Back to Pemby - July 17

Another nice flight in Pemberton. I pushed on a bit further than last week and went all the way to Owl Mt. Along the way I watched another pilot hit some exciting air causing him to spin/spiral low above the ridge (but he got away with a scare) so I opted to fly out into the smooth air over the valley. I had already picked an LZ when my vario started chirping. Sweet 500 meter climb in one thermal in the middle of the valley!



In the evening there was talk of glass-off flights and we went up to Lower Launch. It was pretty windy, but launch went very smooth. The first half of the flight was nice, but later the air turned a bit rowdy. I used the lift to get up to microwave tower height, but should have stayed with the rest of the local gang who hang out near lower launch (as I heard later the valley can go off with a big boom on evenings like this - better to stay low). We landed east and away from the venturi and rough air and turbulence at the school LZ. Barely a stir in the air where we landed, but myriads of mosquitoes (but hey, I'll take the bugs over a turbulent landing anytime).

Pemberton, July 10

During last week conditions were great in Pemberton and people reported big XC flights (including a repetition of Denis’ Pembi to Harrison Lake flight). We were lucky that the nice weather did hold for Saturday when we finally made it up there. As an added bonus, we also got to launch for the first time from Mackenzie upper launch since there was a wedding on the lower launch.

Pete had already left before I got up high, so I spent some time taking in the view and cruising around over Mt. Mackenzie. Amazing views of the snow-covered peaks and snowfields all around. After climbing to over 2600 meter I thought that despite being alone (well, not really alone, there were lots of other pilots around) I should make use of the altitude and set out along the ridge towards Owl Mt. I always thought it would be very cool to fly high along a chain of mountains, and it was (see picture). Didn’t want to push it too much, so I turned around when I got low at the end of the ridge. The big bowl on the way back was a bit of a concern, but I never dropped below launch height, so it wasn’t really a problem.


Looking up valley towards Meager Creek, Pemberton is outside the frame in the lower left corner, Owl Lakes on the right, Owl Peak just left of centre (from 2600 meters ASL, above Upper Mackenzie Launch)


Near launch there was lots of lift again and I flew out over the valley towards the airport. But man, was it hot! It had been nice and cool at 2600 m, but lower down temps was definitely summery. After a couple of tries I found the tube of my water container and in the excitement drank too much to stay much longer in the air. Nevertheless, another nice XC flight (my second) of 24 km and 2.5 hrs.

Bridal – Elk – Butterfly and back, June 30

Distance between the end points of the GPS track is about 20 km. Bridal Launch is above the landing spot (where the blue line ends), Elk is on the right and Butterfly on the left. Mt Cheam is in the middle of the image and has snowy patches on its flanks.


The first real XC flight! My goal for the day was to do a XC flight, but I really hadn’t set my hopes that high. But why not go big when the opportunity arises? Go big or go home (not really my motto, Carpe Diem is better...).

So after Pete had guided me on my first Elk flight (I was in front a couple of times too and showed Pete some thermals) where we looked down on the hiking trail we had been on just a couple of weeks ago, I would have been quite happy to bob around launch a bit longer and then call it a day and land. But there was Pete on the radio “Don’t fly out yet”. Since I didn’t feel too tired, but instead rather excited about how well things went so far, curiosity kicked in (wonder what’s around that next ridge?) and I followed. We found some lift along Mt. Cheam, then at Laura’s ridge (a reliable performer, as Pete pointed out), and finally at another bump before gliding over to Butterfly. Cool how after every ridge a new view opened up; the main gulley that leads up to the summit of Mt Cheam – last year a young lad climbed this chute full of snow, rubble and debris; three dark, small lakes behind Laura’s ridge and finally Jones Lake behind Butterfly. I flew a bit past Butterfly, but then turned around – LZs are scarce at this end of the ridge. Pete went on the Ludwig for another kilometer or so.

Interesting how well things worked out on the way back – at first I thought I’d barely make it to the Cloverleaf LZ. Then there was some lift and Bridal LZ was within glide. The next patch of lift got me up and within reach of Bridal Launch. Finally back at Bridal Launch, I wondered if I could make it to Upper Launch again and found nice thermals at Allan’s ridge. I watched Pete ‘riding’ the ridge between Upper Launch and Gloria for a second Elk lap, but I started to feel tired and was just happy to fly out into the buoyant and smooth air – what a difference to the bumpy thermal ride, it felt almost as if I was dreaming… (For the paddlers: just like paddling back on the quiet water after the roar at Skooks). I had to kick my legs a few times to get back to reality and to get the landing gear ready.

What an amazing flight! And personal best of 46 km xc and over 3 hours in the air. Wouldn’t have done it without Pete in front and his encouragement - figuring this out on my own would have taken me many more flights!

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/ 347476

PS: Just realized that it's almost exactly two years since my first high flight (June 28, 2008) and also very close to flight # 200. How is this for a celebration!