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

Valle de Bravo Virgins, Dec 3-11

Just back from an excellent week in Valle de Bravo, so I thought I should lighten the winter blues with a short trip (gloat?) report and pictures. We had sweet conditions, flew every day, socialized with old friends (of the Pemby monkey gang fame) and made new ones from Mexico and all over the world (Norwegians and Germans were out in full force, and I got to listen to paragliding instruction in German for the first time).

We explored the narrow cobblestone streets in town lined with small stands and stores where locals sell nearly every sort of merchandise. Friendly dogs everywhere. Just watch where you step… not only because of the uneven cobblestones. Sadly, the scenic streets are often plugged with an endless stream of cars and the associated exhaust.

We greatly enjoyed the delicious food (well, almost all of it), which is, as we already learned during our visits to Huasteca, quite different from what is offered in Canada as Mexican fare. Street stands vendors sell jugo (fresh juice made from all kind of delicious fruits or exotic things like red beets, carrots and avocado), roasted corn and all sorts of tacos, but beware… the more rustic the eating places the higher the risk of an upset tummy (but with the help of some Cipro even Pete managed to fly every day).

We also checked out big bunches of Monarch butterflies hanging like giant grapes from tall pines in the mountains above Los Saucos. Unfortunately it was misty and cold when we visited the butterflies on their mountain ridge at 3000 meter elevation so they were all ‘huddled up’ and none of them was flying. But seeing the branches and trunks of giant pines covered with a coat of butterflies was impressive nevertheless.

One thing I just couldn’t get used to during our short stay is the Mexican fondness for fireworks at all hours and church bells ringing every 15 minutes (bring ear plugs). One night, when fireworks and polka-like music of the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe procession kept me up, I thought I may as well join in… it felt rather unreal to wander the empty streets at 4 in the morning. On our last evening in Valle there was also an earthquake about 100 km to the southwest, thankfully without major damage and most of us didn’t even feel it.

Valle de Bravo is quite different from what most people expect of Mexico, no palms and beaches and humid warm temperatures. Instead it is situated on the central highlands with rolling ridges and hills covered by tall pine forests. The main launch at El Peñon is almost 2400 meters high, and Valle de Bravo on the shore of Avandoro Lake is at an elevation of 1750 meter. On less hazy days the silhouette of Nevado de Toluca (4691 m) emerges on the horizon. During the day the temperatures are warm enough for shorts and Ts, but in the evening you want an extra jacket.

After some pondering I decided to leave my trusty Sport 4 (EnB) at home and bring the new Artik 2 (since I just upgraded to EnC), and thus took things a bit slower at first. After getting up on launch I checked out the El Peñon rock tower before cruising over to the Piano LZ on my second flight (on the first one I got unnecessarily low behind the ridge and ran away to land in one of the fields just behind … oops). I was told the LZ is called ‘Piano’ because its shape resembles a Grand Piano, but later I heard a second explanation: the house thermals in front of launch are so consistent that only those who fly like a piano bomb out in this LZ. But the Piano LZ is rather attractive for several reasons: a horde of niños comes running to pack up the wings ‘professionally’ (although comparison with previous reports indicate a bit of inflation in the glider packing business). However, 15 peso beers are hard to beat, and tacos and other yummy treats (jicama, nopales, tacos) are for sale. And last but not least, it’s super nice to sit in the sun, relax and chat with fellow flyers. 

After a couple of successful ‘test-flights’ in the Mexican thermals and a smooth evening scratch-fest on the Peñon rockface I got better accustomed to my new Artik 2 and more exploring of the Wall and G-Spot Mesa was in order. Each day I pushed a bit closer to Valle de Bravo, first to the Penitas, then to Casas Viejas and on Friday I finally made the almost 20 km arriving 700 meters above Avandoro Lake, floated in a big circle over town and landed on the beach for my well deserved landing beer. Meanwhile Pete and Alex set off on longer xc flights from 20 km to over well 50 km to Los Saucos, Tres Reys, and Divisadero. The flying is different from what our terrain in SW BC offers, and requires connecting the dots in form of smallish hills on the high, forested plateaus, or surfing the edges of big mesas. Cloudbase is pretty low considering the elevation (400 – 600 meters above ground) making it an interesting task to find lift on smallish features. But there is plenty of lift!

In summary, conditions were excellent; every day of our stay was not only fly-able, but also xc-able, with occasional strong lift for my standards (new record and max on my vario 6.4 m/s). Cloudbase was usually between 2800 and 3200 meters, not as high as it gets in January and February, but perfectly fine for us first-timers. We had two flights every day, with a nice progression for me from day to day. On the days when lift was a bit disorganized, the gaggle-flying at the launch was challenging, with 20-30 wings in the air. But away from launch other pilots were a rare and welcome sight, as by the time I made my escapes from launch, Alex and Pete were usually long gone, depriving me of their presence as thermal markers.

Definitely a sweet place to visit for pilots with previous thermaling experience! With careful timing, the lower air time flyers in our group also made amazing progress, including first long thermal flights. Next time we may try for a late November trip, hoping for fewer pilots and less fireworks.

Pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/WetcoastViews/ValleDeBravoDec2011

First powder day of the season

Nice relaxed day skinning up to Red Heather and skiing Paul Ridge. Lots of folks out on this nice November day but we still found some untouched lines. Snow was very acceptable for early season and in the upper 10% of powder goodness for Paul Ridge. The road down was well covered except for two spots with minor rocks showing. With the high skier traffic it was also well groomed for quick parallel turns on the ski out. (Thanks to Ben for getting us going after the paragliding party the night before.)

