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.