FlyBC "Site of the Day May 2009 Archive Page"
"If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day." - John A. Wheeler
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Woodside Report - we started flying at 10 am and the new students; Steve, David, Kevin and Cynthia all got their first 3 solo flights. They decided they were ready for the "bumps" on flight 3 as reports from incoming pilots aid it was rowdy at the Ranch but they all loved managing the turbulence (we may have created some "monsters"? already.) We took a break for lunch and returned to the mountain at 5 pm, as it calmed down to east winds at the Ranch and I was voted "wind dummy" by Colleen (while Kelly stayed down and painted the new bathroom facilities earning her a gold star). I launched in nice cycles, and was soon soaring 200 meters over when I decided I should test the air further out before sending off the students to ridge-soar. Meantime, Bev was skidding around launch trying to get in the air and I missed the mayhem. No vario or gps, but it was bumpy at times and I had good altitude when I hit the ridge but at the ridge I parked. I was about 400 meters over Harrison Mills but not moving. I went on half bar and was soon by the goal post trees as I cut the corner when I released bar at tree top height and was going backwards again?? WTF! I nailed the bar and got in front of the trees, did a few S's and landed to the east smoothly. The students would not like this air, so a plan was hatching to take them to harvest for their first XC flights. Norm was to launch and head to Harvest while I drove there to guide them in. I got in the Van as Norm launched. He was soon 100 meters below launch no matter where he went. He tried the South Knoll, then the north cliffs and he was lower yet. If there was lift he can find it and there was none. Another day was scheduled for the students and Norm flew out to the Ranch penetrating well until he hit a sheer layer at 100 meters that turned him a full 180 degrees and sent him downwind over the LZ. It was "rock and roll" to the ground. Later John L hiked up and flew at 7 pm and reported smooth air, but we were packed up by then. Reports were coming in over the air waves of pilots at Elk, over Gloria, etc. at Bridal so that site was working for advanced pilots, but I don't like taking 3-4 flight students there until they perfect their landing skills. Our group had fantastic launch skills for their second day out, but Bridal amy be a few moe flights out for them.
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Woodside Report - we had a group of brand new students and some from last fall and everyone started kiting in the landing circle with the good students heading to the Training Hill when they werre ready. | This extremely talented group was soon all on the training hill queued up waiting for their turns to fly down. The cycles were strong enough for some extended "hang time". We soon had the group briefed and ready for tandems or solo flights and only Sheri opted for the tandem, as did Rex who was an interested bystander. 
Training hill queue at Eagle Ranch, take a number - photo by JPR The conditions for the first flights by Jack and Diane were already rowdy and thermic, so we waited after lunch to try again. In the meantime I took Libby tandem for her first flight and we had decent speeds and good landing conditions, we went back up the hill with students and John L flew and reported strong winds and sink on the way out. I took Rex tandem and we had a nice flight but it was too thermic and punchy for first student flihhts for sure! Good landing conditions again but sinky after the ridge. We waited for some more time and then John L went again after Colleen reported trashy sheer layers near the Ridge. I followed with Sheri for my third tandem and we were soon soaring above launch as the trucks drove down. John caught some magic air on the way out and was soon at 1000 meters over the valley. We were right behind him and a bit lower and didn't catch it. He was still in the air an hour after we landed . . . so much for being home early! Vernon Report - Well we are here in the ok and what do you know but blown out ratty air. We were at Randy's and I got to see the color of my new wing. I did a bit of kiting. Then we thought lets see how Mara might be, got up there and it was coming in from the north and the south, Norm launched and I went and picked him up at the lz, (there are a load of horses in there that went over to inspect Norm, haha poor guy) I finally got there and he told me the air was quite spicy. We came back to the kids and had dinner and then we went over to the high school and I did a bunch more kiting. Oh I am in instant love now. There is this little hill that you can run down like a training hill, and I was running down this hill with my wing. It was so awwesome, and Norm suggested I try a forward, so I did and it was perfect, I had a huge grin on my face!! Norm did some kiting with my Buzz, and he had a bit of a time bringing it up with the first couple of tries haha I think he is too used to his Factor. So tomorrow is another day. I am ready to fledge after my kiting woohoo and I am so happy to have my Buzz again. - Bev Spain Report - I would like to register myself for the 2-day SIV course in Revelstoke in July. Is it ok if I give you the $100 deposit once I get back to Vancouver around the 20th of June? What helped me make the final decision about taking the course was my flight at Cebreros near Madrid today. I launched nicely at 3pm after observing some poor guy being dragged all over the (huge) take off area. There was lift and turbulence everywhere which wasn't making me happy, especially as I was tired after a 1-hour thermal flight just an hour before. Once I was in the vicinity of the LZ I remembered what you say you do if the air is beyond your tolerance level: pull big ears and glide to landing. So I did and was happily going down at -4m/s through what would be lift and turbulence otherwise. About 150-200m agl, however, it started to throw me around even with the big ear puled in! That I absolutely did not expect and panicked a bit. That was when I thought of the SIV. I know it's not gonna eliminate turbulence but I hope it will give me faith in my glider. So I decided to let out the big ears and grab the brakes to regain control and make the final approach. Surprisingly it worked and I landed safely (but got some weird looks from instructors) and I'm still not sure if it made any sense (to let out big ears hoping to gain stability). It's been a second Saturday of me flying with the local club/school called "De Madrid al Cielo" and I've flown two sites in seven fights already. Instructors don't speak English but some students do so I had a backup for my broken Spanish. It's nice but there's no place like mother Woodside :) Cheers, - Mike
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Woodside Report - Gary K, Phil and James were the only pilots out at Woodside this morning. Conditions were rather calm so a "best glide contest" was organized towards Kilby Beach. For a best glide one must maintain a straight line and keep streamlined to maximize your speed, and this was discussed in the briefing pre-flight. | In the end, Gary made the Community Centre field past School Road, Phil and James were in Bill Best's field for their graduation flights. Congratulations on passing your novice exams and completing over 45 flights at numerous sites around BC. I flew another flight later with Norm's new Factor and while I was able to maintain for a bit, the sink on the way out (-2.7 m/s sustained) all the way to the construction site had me pretty low and had Norm cringing. I barely made it over the ridge to Duncan's but caught some lift across the Duncan field and landed just short of the circle. Nice wing. As it was forecast to blow out later we head to Lil Nic. Lil Nic Report - Al, Gar K, Phil and James made the trek to Lil Nic in the Unimog. The road is in great shape all the way to the top, no gates. The last km is under a tight canopy of trees but a regular height vehicle could make it through without hitting the sides too much. There has been some vandalism in the form of a fire on launch that spread and killed some trees but it is launchable without any cleanup. We decided the +35 kph thermal gusts were too strong even for "the Hammer" and drove down. In the past we used to fly in these conditions but not with students. We headed up Shotgun to check out the cycles there but it was too Southerly and we headed back to the Ranch. Mount Breckenridge Report - Mount Breckenridge is the large mountain that is at the northerly end of Hrrison Lake on the east side. You can see it from Bridal Launch through the gap at Harrison. 
