FlyBC "Site of the Day Archives" - March/2007
"In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours." - Mark Twain
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Reserve Clinic Report - 30 pilots have new repacks as of March 31. Mark Tulloch and Ivan Tomecek were very busy on the HG rigs as was Rob Samplonious and Greg Hemingway on the PG rigs. The only injury of the day was Ken Nicholson, who was spinning the Hangglider Simulator, and went out of control falling backwards on a chair giving himself "whiplash", he claims we run an unsafe barn! Woodside Report - a few pilots flew; Al, Andy, Alex R, Karin and Ihor got off before it got too strong. Apparently, Garry H thought it wasn't too strong and gave those in the air a good show as he got yanked into the air with a 40% collapse headed backwards for the dead snags southeast of launch getting parked just in front of them before descending vertically into the clearcut into a bunch of deadfall. He was okay and even went up at 6:30 pm for another flight and got yanked off again, this time penetrating okay as he flew til dark. Woodside Closure Notice (April Fools Hoax revealed) - As we were getting ready to leave launch last night, a Conservation Officer arrived at launch to post a sign "restricting air traffic in the Woodside area until April 30, 2007 due to conflicts with the Eagle Mating Season". He cited a section of the BC Wildlife Act that is available at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/cos/info/wildlife_human_interaction/index.html A NOTAM is being issued by NAVCANADA this weekend. It reads that the Conservation Officers can close natural wildlife habitats where human interaction can be harmful. After some arguments with the CO, he simply said "call my supervisor" and gave me his card, so we have to call Monday and argue our tenure rights. While this setback could make it more difficult for us to teach, we agree that paragliding/hanggliding could disturb the delicate Eagle mating habits and we are willing to abide by the closure and fly Bridal or Savona until May 1. For further information call Rob Samplonious, WCSC President, at 604-854-0412
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Woodside Report - Colleen and I were out at the Ranch around 4:00 pm, and decided to go flying even though the windsock up top looked a bit lame. Big surprise, when we tried to launch . . . fat, thick air made launching hard and we were soon climbing to cloudbase in shaded skies? Windy with thermals that kicked off blocking the wind so you could 360. Colleen was having some penetration issues by the South Knoll, and speedbar'ed out toward the Ranch as I stayed high over the bail-out swamp, trying to lose height. It was very cold at 1000 meters and I was shaking despite two layers of flight suit and fleece. No one else out but an un-named instructor trying to entice some newbies with 15 minute tandem flights, blocking my top-landing approach so I climbed out again and waited until they launched. Eventually got in to top-land with a low approach near the ramp that lifted me up to the top, in pretty strong cycles (as the sun had now come out). Total flight time 1:30 - Jim | FAI has ratified the following Class O (Hang Gliders) record : ================================================================ Claim number : 14358 Sub-class :O-3 (Paragliders) Multiplace Category Type of record : Straight distance Course/location : Vosburg (South Africa) - Krompoort Farm (South Africa) Performance : 356.2 km Pilot : Richard WESTGATE (UK) Crew : Phillip BIBBY (still throwing up I am sure!) Paraglider : Gradient Golden Bi Date :07.12.2006 Previous record : 314 km (25.10.2006 - André Luis GROSSO FLEURY, Brazil) =============================================================== FAI congratulates the pilot on his splendid achievement. Marcel Meyer FAI Executive officer
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Bridal Report -
I'm sure you'll get loads of flight reports today, by the time I landed at 2:30 all the usual suspects were piling into cars & driving up Bridal. | So first I thought I was hallucinating the other day because I saw blue sky, and today hell froze over! Ha ha. I hiked up Bridal with Alan, it was awesome. Painful but awesome, and worth it when we finally got up there. Cycles were light & switching E & W but I had to launch right away to get to Vancouver in time, so I did a really nice forward launch from the lower part of launch. In the spot the house thermal normally sits was a big, bad sinkhole, and I think I counted about 5 beeps my whole 12-minute flight. Didn't feel so bad when I was driving away & saw Alan had launched & was already 1/2 way down. He may have gone back up with the 2nd group, hopefully the sun will heat the valley up enough for the rest to get some good flying in - Martina Kent's Bridal Report - Tim, Denis, Andy, Alan, Ivan, Rob, Nicole, Ben and I all launched in really light cycles between three-ish and four-ish (most of them forward runs), with just enough lift to soar around launch level for as long as one wanted, until just about five and then it dies off. Some of the earlier launchers enjoyed well over one hour flights, and Rob S. Was kind enough to go out of his way to give me a ride up to retrieve as everybody sunk out in the end and two vehicles were at launch - Kent R. Woodside Report - Thomm says: "Around 4.30 I arrived at your place to a deserted sky and no one around. It was high overcast with nil to light cycles so I headed over to Joes and headed up to launch. Joe told me there were a couple of bodies earlier and my guess is they headed over to Bridal or went home because it was lame? I launched into a very light cycle and flew around in mostly 0.0 and max+0.8 m/s for a whole 26 minutes. Better than nothing ".
