Back in Valle de Bravo for some fun flying with old and new friends. Cloudstreet to the Butterflies (for my non-paragliding friends... we fly under this sort of street and the clouds show us where the lift is). A wonderful flight with Peter and Julie. My favourite in Valle de Bravo so far. And the flights keep getting better every time we visit.
After a one-year Covid-induced gap I'm glad to finally see family and friends in Germany again!
Flying conditions were not quite as good as in previous years. Big clouds, wind, rain and Foehn made for rough weather.
Hammertag
in Pemby. RASP promising climbs to 3800m and light winds. To mix things
up we flew from Miller Ridge which faces east so we could launch a
couple of hours earlier than from our regular site. Cloudbase was as
high as promised but the thermals were a bit rough, especially lower
down. Lots of great flights including some +200km triangles. First for
me was flying along the south side of the Lillooet River. Photos are
from the long crossings and not from the 'high points' - just didn't
feel like letting go of my brake toggles at the top of the thermals 
This year we had not many options for places to fly with all the fires, the smoke and the wind. The more adventurous did a sporty down-wind flight from Pemberton to Gold Bridge and yes, as we knew already, Carpenter Lake gets a bit exciting when its windy (see Nick Neymen’s blog on this https://sharemyjoys.wordpress.com/2018/11/12/vol-biv-hitch-in-canada). The smoke beat us to Clearwater. Much better flying near Williams Lake (no smoke here) lead to a plan to come back when the weather would be less prone to over development. Looks like a great area for flatland thermals! We spent the last two days close to home (for us) and flew Benny and Bridal.
Several heat records broken today. Highest ever Canadian temperature
recorded in Lytton 150km from here. Not that much cooler even at 1980m
(air space - took some work to avoid it) but a nice breeze. Smog over the town.
Third time lucky, fourth time even better! It took 3 tries to get above the peaks along Howe Sound. This was the fourth time but with a much longer approach hike. Long and hot hike from Crystal Rd, over 3 hours and a much longer steep section! Great flying over Deeks peak, Brunswick, Harvey, close up to the West Lion and then over to Black Mt. Not much of a climb there (less than 200m) but enough for the long glide over the plateau to the landing at the Capilano River. Good thing several others were ahead so I was pretty sure the glide would work.
