Revelstoke - Easter Fly and Ski

Easter trip with Andrei and Elena to Revelstoke. First time for us to fly here. What a nice place to fly! The chair lift to launch makes for a very European feel. We had not skied at the resort after the new Ripper chair lift was added and did some skiing too to explore the new runs in the North Bowl. The runs just kept going and going and going. Quite the vertical! Pleasant warm temperatures in town, but still rather chilly in the morning before the sun hit the slopes and up in the air.

Pete after launching

Waiting for snow squall to end

Top of Stoke chair left, launch in the center below Mt Mackenzie, Rogers Pass area behind

Two flights for us on both Saturday and Sunday, with thermals, lots of sun, and some parawaiting for snow squalls to end and for the cross winds to calm down. Almost 1300 meters vertical between launch and LZ. Plenty of lift to climb over the top of Mt. Mackenzie from where we could admire the panorama of snow-covered peaks of the Selkirk Mountains near Rogers Pass.

Apart from one short test flight these were our first launches with ski and there was lots of new stuff to discover: strong wind in the face doesn’t work well for forward launching, since moving back isn’t easy on skis (a slight back wind is actually helpful), landing with some back wind is no problem cause its much easier to ski fast than to run fast. Flying my lightweight harness without using the footrest makes it feel more wobbly. And I didn't really like the close proximity of sharp metal edges to my paraglider lines.

Sunday was the last day of operations for the ski resort and in the afternoon it felt much saver in the air – too many partying kids all over the hill!