November Thermals – Nov 5

Although I’m by no means an expert of thermal-powered flight, I’m pretty sure that it is a rare occasion to have cross country flying conditions in November in our part of Canada. There have been quite a few nice flying days lately, but unfortunately only during the week. Well, last Saturday we hit the jack-pot, mother lode, bonanza of early winter-flying.

We met a couple of friends early for a hike&fly from Elk Mountain, the 1400 meter-high first bump on the ridge between Fraser and Chilliwack Valley. A dusting of snow started where the trail got steep. Combined with sub-zero temperatures this made the approach rather treacherous, but my newly acquired mini-crampons made short work of it. Although the 1 h 50 min hike had warmed me up nicely, only minutes after launching my fingers were frozen and in pain. Not very motivated to spend much time up high, I searched for lift lower down, but had no luck and I soon was on the ground. The rest of the crew kept soaring at and above launch height until the cold got to them too and everyone landed, trying to warm up painfully cold hands and fingers (aptly named ‘screaming barfies’). After this for me somewhat disappointing flight we moved over to Woodside for afternoon air time.

We were much intrigued by the interesting cloud shapes over Mt Woodside, Agassiz Mt and Bear Mt. Looks like some thermaling potential! After launch I sank out again, but patiently worked the lift until I joined a fellow flyer and many eagles floating around at 1200 meters. The first thermal flight on my new wing, an Artik 2! Although it had felt pretty sensitive on the sled-rides I had done so far and surprised me with a somewhat dynamic exit from a spiral, it felt just fine in the thermals. Pete had already taken off to Agassiz Mt, and after some wisp-surfing and close and personal views of several eagles I headed for Agassiz Mt too. There I arrived low at 500 meter (probably the lowest ever) and worked my way up to almost 800 meter a couple of times. Alas, November sun doesn’t stick around long and so I left to fly back and land at Harvest Dykes to shorten the walk back. But there I lucked out again. As soon as I had packed up and got to the road, a PG pilot on his way home picked me up, turned around and delivered me to the Coffee Kettle where our car was parked.

Ocean River Skookumchuck – Oct 22/23

 

One of my favorite trips in fall is to drive up the Sunshine Coast and surf Skookumchuck Narrows, so I organized a VKC club trip, drummed up a crew and off we went. The weather looked marginal for camping and we joined everybody else at the Backeddy Resort, relaxing in cozy cabins, nice rooms and around a very social campfire, shared by a pod of pre-Halloween pumpkins.

As always the surfing was a lot of fun and many wide-eyed Skooks-newbies had there first rides on the wave. I got my share of wave time and was almost ready to pack up, but had to do this one last surf... when I flipped on the second wave. The water pulled hard enough on the paddle that it tweaked my shoulder. Trying to roll up I immediately realized that I couldn’t use my left arm – oh, not again! So I pulled the deck, popped out and up a distance away from boat and paddle. Theoretically the kayak provides extra buoyancy and I struggled to get to it. But as soon as I got hold of the grab loop, a whirlpool formed and sucked the boat under. Here goes another theory, I thought, and gave the boat a good push into the centre of the whirlpool hoping this would keep me out of it. No such luck. Soon I was getting sucked under too but was strangely calm, enjoying the green light filtering down from above. Fortunately the underwater venture took only a few seconds and when I popped up again, Pete was there to the rescue. 

The rest of the story took about half an hour. Pete and I in tow went for the Tour (that's how we call it when a paddler doesn't make the eddy and has to paddle through the run-out of the rapid with its crashing waves and whirlpools). Back on shore it took a couple of tries and some repositioning, but we successfully put the shoulder back in its place (all the while watching the 'surf lions'). Knowing how to deal with a dislocated shoulder is certainly a useful first-aid skill to have as a paddler. This and a bit of luck saved us from a trip to the hospital and another night’s stay on the Sunshine Coast. I was pretty bumped out about this injury, recalling the months it took to heal my other shoulder 5 years ago, but a few days later the shoulder felt way better and only one week later, I flew my wing already. But I guess I will have to lay off whitewater paddling for a while.

Mt Cheam Early Winter, Oct 15

First snow of the season!

After two years we finally got around to fly from Mt Cheam again, the 2112 meter high sentinel of the Fraser Valley. It’s a pleasant hike&fly (the hiking part took me just under 2 hours). But the shuttle logistics make some serious planning necessary. I managed to spark the interest of two German paddling friends to join us for the hike. Since a 4WD vehicle is needed to access the trail head they would get to ride up with us and then drive the car down (Danke, Caro und Arndt!).

I had expected intense fall colors with red blueberry bushes and yellow alders (or is it ash?), but most of the flank of Mt Cheam was already covered in ankle-deep snow. It still made for a nice hike and beautiful flight launching from the snow, skirting the bowl with tiny Spoon Lake below, over the ridge to the Fraser Valley and down to our usual landing at Bridal Falls.

Not a single beep on the vario. Better get ready for winter flying…



Summit of Mt Cheam and Harrison Lake behind the ridge

Hedley, Oct 8-10

Is it a sign of advancing age and increasing grumpiness that I joined the ranks of those complaining about the weather this year? But really, summer this year lasted barely five weeks, from August to early September. There have been proposals to rename the months before August to Mayary, Juneary and Juleary (in analogy to January and February).

We can’t complain too much as we were lucky with the weather on our Alsek trip earlier this year (where it usually rains and storms on most days and snow is a possibility even in mid summer) and we had the most gorgeous weather in Chamonix. But it doesn’t make it any easier to cope with the grey and rainy weather when we got back to the Wetcoast.

