Weather: Dry Period Record Tied

According to Cliff Mass, the record for the longest dry period in Seattle has been tied.

"There has been no measurable rain at Seattle-Tacoma Airport for fifty-one days. This ties the record for number of consecutive days without measurable rain, which occurred from July 7 to August 26, 1951."

The same here in Vancouver. In addition to this our skies have been obscured by smoke from the wildfires for 2 weeks already (luckily after the Paragliding Nationals were over). Apparently the smoke helped to keep the heat in check. And due to the inflow from the ocean the air quality is not terrible in Vancouver. But I'm looking forward to the rain predicted for this weekend which should clear the skies!

Fixed Total Validity - PG Competition Scoring

Fixed Total Validity (FTV) is a scoring formula that allows dropping the odd bad day from the overall score, depending on the total number of days and validity of the task results (which depends on number of pilots in goal, distance and flying time). This makes the competition more interesting and encourages pilots to race and not hang back and follow others. Racing increases the chances of winning (more points) but also the risk of sinking out and not reaching goal (a lot less points). To alleviate this down-side the worst score(s) is/are dropped.

For a pilot with evenly good scores this means that more points are subtracted each day compared to a pilot who ‘bombed out’ on a task and received only a few points for it. So I was rather unhappy for a couple of days when I lost about 100 points each day shrinking the lead to the next pilot although I actually scored better on that particular day. But wait, on the last day I didn’t get far at all and suddenly this was the day that got scratched from my score and all my other points came back! And the third pilot didn't do so well either. Phew!

I still don’t feel it is entirely fair that someone with less total points (but one great day) can win over someone with constantly good performance. But hey, everybody is subjected to the rules… and they worked for me.

Fire Smoke in Vancouver, Aug 1

Wildfires happen every summer in BC but this year we have a particularly bad season. The wet and cool spring and early summer did surprisingly more harm than good since it encouraged the growth of grass and underbrush. After a stretch of hot and dry weather in early July the stage was set for big wildfires. At one time over 40,000 people had to be evacuated from towns as big as Williams Lake (10,000 inhabitants) in the Cariboo region of BC.

Wind directions changed to a northeasterly outflow and now Vancouver and the Fraser Valley are blanketed with the dense smoke of these fires. This makes for spectacular sunsets and prevented the temperatures to reach predicted record numbers. The North Shore mountains are obscured by the smoke and the setting sun has an eerily red color. But I'm certainly hoping for a change in wind directions to blow all this smoke away again!

Sunset at Lighthouse Park, looking across Howe Sound to Bowen Island

Sunset from the roof of our house (with a sunspot visible at 10 o'clock)

Satellite image of the smoke blowing out the Fraser Valley

Canadian Paragliding Nationals, July 22-29

What a fantastic week in Pemberton! A big thanks to Guy and Ricardo and the many volunteers who worked so hard to make this happen!

We had 4 tasks, the 3 other days were canceled because of too much wind. Two of the tasks were over 80 km with lots of valley crossings, including some flying north of the Hurley Pass. 86 pilots came to Pemberton, many of them for the first time. Lots of happy pilots in goal each day, thanks to the good work by the task committee. I really enjoyed flying with so many other pilots in the air (except for the start gaggle) as the many wings provide lots of indication which lines work best and where to find lift. But it was an eagle who showed me where the nicest thermal was - apparently these birds don't like rough air either.

Although conditions were typical for Pemberton (rather rough at times), there were only two reserve tosses, no damage to pilots or gear and both pilots got themselves back to civilization (one with the help of comp volunteers).

Both Pete and I had good success in the competition, placing second in Sport's and Women's class respectively. In addition I won a fantastic raffle price, courtesy of Jim Reich/FlyBC.

For more information on each day check out Nicole's blog: here.

Results: here.

CBC report: here.  Cool video shows +85 pilots launching.

First task of Canadian Nationals. It took me some time to climb high enough so I was almost last to leave launch. Watched the gaggles ahead race into the ground on the ridge to Copper. I almost did the same heading low into the lee of Pauline. Slowly ridge-soared my way up again from way too low with Christian. Lots of wind from the northwest so I didn't feel motivated to tackle the last into-the-wind leg of the task. Should have… could have… but surprise... still placed 1st in Women's class.

Second task. Must have been my fastest run to Copper and back (1:39 for 46 km on the scoring sheet, average 27.5km/h ... included in the Leonardo track are an additional 35 minutes waiting for the start). My first goal in a comp, with 64/85 other happy pilots.

Third task. Never done some much zigzagging across the valley …  worked surprisingly well. From Camel straight across to Locomotive. Strong headwind and blown thermals themals there and not easy to get to Zorah (last one before the North Creek crossing). Back to Camel and then Owl and then back to goal at the bottom of Camel. Arrived a 'little' too high over goal... 1000 meters. Guess I have to work on my racing strategy.

Day 4… canceled: Hiked on river right of Lillooet river to a view point over the Capricorn slide. Very impressive. And a great blue berry crop! On the way back we rescue a young couple with a blown tire and no clue how to change it.

Day 5… canceled: hiked Miller Ridge with Nic, Alex and Christian. Great flowers and lots of mossis. We take a dip in a tarn next to the last snow patches. Surprisingly warm water.

Fourth task. Looks like the easy valley crossings of the last task lured me into not taking this serious... left too low. Too impatient when strangely no climbs were to be found along the ridge to Owl. Bombed out! But thanks to the scoring system the worst day doesn’t count and I'm finishing in Women's second place... out of 9 ladies.