Mount Breckenridge on Harrison Lake - photo by JPR Intrepid "hike & flier" John L. decided it was a good flying site and headed up there solo on Friday morning at 5 am. He is flying a Geo II/Oxygen combo pack and he reported that he stopped at a rest point part way up and found the wind to be warm and suitable to launch (thermic). He thought kiting to test the air to be a smart move and he was soon launched and climbing to the summit under thermal power vs foot power. His intent was to climb to the summit and then fly down but this plan involved less energy. He landed next to his car on the road and was back in the Valley by 6 pm, calling in the gloat reports. John is willing to take other hikers on his excursions but likes to hike fast so don't slow him down!
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Shotgun Report - Jack, Al and I headed up to Shotgun at 130 pm, and the day looked pretty lame on the way up there, no CUs. | Al got ready as the cycles started to get stronger and had a good launch and maintained at launch height 500 meters for some time, but alas ended up in the well flagged LZ2. We were ready to bail when we went to get Al but he wasn't ready to admit defeat yet. Back to launch we headed and off Al goes again in a much stronger cycle and with some scratching and perseverance he is soon at 1550 meters over Sylvester Road near Mt. St. Benedict, before heading over the back to the Norrish Valley and beyond. 
Al climbing out at Shotgun near the "chimney" - photo by JPR We lost radio contact but he heard that his truck would be at Eagle Ranch as we headed to Bridal. I want to fly this site when the odds are better and I can see the CUs a bit. On the way to Bridal I got a call from Matt J who had sunk out below Gloria and was somewhere in SW Rosedale, so I headed out to find him. Rob and Kevin were helping from the air to locate him too, thanks guys. Once I got Matt, and arrived at the bottom we were getting reports of east wind at launch and hard top landing approaches so we had to drive up to get Matt's truck. Jack and John L. came up to see if they could fly and amazingly both got off in a calm cycle and had some nice soaring. Eventually Kevin did top-land and drove Nikolai's truck down. We started hearing from Al around 5:15 pm, as he approached Harrison Mills low. He landed one field short of Eagle Ranch a short walk to his truck. Good flight given the lame conditions for another 50 kms on his log book!
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Woodside Report - Alan brought a childhood buddy, Neil, out for a tandem today. They bumped into each other hiking Bridal last week and Neil has
been living in Quebec for 20 years so it was a fluke to meet up there. | Neil and I launched on our brand new Magnum 41 at 1:30 pm, nice straight cycles to kite up the glider and check the lines before getting "hoovered off". We launched after Jason who had a beautiful launch and was soon 200 meters over launch despite having to be back at work soon. We were also soon at 900 meters soaring with some immature bald eagles near the South Knoll, the air a bit chunky at times but good +4.5 m/s up if you stayed in the core. We had a good collapse trying to core under a small CU near the north cliffs but the Magnum didn't even turn one degree. I guess the core was smaller than a 41 meter glider?? Alan heard the collapse but by the time he saw it it was mostly reinflated. We flew for 45 minutes and landed at the Ranch in south winds, nice landing conditions despite the lapse rate. We were being conscious of the wind warnings as we headed back up for Robin to fly his new Mantra M3. At 11 am, Environment Canada revised the forecast and dropped the "windy" part but the coastal forecast was still strong. Rick launched first, then Robin had a spicy launch as we got plucked off in a strong cycle (no blowouts). I followed Robin on the Addict II and we were "duking it out" at times but I foolishly forgot my vario with my tandem gear and had to follow Robin and the eagles to get up. Robin had the clear climb advantage and I headed out after 45 minutes of soaring up to 1100 meters estimated by the tower height. Jack and Kevin came up while we were in the air and launched and were doing well as Robin continued his maiden M3 flight. Brad showed up later and Jason and I mooched a ride up with him so I could test the new Ozone Mojo3 Large. Nice design with wine colored leading edge and triangular cell openings. Jason got daring and test flew a Gin Rebel and did very well on it, while Brad was test flying a Mantra M2. The Mojo 3 did very well in the climbs and despite to "swirled up" Harrison Bay I had 28-30 kph on the way out to the Ranch while Kevin, Jack, Robin all headed over the back to Harvest from about 1200 meters. I came over the Ranch at 780 meters, nice glide on the Mojo 3. 
Eagle Ranch in beautiful sunlit Harrison Mills - photo by JPR Nicole and Alex came by later and had a nice flight at Bridal getting to 1700 meters near the Lakes despite some shading due to clouds. Thanks again to Alan and Neil who drove for all of us today!
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Woodside Monsoon Report - I was glad we got the Barn to lockup stage on Monday (thanks again to Alan and Rick for helping frame in the back wall and bathroon partitions), as the skies opened up and dropped buckets of rain all day. | We are now waiting for Jason to come to paint the bathroom so we can install the fixtures and have it operational by the weekend. It is situated in the NW corner of the barn with exterior access only. Wood Rat OR Report - Having an excellent time at Woodrat! Well I am anyway, Norm wasn't too impressed when I snapped a shot of him below me ;) 
Norm grovelling below Martina - photo by ML We've been taking advantage of the shuttles and getting 3 flights each day - a morning sledder, afternoon thermal flight & magical glass off in the evenings. I think there were over a hundred pilots here this weekend so the skies were sure crowded! A nice break from the gaggles was flying over to Longsword Vineyards to land to applause from the guests at the outdoor tasting room and a free glass of wine. 
