More Woodside XC Flying

April was almost as gloomy as March.

But with the flexibility to go flying any day of the week I got to pick the rare days that delivered nice cross country conditions. I had 3 nice XC flights: another Fraser River triangle (with MON, James and Mike) where I managed to squeeze into Riverside, my longest flight from Woodside to Dewdney (thermaling with eagles there) and Agassiz mountain and a super low flight (highest elevation 1150m) to Ludwig and then back to Green Hill because of black clouds and rain on the Bridal side.

61 km from Woodside: https://www.xcontest.org/canada/en/flights/detail:cschwab/9.4.2017/20:11

 
Spring Eagles from Wetcoast Views on Vimeo.

Gloomiest March on Record

Its official! This March was the 'gloomiest' March on record (since 1951). Only 70.5 hours of sunshine - half of the average of 138.4 hours. And we got rained on 28 out of 31 days. That is a tied with the previous record. And we got some record single days as well: 30 mm of rain fell on March 28th at the airport (YVR) beating the old record of 25 mm set 61 years ago.

Blossoms and flowers are 3 weeks behind. Not doing any planting yet (except for the peas ;-). Not looking much better after the first week of April either.

April PG Epic - April 3

Even with March this year being the ‘gloomiest’ in recorded history and April staring not any better -  if the sun comes out spring days can be epic. Last Monday (April 3rd) was one of these epic spring days. And it was probably an all time record for cross country flying activity in the Fraser Valley.

There were 4 flights to Hope and back. The return part is rare since the west winds often kick in and make it difficult. A couple of the Hope flights were extended to the west and north. Peter S. added a leg to Dewdney, making this the longest out-and-return from Woodside posted on Leonardo (116km). Alex R. was just 5km short of a 100 km triangle. At least seven pilots did Fraser Valley triangles (Woodside-Bridal-Woodside) and 3 of the Hope guys came back on the Bridal side too. Some of us got up close and personal to snowy summit slopes of Mt Cheam. Several others also made the crossing to the Bridal side (including a tandem) and many flights went to Agassiz and Bear Mt.

Pretty amazing that was just a few years ago the ‘Raymont challenge’ was announced, flying the triangle Woodside-Bridal-Woodside. Paragliding gear has improved so much that it is possible to fly these routes on EnB wings new. And even more important is all the exploring and pioneering pilots did to establish these lines over the last few years.

Approaching the Cheam range. Later we fly along the snow slopes just below the pointy peak on the right.

Lots of flying activity. And this are only the pilots who use spot trackers.