So with yet another rainy forecast looming, we decided to drive away from the rain and see what areas to the east had to offer for Thanksgiving weekend.



The destination was Hedley in the Similkameen valley, a small town surrounded by steep rock faces. One of the attractions are the old gold mines perched on the cliffs high above town.

In early summer we come here for paddling a friendly stretch of Similkameen River (or the more exciting Similkameen Canyon and Ashnola). We leave the summer flying in the narrow and hot valley for braver pilots and return with our wings in fall.

This year we flew from a different launch to cross directly over the small town and old mining buildings. Still, even fall flying can be pretty exciting, especially coming back down to earth in the strong valley winds. I got caught off guard when I launched with a different, smaller wing and didn’t adjust my take-off speed. Much more sink than with my paraglider and a ‘secondary’ touch-down and contact between the slope and my knee… ouch! (Should have know, so shortly after writing the advanced exam… lift equals area of wing, speed squared, air density etc). Despite the excitement, everyone was fine, happy with the flights, and enjoyed the camp fire at night (and the Russian folk songs I hadn’t heard, leave alone sung in 25 years).

Chamonix, Sept 4-16

What amazing awe-inspiring scenery!

Like an all-imposing giant of rock and ice Mont Blanc dominates the views from almost everywhere. Although I have seen (and climbed) higher peaks, I have never been anywhere near such a massive mountain.

We lucked out with the weather, flew many different sites, tried new wings, did some short hikes and got even some via-ferrata climbing in. Didn't remember how much fun this was... have to do more of it next time we come to Europe – lots of exposure for excellent adrenalin jolts in a relatively save environment.

From Chamonix Sept

Since it’s posted already on our local flying forum, I will just recycle what I wrote there:

Fall flying in Chamonix is just like fall flying here. Mostly stable conditions make for scratch sessions and more or less extended sled rides. Valley winds can get strong in the afternoon. We even got a display of a solid Föhn-gust. Fortunately only a traction kite was up in the LZ and the kite-flyer got dragged all across it without damage.

But sled rides in Chamonix are of a different dimension. The views are gorgeous. Massive Mt Blanc and the needles of the many aiguilles dominate the scenery. Launching on a glacier, floating over crevasses seconds after getting airborne, searching rock cliffs for thermals, floating over the town with its many tourists and flower-decorated houses. Access to launches is fast and easy with gondolas and lifts (but some close in fall). Multi-day passes are well worth the money, especially in stable conditions. Pete did 6 flights in one day, probably half the costs of our 8-day pass. During our first week we stayed at the Flyers Lodge (http://www.flyers-lodge.com) in Domancy just outside the Chamonix valley, with Dennis and Gillian, who gave us lots of great tips on flying in the area.

We flew Planpraz (2000 m) across the valley from Mt Blanc on several days. On the final day Pete managed to climb to 2800 m and fly over the Brevent to Plaine Joux. From Plan de l'Aiguille (2200 m, mid station of the Aiguille du Midi gondola) we cruised over Bosson Glacier. To fly the Aiguille du Midi (3800m) you must cross an ice arête. It had a distinct knife-edge appearance and was topped by a stream of short-roped scramblers, posed perfectly to take everybody else out and down a 1000 meter slope should one slip. We gave it a pass. We flew from Les Grands Montets (3200 m) instead, where the launch is on a flat glacier a pleasant stroll from the gondola station (but watch for the crevasses), and where we got surprised by a massive rockfall from the Dru just around the corner (according to the news the mountain shed 12000 m3 of rock). Outside the Chamonix Valley we flew from Plaine Joux and Annecy (gorgeous limestone ridges and cliffs). Annecy Montmin launch is the most deluxe one I have ever set foot on with artificial lawn and terraced area for spectators (fortunately nothing too spectacular to see for them). And I have never seen so many people kite in the LZ as there (maybe 30?).

From Chamonix Sept

To mix things up we ventured on a couple of via ferratas. A via ferrata is a climbing route with cables, metal steps and ladders, making it possible to move through exposed and steep terrain at a fast pace (compared to belayed rock-climbing). Instead of ropes and assorted other climbing gear, only a climbing harness with a short rope and two carabineers (special via-ferrata set-up) is needed. I especially ‘liked’ the Nepalese bridge on La Curella which spans a 30 meter gap with just 3 cables, one to walk on and two higher ones to hold on to. Way more exciting than any paragliding I have done (and ever want to do).

From Chamonix Sept

Chamonix is definitely worth a visit (or several), but better in spring or early summer if one is looking for good flying conditions (and easy Aiguille du Midi access).

(Driving back to Germany on the Autobahn was definitely not a ‘Fahrvergnügen’)

Coquihalla - Guanaco Hike, Aug 13

Time to go for a hike and do some more exploring in the Coquihalla ... On our scramble up Lama/Alpaca last year two granite spires just around the corner caught our interest: Vicuna and Guanaco. Especially since we watched three paragliders take off from the shoulder of Guanaco. Although we were not keen to carry our wings up for a short sled ride (in uncertain valley winds) it seemed like a neat place to check out.


Thar, Nak, Yak, Zopkios and Jim Kelly and Coquihalla in the back row


The trail was better then the one to Lama/Alpaca and the views did not disappoint. I'm always amazed about these spectacular places just a little off the beaten track. And always thinking: if this would be in Europe, it would be a major tourist attraction. Maybe better the way it is. Great destination for a medium length day trip from Vancouver. Due to the late start we only bagged Guanaco. Have to come back for Vicuna another time (with some climbing gear?).


