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