The Vineyard - photo by ML The conditions have been excellent and even though we're not getting super high (Norm got the highest at 2000 metres) there's plenty of lift to do the crossings to Rabies Ridge & back. We've managed to hook into the magical convergence that sets up here throughout the last few days too which is so much fun! 
Rabies Ridge - photo by ML Norm is moping after seeing the rain back home as he's heading back tomorrow, but Derek & I are playing in the sun for the rest of the week. I'm joining Brad Gunnicio's SIV clinic at Lake Shasta from Wed-Friday, then we might try & squeeze in one more day of flying at Woodrat before heading back on the weekend. - Life is good - Martina & Derek
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Bridal Report - Nick and Hans from Bellingham headed up Bridal at 2:30 pm, despite wind warnings and strong winds in the LZ to have a sweet flight landing in 10 kph west winds later. They arrived at the Ranch after 5:00 pm while Alan, Rick and I were working on the new bathroom installation and other renovations in the Barn. We are ready to start framing on Tuesday for the bathroom walls as most of the plumbing is in now, starting at noon. |
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Woodside Report - we were busy gardening as Kelly took pilots up the mountain to fly (still glowing from the Revelstoke flights). Gary K had three flights, Heiko and Rick made Bert richer by $40 by missing the landings due to high winds and sinky air. About 15 flights were accomplished safely before the winds really picked up, and the winds continued past 9:30 pm. | Elk Report - Mark F, James and Phil flew Elk landing in "spicy conditions" around 11 am. Elk is really an early morning site unless it is winter and no wind, because the landing is on top of Ryder Lake plateau which is rotory from south or north winds. Bridal Report - we heard Evelyn and Andrew flying Bridal mostly around the soaring knob, but Andrew did make it to the Saddle. Landings were windy and turbulent. I am not sure whether it calmed down much there later.
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Revelstoke Report - Old Guys/Girls Rule. | Alan Polster launched before us after he and Bernie (from Golden) drove up ahead of us and he and Bernie were seen below the 1400 meter launch struggling to stay up. We launched anyway and Chris, Thane and I were soon grovelling with them at 1200 meters while Colleen launched and "skied out" immediately to 2000 meters, her report below. Alan's flight report here In the end is was Alan who got highest at 3280 meters, Colleen at 2000 meters and me at 2880 meters at which point I was elated with the views and started taking pictures - Jim Colleen's Mackenzie Report - Checking out Mount McKenzie Jim and I arrived in Revelstoke at 11:30 – little cu’s had been guiding our way since Kelowna, and winds were light. We met up with Chris D. who gave us a tour of the LZs and guided us to launch, picking up Thane along the way. The road to launch is a very easy gravel road winding under the ski lifts. We decided to launch at the 5.5 km mark at about 1480 m – Alan Polster was already in the air boating around above launch as we arrived and Bernie from Golden had launched and landed below launch to fix his harness. The launch area is a wide ski run, and we set up just above a road. 
The 1400 meter Mt. Mackenzie Launch viewed from the road - photo by JPR Jim launched first, impressing the boys with his kiting control, and he caught some lift as soon as he was clear of the trees. Chris launched well, followed by Thane who lost about 1/3 of his wing flying down the ski slope through the corridor of trees. I was the last to set up, and was disappointed to see all the guys (including Alan!) well below launch and some way out into the valley. 
Alan Polster and Bernie looking for lift over the ski runs before we launched - photo by JPR I was lucky, though – easy lift off launch, and reasonably smooth lift to 2000 metres. I fell out, sunk to 1300, back up to 2200, and then repeated the process. Meanwhile, the guys were fighting gravity – from my perspective, close to the trees. Alan, then Jim, and eventually Chris saved themselves and climbed out. 
The view south to Arrow Lake from 2800 meters ASL - photo by JPR Alan made it to 3200 m, Jim to 2800, and Chris definitely made the best save of the day. I kept doing the "yo-yo", and meanwhile the thermals seemed bossier and bossier, and rougher. 
The view east to Golden from 2800 meters ASL, the top launch area is at 2400 meters near the top tram station - photo by JPR The view was spectacular, and the town and airport both seemed to be an easy glide. 
Revelstoke townsite and airport from 2800 meters ASL - photo by JPR I got weary of battling the rough stuff and glided out over what is usually the flooded Montana Slough (which at present is almost totally dry). The LZ on the edge of the slough is a field nicely mowed by the local radio-controlled aircraft club. It took quite a bit of effort to get down as there was lift everywhere – including the LZ. Chris and Jim landed after over an hour, and we retrieved while Alan continued his 3 hour plus flight. 
The RC LZ is just next to the road near the grove of trees left of my foot - photo by JPR The site will be amazing for manoeuvres if the Slough gets flooded, so we booked ourselves into a campsite for July! Thanks to Alan and Chris for a great day - Colleen. 
Spot Landing Dock at Williamson Lake Campground - photo by JPR Check with local pilots for access information and current landing options. Alan Polster - 250 837 5206 or 250 814 4468 Chris Delworth - 250 837 3979 or 250 814 8250
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Kelowna Report - I drove up to Blue Grouse Launch at 11:30 am, and the north wind was still present.
You can fly in north wind, but not soar and we waited for 30 minutes and it was slowly turning around but I had the grandkids with us and they weren't enjoying "parawaiting", so we drove down. | Later the winds switched to south and CUs were forming along the west ridges til dark, so it would have been an epic day if we were more patient. Another road trip we will revisit this site and try to go XC.
