FlyBC's Paragliding Site of the Day October 2020 Archive Page - from the Universe's Largest Paragliding Centre :-)

Date	Site	Forecast	Winds @ 3000' in kilometers	Lapse Rate °C/1000' Cloud Base in Meters	Comments
10-31-2020	FlyBC is open this Halloween Day but won't fly til after Noon or later due to outflow winds	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. Clearing near noon. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 12. UV index 4 or moderate.	Woodside: 040° @ 4 kph after 1 pm	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - another sunny and flyable day despite the outflow forecasts. Again the topography at Woodside deflected the NE winds and provided safe flying conditions for Sung on his last two flights to get his P-2 rating. Sung spent the morning writing his P-2 exam while we waited for conditions to have some up-cycles, but a large group of pilots were already on launch and flying. I estimated about 20 pilots out today, grabbing what they could. Short flights with 50 minutes being the longest airtime as it was very stable. Most got around 20 minutes. (A correction was noted for Saturday's flights - Claudia logged 50 minutes on her Swift 5 at Woodside and Peter got 45 minutes on his new Ozone Delta 4.) Colleen even got out for a flight today on a break from her weekday calls and meetings. Derek came out later after work and got a short flight as the sun was setting.
10-30-2020	FlyBC is closed til the weekend unless the weather changes from rain to sun	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Becoming windy in the morning. Temperature steady near 11. UV index 2 or low.	Woodside: 240° @ 40 kph after 1 pm	-3.0°C (unstable) 400 metres	Woodside Report - FlyBC was closed due to high winds and rain but lots of errands and chores were done. Big thanks to Martin N, Derek and Kevin for lifting and cutting beams for Colleen's Yoga Studio! The sun did come out and the wind died around 5 pm and we had a beautiful rainbow appear over Andrei's house.
10-29-2020	FlyBC is closed til the weekend unless the weather changes from rain to sun	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Periods of drizzle. High 13. UV index 1 or low.	Woodside: 240° @ 16 kph after 1 pm	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - FlyBC was closed for rain but after I got back from Chilliwack I heard Martin and Dennie chatting outside the Barn as the sun came out briefly. I stoppped working and took them up in the Tracker as the can Am was staying dry in the Barn. We arrived to perfect cycles and Dennie took off first and was soaring above launch on his AirDesign Volt 3. Martin took off and also started soaring on his Ozone Swift 5. I watched for a bit and when I left to hike up to the Tracker they were bth high above launch. As I got to the 3 km marker, I saw both pilots thermalling around with a group of Eagles. But the lift was short-lived as Dennie was already heading out to the Ranch as I got onto Kilby Road. Martin was also soon on his glide out as they said once they hit 450 metres it was all just sinky air. But they flew and stayed dry!
10-28-2020	FlyBC is closed til the weekend unless the weather changes from rain to sun	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Periods of drizzle. High 13. UV index 1 or low.	Woodside: 240° @ 16 kph after 1 pm	-3.0°C (unstable) 400 metres	Woodside Report - rain all day at Woodside.
10-27-2020	FlyBC is closed til the weekend unless the weather changes from rain to sun	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers in the afternoon. High 7. UV index 1 or low.	Woodside: 140° @ 6 kph after 1 pm	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Fraser Valley Report - FlyBC was closed today but I did get a flight in the Cessna T337B today before the rain started with a trip to Pitt Meadows Airport for the annual inspection. It has been more than 34 years since I last flew into CYPK, where I kept our first Skymaster for a year. Great airport for incoming flights from Calgary when I used to commute to and from AB in the C337. Usually better weather than Boundary Bay or YVR for nicht flights. I left Chilliwack at 10:48 after a good runup since I haven't flown it since mid September, and it flew beautifully. Some roughness around Dewdney Mtn. in the lee somewhat with North winds. I came into the CYPK Control Zone at 2500 feet and the controller vectored me towards the Golden Ears Bridge and into a cloud but it was small and I was back in VFR conditions and into the dowwnwind right for Runway 36. Lots of training aircraft in the circuit and I was cleared to land. Nice smooth landing and quick exit to taxi into the Apron 1 Area to find parking and meet the AME. Cynthia offered to fly me back to Chilliwack in her 182 but the weather closed in at CYPK before 1 pm. So she drove me in her car instead and after lunch we came out to this at Chilliwack too!
