatch gap, Rob made it, Ken didn't and landed at Bill Best's. Ken had the highest altitude I think, cause Brett only had a "beeper" vario, no altitude readout. Finally it was deemed safe for Annette and Gary and they launched solo and did some thermalling above launch before a soft touchdown at Eagle Ranch facing NW.  Picture of some folks soaring above the Ranch around 5:30 pm Rob's Woodside Report - 1526 m ASL max, 4.7 m/s, -3.3 m/s, 1:41:16 total time, launch time 15:28:43, 17.08 km OR to Sasquatch, back to Riverside. Alan's Bridal Report - part hike and drive to launch. Still quite snowy on the road up. Launch was tough with lots of cross and down air. Peter G was seen getting up in some rough leeside air, with lots of movement. Alan elected to stay out of the lee, as did Nikolai and they only got 15 minutes.
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Woodside Report - Andy was in the air by 9:00 am reporting nice lift, so I suited up and was heading
out when I talked to Derek. We met at the Kettle, and drove up together arriving at launch by 10:00 am.
I launched first into gusty conditons on Derek's Vulcan and climbed fast getting up with Andy around 900 meters, while we watched Derek launch his new Addict (first one in Canada!). Nice launch, pretty much lifted straight up as the wing inflated.
|  Picture of Derek's new red Addict, and Andy's Zoom We flew all over the place getting some pretty strong therms when the sun peaked through, otherwise just ridge lift on the hill. Derek suggested we fly to the Rec Centre to meet Martina, and I said okay after we gain some height. We got to 1000 meters at the towers and then headed east. Just as we left the hill, it shaded over and we were in -2.0 m/s down all the way. We arrived at Cemetary Hill high enough to soar with some vultures for 10 minutes before landing at Harvest. Martina took us back to the Kettle. Andy top landed for the first time to warm up as we left Woodside. Back at launch, Andy was getting ready to relaunch as took a load of pilots up. Everyone soared for as long as they wanted, Jeremy had driven up and was in the air and top-landed to warm up too as we arrived. It was getting busy in the air but not too bad as I gave up the Vulcan to Alan. He and Norm "duked it out" for a couple of hours while Colleen took Askia and Julie for a mini-XC to Harvest Market, thanks to Barry and Bev for driving for us. Third time up the mountain, Colleen and I had our third flight and she took a good climb to 1300 meters into the snow. I bailed at 1000 meters as I was just too cold and I landed at the Ranch in super nice conditions at around 6:00 pm. Pilots were still coming in for 30 minutes after me. What a great day!
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Woodside Report - Derek called at 7:30 am, to say "he was heading up Woodside!". A bit early, I thought. Well, Andy and Derek logged 2 hours getting up to 1200 meters, the forecasted cloudbase. Later we went back up and it was blowing down lightly as Andy and I launched to the last flights into the Ranch, following Brett test flying a new Moyes topless.
| Watch for a new Red Addict M in the air over Woodside! Derek may even let you touch it.
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Woodside Report - Martina and Derek were heading out to fly around 4:00 pm, but no flight reports so it probably wasn't working.
| Paragliding Tips - the link above takes you to some basic tips. One most important tip involves landing in a field surrounded by obstacles. If you are approaching an unfamiliar field, check for obstacles (trees, powerlines, fences). Get high over the field and do a box approach inside the obstacles, so that if you hit sink you won't sink into the obstacles. The box approach works best in light winds, basically turning in a box shape inside the trees/powerlines, and deciding when to go on final and which direction to land. Usually wind direction is not an issue inside a treeline, unless it is howling and you have rotor issues to deal with.
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Woodside Report - I had planned to head out to the Valley in the afternoon, but chores took over in town. I kept checking the WebCams in the Valley and it looked flyable until 2:30 pm, when it started drizzling.
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Woodside Report - it looked flyable around 3:00 pm on the webcam, but no reports except Neil's below.
| Woodside Report - I did a Calgary-Abbotsford flight on Saturday, looks like it was a good day but I didn't see any wings in the air at the time, about 6pm. The picture didn't seem to do the view justice, but I thought I'd send it for ya anyway. This picture taken on descent right over Harrison, 12,000ft, looking SW. You can see launch I think behind the one cutblock, but I can't seem to make out the "Ranch" in the pic. - Neil  Picture of Woodside from 12,000 feet - pics by Neil G.