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Kelowna Report - the forecasted +20 kph NW winds were present when we arrived at 9:30 am, so Blue Grouse was out. Instead a family day unfolded with shoping and pool action for the kids. | Bridal Report - Looked like a great Hope day - light winds. Good air reported by pilots, although no great elevation gains. Alex, Nicole, I and Rob launched between 3:40 and 4:00 pm. Alex, Nicole and I flew pretty quickly to Cheam and worked our way over to the lakes where we enjoyed the usual big fat thermal for the jump to the Butterfly. At Ludwig we heard a report from Martin Henry that the winds in general were quite light so we decided to head for Hope. The google pics tell most of the story. We stayed pretty high but it wasn't always easy. At one point I stayed at a peak and worked it while Alex and Nicole surged ahead only to get low and come back to grovel with me. When we finally had the airport in sight, we had such good height that Alex suggested we fly on to Hope Mountain with all of its big rock faces basking in the afternoon sun. Sure enough, after arriving at less than 1000 m, we all worked our back up to about 1300 and played on the mountain for at least 45 minutes. Eventually, we heard from Norm that the winds in town were quite light so we decided to land at Norm's School, Hope Secondary. We crossed the valley all the way to where the Fraser River turns north and east. It was still very buoyant and I found myself looking for sink. Alex who was lower, began to report significant wind during the descent and shortly after that he reported that it was quite turbulent over Norm's school so he opted for the Coquihalla Elementary which looked like a bigger field with cleaner air. Despite this choice, Alex had a big frontal on his final and warned us to get upwind as much as possible. I had been pretty busy trying to find sink and needed quite a bit of speed bar to get into a good landing position in front of the bending poplars and power lines at the east end of the field. I had completely lost track of Nicole, so was very surprised when she dropped into view 50 metres ahead. Now we both needed to carefully avoid each other all the while trying not to get blown into the poplars and control the surging wings. As it was, we both came down softly - that is our bodies did. Our minds were higher for quite a while. What a great flight - my first flight to Hope. The highlight for me was soaring Hope Mountain with its astounding views. It was also wonderful to fly with such superb pilots. Lots of great suggestions made via the radios. - Kevin, Alex, Nicole flying to Hope is usually pretty easy . . . surviving the landing in high winds is the tough part even in the wide open Hope Airport area - JR. 
Kevin`s track log to Hope and beyond - photo by JPR Shotgun Report - I flew SHOTGUN again today. Launch was a bit leeside but managed to climb out at the usual place, it just took a bit more work. Climbed to 1756 M and made it to Best's LZ. GPS showed 63KM total. It was interesting flying in the mountains today with the north component - Hammer 
Al`s track log to Harrison Mills and Bill Best`s field - photo by JPR
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Woodside Report - we were out backfilling the ditches behind the barn in a monsoon and later I got the red tractor stuck very deep in the muck while roto-tilling. | 
Ford Tractor stuck real good - photo by JPR Derek came over to help pull it out with the 'Mog and when we were done, the skies opened up and we went flying. I launched first on the new Buzz L and was climbing nicely in front of launch in a strong core. The lift to the north was good too, until I hit a sink cycle that had me down at lower launch height. Struggling near the trees, I found a small strong core and didn't want to lose it when 6 vultures came in below me and started sharing the thermal and one climbed through me and showed me the way up. The vultures were a few meters away through the climb out and totally un-afraid of the big green bird sharing the sky. 
Woodside after 3 pm today - photo by JPR Meanwhile Derek had launched and soared and top-landed to call Martina to come over "cause it was so good". And he relaunched while I was boating around. I hit some sink again while Derek was at 1000 meters and I barely made the Ranch, actually I was fine once I hit the Construction Zone and I landed at Stonehenge. The mountain got shaded as Martina arrived and Derek was soon also in Stonehenge. We drove up to retrieve and it was still cycling up nicely. Bridal looked soarable with huge embedded CUs everyhere along the ridge but no pilots on the radio.
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Shotgun Report - hail, rain and wind with towering CUs. We didn't fly but did watch some eagles core up from ground level to cloudbase near Sylvester Road. |
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Woodside Report - new student pilot Brian F from Whitehorse completed 4 more flights today in nice conditions. He left with a smile and a new glider! The second flight with Colleen testing the air was pretty nasty near the south knoll, but she made it to the Ranch easily so Derek and Gary K took off behind her and were climbing all over the Valley, followed by Ken H and Brian F. | Mother Woodside delivers again despite windy forecast.
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Woodside Report - Colleen and I took a rare break from FlyBC work this morning and took a 4.5 kms hike along the Harrison Mills dykes before everyone showed up. The Fraser is running high and fast but no flood warning so far this year.
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The Harrison River before it exits to the Fraser looking west to Deroche Mountain - photo by JPR After the hike we flew one flight around 11 pm as early reports from Zdenek camping on top said it was windy. Launches were hairy due to gusty thermic winds, and the air was "gnarly". I flew for 15 minutes and headed straight out followed by Jaro, and Alex W. Quote of the day: "This is about as much fun as getting a root canal" - Martin H struggling to get away on the North Tower. Bridal Report - Bridal was reporting strong conditions too, so I launched and flew the Rebel out towards Gloria following Alex W and Norm and I hooked up for a few climbs. I flew back to launch after an hour and then out to land to test the air for the beginners. Nice landing conditions so Brian launched into complete radio silence as his battery died. Good thing he is a fixed wing pilot already and we did a thorough briefing so he had a perfect soaring flight and landing. Woodside Report #2 - we flew one last glass-off flight at 6 pm, and the pilots all got 45-60 minutes landing at the Ranch. 
Brian soaring the "Glass Off" at Mother Woodside - photo by JPR Baja Mexico Report - Had a little kiting session and dune soar yesterday between surf sessions on the East Cape in pretty strong winds. Some vultures joined me. Fun. Heres a pic. Hoping to find a decent launch area as there are mountains all around and nice laminar winds in the afternoon. Just need a launch and LZ between the cactus and to get in the air early or late as Im sure the thermals pump in the midday. Looks like you had a good weekend back there - Matt J 
Matt J in the Baja - photo by ??
