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