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Woodside Report - a few brave souls came out to fly the "leeside conditions" at Woodside! Alan, Andy and Rob had a 45 minute rodeo ride in some pretty strong lift! Sorry I had to work all day!
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Woodside Report - after spending the morning with Megan, Jamie and Chloe (1 day old at this time, Chloe's website |  ), we were ejected from the Hospital because we were there outside visiting hours and decided to drive down for a flight knowing it was gonna be a great day.We arrived in Hope and saw Nicole near Ruby Creek gliding out to land. And we kept on towards Woodside. We arrived at the Ranch, got our gear as Norm arrived and we headed up arriving at launch at 4:30 pm. Lots of gliders still in the air, Al had just top-landed (his first top-landing!). Colleen, Norm and I launched followed by Al, and we all flew up to 1100 meters and boated around Woodside. Good climbs (no vario for me, or flight suit) but easy to find lift (especially when top-landing). Derek and I were doing top-landing approachs together and we finally "plunked-in" around 6:00 pm, followed by Andy and Al (for his second top-landing of the day!). Other flight reports: Andy launched at 10:00 am and flew for 5:30 landing in Harrison in strong turbulent in-flow winds. He got a ride back to launch and flew andother 1:30 before top-landing - total of 7 hours airtime (and some frost-bite, I am sure). Alex R, Nicole, Kevin heard heading east to Hope (Alex made it to Bridal LZ). Norm and Martin flew towards Mission, Martin made Mt. St. Benedict on his ATOS, Norm made Sasquatch and came back low. A few other HGers out too! Mia decided to stay around Woodside for about 1:30 getting high - in fact she saw the tops of Andy and Norm's wings! Getting about 1500 feet over launch (no vario). Alan, Mark F, Nikolai, Klaus, Monica flew Bridal (Alan and Mark did the "Elk to Ludwig and back" run!). We saw Klaus landing in the swamp and he was getting bounced around. Bridal Report - Mark says it was "frickn' cold" at 1800 meters. He and Alan flew for about 3:30 landing at Bridal LZ.  Picture of Mount Cheam from 1800 meters - pics by Mark Fraser  Picture of Alan's wing in the distance near Ludwig - pics by Mark Fraser
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Kelowna Report - after a long night Friday and all day Saturday Megan had her daughter Chloe! Born at 10:02 PM, March 11/06 in Kelowna General weighing in at 8lbs 12 oz.
|  Grandma Colleen and Chloe  Mom and Chloe
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Woodside Report - Andy logged 3.5 hours, Alan 2.5 hours, Thomm 2.0 hours, Rob and Justin got 1.5 hours . . . para-waiting. The east winds let up for a few cycles but they thought it would get better but it just got more leeside all day.
| Thomm's report - Andy and I were ready to launch at 11 am in easterly cycles in about a foot of snow. I drove into the road to launch.(good ole Chevy truck) parking at the top of the hill as it was starting to melt and didn`t want to get stuck at the bottom. As soon as we were getting ready to launch it started blowing over the back. Alan arrived as well as Rob and Justin/Jeremy? later only to wait it out until about 2:30 and finally gave up and drove down as it did not look like it was going to change.Huge development over at the Sasquatch/ Dewdney range looked good but no way of getting into the air. If you look closely at the snowman he is a boy ! :) - Thomm  Woodside snowman making due to over-the-back winds - pics by Thomm Honduras Reports - Hi everyone! - I’ve checked out the "site of the day" occasionally to see what everybody is doing. Sorry, it looks cold and wet. I’m flying every chance I can and have continued to have some great flights. The flying windows tend to be a little short with conditions that are too strong in mid-day. My one recent experience flying until after mid-day was really exciting but I was happy to get on the ground after 1 ½ hrs as the low thermals were strong and gusty. Last Saturday Christian and I waited on launch ‘till just before 5pm when the conditions settled enough to get off. We both climbed directly to 2500 meters (launch is 1400) and Christian continued a little higher, disappearing occasionally in and out of the cloud that I preferred to avoid. We flew in and out from under the cloud base to control our altitude while working our way South and East of Yuscaran. After 45 minutes we decided to turn and run with the wind after not being able to penetrate out to our normal landing zone. We had lots of altitude to cover the 15kms of scrub forest with few roads and enjoyed a beautiful downwind glide landing at 6:30 outside a small town called Oropoli which was having its annual festival. Christian and I were greeted by several hundred children and escorted into the main square for free beer while we waited for our retrieve. I had a video camera mounted on my helmet for the first time for this flight but inadvertently turned it off when I launched. I plan on doing a better job of filming this weekend and hope that the flying will be as good. The late afternoon flying is very beautiful, the weekend before we were flying until after 6:30, racing to be above the landing field and spiraling down to get on the ground before dark. The image of Christian’s white and orange zoom spiraling down