BBQ task.

The forecast for the final day of the Canadian nationals was looking pretty good. Lightning strikes over the last couple days have started a few forest fires around Sun Peaks. Their was some concern about flying over the fires today. We file a notam every day and Ralph even called the Kamloops air port where the planes were flying out of to let them know too. They weren't impressed but didn't say we couldn't fly. They have that power and we have been shut down in the past. If they weren't going to tell us not to fly I felt we should be fine. Ralph also told every one at the pilots meeting not to pass over the fire low.

With a strong south wind we felt it would be better to just call a down wind task rather than have pilots fight back against the wind crossing the fires a second time. We decided on little fort at 62km. This would turn out to be a little short but we wanted to get every one back in a reasonable time to do the scoring and get ready for dinner. It turned out to be the best day so far and some pilots were disappointed we didn't call a longer task. Ten ended up making goal with Jeff the fastest of the day in just under an hour.

My strategy every day has been to launch later and take the last start so I would be on course during the strongest part of the day. Also I had plenty of thermal marks in front of me making it easier to go faster. Launching later you run the risk of not getting off the hill which never happened to me but some people did get stuck on launch. I had Tanya use the leading bonus because I believe the pilots that go out front take the most risk and should be rewarded. Taking the last start punished me on the leading points. You need to make goal and you need to be a lot faster than every one else.

The last day my plan was to take it easy and make sure I get to goal. Jeff was too far in front of me to catch but Ross was right behind me. I had nothing to gain and every thing to lose so I felt as long as I made goal in a reasonable amount of time I would hold onto my position.

I launched in the back half of the pack and climbed out over launch with Dave Bacon in good lift. Once up high I could see the large forest fire to the north. I saw a helicopter just north of launch dipping his bucket in a nearby lake. Then he was off to dump the water on a smaller fire. Not wanting to get in the way I left before getting to cloud base and flew into a strong west wind to get back out in front of the range. Once I was back out front I headed down the range and found I had a quartering tail wind. My first thermal on course was strong. It moved around a lot but stuck with it right to cloud base over 10,000'. Just make sure you get to goal. My next climb was not as strong but I stayed with it any way. I got a climb just before Barriere and my numbers went positive. I stopped for some strong lift before I left the range just to be sure. I hit some big sink in the valley and was happy I had lots of height. I chased Tyler to the Fennel peak goal which is a turn point over the mountains before heading over to Little fort to land. I spotted two pilots on the ground and several other below me circling down to land. Mike Swift had chosen a field right next to the gas station and cold beer. Dave Bacon arrived a little while later and Gary came in long after the rest of us had packed up. It was a fun day and we had a lot of spectators watching the glider rain into the field next to the gas station. It was a fun day of flying and nice to have so many in goal.

The weather tuned out to be very good this week and Ralph and Ian did a great job of organizing. It was great to fly some where different this year. I'd love to come back here again next year. Jeff Remple finish first over all with me second and Ross Hunter third.

Need to make goal.

We had a brisk south west wind today and called an 82km task to Clear water. We tried to encourage every one to get off early as we had a risk of storms to the north. It didn't seem that good early to me so I wanted to wait for the last start time hoping the day would get stronger. My theory was good as the first themal I got into was a boomer taking me to cloud base over launch. I was a few minutes behind the last start time. Not a great start but not bad. I went charging off hard hoping to win the day big. It was a strong wind and I was getting a great ground speed. It was a long glide between climbs but I was finding good lift and climbing well. I was going by gliders low in the valley and went over John Mclintoc by a couple thousand feet. I knew I was pushing too hard when I passed a couple light thermals when I was starting to get low. Hoping to catch a low save I caught up with Ross Hunter but we were unable to dig out and landed with Tyler about 25km from goal. I only needed one climb to make it in and should have been a little more patient. John flew over our heads a short while later and was the only one to make goal. Taking the last start also cost me leading points. I was happy with my flying and shouldn't get hurt too much in the overall standings. Looks like we could have a good day tomorrow.

Another long task.

We went up Sun peaks today with a forecast for light winds. We called a 124 km task knowing it was not likely doable but the other options weren't any better so we opted to over call the day rather than under call it.

I found it very rough around launch and pushed forward not wanting to spend a lot of time in the nasty air. I was in good position for the last start time and headed out alone. I was able to catch several pilots right away but pushed a little too hard and ended up low. With the help of a few other pilots around I was able to stay off the ground and managed to spec out leaving every one else behind and low. I had a long glide to the next ridge and found Ross low and on life support. John Orders came in behind us and we managed to bring Ross back to life. The three of us worked together for the next thirty km moving at a good pace. Once we got close to the turn point we couldn't get high enough to tag it. We ended up landing by the cliff just below. Another pilot came by a half hour latter and managed to get around the turn point where the three of us failed. Not sure who but I here three may have gotten further. Hope for good weather tomorrow.