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Woodside Report - nice flights with some parawaiting for cycles at times. Good conditions for students to knock off their flights including Brian who logged his first three solo flights today. |
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Woodside Report - James, Phil, Pavan and Steve D were out flying today and had three great flights thermalling up and above launch. Pavan was trying out some new gear after getting signed-off last fall and he was doing great wherever he went apparaently not forgetting what he was taught with us over his 2 year Novice Course (he lived in ON and SK). | It never got windy although the Eagle Ranch LZ was thermic and bubbling folks up on final (Steve D made perfect spot landings everytime however, great for his 3rd day out). Martin and Al were thermalling together as they passed heading opposite directions near Dewdney. When we were collecting everyone to head to Bridal, Al had reached Sasquatch from Shotgun and was trying to get height to make it to Woodside and beyond. Unfortunately, the lift at Woodside petered out, and the lift east was even worse as Martin H was forced to land his ATOS at Harvest Market and Al in the Bailout Swamp near Hwy 7! We decided to fly Bridal as Colleen was coming out from the city and we planned to meet her there. Many others were at the bottom and the Blue Van was soon crammed to the roof with pilots and gliders and I was wishing that I brought the 'Mog, but we were soon at launch. We were joined by Mike D, just signed off last weekend; and he and Phil, Pavan, James were soon off launch first try and climbing out. Experienced pilots were up and gone soon. Rob S was last seen at launch height heading towards Gloria on the R09. We were hearing calls from folks at "The Butterfly", Gloria, Elk as pilots were passing on the gloat reports. Quote of the day: "How do I get down?" - from James as he was trying to descend to land at Bridal. He was advised to use "big ears" but only to 100 meters AGL. He only needed a short activation to get through a thermic layer. I drove down as I was tuckered from all the guiding and driving and was experiencing "beer suck", and when I got to the Swamp LZ James and Phil were packed up and others were landing due to cold hands. Good approaches in light SW winds for everyone to end a perfect flying day. Pavan logged 3:00 hours, James and Phil 2:00. Wow! Shot Gun Roulette - First, kudos to Al, Rob, and Jim for putting some elbow grease into this launch. Al and I arrived at about 11:30 am to find the wind straight in and nice cycles. The first thing I noticed was how far away the closest landing option was - a logging road. Al said it was about 5:1 so best not to scratch around if it wasn't working. He also prudently brought his tree kit for the first time ever. (I don't have one yet). Al offered to help me get off first. The cycles were a little light so a I took two inflations before getting away cleanly. No lift in the first fifteen seconds so I veered out towards the logging road. No one of the first four pilots had needed to land down in the logging slash so I was still in denial thirty seconds into the flight when I still hadn't felt a fart and knew I was going to be the first. There is only about a 200 m difference between launch and the landing so very soon I was trying to figure out the best approach. The pictures show LZ #1 (distance 1 km) where I landed on the fairly level road with pretty clean air coming from the west (fortunately my landing direction - ribbons would be good). I packed up and Al roared down to get me for a second go. Rob S had joined us with a borrowed A2 and another tarp. Al launched next after pointing out that I should have gone further to the left after launching. Sure enough he hit lift on his first turn and was a hundred meters over and drifting to the south (highway 7) a few minutes later. I waited for a good cycle launched and went left feeling nice lift just as predicted, not enough to get me over launch on my first pass but still level. I went further left this time and felt strong lift drifting me up and east away from the closest LZ. Perhaps I turned back too soon, but by the time I was back at launch I was a little lower. I didn't give up but made another (albeit half-hearted) attempt to the left. Sink! Here we go again. I began heading to the LZ, this time turning in any lift but nothing that took me up. Within seconds I knew I would not even make the first LZ. "This is not looking good, Rob", I reported as I began bobbing towards the closest logging road. Beneath me - a gully. To the left a shallow lake surrounded by trees. Ahead - lots of tall trees. The only option (as my sink alarm screamed in my ear) was a parking area on the main road about 50 meters in diameter surrounded by trees but with a drop off on the west side from which I could drop in, hoping not to be short or overshoot. It was over in seconds. A couple of tight turns and I swooped in flared and was down, my heart in my mouth. When I re-established radio contact with Rob, he said the wind was very dynamic, switching and strong. Al, by now, was high and in the strong stuff but making his was towards the Fraser Valley where he would eventually turn and make a successful run for Woodside. Great flying, Al. I had no desire to throw the dice three times. Rob was uninspired so we packed up and headed off for a very nice flight at good old predictable Bridal. Conclusion - This is quite an advanced but nice launch which definitely funnels the thermals up. If you get up, you're going to get high and it won't take long before you have some nice landing options in the Sylvester Valley. However, if you don't get up whether due to lack of skill, bad timing, or bad luck, you have only seconds to adjust your flight path to the logging slash, which is an advanced LZ or your second choice is beyond advanced. Then you will also need some luck not to hit sink or turbulence which could be disastrous. Rob S put it well. In paragliding you roll the dice every time you launch. Included with all the predictable factors such as quality of the launch, skill, knowledge of meteorology, timing, is the luck or karma factor. I can't explain this but it is there. Statistically, out of seven "Shotgun" launches, two (both mine) resulted in high stress, highly challenging flights. Someone with less experience might have had a very unpleasant experience. So, if you do plan to roll the dice or play Shotgun Roulette (choose your metaphor), pack your tree kit and accept that this is a high risk site. While you're at it ask the obvious question, is it worth it? For me the jury is still out. I admit, I would be singing a different tune if I had gotten away today. As it is I'm glad to be walking - Kevin Ault 
Google Earth Images of Shotgun and LZs - photo by KA 
Google Earth Images of Shotgun and LZs - photo by KA
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Woodside Report - no body at Woodside today except Norm, two Eagles and me. | Cloudbase was low initially and Norm launched at 1:30 pm, and was soon near 'base over the South Knoll (around 800 meters), I was getting ready but Norm was soon sinking to launch height so I waited for a stronger cycle and some sun. I kited the Addict II L up a few times to test the air, but it felt very weak so I waited. Finally a better cycle and Norm was gaining too, and I launched. I maintained a few minutes and even above launch at the South Knoll and I witnessed Norm make a few top-landing approaches and he dropped in right on the carpet. The plan was for me to top-land too and swap wings so I could try his new Nova Factor, but after a few approaches it was obvious a top-landing was going to take too long as the sun came out fully and I was going up at +4.2 m/s when I was looking for sink. As I climbed though 'base at 980 meters through a hole I decided to head over to Sasquatch Mountain out over the Valley "cloud hopping". Good penetration and glide and some climbs near the North Bowl made it seem easy but near the Harrison River it was sinky and I slowed to 18 kph on the GPS. Sasquatch was in cloud and no birds to guide me so I flew around Harrison Mills Peninsula looking for lift off the plowed fields but it was too shady . . . except over Eagle Ranch! I came from the west over the railway tracks hoping to land at the Barn, and as I approached the Ranch high I noticed the trees south of the tracks had a strong Westerly component in them?? I went North over the goal post trees and they had a strong SE component there. Every sock was "starched out" in opposing directions so I made an approach for the landing cirscle into the wind, as I turned to miss the windsock pole I got lifted above the goalpost trees in final. Okay, I will just head along the road and land at the training hill. Nope, another bubble again which I got dumped out of at the bridge over the pond. Maybe someone caught it on the FlyBC Woodside WebCam? . Norm drove down and headed to work and I got ready to meet Rob and Al at Shotgun Launch to do some needed clearing. Bridal Report - we talked to Alan D at launch around 2 pm, and it was quite shady but good cycles. He later launched and only scratched out 15 minutes as the sun never really hit the slopes. Shotgun Report - after 2.5 hours of sawing stumps, rolling junk over the edge and some digging the new launch area looks pretty nice. My saws are heading to the shop for new bars and chains today to finish the job on the remaining stumps (2) and the trail in to launch to make it safer to get to launch. More likely to crack an ankle rolling off a log hiking than actually flying. It was blowing down and dark in the Stave Lake area when we worked, but at 6 pm, the sun came out and thermals were "booming through" as we packed up to head home. When I got into cell range, my phone was lighting up with text messages about a hang-glider death in Hope in powerlines near the airport. It turned out it was a sailplane as reported by Hope Standard. Our condolences goes out to a flying brother/sister's family and friends. Testimonial Contest Last Day for entries - FlyBC is running a testimonial contest for past FlyBC Students. Send us your paragliding training testimonials about learning to paraglide with FlyBC (which will be published on the World Famous FlyBC Website), and you could win some major Ozone prizes up to and including an Ozone Oxygen Hiking Harness. Minor prizes to be rewarded for 2nd and 3rd places. Send us your testimonial via email link above. Contest runs through to May 15, 2009.