Indian Paintbrush and Bog Orchids

Lots of snow still lingering in the niches and crannies for this time of year. Nice wildflowers and a black bear on the drive back to the highway. Exploring some more we drove up one of the logging roads close to Hope and ended up camping on a ridge way above the highway.

Pemberton XC, Aug 6/7

Pemby flying was so good last weekend that we had to come back! I managed to do the run to Copper Mound for a second time, for another 40 km out and return XC flight.

This time I spent quite some time low at the end of Owl ridge to gain enough height for the hop over to the next ridge. While I was groveling around Pete joined me after an aborted attempt to get over the flat section. As we searched patiently for lift, another pilot arrived above us and soon hooked into a thermal. I noticed that his harness looked rather weird and on closer inspection realized that he was in a wheelchair! Whoever it was, thanks for showing us the thermal to get out of there!

As usually Pete moved on at a faster pace and carried on across Hurley Pass Road, while I turned around at Copper Mound. Guess I need to do this a few more times to figure out the next step (crossing the Hurley).



In the picture above, Pemberton Valley is on the right. Mackenzie launch is on the backside of the ridge in the middle (above the small lake in the centre), Owl Peak is just right of centre. The flat section (a bit more challenging to cross this time) is between Owl Peak and the foreground ridge (just below centre of picture). I'm on the return leg of my flight and Copper Mound behind me. Pemberton, hidden by Owl ridge, is about 20 km away and past the green meadows on the very right.

August Long Weekend

It seems as if summer has finally arrived! What a sweet long weekend!

With the late snow melt and high water levels this year, the Clearwater trip was a last minute decision. Finally the river came down to manageable 450 cms (= 3.5). Plan B was the Wenatchee, still above 5000 cfs (the average for this time of the year is well below 2000 cfs). But in the end we decided to avoid possible border line-ups and the usual Hwy 2 traffic jams and headed north.

We haven’t paddled the Clearwater at this level for quite a while. Huge fun wave trains on the run above the Kettle, but most of the play spots on the lower run were washed out. Lots of VKC paddlers showed up despite the late call, and everybody had a good time (except those suffering from the mosquito attacks).

A nice addition to this year's Clearwater trip was meeting former neighbors from Germany. They moved to Canada several years ago and are now owners of a bakery/cafe (Flour Meadows Bakery). Back in Germany they lived one road over from my parents place and went to the same school as I. We even have common friends. A small world!





Sunday night we headed back towards Lillooett and camped in Edge Hills Provincial Park. It’s a recently established park off the map and undeveloped except for the rustic campsite which we had all to ourselves. The park is perched on the east rim of the Fraser Canyon. Looking down in the canyon revived fond memories of our explorations around Big Bar, Watson Bar, Jesmond and of the Chilko-Fraser river trip 4 years ago – hard to believe so few people visit this stunning area.

Our plan worked out with excellent flying weather in Pemberton on Monday. I flew twice as far as I had here before (+40km), made the crossing from Owl Peak to the next ridge and on to Copper Mound - almost to Hurley Pass Road! Pretty cool to thermal up next to the snowy slopes of the ridge, peek over to Tenquille Lake, and look down onto the top of Copper Mound where we stood a year ago after hiking up from the lake.

Back on the water: Chehalis, Mamquam

Looks like the trip on the mighty Alsek rekindled the need to get on the water (combined with declining cross-country flying potential), so we met with some friends to paddle the Upper Mamquam. The lively rock gardens at the start were quite a change after the huge volume and whirlies on the Alsek, where, even if there were any rocks, one wouldn’t see them for the silt-loaded water. The rocks, good water level (55) and ‘fluffy’ rapids kept me on my toes. The last several times we paddled the run it was pretty rocky. Good fun and good start for more wet adventures!


Tudor's picture of lots of Green on the Chehalis

The Chehalis is my favorite river in the lower mainland and our weekend run reminded me why. This river always amazes with its overload of green. Everything is in some shade of it: the dark forest on the slopes, the bright maidenhair fern on the cliffs and the deep clear pools. Add in a good number of rapids at a great water level (9.55) and a good group of friends to share the fun – could there be anything better?

Well, yes ... an amazing day on the river AND a nice flight in the evening.

After paddling there was still time for a super smooth evening flight at Bridal – I don’t think I have ever flown so close to the trees. Kicking treetops, floating along the cliffs and watching a pair of falcons on the rocks – a super nice finish to an amazing day.

Flying Grouse Mt - July 5

This week we got to explore a new launch site close to home, Grouse Mountain. And our first flights on Monday were so nice; we had to go back the next two days. Pretty amazing place to come and fly after work. After doing many Grouse Grinds (as the steep 800 meter elevation hike to the top of Grouse is called) it was nice to see the place from a different angle. Thanks to the healthy snow pack this year the launch is still covered making the take-off very easy. No bumps, rocks or brush to worry about.



Could there be anything better to do on a long July evening than to float over the trees, past the restaurant and gondola station, and gaze at the city stretching south far below? Along the horizon the line-up of Vancouver Island, Gulf Islands, Olympic Peninsula and Mt Baker. On the third evening we even got to see Mt Rainier in the very distance. Although I have been on the peaks of the Northshore Mountains many times, I have never before seen this mountain from Vancouver – a stunning 300 km away.