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Bridal Report - light west winds and sunny skies. Alan was the "sky king" today with 3:30, getting up to 1400 meters (the forecasted cloudbase level), while Rob and Nikolai headed to Elk and back. |
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Valley Report - I was in Chilliwack around noon, and it was getting sunny, but windy for this early in the day. I am sure it was soarable at Woodside but I was heading the other way. |
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Woodside Report - strong North winds all day in the Eagle Ranch LZ, probably not even safe to kite in. Several desperados on launch and eventually one un-named Russian flew off for a short flight to Riverside. | Bridal Report - Alan and Alex hiked up and eventually got a cycle to launch into the sky, and stayed up for 2+ hours. Rob and Nicole drove up and Rob flew while Nicole volunteered to drive down. Rob had a great flight and made it to Gloria and back despite the strong east wind (testing the new M2 glide)
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Woodside Report - Martina called to ask for help as she was hallucinating "blue sky", I calmed her down by saying it was blue at the Ranch too and to come flying. | 
The view today from Woodside Launch (note the new lakes everywhere) - photo by JPR Justin, Martina, Colleen and I were at launch around 11 am, and it was coming in nicely but the clouds were moving past pretty fast, so we sent Colleen off first! 
Colleen climbing out north of Woodside Launch - photo by JPR Others were heading out around noon, but that was too late I think. I launched and then Justin as Martina volunteered to drive the Van down. I went to the cliffs north after getting to 800 meters out front. 
Bridal was socked in around noon - photo by JPR Colleen and Justin stayed out front and that was smart, as the wind at 1000 meters was pretty strong, no GPS on-board but I was moving slow. After about an hour of slow progress, I headed out to the Ranch. All the way out I was climbing and eventually stopped climbing at the bailout swamp (which is truly a swamp now). I was on the bar all the way to the Maple Tree as Justin scooted over the east fence. Colleen was about the same height as she came in. Strong south wind in the Eagle Ranch LZ. Later, we headed up with two truckloads of hopeful pilots, but only Rob and Alan got off before it blew up really strong. So, I got on with moving the parking lot rocks back into a safe place. Using good old American horsepower I dragged most of the rocks with a big rope and help from Tim, Thomm, Gerry, and others. 
Clearing rocks from the Woodside Parking Lot - photo by Gerry LaMarsh More rocks to be moved eventually but we had to go up and watch Rob and Alan trying to penetrate out to Harvest Market! A bunch of pilots headed to Bridal, but it was still blowing pretty strong so I don't know if they flew.
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Woodside Report - the ducks are happy with all the new lakes at Woodside! Still windy in Kamloops according the Gary H. |
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Woodside Report - heavy rain, we stayed home due to the nasty wind forecast (40 to 60 kms/hr) at Kamloops. |
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Woodside Report - heavy rain and the fields are saturated. |
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Woodside Report - the forecast rain was a bit delayed,
so it was probably flyable at Woodside til 3:00 pm.
No pireps but . . . who knows? Logging trucks started hauling today and we still
haven't got the proper frequency yet as it seems the posted freq was wrong.
Drive carefully and be ready to pull over at any time. | Elk Report - It's not totally washed out these days, only 99.5%! Yesterday, the first day of Spring, Larry, Ivan, Max and I attempted to beat the inccoming crud by heading up Elk at 8:30 am. Sure enough it was blowing straight up 10 km/hr. I launched first and soared up to 50 meters above launch for about ten minutes before top-landing to exchange gloves for mitts. Good move because after my next launch, the conditions became better. We were able to make two trips over to and even past Thurson's West Shoulder and we were at least 100 meters over that point (1550 m ASL). Soon the air became too cold even dressed in a down jacket, down hat, insulated flight suit, Gortex mitts and my winter beard which was coasted in ice (or was it frozen snot?) After about an hour and fifteen minutes, I needed to thaw out so I headed to Eddy's noticing that Larry and Ivan were right behind me. We landed dry, packed up and less than an hour later, Elk was obscured by clouds. Timing is everything but bring on the Sun! - Kevin A.