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Woodside Report - we started flying early at 10 am, and the conditions were good through to 4 pm, when a rain cell came through from Cultus Lake over Chilliwack and right through Harrison Mills. | Katherine logged her final 3 solo flights to obtain her certification (11 days in total to get 30 flights and a few tandems). Her second flight had her thermalling well above launch and staying in the air for over 30 minutes in overcast conditions. She is headed to Montreal to get a job and hopefully afford a glider soon. New student Steve D from Chilliwack impressed me with 3 spot landings out of 4 flights today, and a flawless approach into the Best field to avoid the rain. He is an ex-Chilliwack Search and Rescue Volunteer and remembers many Bridal and Woodside incidents with paragliders and is still super-keen to continue with paragliding! Edmonton Towing Report - I called Robin to say his M3 had been shipped to him via Greyhound and he said he has been enjoying the loaner M2 we gave him. In fact he has had two excellent XC adventures with Guy LeBlanc: one flight of 105 kms, and another 149 kms where he and Guy stayed together for the entire flight enjoying 40 kph winds aloft at 11,000 feet. The Ozone M2 loaner will be back on May 25 for sale or demo. Horsefly BC Report - Best flights ever for both me and Juan today, first one late morning, I climbed to 'base (or near enough for me) with no batteries in the vario even, Juan climbed back over launch from the middle of the hill. Then Bill showed up, having finished his baseball tournament. Second flight Juan thermalled a bit and went for the truck while Bill and I flew up the river, landing 10+ km north in a smooth field by the highway after having to make some effort to descend. Just under 1 hour each flight. Potential was there for much longer XC, but I was satisfied with that for today. Nice, smooth lift, strong up high, +5 up. Started my glide from 1950m - Eric G
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Woodside Report - the 2009 FlyBC Instructor Tandem Course went off perfectly and ended today. We had a rainy day to start on May 7 (perfect for classroom content and presentations by the Instructor Candidates), flyable weather for 3 more days (allowing alan P and Chris D to get 6 supervised tandems each), and a couple more inside days to finalize exams and paperwork before everyone went home. | There was a few flyable periods around 6 pm, but the ground was pretty saturated so I never went flying. There was new snow on Gloria just above the Falls, and on surrounding mountains to about 900 meters. Shotgun First Flight Video - A video of Al "the Hammer" Theilmann launching from the secret launch spot near Stave Lake, he landed at Riverside for and easy 50 kms overall distance .
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Woodside Report - the sun came out a few times . . . followed by torrential rains. Good day to finalize the Instructor Course paperwork and ground school portions. Don't forget to VOTE! |
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Woodside Report - a busy day indeed despite milky skies. | We were busy with students and tandems all day, while Mia and Martin brought out their "bags" instead of the "plumbing" and had the longest flights of the day (unfortunately not getting too high but certailt staying aloft for 1:30 or more). Decent launch conditions and smooth air except around launch where the "bullets" were kicking off. Tight turns were the order of the day to stay up. Dan R's view of the day on YouYube Ian J dropped in in his Rans Coyote Ultralight, hopped in the shuttle and was flying his paraglider for an hour before taking off again in the Coyote and buzzing past launch on his way to Airflow (his home field), good way to avoid traffic on Hwy 1!. 