10-26-2020	FlyBC is at Mother Woodside Monday after noon	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A few rain showers or wet flurries ending early this morning then a mix of sun and cloud. High 8. UV index 3 or moderate.	Woodside: 240° @ 5 kph after 1 pm	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - I thought noon would be a good start time today, and there were 10 eager pilots standing around as I arrived at the Ranch. After Grant & Tony helped me unload some lumber from the trailer, we were loaded up and heading to the top (Thanks Guys!). We could only fit seven pilots and gear into the Can Am, so three pilots elected to hike up. I got everyone up to the top and raced down to get the three hikers, but they were already half way up. Thomm offered to drive the Can Am so I could fly today. Thanks Thomm! I was last pilot off flying a nice used Ozone Delta 2 and trying out a Gin Genie Lite Pod (that some thought looked like a coffin as it has a large tailcone). Conditions were amazingly "spring-like", with strong small cores and lifty air everywhere else. Kevin was the first off the hill and he got to 1000 metres in a few minutes. All 10 pilots were in the air at once for at least an hour. Pilots were also spread out all over the mountain and valley still going up. I stayed around the South Knoll for 30 minutes, then over to the North Bowl, then freezing cold despite having layered leather mitts and two layers of overcoats I heded out to the Construction Zone. Bingo! Good lift and warmer there as I orbited around with Martin N getting in close and we climbed back up to launch. Martin was more determined and he tagged the South Knoll and climbed to 800 metres from being just above the Construction Zone. Martin finally top-landed to warm up and drove Derek's truck down after he arrived later. I headed out to the Ranch arriving at 500 metres and just "boated around" looking for sink and had a nice "tippy toe" landing at the training hill. Kevin flew out to Kilby Park where he is camping this week and had a nice landing on the beach. He reported getting in close with many eagles today, so we are waiting for the Eagle cam video. Kevin landing at Kilby Park today. Flight of the Day was Grant test flying a demo wing and he got almost 90 minutes of airtime and his longest flight ever. Last report was Braydon & Scott were hiking back up for a second flight after 4 pm.
10-25-2020	FlyBC is at Mother Woodside Sunday but the outflow looks pretty strong here until 1 pm	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness this afternoon. Windy this morning. High 6. UV index 4 or moderate.	Woodside: 240° @ 5 kph after 1 pm	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - it was strong outflow til noon, then the wind dropped to 10-15 kph NW for students to kite wingsuntil mid-afternoon. Around 2 pm a large group went up to Launch and they flew for 2+ hours! Even when the sun got shaded out they were thermalling over the valley. We went up at 4 pm to do a couple of tandems and it started to go catabatic for 30 minutes but we waited and then it started coming in straight and enough to reverse launch. Derek and Andrei did the tandems and we retrieved some trucks from the top. The sky looked amazing! Outflow is the best time to fly as long as you can launch as it pushes the lift out over the valley and it becomes more widespread too.
10-23-2020 & 10-24-2020	FlyBC was at Mother Woodside Friday and Saturday but the outflow looks pretty strong here and in Savona	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Rain except snow over higher terrain. Snowfall amount 2 cm over higher terrain. Temperature steady near plus 4 except near zero over higher terrain. UV index 1 or low.	240° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 300 metres	Eagle Ranch Report - FlyBC was at Woodside Friday & Saturday to kite wings as the outflow looked unflyable but the winds were way too strong +60kph NW. Good day to set up gear for Grant and others though as it was semi-warm in the sail loft.
10-22-2020	FlyBC is at Mother Woodside Thursday but we may do a reconn run up Horsefly around 10 am to scout out a new launch spot	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. High 9. UV index 3 or moderate.	Savona: 240° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - FlyBC was at Woodside Thursday at 10 am, expecting moderate outflow earlier and then light SW after 1 pm. But I looked at the Woodside Webcam and it was blowing up at 8 am, so plans to go to Horsefly were shelved. CanadaRASP and SpotWX both showed outflow til 1 pm. But they are using the same Model for calculation. We started flying at 11 am and it was blowing in well enough for reverse launches. Later flights yielded 1300-1400 metre elevations and frozen hands. Hour + flights even for the students. Here is Normando on his Ozone Swift 5 climbing out on a later flight. Samuel was flying all over the peninusla climbing with the eagles over Harrison Bridge. Then he got to fly his new Ozone Zero 3 into Riverside. Highlight of the Day: Shaun S flying his 15 metre Escape 2 speedwing and veering right instead of left and threading his way through the trees below launch! We got four rounds of student flights in today! Shaun is finished and Grant is nearly at 25 flights after 5 days of flying with us.