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| Cochrane: SW winds 30 gusting to 50 km/hr. High 11. (standard)
Harrison Report - several reports of gust fronts with hail and rain around 3:00 pm on both sides of the Fraser Valley. |
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Norms' Woodrat Gloat Report | Woodrat 017 1st day 3 flights 30mins each Woodrat 018 2nd day 4 1/2hr or 270 min flight 
Norm's view of Woodrat Launch - photo by Norm Woodrat 019 3rd day 3hour had to land to drive back to this nice weather 
Norm's view over Woodrat - photo by Norm
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Woodside Report - Jan K got his monthly flight today (after 11 years he hasn't missed at least one flight every month. It didn't last long, but he didn't get wet either. When I left for town, Thomm was at launch and reported gusts to 30 km/hr! and it was raining in Agassiz. | Blanchard Update from Wednesday - scroll down to March 14th to view. Wouter's Excellent French Adventure - Hi Jim, Just returned from a week of snowboarding fun in Val Frejus, France. I brought my glider just in case there was flying there and luckily I got three flights in in a place called Aussois. After talking to some local pilots I took two ski-lifts up and launch was at 2750 meters. Flights took about half an hour and landing was next to the ski-lift in the village at 1500 meters. The landing field was a little bit of a slope that was equal to my glide rate and there was a head-on west wind so approach was "interesting". No wind on top so forward launching. 
Wouter's view of the LZ - photo by Wouter In Val Frejus was speedriding. The first speedridingschool in the world is located there and it's running pretty good (over 200 students in 2months). I'm still waiting 'til they come up with speedriding with a snowboard! Safe flights, wouter 
French Speed Riding - photo by Wouter
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Woodside Wet Report - buckets of rain all day Saturday, apparently Norm went to "Wood Rat" in Medford Oregon, and got 4 hours, so says Bev. |
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Woodside Report no pireps, but it looked flyable when I arrived at 9:00 pm, just a bit dark. | Honduras Report - Hi from Honduras! The flying season is here again, high temps and lighter winds. I've had several flights down the ridge about 12kms and then over the top at up to 2800 mts into the valley of Zamorano. 
Jeffrey over the valley of Zamorano - photo by ?? Total distance is about 23kms, but I am focusing on getting a climb up the next range of mountains were I will be able to run downwind into Teguc. So far I have run into sink before I can get across but each time I make it into the valley here I try a different route so sooner or later it will come. 
Jeffrey's view of Honduras - photo by Jeffrey Miller I'm going to be in Vernon this week, I will have my wing with me so if there is any flying to be done, I'll be ready. Vernon Phone: 250-503-3827 Regards, Jeffrey
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Woodside Report - originally we all thought Thursday would be the best day to fly, but Wednesday had the best airtime due to the winds and ridge-lift. Al and Thomm both flew two flights, getting some lift but the flights were approximately 14 minutes long. Light east winds in the alley and the last flight was a no-wind launch with occasional down-cycles. No rain until 7:00 pm. Ian Johnson was spotted "boring holes in the sky" over Woodside around 4:00 pm in the Coyote. | Bridal Report - Alan reported doing a flight over some of the slides on Hwy #1, and although most of the debris is cleared off the road, there is talk of new culverts being required as the creeks have moved. News1130 is reporting some slope stabilization is also being undertaken to ensure public safety in this highly unstable area.
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Blanchard Report - Delvin say "It is sssoooo nice to be thermalling again!". He logged an hour of airtime when he was shocked back into reality by radio reports of a fellow pilot in the trees north and east of launch. Fortunately he had a tree kit and was down and back on the road quickly. Unfortunately, the glider rescue by a professional tree-climber was rather hard on the Airwave Mustang (just purchased), and the lines and risers were cut to get it out. | Fraser Valley Gloat Report - Lots of flying in the valley today! A crew of us (Alex, Nicole, Rob, and I) all had 2 1/2 hours in the 20 km winds. Mostly ridge soaring, but with some nice thermals (4.5 m/s) kicking through occasionally to keep it all interesting. Derek showed up later, and self-launched (the rest of us all had help holding our gliders while we waited for lulls). Dennis probably had the most airtime of the day, top-landing twice to warm up. Alan, Ivan, and Igor were at Bridal, working to stay out of the cloudsuck, but having awesome flights as well. A brief respite, and now it's back to your regularly scheduled rain .... - Robin
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Calgary Report - mother nature plays cruel jokes on Albertans! Yesterday, balmy 14 degrees, with strong west winds with a forecast for light snow in the evening. | By 9:00 pm, there was 4 inches of snow on everything, followed by another 6 inches overnight, which mostly had melted by Tuesday night? No flying due to wind and visibility and most airlines were delayed too.