Martina, Rob and Derek circling above launch - photo by JPR We flew until 6 pm, getting four flights for the students before the storm moved in. While we went up for flight number four Colleen was running Unimog Certification Lessons in the Eagle Ranch LZ: Nataliya, Nicole and Kelly are now 'Mog Certified. Derek took his 'Mog Certification in the morning. The girls were having problems climbing the west side of the training hill because the lockers weren't fully engaged, so I took them out later and showed them how to climb it forward and reverse without slippage even on damp grass. Belated Shotgun Report - You have to come over and try the Sylvester Rd. launch some time. What a flight we had yesterday. All the way from Launch way back above Sylvester to the corner mountain near Sylvester and the number 7 (app. 20kms) then around the corner soaring above the Little Nic launch with some 4 wheelers standing on launch yelling at us trying to figure out where we came from and then a downwind cruise to land in Deroche because it looked way too nutty above Sasquatch to continue on to Woodside... another time for sure. Had my first 6 m/s thermal and my first 30 percent or so collapse with a quick reinflation. Very very active flying. Al was on the radio at one point telling Miguel and I to stay away from one gap and sure enough that was the nastiest, roughest air I have ever been in. James' Addict 1 sure tells me all about it but I find it tells me what's going to happen well before a collapse. Got high (around 1800m) off a peak way back with some Hawks and managed to take a shortcut to Big Nic. Hung around on the corner Mtn for a while listening to Al on the radio with Alex trying to figure out what was going on with the clouds and wind then we knew our attempt at Woodside was over. Landing was wild in Deroche with me landing rodeo style in strong winds in a different field from Al and Miguel. I had a black bear near me really confused but he took off really fast. No doubt my favorite and most successful flight to date and we were all smiles. Max alt 1800m max lift 6m/s sink -5ms and many gap crossings and climb outs. Very educational flight and good intro to cross country. - See you soon, Matt J Flying Song of the Day
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Woodside Report - a very odd day ensued after we did our weather briefings for the students: light winds from the east (check), huge lapse rate of -3 degrees/1000' (check), big climbs expected (check), possible thunderstorms despite no warning from Environment Canada (check). | We started flying early and all the students were launching like pros! We had Fedja, Al, Chris and Alan guiding the students through launching thermalling and landings and everything was going well with two flights before noon. We expected the day to get too strong and rough by 2 pm, but we kept flying and even some HG pilots known for their climbing prowess were circling the HG LZ setting up landings as no one was getting high. Norm, Alex R and Nicole had been in the air for 45 minutes but just weren`t finding much. Very odd, but I guess the marine air coming in dampened the lift with haze and moisture. Looking over at Bridal it didn't look fun either. The entire range was OD'ing. 
The Bridal Range at 7 pm today. - photo by JPR But we kept flying at Woodside geting extended sledders except John L. who launched at 4 pm getting and hour of soaring on his Geo II. We were hearing reports from Rob over at Bridal ridge soaring the Bailey Landfill at 1000 feet just before landing with Alex and Norm ahead of the overdevelopment. We went up at 6 pm, for a few last flights and Alan and Kelly flew off tandem, followed by Chris and Alex. This was before the lightning and thunder started at Bear, which ultimately got to Woodside in the form of hail and rain so we drove down. Silvester Road "Shotgun" Report - Al attracted Miguel and Matt J to come up to the new Shotgun Launch up Silvester Road and they had a wild flight for 3 hours with Miguel topping out at 1900 meters near Deroche Mountain. They ultimately had to land as the huge anvil clouds bretween Deroche and Sasquatch were too threatening. They landed in a farmers field and he drove them back to Miguel's car. Miguel called later and was still buzzing from his flight! Song of the Day
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Woodside Report - a very productive day for students and Instructor Candidates. | Alan and Chris both logged 2 tandems each as Pilot-in-Command, and a final late evening solo flight. Katherine logged 5 flights, with 1 to Harvest Market.. James and Phil missed the first shuttle but still had 4 awesome flights with James going into "orbit" on his first flight nearing cloudbase at 1200 meters near launch. Martina and Kelly took everyone to Harvest around 4 pm, when it looked windy on Harrison Bay. Everyone topped out at 900 meters before heading there today with relative ease. Bridal Report - Alan D hiked Bridal around noon despite the clouds and low base`and found a large cottonwood tree over the road at 1 km. He launched and flew for an hour. If you are heading to Bridal today take a chainsaw or you will be hiking. Song of the Day
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Woodside Report - bad day for flying, good day for training seminars in the FlyBC Barn with the stove going all day. | Katherine wrote her Novice Exam and passed easily, with some prior ground school lessons by Alan and Chris. She also led a ground school session by introducing landing approaches as appropriate at Eagle Ranch to the new Instructor Candidates. We decided to go up to launch around 7:00 pm, when the clouds parted (we saw Rusty the Rooster at 3.5 kms alive and kicking still), and after assessing the fast-rising thermal indicators (wispy clouds), and the gusts in the trees it was decided that it looked too strong . . . and we had a fast approaching rain cell near Deroche. By the time we got to the Ranch it was raining heavily there and in Agassiz. Good call to not fly. We are looking for some tandem passengers to fly with Alan and Chris to achieve their 5 supervised tandem flights here in the Valley (Bev, Martina, Wiley, Jason??? or anyone else who is out today). Song of the Day
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Valley Report - crap weather, but a good day to sit through my tenth First Aid renewal course. |
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Woodside Monsoon Report - it came down in buckets all afternoon, and strong winds too. | The new well for the bathroom in the barn yielded good water from 22 feet down, and it looks clear and clean (not tested yet by BC Govt. so don't drink it). Wouter's Long Weekend Report - Another long weekend with a good weather forecast. First two days flying in France, same place as with the easter weekend. I was able to borrow a Airwave Skima 16m2 and had an awesome speedriding flight. Gotta buy one of those small wings! For the weekend I drove with a friend to Villeneuve, Switzerland, and spend two days with friends I met during the Vertigo when I was voluntary pouring beers for people. These guys are really amazing, doing triple backflips out of tandems and opening their base canopies at barely 100meters. Lots of acro above the landingfield and an breathtaking swiss scenery everywhere you look. We had an awesome party on saturday evening and went "swiss clubbing" till late. Sunday was a typical blown out hangover day and we had a good time kiting and relaxing. Keep an eye on the nissan outdoor games at: http://www.outdoorgames.org Their team, "natural born flyers", will compete in a filmfestival in which they have to make a 5min movie including five different extreme adventure sports. More pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.nl/gindjensun/Zwitserlandmei2009 Regards, wouter
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Woodside Report - a perfect training day for Katherine who was mostly alone on the hill except one flight with Martina, Jason and Wiley (who was test flying smaller wings including an XS Addict II which he liked a lot!). | Katherine logged 5 more solo flights, one into Bill Best's in east wind. Another flight lasted an hour floating around Harrison Mills before landing in NW winds. It never rained until after 8 pm, and the winds were calm all day with nice cycles at launch.