Alsek, June 15 -26

For twelve days we floated on the Alsek River through the northern Coast Mountains and Yukon, BC and Alaska. The river carves its way through an amazing ice-age landscape past jagged snow-covered peaks, surging glaciers and grizzlies. In June its light almost 24 hours a day, giving us lots of time for exploring, taking pictures and hanging out with a great bunch of river rats. As always after such a trip, I find it very difficult to sift through my many pictures. So for now, here is a fantastic selection from Josh Miller, a pro-photographer and great guy to do a trip with (like all the other river rats).


There’s a land where the mountains are nameless,
And the rivers all run God knows where;
There are lives that are erring and aimless,
And deaths that just hang by a hair;
There are hardships that nobody reckons;
There are valleys unpeopled and still;
There’s a land — oh, it beckons and beckons,
And I want to go back — and I will.

 From: The Spell of the Yukon, Robert Service

Lumby Air Races, June 10-12

This year I finally signed up to fly in a competition, the Lumby Air Races. So far I had a valid excuse: I couldn’t read my GPS without reading glasses (and don’t think I can manage to switch glasses while flying). But after some half-hearted experiments Pete found sun glasses with little reading inserts for me. In Leavenworth, WA of all places! With my excuse gone and the weather looking reasonable we went to Lumby.



The Air Races are more a party than a competition, and fun and friendly. There is good food, live music and lots of friends we don’t see that often. In the end there was only one day with weather good enough to fly a competition task, but we got some airtime on the other days as well. Pete came in 4th in the Open Class, flying with and winning over pilots on much hotter (and higher performance) wings and won the Standard Class. Looks like I have second place in the Standard Class (leading only by a couple of points). Maybe I should encourage Pete to step up a class, so I don’t have to compete with him ;-) ? Results here and here.

Not sure I’m too much into this competition thing. My flying skills may be good enough to diddle along and get some points, but my parawaiting skills are definitely lacking! During comps there can be long wait times for an elusive weather window and competitors who don’t hang around and leave to do more fun stuff (kayaking? climbing? mountain biking?) risk loosing points when they are not around to fly.

The reading sun glasses worked out OK, but the inserts were definitely in the way when looking down at the windsock!

June Skiing on the N-Shore

With the super late snow melt this year, we got one last run in at Mt Seymour. For the first time for me skiing in June (June 3rd)! Pretty amazing that there was not a single bare spot on the run. And skiing was actually pretty nice for spring conditions - it didn't even freeze up on our 7 o'clock run.

Wenatchee, May 21 – 23

How appropriate – the poor weather on the coast coincides with the VKC Wenatchee trip! Although the water levels were just a touch on the high side (9500-10000 cfs) this turned into an excellent trip. Great to get some paddling in, meet a new crop of keen kayakers and not feel as if we missed great flying! Weather wasn't quite up to usual standard. On our first Wenatchee weekend for the season a week earlier (the river didn't come up until May 15!!!) we even hit the day that broke several rain records ... see Cliff Mass' blog). But the sun came out nevertheless and we got to enjoy the spectacle of the beautiful yellow flowers of Arrow-leaved Balsamroot.



I didn’t take many pictures (way too busy surfing, spinning… and rolling), but here are a couple from last weekend and the May-long weekend: ... (coming soon)

Bridal Crosscountry: Elk - Butterfly and back, May 18

After exploring the back and beyond of Woodside for the last couple of months, we are back at Bridal! The weather hasn’t been great lately with week-long forecasts of rain. Just like the carrot on a stick, “Wunderground” always dangles a forecast of nice weather at the end of their 7-day predictions. But as the promised nice days come closer, the good weather gets postponed and slides off into the future. This repetitive pattern and lack of good conditions on weekends necessitated desperate measures (like taking an afternoon off).


Desperate conditions call for desperate measures!

In the afternoon Woodside is often blown out, so we headed to Bridal. It took me two tries to get away from the launch area and by the time I got up to Upper Launch Pete was long gone. There was another pilot on his way west below me, installing confidence to go over to Gloria – where Pete zoomed by returning from his Elk run already. Found a good climb at Gloria. On Elk waves were exchanged with hikers plus some fumbling around looking for lift (which I found a little further east than expected). Wind was pushing into the gap between Elk and Gloria. At Gloria I thermaled shortly with Alex who was on triangle mission. Lift was pretty skookum at Gloria and I had to pull in a bit of wing to stay out off the fluffies. Got back to launch with nice altitude, then high along Mt Cheam, over to Laura’s Ridge (aka The Lakes). Here I met Pete again, now coming back from Butterfly. Still big lift in lots of places so I pushed further east to the flat spot and on to Butterfly. Pete came along for company.

Pete hit an elevator ride up near the rocky chute on Butterfly and I headed over to hop on it too. Not sure what exactly hit me, but I suddenly dropped and got a good look at my wing folded up like I had never seen it before, at least not while being suspended from it. A big fat frontal? The few frontals I have had usually had already popped out by the time I look up. But it also didn’t take long this time and within less than a second my wing opened with a reassuring popping sound. No surge, no other funny business. I like my Sport 4 (forget the Mentor 2!). Soon I found another more friendly thermal to top up for the flight back to Laura’s Lakes. The wind in the valley had gotten stronger so I skirted the gullies on Mt Cheam with extra safety distance. By the time I got back to Bridal Launch I was somewhat tired and didn’t follow Pete who sailed off on his second Elk lap. One last climb over Bridal Launch and then I flew out high over Rosedale to enjoy a few minutes of smooth air before landing. Nice cross-country flight (just a touch shy of 40 km) and my second Elk – Butterfly “Sammy”. The first one was a little less than a year ago – and my very first real cross-country flight.