10-21-2020	FlyBC is at Mother Woodside Wednesday	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers early this morning and late this afternoon. High 11. UV index 3 or moderate.	Savona: 240° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside Report - FlyBC as at Woodside Wednesday and the RASP said 1400 metres top-of-lift of the sun came out. Forecast was optomistic as we hunkered down in the Barn in rain/hail/thunder til noon. I took Grant, Shaun S, Pete, Claudia and Martin N up on the first shuttle ride and we had full cloud and light down cycles. But we managed to get Shaun and then Grant off launch and out to the clear skies beyond the clouds with forward launches. Pete and Claudia launched later as I drove down to get the students and they flew til the clouds got too big and they ended up in Riverside. I picked them up on Round Two and the students were in the air again. This shot is of Pete thermalling up the South Knoll on his new Ozone Delta 4. We flew three rounds today and this is Grant headed south on the last flight and I turned to help Shaun get ready and didn't notice how low Grant was as he tried the South Knoll area but by now there was little lift and lee/down air there and he had to make a low run to Eagle Ranch but there was lift over Harrison Highlands and he made it easily on the NOVA Aonic whcih glides very well for an EN-A wing. We went up one last time after 5 pm but it was just steady outflow on launch so we headed back down for beers.
10-20-2020	FlyBC is at Mother Woodside Tuesday	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. High 12. UV index 2 or low.	Savona: 240° @ 20 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - the forecast was wrong all day and it pissed rain on and off til dark. If you are looking for a new glider, AirDesign has a demo stock sale on all their wings right now! Save 40% on a new glider by getting a demo one now.
10-19-2020	FlyBC is heading home Monday but not flying til Tuesday	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 60 percent chance of drizzle changing to 30 percent chance of showers near noon. High 13. UV index 3 or moderate.	Savona: 240° @ 40 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Savona/Woodside Report - FlyBC was heading back to Woodside today but not flying cause it is raining or snowing depending on your elevation.
10-18-2020	FlyBC is in Savona for the weekend	Woodside Forecast Savona Forecast: Periods of rain ending this morning then cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. Snow over higher terrain this morning. Snow level 600 metres rising to 1200 metres this afternoon. Snowfall amount 4 cm over higher terrain. High 8. UV index 2 or low.	Savona: 040° @ 15 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Savona Report - FlyBC was back in Savona for Sunday but the weather gods were conspiring against us. I awoke to snow at Sun Peaks and thick fog on the drive to Savona but arrived to clearing skies and east wind as forecasted. SpotWX and CanadaRASP both said light east winds but we had +35 kph at the Dump Ridge so we sat and waited. By noon I pulled out the Independence Draco 16 and Susi 3 13 and got the students kiting. Sung did some flights to the bottom on the Draco 16 and Grant flew the Susi 3 down a few times too. But it was gusty. Newest student Matt kited the Susi 3 for hours while we switched up to larger wings and Grant started soaring and top-landing. We had a good weekend and the students gained lots of experience in varied conditions. We would not have flown at Mother Woodside this weekend likely. I found this tidbit on YouTube with Simon and Jon at Mt Ipsoot.
10-17-2020	FlyBC is back at Woodside and it is raining hard so we are heded to Savona for the weekend	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Rain. Gusty winds. High 13. UV index 1 or low.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Savona Report - we were in Savona Sturday with three students. Grant is on Day Two with only one flight off Woodside, Sung has been out a bunch of days and has 20 flights and new student Matt arrived this morning. We had light SW winds so we started at the Toilet Bowl, so Grant & Sung could fly down while Matt kited on top. Within an hour Matt had the "A's & C's" figured out. By then Sung and Grant had already logged 5 flights. On the sixth round I launched Matt on a nice first flight and he landed right in the cleared section on his feet. After a few more flights off the Toilet Bowl Rim we headed up to Mid-Launch and the guys were getting some bouyant flights despite the thick cloud cover. Conditions at Mid-Launch were quite cross so we decided to finish the rest of the flights at the Toilet Bowl. By 4 pm we had logged 12 flights for Grant, 9 flights for Sung and 7 for Matt on his first day! Some of the Mid-Launch flights were "touch & go's" with relaunching off the Toilet Bowl for a "double hitter".