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Woodside Report - a very productive day for students and experts alike. We started flying at 9:00 am, cause Vicki had a dinner party on Bowen Island to coordinate so she needed to fly and leave early. | The first flight was buoyant air for extended sledders, while flight #2 was thermic and allowed the students to do some thermalling and the wind kept their approaches in check. By flight #3, the thermals had really kicked in and the landings were getting bouncier, but everyone did a great job. We stopped for lunch and then decided Bridal would be a better place, as reports from Alex R in the air over Woodside made it sound too strong. He and Nicole headed over the back towards Bridal. The students loaded up their vehicles for Bridal and we found Alex in the Research Farm by Agassiz, Nicole crossed the river and was at a cloverleaf east of Bridal. The landing swamp was littered with gliders as everyone sunk out at the same time when it shaded out, only Alan in the air as he approached and landed. We raced up to the top to find lame cycles, not so perfect for first Bridal launches but we persevered and eventaully a cycle came through and Colleen launched and was soon at 'base. She thermalled out front for a bit, got really high motivating the students and one by one they all had brilliant reverse launches and were all soaring with decent spacing to guide them all into the swamp LZ for their first Bridal flights, nice 10-15 kph wind with light thermals made the landing smooth (even Dan's slipsliding approach worked out!) 
Katherine soaring out front at Bridal on the Ozone Mojo2 - photo by JPR On the way back to the Ranch a bunch of experts (Norm, Kevin, Alex, Nicole) had landed at Harvest after a few hours of flying at Woodside, but they acknowledged it was still strong as one pilot had a thermal induced crash off Woodside launch, fortunately just bruised and not broken. Graduation Congratulations - Tom Chromy and Mike Danilov both wrote their Novice exams and passed with flying colours! Tom has more than 45 flights now, and Mike is closing in on 25 after today. Watch for them in the sky over a mountain near you soon!
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Woodside Report - good flying day until around 2:30 pm when the weather changed and shut us down for students. | 
Joe is in the toque, and his pals decided a secret paragliding mission was in order for his stag - photo by JPR The plan was meet at the top of Woodside where Joe was blind-folded all the way up. They also were applying beer to sooth his pre-wedding nerves and he had no idea what was coming up. We clipped him in and had a ballast person in front as I brought up the tandem and we were soon in the air when he was told "look out NOW!". He lifted the toque and we were 100 meters over already. He was amazed. We got above 1200 meters out in front, with just us and 2 HGers and the "going was slow", this was anticipated and we had his pals drive to Harvest Market to watch the landing. I was mid-tandem with Joe (at his stag party), heading to Harvest when I hit a massive convergence and we were going up everywhere and very rough. I spent 20 minutes trying to get down from locked-in spirals to heading South over the river, east toward Agassiz and west towards the lee of Woodside. Ultimately we found sink in the lee of Cemetary Hill, south of the tracks. Smooth landing with east wind north of Hwy 7 and south wind south of the Hwy? Bridal Report - Another fantastic and terrific day of flying although some stress involved. I got to 1800 metres and it was really easy to stay up. Between 900 and 1500 metres really weird air. I went to the butterfly and all the way to Elk Mountain but this time I made it to the Elk launch. In my way back from Elk, I start at 1640 metres and I got to Bridal Launch at the same altitude, that’s what I call sweet glide. It was great to see and fly with great pilots like Alex, Derek, Fedja, Nicole, Robin, Veronica, Wade and many others. I did top land two times on Bridal despite the east wind. My approach was going from North to South to avoid rotor and just before getting to the launch I crabbed to the left. I did not get any rotor at any time and both top landings when really well - Miguel Elk Report May 2 - Daryl and I hiked Elk today reaching the summit at 9:30 am - perfect 5-15 k S-SE cycles. Daryl launched first (shortly after 10 am) and after a few minutes began to work his way above launch. As I laid out Larry's Ultralite 19 to test it for Mt. Aconcagua, the wind did a reversal and began to blow down lightly. The many roots exposed at the morning launch and the Ultralite's string-like risers made it hard to want to do a forward so I waited for almost twenty minutes watching Daryl sky out (at least 300 meters up) and do a run to Thurston. Eventually I got in the air which was somewhat ratty. Shortly after this, Daryl headed out to Eddy's while I got my "fair share" but knowing that it is never good to be landing at Eddy's after 11:00 am, I also headed west. Daryl reached Eddy's and promptly got a thermal that took him back up to 1600 meters! When I got there I too experienced strong bullet thermals and got to know the Ultralite a little more. Very solid wing. Feels like light brake pressure because the fabric offers little resistance. Turns were similar to the Geo 2 and it moves quickly loaded with my weight. After playing around for another ten minutes over Eddy's both of us looked for sink holes before it got too late. It already was. The wind lower down was coming from all directions. No safe to way to land at Eddy's so we both fought our way down to the field across the road. Daryl got dropped from about five feet up and I flew actively all the way to the deck. The wind was gusty and switching constantly - good call to come down. Later a neighbour said he had seen another glider about half an hour after us and I still wonder who it was and how their landing went...it wasn't any of the usual "People of the Elk.". Good flying Mr. Sawatsky! - Kevin
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Savona Report - after considering the conditions at Woodside and Bridal (gusty NE winds and -4.0C lapse rate . . . yikes), we packed up the Van and convoyed to Savona as the forecast was light West winds and cooler temps. | Bill, Juan and Eric from Horsefly met us there. Gary K, Phil, Dale, James and Katherine car-pooled up and we met Ron from Edmonton there for his first day. Light West manifested itself into strong NE perfect for the Dump Ridge. The locals have blocked off access from the top with cross ditches and many strands of barbwire to keep out the bikers I guess, so hiking up the front was the only choice. First off the hill was James who missed the landing briefing and did a wild last minute approach. Phil did better on his flight and approach despite hanging from his 'gnads' due to a harness malfunction. Good kiting conditions but soon too good as the thermals started sucking the wind down the lake, Bill launched and was soon above launch as the thermals popped off. He could have top-landed but chose to keep topping out until it shut down after 10 minutes of hard work and he landed at the bottom in Cactus Gulch. 
Bill soaring the Dump at Savona, note tiny CUs in background during this Blue Day - photo by JPR We decided it was too strong as Juan launched and we headed to the school to kite. While kiting I called the Ranch and the winds had died down so we headed home fast. We got to Woodside a bit too late as the catabatic winds kicked in so down the mountain again. Bridal Report - I was told some un-named pilots were seen over Cheam at 3000 meters, and Miguel flew and top-landed despite NE winds that dominated the day. Derek had a nice flight after 5 pm, easily climbing to 2000 meters again today. Still sounded too strong for students even later. |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
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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