Flight on Leonardo




On my way back from Butterfly. Mt Cheam in the clouds and Lady Peak to the left. On close inspection Pete's wing is visible as small white speck just a touch right and below the center of the picture (above the ridge of dark green trees).

Vancouver Kayak Club Festival - May 1st

This was the 4th VKC Festival on the Chilliwack River. And its getting better every year. I have to confess due to the low water level and the promising flying weather... we didn’t even bring our kayaks.

Nevertheless we totally enjoyed the party, music by our friends from the band Switch, socializing with a bunch of paddling friends we hadn’t seen in a while and meeting a lot of new paddlers. The festival was a great success - excellent work by the organizers... looks like a new generation of kayakers has successfully taken over! (Good chances I can finally retire from being VKC pres at the next AGM;-).

Fraser Valley Flying, April 30/May 1

I must have been getting too much airtime this spring, flying with eagles, in breathtaking scenery and exploring some new corners I haven't been to before (f.e. two Fraser Valley crossings), that even these spectacular flights blur into a big haze. The flight this Saturday was different. I wasn’t too excited about it at first, but looking back it certainly stands out. There were low clouds across the valley from Bridal to Woodside. Pete and two others launched earlier, but then the cycles had shut down and we were waiting.

When I finally launched it was as if I got on an elevator, and an industrial strength one! Over 100 meter straight up in +6 m/s lift…. Yehaa! After I got off the elevator and settled on my bucking bronco (ehmm.. into my harness I mean) I followed Pete, Tom and Tonya who were heading west. Quite a different flying experience, cruising just under the clouds which were hiding the top of the ridge and trying to identify the hidden peaks by the snowfields and gaps below. Occasionally the lift got so strong that we had to turn out to the valley and even resort to speed bar and big ears to stay out of the white room. When getting too close to the clouds previously, I usually made the mistake of getting too low and then had a difficult time reconnecting with lift. But this time, I managed to stay just at the right elevation.

There was so much consistent lift that I didn’t have to turn a single time all the way to Elk. But flying into the strong west wind was rather painful. It took me 40 minutes to get to Elk. On the bright side, when I turned around my GPS showed +60 km/h max speed and I was back at launch in 10 minutes. I will remember this flight for some time, cruising under clouds along the ridge with its peaks hidden. After we returned, Pete ventured further east, but couldn’t make it back in the strengthening wind, so he landed near Popkum Road coming straight down without forward movement. Meanwhile I flew out over the valley and then back to Bridal LZ were it was a lot less windy.


Turn-around point is marked by obvious change in flying speed at 14:58

Sunday looked quite promising, but it didn’t turn out to be as spectacular as it looked. Still, I pushed a bit beyond where I had been before, flying with Pete to Agassiz Mt, then across to Bear Mt. During the crossing on speedbar my glider took an interesting whack out of the blue (at least for me), sharply turned 90 degrees and dived maybe 45 degrees. That woke me up, but was very manageable and just what a 1/2 wing is supposed to do… made me appreciate my docile Sport4. I arrived a little below the top of Bear, scratched for a while but never got up and landed at Seabird Island. Pete arrived higher, scratched for another hour only to land on the other side of Green Hill. Next time I should land closer to the main road or call for a retrieve earlier. I decided to walk to the highway to make it easier for pick-up, but gave up after 30 minutes - it would have taken a mere 3 minutes to cover this distance by car. I called and lucked out as I managed to piggy-back on a retrieve that was in progress already. Guess I owe a few retrieves and drives up to launch with all these cross country adventures ...

Wetcoast Week (Part 4, April 22/23): Friday and Saturday Flying

The Easter Bunny came with a present: two nice flying days with strong conditions (even Pete found it a bit rough at times – but maybe that’s his new wing, which is ENC and a step up from our Sport 4). On Friday, a big gaggle of pilots went west, but I wasn’t sure I could make the first big jump across to Sasquatch, so I decided to go east again. Flew over Agassiz Mt and since I was not sure where to go on Bear, I headed straight for Green Hill, where I was getting low and got ready to land.

But I wasn't going to land before I flew the entire length of Green Hill since it’s known as a reliable thermal trigger. And at its very south end, there it was: a sweet thermal that took me from below 400 meter up to over 1400 meter! What a great climb from such a little hill! From there I went on glide over the Fraser and its many sandbanks and got to the south side of the valley at 400 meters. I was pretty happy with my second valley crossing, didn’t put as much effort into trying to continue as I could have and landed at the highway exit. Later I found out that another pilot had climbed out from the same height about an hour earlier and the next day someone made an even lower safe from half that height (but both with lot more experience in xc flying and on higher performance wings). But, hey, that was only my second valley crossing and my first from the north – I’ll leave the climb-out for next time! Leonardo track here.



Climbing for over 1000 meter over Green Hill. Harrison Lake left, Fraser River right.

Wetcoast Week (part 3, April 19): Tuesday Skiing

Finally several nice days in a row! The weather was getting a bit depressing. Apparently the coldest spring since the 1950s (as Cliff Mass writes on his blog http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2011/04/are-springs-getting-worse.html).

Local snow levels are phenomenal. Mt. Seymour has over 4 meters snow at the parking lot, 6.33 meter at the summit and a total seasonal snow fall of 11.27 meters. A good reason to check it out and start the customary after work ski.

Yup, lots of snow up there. And a great after-work work-out.



Over 4 meter snow at the Seymour parking lot.

