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