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Vancouver Report - sunny in the AM, high winds expected, but on the climbout towards Calgary not much turbulence . . . until the east side of the Rockies! The winds were southerly at 60 knots so the pilot had his hands full getting the jet smoothly onto the runway in Calgary. Beuatiful sunny day in Calgary until 3:00 pm when it started snowing. |
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Coquihalla Report - when we drove back from Kelowna through Hope around 7:00 PM, there were so many waterfalls and new streams off the mountains, due to the heavy rains. Around Laidlaw, there were full-on rivers coming down the mountain. Apparently, sometime last night there was a mudslide between Hope and Bridal Falls that closed Hwy 1. | Hope Report - you know Norm is losing it when he spends money on motorbikes! This is what five months of rain can do to a pilot :-) 
Norm and Bev's new toys - photo by Bev
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| Abbotsford: Periods of rain. Windy. High 10. (standard)
Interior Report - big winds and rain at times. We figured Hedley was blown-out and headed straight to Kelowna for dinner. |
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| Abbotsford: Periods of rain. Windy. High 10. (standard)
Vancouver Report - yet more wind and rain :-( | Quotable Quote - "You feel like a dragon-slayer, when there are no more dragons to slay" - Laird Hamilton, Surfer (explaining how depressed he feels when the surf is not up). Kind of how paragliders feel when there are no thermals or ridge lift! Lack of adrenaline makes one sad. Laird Hamilton, Surfer Films taken from Various sources, on YouTube
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| Abbotsford: Periods of rain. Windy. High 10. (standard)
Fraser Valley Report - more rain and snow on Woodside, some say this is the fifth month of precip! UGGHH! |
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Santa Barbara Report - after morning meetings it was decided that it was too shaded to head up Alternator for a sled-ride, plus everyone was scattering home thru LAX or driving, so off to Elings Park for a kiting session with all the new gear. | We all got to kite and drool over the Ozone Ultralite the lightest "real" paraglider in a 26 meter size! 
The Ultralight at Santa Barbara - photo by CMV We also got to play with the Ozone Bullet , the retro speed-glider. 
The Bullet 14 meter at Santa Barbara - photo by CMV Many long-time pilots from the late '80s remarked that we are going back to our roots with these gliders. Small sizes, two risers, 3:1 glide ratios! It was good kiting as the winds picked up and a few pilots even got a few passes on the hill before sinking out. ps: read the warning on the Ozone Link above! 
The Bullet 14 meter at Santa Barbara - photo by CMV We had to head to LAX by 2:00 pm, as traffic can get bad on the 101 & 405 in the afternoon, and we were headed south out of Santa Barbara when we saw an Ozone Rush soaring the site called "Bates" just off the freeway on the coast. Chris and I scoped out this site on Monday afternoon but no wind, but great potential. The ridge is about 2 miles long, you drive right to launch off the freeway and lots of top landing room, with a great beach below if you sink out. 
Ozone Rush Soaring Bates Ridge south of Santa Barbara - photo by CMV
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Alternator Report - 13 pilots and Shannon and son Garret went to Alternator launch and we were launching by 11:30 am. This is a south facing launch, but it usually only works until 1:30 pm, when it blows cross or over the back. | Local Instructor Chad showed us the house thermal to the right of the mountain that sits in front of launch, and sure enough he took the first thermal to 5,000 feet (launch is at 3,800 feet). He was flying the new Ozone Ultralight Small with the new Ozone Light Harness, total kit is about 10 lbs! And it climbed well! He was joined by Matt, Colleen and Helen all climbing in front of launch. 
Chad and his Ultralight over launch at 5,000 feet - photo by JPR He was joined by Matt, Colleen and Helen all climbing in front of launch. 
Colleen, Helen and Matt in the house thermal - photo by JPR Soon the remaining pilots were having more trouble getting launched as the wind shifted west and the cycles calmed down, and when they got off they weren't climbing as well. The others in the layer above 4500 feet maintained but didn't climb any higher so they headed out to the LZ to boat around. In the end, Shannon and baby drove their car down, I drove down Matt's rental FourRunner (too sick with a cold to get enough energy to unpack) and Kevin also drove a car down. 11 launched and flew and only 2 scratched too low and had to be retrieved from the alternate LZs. A few of us went over to the Training Hill and the Cliff Launch to see if it was blowing strong enough to soar but no luck, so off to dinner with the group. 