Wetcoast Week (part 2, April 17): Sunday Flying... First Valley Crossing

All sorts of weather today: hail, snowstorm and sunshine. The morning flight from Woodside was in good and honest winter conditions. Not ideal flying conditions, but totally launch- and flyable… and I was last on launch and no ride down. Getting hit in the face by snowflakes is not the most pleasant feeling, so we landed soon. Just early enough to get the wing packed away before a good downpour. The Bridal side of the valley looked sunny and much more inviting, but by the time we got up to launch it was snowing here too and wind was very cross (and gave a tandem pilot some problems resulting in a botched launch and some team work to extract his wing and passenger from the bushes below launch). But as soon as it stopped snowing and the sun came out thermals started to build.

It was better to wait just a bit longer, as Pete demonstrated when he launched first and after long scratching sunk out. I had a bit more luck, but still had to be very patient and work the weak thermals for over an hour. I was already getting bored flying around launch, but finally patience paid off. A strong thermal took me high enough to where I felt I could venture east.

Ever since I watched videos of flying over wintry mountains and snow-covered trees, I wanted to fly there too – and now I was doing it! White ridges, trees loaded with snow and the snow-filled avalanche gullies of Mt Cheam. What an amazing view. I turned around just below where the peak of Cheam was hiding in the clouds. Same game as on the two other flights a did along the ridge; first I thought, I would make it to the Cloverleaf LZ, then a thermal and Bridal LZ was within glide, and the next thermal got me on glide back above launch.

Next I flew west, peeked over the pass into Chipmunk Valley, glided with little sink to Gloria. Back at launch again, a thermal took me up to over 1200 meters. I didn’t feel like landing already and flew out towards the river to see how far I could glide. Arrived over the river at a comfortable 800 meters, pushed on, flew over the town of Agassiz and finally arrived at the gas station, where I had landed before coming from Mt Woodside. My second longest flight so far for both distance and time (27.7 km and 3 hrs), and my first valley crossing! Leonardo track here.



After snow and hail finally sun!


Lots of traffic at Bridal Launch


Flying east along Mt Cheam


Flying west to Gloria


Flying across the Fraser River


And Agassiz (landing where my feet point)

Wetcoast Week (part 1, April 16): Saturday Surfing

Looked like it was going to blow out in the Fraser Valley (too windy for flying in lay terms). But friends were talking of going over to the Sunshine Coast to surf at Skookumchuck Narrows.

Although with the recent cold weather and fresh snow late season powder turns were also an option, kayaking seemed like better thing to do. When skiing and paddling are options, than its likely too warm/et for skiing and too cold for paddling. That’s what we thought when we drove off the ferry and a huge cumulus clouds burst showering us with hail and rain.

But up in Egmont the weather was very nice, albeit a bit nippy. Surfing the big roaring wave at Skooks was fun as usually, as was the tour on flat water before and after the surf session. It always amazes me how quiet it is as soon as one gets away from the wave, and how abundant (sea) life is in the ocean.

Woodside Flying, April 8

Although we missed the real epic flights and valley crossings by one day, conditions were still pretty nice after the high cirrus clouds cleared.

A thermal took me straight up to 1650 meter above launch, climbing 900 meters in less than 12 minutes. I don’t think I have ever been that high over Woodside, pretty cool view! Pretty impressive too for elevation gain without engine power! This is almost two thirds of our average 1500 meters we hike up on a backcountry ski day. And about the same as the Grouse Grind, which takes most people around one hour.

Sharing the thermal with Nicole, Alex and Al, I squeezed in a few more turns while they turned back towards launch. Strong west winds were pushing the thermal over. When I topped out I was almost all the way “over the back”, but that wasn’t a problem that high up. Being on a slower wing than the others, I decided not to fight into the wind.

Instead I headed east, arriving well above Agassiz Mt. Great views north to Harrison Lake and the snow covered mountains surrounding it. The beach at Harrison Hotsprings looked well within reach, but today was not the day to go there with the strong west wind. I landed at the foot of Green Hill and popped out on the highway at the Harrison Hotsprings sign.

The lesson of the day was to remove the toe warmers before hiking – I ended up with good sized blisters which made the hike back to the Agassiz gas station rather unpleasant. Fortunately Pete picked me up there. Lesson #2: get my push-to-talk working again for easier communication so Pete and I can fly together for a change.


Fresh snow on Mt Cheam


Big crowds the day after the epic day

Woodside Cross-Country

Almost mid-air with an eagle

Although the weekend weather forecast looked rather depressing all week, in the end both Saturday and Sunday were not only fly-able, but also provided good spring conditions. We arrived early on Saturday to strong wind over the back – but had planned to work on the launch carpet anyway. After almost everything was pinned down, the thermals started coming up. Paddy and I went for two sled rides, Pete drove the second time. I enjoyed the warm spring air at the Riverside LZ and wasn’t too keen on driving up for a third sleddie, but in the end we did go up and scored a sweet 1.5h ridge soaring flight to 1000 meters. I went all the way back over the North Towers and got a good look over the ridge up Harrison Lake. Lots of traffic in the air: eagles and human flyers, including Andrei, Ryan and Amin. To finish off the nice flight I followed Pete for a little cross country to Harvest Market.