into the darkness ahead of me will be one to remember. I hope to bring some video with me when I come home this spring. See you all later in the spring, Jeffrey Flight Report #2 - I had my first 40+ km flight yesterday! Launched from Yuscaran at 3pm in what seemed like very light conditions and scratched around close to the slope just trying to stay up. I saw some sun developing in the valley and gave up on the mountanside heading out to see if there was a thermal building over the valley. Sure enough, I found one almost immediately and rode it to 2200 mts , taking it back over to the top of the mountain. After 20 minutes up on top the lift started to degrade as the sun was being blocked by more cloud behind so I started out to land at El Llano. At 200 mts. over the landing I found more lift and was back to 2500 mts in a few moments. A non stop ride up at 2.5 - 5 mts per sec. wow- what a feeling. The thermal took me straight to a very large developing cloudstreet that I was able to follow almost 20 kms East over a series of foothills, never dropping below 2500 mts and twice getting up to 2800. All this over terrain averaging 600 mts in elevation. It was a magical day, seemed like I was never running out of options if I need to land so I just continued with the lift and my new zoom was covering ground as I headed east. When I came to the end of the cloudstreet I turned and headed North-west Gliding down El Valle de San Francisco and landing in my regular landing field at the La Villa flying site which is 35 kms from Yuscaran. All told, if I had been recording way points I think I may have covered more that 50 kms. I had my helmet video with me so I will make a DVD and bring it in the spring.- Felis vuelos, todos, Jeffrey
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Woodside Report - I had a call in Chilliwack at 10:00 am, and barely got there due to a huge snowstorm! At noon it was starting to clear out, but I didn't want to waste the entire day waiting so I headed to Richmond. Later the webcam at the Ranch showed it got flyable around 3:00 pm. Very thermic when the sun came out in town, hail and convective clouds to 4,000 meters.
|  Woodside yesterday
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Woodside Report - while there were a few periods where launch was clear, it was windy. I didn't see any pilots on the webcam, and no pireps.
| Don't despair the weather too much, but as I remember in days past we could go Cross Country in the Fraser Valley in February and March, so it has to get soarable soon! XC Cross Country Flights.
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Cochrane Report - quite strong winds would have made it soarable around noon, while I was stuck in the office!
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Cochrane Report - the winds never cooperated at Cochrane, but sled rides were possible. I stayed in Calgary and worked.
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Woodside Report - as forecast, NE winds and too strong to fly.
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Woodside Report - as early as 7:45 am, it was launchable despite east wind forecasts.
| There was a slow trickle of pilots arriving but by 1:00 pm, launch was pretty crowded (as was the parking area). Lots of early sledders, some extended ones but it clouded over and it didn't look promising. On my third drive down to collect pilots the sun started to come out and birds were soaring over Harrison Mills! My turn to fly! As I arrived most of the pilots were at cloudbase already, and I took off and took a while to climb out. Eventually there was just Robin and I over launch as Norm, Alan and Rob headed west to Sasquatch while Andy and Mark arrived in Harrison without a ride. I flew for about 1:30 getting up to 1200 meters, but not going anywhere cause I planned to top-land to help retrieve all the vehicles. Top-landing was a bit difficult as there was too much lift in some places and too much sink on the approach but after missing several approaches I sidehill landed on the south side of launch. The best news of the day was that Martin H "bagged" his first four PG flights successfully on his new Gin Zulu. His last flight had him soaring with 5 other gliders in the glass-off above launch. Good solid launches and landings were quite effortless (according to Martin). Welcome to the Dark Side! 
  Martin soaring the glass-off at Woodside - photos by Mia
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Woodside Report - reports from Andy, Robin and Derek from different times during the day indicated Woodside was "blowing over the back" all day.
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Woodside Report - strong NE winds most of the day, but Derek thinks it got flyable around 3:00 pm.
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Valley Report - lots of east wind, some rain and low clouds.
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Woodside Report - Greg H drove out to the Ranch hoping to fly, and it was windy with low cloudbases, so he rode his bike up the Woodside Road for a while. The trees were swaying pretty good during the ride. No other reports came in.
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FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
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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