10-16-2020	FlyBC is back at Woodside and it is raining hard so we are heded to Savona for the weekend	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Rain. Gusty winds. High 13. UV index 1 or low.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Road Trip Report - FlyBC headed to Savona for the weekend, nothing but rain at Woodside today and the Coquihalla was clear.
10-15-2020	FlyBC is back at Woodside and it looks soarable!	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. Becoming cloudy in the afternoon. Fog patches dissipating in the morning. High 13. UV index 4 or moderate.	Woodside: 240° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - FlyBC was back at Woodside at 10 am and we had two eager students but the winds were not good til noon. Kevin & Andrei did a couple of tandems for us at 1 pm. Sledders but the passengers had fun! Here is Kevin flying off on his Ozone Magnum 3 tandem. Good cycles by 1:30 pm. About 15 pilots were out today for the first break in the rainy weather for some time, but it was most sledders except for John W who got above launch for a few passes before heading out to perfect landing conditions at Eagle Ranch. This is John on his approach into the Ranch on his Ozone Geo 6. New student Grant got his first flight after a day of ground school and kiting and he had to launch into quite cross winds from the north, but he got off cleanly and had a great landing. We are headed to Savona for the weekend as the coast looks rained out and the winds are calm with sun at Savona for Saturday & Sunday.
10-14-2020	FlyBC is back at Woodside and it looks soarable!	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. High 14. UV index 3 or moderate.	Woodside: 240° @ 20 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - FlyBC was at Woodside at 10 am but the winds were pretty strong by noon with rain/hail cells appearing at times. Shawn wrote his P-2 test while waiting and we finally called the day around 2 pm. Derek called around 4 pm to go up to Woodside Launch and repair the carpet where we had patched it in the summer with grey material. The grey stuff did not last well and had become very fragile and was getting torn up in the wind storms. This is what it looked like last Monday and by today it had been blown right off launch. Derek, Jay and I hauled up new carpet (thanks to David H for the donation), tools, tape, spikes and washers and started working on re-patching the burn holes. We had just enough carpet to patch over the nasty burn holes. We had just finished taping down the seams when the hail started. Hope it holds for the rest of this season! We also righted the outhouse and placed it back on its foundation and planned out a new floor which we can complete tomorrow.
10-8-2020 to 10-13-20	FlyBC is back at Woodside but it looks too windy	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers or drizzle. Fog patches dissipating late in the morning. High 17. UV index 2 or low.	Woodside: 240° @ 25 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Thanksgiving Weekend Report - we cancelled all training and tandems due to the large front that was coming in to BC. A group did fly Savona and got a few short flights. Martin, Derek and I flew Woodside on Monday and it was a total crapshoot as it blew hard all day and we saw Martin Z on top for many hours waiting for it to calm down. Martin N launched first, then Martin Z followed by Derek and I. Martin N got to 1100 metres and bagged an hour long flight. He just missed the top-landing as a tandem pilot brought his wing up and kited it on launch for a minute or more, so Martin had to abort his landing. By then it shut down and he was below launch. Derek did managed to get in to top-land before it totally shut down. I landed at the Pro-Circle to avoid the long walk in as I had pulled a groin muscle doing some carpentry this week. Mike M just finished this great edit of our Cheam flights last weekend.
10-7-2020	FlyBC is back at Woodside	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Clearing. Fog patches dissipating in the morning. High 22. Humidex 26. UV index 4 or moderate.	Woodside: 240° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Tony was busy with four students today. Shawn is at 20 flights now; and John S, Kyle and Ritchie were at 1 flight each when they started today and they logged 3 more flights in differing conditions. It got thermic around 3 pm and they felt it in the air although the NOVA EnN-A wings we use are "rock solid" in any turbulence. Martin N was the star today with 2:12 on his only flight, working hard at the dead snag. Shawn was flying our Ozone Geo 6 demo and liked it a lot!
10-6-2020	FlyBC is back at Woodside	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Clearing. Fog patches dissipating in the morning. High 22. Humidex 26. UV index 4 or moderate.	Woodside: 240° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - FlyBC was back at Woodside at 10 am but it was not launchable until noon. Tony had Tina & Matt for their second day of a P-1 Course and they got three flights in to add to the first solos last week. He was able to spend quality time with them both as they were the only students today.