Agassiz Mt (left), Harrison Lake, Bear Mt (centre), Fraser Valley (right) and Green Hill (bottom right)

Sunday’s flying conditions were even better. Pete took off to Sasquatch before I got high enough to join him. Good thing I wasn’t ready, because he sunk out, while I ventured east along the ridge to Agassiz Mt, following some other pilots. They were more comfortable getting up and close to the clouds – which meant I was below, behind and pretty much on my own. Being still pretty new to the cross country thing I focus a lot on possible landing zones, especially when I’m flying alone (well, I wasn’t not really alone, there were plenty of other pilots in radio-reach, just nobody nearby who's “line” I could follow). Things are somewhat complicated by the prison below the ridge between Woodside and Agassiz Mt; a no-fly and no-landing zone. But just like the first time when I flew here with Pete and Andrew last year, whenever I thought about turning out and heading for a nice green field to land in, my vario started beeping reassuringly. I found a couple of nice thermals up to ridge height (and one somewhat rougher thermal which I left alone after an uneventful frontal collapse). After some scratching I got just a bit above Aggasiz Mt, but not high enough to follow the others to Bear. I flew out to Green Hill, played in some mild thermals and landed at Green Hill’s southeast end after almost 14 km xc.

Dramatic (Dog) Rescue in Capilano Canyon

Here is the tongue-in-cheek report our paddling buddy posted on the VKC forum. Even though it wasn’t all that dramatic, we got to put our rescue skills to good use and had a little feel-good moment.

March 13, 2011
Heroic kayakers to the rescue
Posted by Erik F

A group of kayakers today rescued Serena Brown after she had become trapped in Vancouver's Capilano canyon for four days. The group had just finished Dogleg, a turbulent rapid early in the run, and was remarking on the high water. They noticed motion low down on one of the canyon walls, and landed to investigate. Serena was found, curled in the fetal position in a little cave under a rock in an area only accessible from the water. "She was shivering and burrowing her head under the rock", said kayaker Peter Spear, "so I scooped her up with difficulty, and we managed to get her into the cockpit of Erik's (actually VOC member Piotr Forysinski's--EF) boat, because it was the biggest." The group towed Serena, a greyhound/husky cross, across the roaring river to a steep trail that allowed exit from the canyon, and walked her to safety. Fortunately her telephone number was on a neck tag and her worried owners were able to collect her 20 minutes later. They said she disappeared last Wednesday while playing along the canyon rim, and despite calling and extensive searching they had had no luck and had nearly given up.

First spring thermals, March 6

Yeah! Spring is here! 1.5 hours airtime in nice thermals.

Launched after Pete and had to work a while along the South Knoll to get up. It took over 30 minutes of surfing the trees and I was already thinking of heading to the LZ because I got bored of it. But luckily the hard work finally paid off. Once above the knoll it was easy to stay up and get to cloudbase. Nice to play in the thermals with friends and many eagles (several - gaggles - of 4 or 5 of them). Looked like the eagle had at least as much fun as we, playing with each other. One did a big dive, tugging in his/her wings. But they didn't like going to cloudbase and preferred to stay lower. The hand warmers worked well on hands and feet, in the end I had only two cold finger tips.

The only bad thing about such a long flight is that it takes way too long to edit the video!

Skiing and Flying, February 2011

More airtime (still no snow on the logging road to Woodside launch) with sled rides but also longer flights (up to 1h) and skiing at the Duffy Lake Road.

Very snowy day at Duffy Lake - conditions were good for one run only. Had to point 'em straight down to keep moving. Don't think I have ever been that wet before when skiing.



A week later - sunny, cold and lots of fresh snow.




A day at Mt. Woodside on Vimeo

Woodside February 2011 from Wetcoast Views on Vimeo.

Sol Mountain Skiing, Jan 31 – Feb 6

Finally winter! Back from a week of skiing at Sol Mountain Touring in the Monashees with bluebird-powder for the first 4 days. It was cold with overnight lows of -25C but so long as you stayed on the sunny south facing slopes the daytime temps were fine. The snow was good with boot top pow. On Thursday we got 24cm of new snow. A big powder day just like on our first trip in 2006 when 1.70 meter of snow fell during our week at Sol. But on Friday it warmed up to near freezing and blew hard. Up high the snow was wind hammered and down low it developed a melt freeze crust. Somewhere in the middle was good skiing but we didn't do so well at finding it. On Saturday the weather was nice again so we had a longer tour into the alpine. In the end we didn't quite make the target of 10km vertical over the week but were close. Instead we got to explore some of the alpine scenery we didn’t even see during our first trip when it was snowing almost constantly.



This was a last minute trip and none of our ski friends could come along so we were in there with a 4 other small groups. A photographer/athlete team (crazy skier dudes, I would call them), a group of four from Reno, a guided group of three older guys from the Shushwap and some friends of the hut keeper from Clearwater.

It is a small world. One of the guys coming out from a trip before us was an old paddling buddy of several week-long trips. We also knew one of the Clearwater boys - again a kayaker. (text Peter/Claudia)



More pictures here.

Still no skiing, more flying, Jan 22

I’m not certain but I think lack of snow and warm weather and not paragliding-addiction is the cause that this weekend turned into a paragliding weekend again. While snow usually stops us at this time of the year the Woodside logging road was drive-able all the way to launch. Thanks to my much more optimistic and determined flying buddies, after over 2 hours of prime-parawaiting, the fog lifted and we got to surf the front of the clouds and play in wispies in the smooth air for over an hour. Even the sun came out and I finally succeeded in snapping pictures of the ‘Brockengespenst’, also called brocken spectre or glory (hard to believe, a non-German-speaking friend knew this German word I didn’t!). The glory is (usually) ones own shadow projected onto and in a cloud or fog. Pretty cool!

PS: Almost forgot, we already had one ski day this year! But more to come soon, at Sol Mountain Touring!


Clouds streaming up the mountain


Launch is visible just below the paraglider


Paragliding glory