January Powder Time

Finally some snow! It took until mid January this year but now the white stuff is coming down in full force. Last week the snow combined with strong outflow winds caused white-out, road-covering snow drifts and blizzard conditions in the Fraser Valley resulting in a shut-down of traffic for almost a full day. A screen shot from the Eagle Ranch webcam shows the conditions (not the best flying conditions - and no more driving up to Woodside launch until the snow melts!)

Blizzard at the FlyBC Eagle Ranch

We made good use of the snow and got out for the last two weekends on the Coquihalla. A paragliding friend showed us a new spot on Iago. It takes some route finding skills and about twice as long to get there compared to our favorite short-mid-winter day runs on Needle, but so far the longer approach paid off with very pleasant conditions.

New Years Road Trip: Dec 24 – Jan 1

Looks like we are turning into wimps in our old age. Or maybe it was the forecast that looked very much sub-standard for skiing from Whistler to Revelstoke. Anyway, after much procrastination we decided to head south to look for some sun and warm temperatures and go on a last-minute road trip to California. A couple of days of hard driving paid off with a week of sunshine and pleasant temperatures (although during some of the nights I wished I had my warm winter down sleeping bag). After the mad dash to California, we drove the coast from San Fransisco to San Luis Obispo along the famous Big Sur stretch.

Highway 1

Teenager Elephant Seal

Scenic Campsite

Halfdome Sunset

Mono Lake

Crater Lake... must be getting close to home - there is some snow!

On the way we checked out lazy gigantic elephant seals, found a couple of very scenic camp spots, had a look a several paragliding spots (but none worked due to the wind conditions). On the way back we stopped in Yosemite Park and hiked past Yosemite Falls to scenic Yosemite Point which looked like a sweet paragliding launch – but unfortunately, although hanggliding is OK, paragliding is not permitted in the park. When we hiked back down, we were treated to an amazing sunset light show on Half Dome. Since snow levels were super low for this time of the year Tioga Pass was still open and we drove up to the crest of the Sierra Mountains and Tuolumne Meadows. There we walked on frozen Tenaya Lake among many people who were out on skates. A Californian told us how unusual this was and that he had never skated here before (normally the road is closed and the lake is covered with meters of snow). On the east side of the Sierra we checked out Mono Lake’s bizarre tufa formations which were fortunately sheltered from the crazy wind that whipped the lake into a whitewater frenzy and blew up a sand storm on the islands. We spend the evening and last night of 2011 with friends at their place near Lake Tahoe. Hadn’t seen them in over a year, so there was a lot to talk about. Our last stop was a morning visit at Crater Lake on the first day of the New Year. Finally we got back to winter and hiked in snow! At first we were the only ones at this amazing spot, but by the time we returned from our short hike, more keen people had showed up to greet the New Year - a very appropriate place to do it!

Chief Airtime – Dec 18

It was time to try out my new (used) hiking wing (a 3.8 kg Swift). When I suggested a hike&fly from the Chief it didn’t take much to convince Paddy and Pete. Hiking with my new light weight kit was a lot more fun compared to my full size set-up (16 kg instead of 22 kg).

On top of the smooth granite dome the conditions were somewhat sub-optimal with light outflow (northerly) wind. Although the summit is a wide plateau the smooth granite rolls off towards the edges and the windward north side was wet and slippery since it hadn’t seen the sun for a while. But a few bunny hops on the training hill gave me confidence in the Swift (and there was some room for an abort before the slope steepened). After a reset the wing came up nicely and off I went.

Although the lightweight glider doesn’t quite have the same solid and re-assuring support as my normal wing, I was in the air well before the drop-off and flew out over the cliff. Definitely one of the more exciting sites I have launched from! I find it exhilarating to fly over terrain that suddenly drops away (like swimming/snorkeling over an underwater cliff or flying in a helicopter over a ridge). After a few passes along the cliffs we had scaled in our climbing days I flew out and with plenty time to sass out the landing (since I was first to launch I was also first land).

What an amazing place to fly! But this is about as much adrenaline as I need. And for the next time we’ll pick optimal conditions. Below is a short video friends took on a different day (but it looked and felt very much the same).

PS: I only remembered after being back on the ground a more somber story associated with the Chief for me, a story that curbed my enthusiasm for taking my wing up there for a couple of years. Years ago I met a friend of a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time, and since I had heard that he had taken up paragliding, I asked him how this was going. ‘Not doing it anymore because it’s too dangerous’ was his answer. A couple months later he jumped off the Chief. Whatever you were looking for, I hope you are in peace now…

Harrison Eagles - Dec 17

Flying conditions didn't look inspiring, so instead of parawaiting we checked out our fellow flyers at Harrison River. Each fall thousands of bald eagle congregate here to feast on salmon. Often we get to fly and thermal with these magnificent birds on our fabric wings. But weather didn't look great for flying paragliders and even the eagles were sitting in the trees.



Yes, all of these dots are eagles and Pete counted over 80 just in this group of trees


Eagle portrait