100 hours

I’ve been putting a lot of effort into improving my skill and ranking over the last three seasons. Breaking my collar bone two seasons ago put an end to that season. Last season I was hoping to get 100hrs for the season. The weather turned poor in the late summer and fall. I stalled at 92hrs. I got a great start this season in Australia in January. After some good flights in Arizona I thought I might hit a 100hrs by early summer. Again I was stalled by terrible weather all summer. Finally the sun came out and I was able to break the 100hr mark this season.

After day’s of wind and rain the last day of the Willi we finally got some good weather. The first couple of pilots to launch weren’t climbing very fast so I waited a bit for the day to get stronger. By the time I got off the hill at three thirty I was the last one in the air. New York Dave and Doug Litzenburger were able to get a short flight during the week so I needed a big flight if I was going to make up the points. I climbed up over launch and headed to Mt 7. I got high over the peaked and headed south. The wind was 10km/hr out of the north as I pushed south. The climbs were strong almost to cloud base and I was able to stay high above the range. When I got to Edgewater rain cells were dumping rain across the valley. The clouds were shading over the mountains below me so I pressed on to the sunny peaks ahead of me. I was looking behind and ahead of me trying to decide if I should push further south or try and turn around and head back to Golden. I was able to make it down to Invermere in two hours and confident of a big flight as it was only 5:30. I hit a south wind at Radium and was thinking of heading back. I arrived over Mt Swansee just over the top and ridge soared until I got a weak broken climb that I tried to stick with. I gained about 500’ before I lost it. Unable to find anything else I ended up landing at the airport early in the day. Doug Keller arrived just after I was packed up. Doug Litzenburger came in a couple hours later followed by New York Dave on his way back from Fairmont. He was turned around by a wall of rain. Kal picked up Leaf in Edgewater on his way to grab the rest of us. I was hoping for a bigger flight but landing in Invermere always feels like a success. It was fun reliving the flights on the drive home and comparing notes with each other. I was glad to finally break through the 100hr mark.