View toward the coast from Elings Park Training Hill - photo by Colleen Ozone Dealer Attendees were: Chad Bastian from Santa Barabara Kevin Lee from OR Jeff Greenbaum from San Francisco Granger Banks from Colorado Pine Pineear from Colorado Denise and Doug from Cashmere WA Brad and Maren from Astoria WA Chris Langanfrom Hawaii Scott Harris from Jackson Hole, WY Matt Gerdes, Dealer Rep from Ozone Helen, Matt's girlfriend from DR Jim and Colleen from FlyBC 
Most of the Group at Alternator Launch - photo by Colleen We learned a lot of new things about EN certification, now adopted by every country but Germany. New gliders and harnesses were reviewed and pros and cons of Gelvanor vs Porcher were discussed. 
Future Colorado Pilot, who has already gone tandem with Dad and Mom - photo by Colleen
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Santa Barbara Report - we headed up to Alternator Launch around 1:00 pm (that is the northern launch behind the front peaks where you have to fly through a valley to get to the LZs). Askia told me about this site when she went down to Santa Barbara last year on the way to Chile, fairly intimidatng for a new pilot. | Matt launched first on his Mantra II and did some turns but it was a bit early and we saw him bobbing up and down in front of the front peaks at times. Helen next on her new Geo, and she was able to maintain at times but the air was pretty stable, so she headed out the gap toward the LZ. We parked a car there but only Matt had landed there previously 4 years ago, so the location was of dubious nature as you flew out. 
The view of the gap you have to fly thru, and the LZ is to the right and hidden - photo by JPR I followed Helen out and the thermals were rather lame, and I soared some rocks for a while keeping my eye on where she was landing (no where near the LZ). I soared the front peaks for 10 minutes but was not able to get up so I headed out to the LZ on the orange Mantra Rob had traded in, getting decent glide until I was over the powerline that crosses North-South and there was some dis-organized lift and a hawk circling below me. So I turned a few times losing more height than I gained as I hit sink - so much for the powerline thermal theory! All the rest of the way to the LZ I had to overfly roads to get any lift, and I flew over Helen to see her packing up in a little orchard, for an overall flight time of 20 minutes (pretty much the average today with light thermals). The Santa Barbara Airport is within 5 miles of the LZ and probably 7 miles from launch, but no conflicts have arisen despite 20 years of free flight, see picture attached below. 
The view of the airport on the way to the LZ, some jets were observed on final while flying - photo by JPR 
The view of the LZ on the way in, not everyone made it today - photo by JPR
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Woodside Report - I headed out to your place today with Taylore and the dogs to let them run. (of course I brought the wing just in case) Overheard on the radio Andy was ready to head up for his third flight of the day. Robin and Dianne had just arrived about five minutes before me and we picked up Andy and drove up. Dianne was not going to fly so I did not have to worry about a retrieve. Launch was very much like last weekend ,switchy but no mud on the edge of the top. all three of us launched without any difficulty and flew in very smooth air with 10-15km NW in the landing field. Andy landed at Abes and came back and headed up AGAIN with Al who was just arriving as I left.
One of these days soon, the friggen sun will come out and give us a good pucker flight !!! - Thomm McE | Santa Barbara Report - I got here too late to fly, as the United Airlines Flight I was on had trouble starting the right engine on a CRJ700. I didn't see anyone out there with booster cables but they got it going after 90 minutes. I went to Elings Park to check out the training hill! They have a great setup, a city park that loves paragliding! 180 feet of vertical and you can drive to the top, and all grass. Kind of like Savona without the wind. Google View of the Elings Park Training Hill
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Woodside Report - we were out in the Valley, but could not see much until 3:30 PM, when launch opened up for a bit, but we were already headed in to Vancouver to prep for Santa Barbara! | Whibey Report - bad forecast for Strait of Juan de Fuca, all the windtalkers were reporting E to NE winds all day, not southwest at 20 knots as forecasted.
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Vancouver Report - light rain all day. Snow in Abbotsford at times and windy from the east. |
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Woodside Report - Alan, Andy, Jeremy and Al all flew in nice lifty conditions. At times launch was obscured by clouds but they were cloud-surfing out front. Andy headed to Agassiz Mtn. but no lift there so he flew back to Joe's. Jeremy headed over to Agassiz where he landed at the Rec Centre. Alan logged 2+ hours and said the others got much the same times. | All the local launches have snow on them: Bridal Lower, Sumas Mtn., Deroche. But apparently the pilots got a ride up Woodside in a local's 4x4 with big knobbie tires and they went right to launch. 
The view of Woodside Launch today around 4:30 PM - photo by Nokia
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Woodside Report - low clouds and snow all day. | |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
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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