Tough first day.

We finally got our first valid day today. We called a 92km task starting at 2:00. North up deadman's valley then back to launch then west and back to the main lz. With a strong NW wind it made for a very tough head wind most of the day. My plan was to wait for the last start gate hoping the day would get stronger and I would be able to catch pilots ahead of me.

I got a pretty good start crossing the five km cylinder a few minutes after the last start time and much higher than pilots starting earlier. I was going at a good pace with Ralph catching several pilots ahead of us and many already on the ground. I lost Ralph and got low after the first turn point. I dug myself out and got slightly above cloud base and meet up with Ralph back at the second turn point. We push back into strong head wind to the third turn point. The turn point was out past the clouds and the smoke was thick in the valley ahead of us. You needed to get high enough to run out to the turn point and get back to the lift. Jeff was the only one to make it but I gave it a good shot landing ten Km short of goal. Very tough task but a fun flight. Great to get a task off and with luck the rest of the week will be better.

Another eventful day.

The Willi ended the same way it started, with some scary incidents. We went up to launch a little later so we wouldn’t have to wait on launch so long. As it turned out we waited a while as no one was staying up much before 3’oclock. As soon as a couple paragliders started climbing, pilots started piling off. I took off at 4’oclock and the wind was coming in strong from the north. I climbed up in strong lift and found it very rough. After being in the air for a half hour I had no motivation to go any where. I thought maybe I was being a bit of a whimp as every one seemed to be gone down range. I crossed over to Kapristo but didn’t like the air and didn’t want to land out. I took one more climb in front of launch but still wasn’t motivated to head back down range. I headed out to land and found several other pilots who didn’t like conditions either.

Fiona got hammered down at Parson and didn’t even bother trying to come back. She just went out to land. Just about every one I talked to found the day to be really rough with most choosing to land. Timmy flew to Brisco and Jim Scoles made it to Invermere. Both reported rough thermals all the way down the Valley. Two paragliders went into the trees. Search and rescue was called as one pilot looked like he went in hard in a bad area. He managed to hike himself out but the second pilot landed behind the front range at Spilli. She was picked up by the search and rescue helicopter. They were both uninjured to end the comp on a happy note.

We got to fly more days than the past several years but with some very tricky days. We had a lot of close calls but got lucky with no one getting seriously injured. I hope we all learned some lessons from the mistakes that were made this year and make safer choices in the future.

I managed to put together three good flights and won the Willi this year with Fiona close behind. Fiona seems to fly under the radar but is flying really well. I expect she will do really well at the nationals this year.

Kicking trees and running from clouds

I started out the day by doing an early morning tandem. By the time we get to launch the cu’s are poping already. A beginner student got a hold of me and wanted to come out for a tandem flight. She told me after that she was afraid of heights. This was obvious as soon as we launched. After the normal launch screams she started to cry and took a while before she pulled herself together and enjoyed the view. The landing freaked her out to but I think she enjoyed the flight.

After a quick breakfast we headed up for an early start to the day as it was looking good already. I got set up right away and suited up to go. I declared a 200km out and return task and wanted to get going. Doug Litzenburger took off ahead of me and I launched soon after as several paraglider pilots were already getting up. It was 1:30 and I was climbing out over launch. I got to cloud base and headed south. Once over Mt 7 I made a few turns to top up and headed over to tag my start circle. I turned south and was on my way.

I was going good finding the best lift and pushing down range at a good pace. By the time I got to Parson I had passed all the paragliders that took off before me. Cloud base was a little more than 3000m which isn’t really high but not bad. I started losing my focus and was slowing down. I tried to keep pushing until I was very low at Spur Valley. I was flying through a lot of shade and not finding any lift. I got drilled crossing the gap to Edgewater and had to claw my way along for the next ten km. Once I hit Radium I found strong lift and shot up to cloud base. I had to divert around the large black cloud so I wouldn’t get sucked into it. I looked back to the north and it looked the clouds were starting to clear out and the sun was shining on the mountains again. I decided I would head back after I got my turn point as long as I didn’t have a big head wind to fight back. I got a great glide all the way to my turn point near Swansee and made my turn.

I took too long to get to Invermere but if I could make it back in two hours I could still set the 200km out and return record. I’ve made it to Invermere in two hours so I headed back with renewed focus. I made a few turns in strong lift and was getting great glides under the black clouds. Once back to Radium I could see it was still totally shaded from Spur Valley as far south as I could see. I wasn’t going to turn around now and head back south. I made my decision and now I will have to just go and hope I can find some sort of lift. I was pleased I was able to make it through once. I found some lift in the shade at Spur Valley but that would be it before a long glide to the deck just south of Spillimacheen. Total distance was 150km and I was in the air for four and a half hours. I was disappointed that I didn’t make it back but still a good flight. Tomorrows another day.