10-5-2020	FlyBC is back at Woodside	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy. 30 percent chance of drizzle early in the morning. Clearing near noon. Fog patches dissipating in the morning. High 20. UV index 5 or moderate.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Tandemonium Report - FlyBC started flying tandems around noon. We had a "so so" forecast on the RASP and Chilliwack had very low clouds around 10 am, so we weren't expecting more than a sled ride but we were rewarded with nice long flights. Kevin took off first and climbed out above launch fast. I launched with Mariah next and we too climbed out with Kevin. We were joined by Sam testing out his new SupAir Radical 3 harness and he flew for 45 minutes, top-landed to adjust the harness and then got another 25 minutes soaring around. Kevin and I kept swapping "top of the stack" honours. In this shot we were above Kevin on his Ozone Magnum 2. Brad got low and headed out to Eagle Ranch and found a great climb off Harrison Highlands and got way above launch. Here is a great shot from Kevin's GoPro of Jim (near the cloud) and Brad slightly lower. It was like spring flying with great strong climbs! Kevin had a very happy Birthday Girl on board today and what a great day to go tandem! Mariah and I flew all over the mountain for an hour. I did a few top landing passes but it was pretty spicy down low over the launch area, so I bailed on that idea. When I saw Kevin headed out to the Ranch, we floowed but we were still at 800 metres over Harrison Highlands where we also caught a great climb, so I continued out to the Harrison Bridge. From there we crossed over to Sandpiper Golf Course and a beautiful landing right next to the swimming pool at Rowena's Inn. Brad came and retrieved us and it was beers all around. Later Brad, Kevin, Martin N and a few others flew and they also had great flights after 4 pm.
10-4-2020	FlyBC is back at Woodside with low clouds	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Drizzle with 40% chance of showers. High 16C.	Woodside: 240° @ 15 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 600 metres	Woodside Report - FlyBC was closed today due to low clouds. This was the view from our field webcam at 4 pm today. Launch was never visible.
10-3-2020	FlyBC is back at Woodside	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 22C.	Woodside: 240° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Tony and Dennie were managing the students and it was busy today with seven students of various levels from Day One to Day Ten. Derek dragged Colleen, Wofie and me along for a chopper ride up to Mount Cheam, where 20 hike & fliers assembled. Derek mentioned that the baggage space was limited so I put a light kit together with an AirDesign Susi 3 23 and a Gin Yeti Harness. We met the pilot in the Bridal LZ and we took a quick 10 minute flight to the top. I got ready and was off with Alex, JP and Kyle already in the air. I did a few passes but the lift was small and tight on my little mini-wing and more traffic was coming off so I headed west along the spine. Clear skies and light winds at 2000 metres. Lots of soaring for the regular sized wings. I crossed the ridge line and headed NW towards Woodside in a straight line along the Fraser River. I was just at the inversion layer and making good speed and my glide was good too. I crossed over Hopyard Hill at 800 metres with a light tailwind but as I got closer to Woodside I hit the SW layer of wind and there was no lift over the sandbars. I was too low to risk heading to Riverside, so I opted for the Dyke LZ near the pump station and I landed right on the dyke. Bev was nice enough to pick me up, and Colleen and Derek landed at their trucks at Bridal. I was back at the Ranch around noon and the parking lot was full of cars. Everyone was hoping for a few more flights as October is usually the last good flying month around here. Dennie was working with John, Tina and Matt on their first day out. I came out to the LZ and helped Dennie as Tony was "hucking" the other students. By 4 pm the newest students were ready to fly and briefed on landing approaches. Derek took a load up and the Can Am was full too. By 5 pm the new students got their first flights! And all had good landings too! Derek & Dennie took a tandem each at 5 pm and we were finished flying by 6 pm. A few incidents marred the fun today. Two experienced pilots were top landing on top of Cheam, and one came in hard and required 10 stitches when he got down to the LZ. The other pilot had a bad sprain as he misjudged his approach to top-land. Third incident was an un-named student from another school in the trees in Riverside LZ. No injuries.
10-2-2020	FlyBC is back at Woodside	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 21C.	Woodside: 040° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Tony was busy with 4 students all working on their P-2 ratings. The winds were light again and forward launches were the only way to get launched. June, Sung and Mike all flew three flights.
10-1-2020	FlyBC is back at Woodside	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 19C.	Woodside: 040° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - FlyBC was back at Woodside Thursday at 10 am. Tony had a few students and the winds were very light so he had them landing at various fields to improve their approaches.