A Golden Day

This morning I woke up knowing I’d fly some sort of distance today. It was just a feeling, but I prepped myself mentally and for the first time ever slid on an adult diaper (ha ha ha!), totally ready to be in the air for hours!

The forecast didn’t call for overdevelopment, but the wind had an easterly component again which in Golden isn’t exactly ideal. Thankfully however, it didn’t turn out to be a big deal, and flying was pretty cruisey. Plenty of cumulous clouds filled the sky and there were at least 20 gliders (hang and para) who started flying south, downrange.

It was pretty fun and climbs were decent. A bit choppy at times, but hey, this is Golden. Like on many cross–country days, things were easier if you stayed high, as climbs lower down were lighter and as the wind had an easterly component to it, they were also a bit leeside.

After flying 33k’s, I noticed the pilots ahead of me were getting low and some were hitting the deck. There were plenty of clouds, but with that came a lot of shade. I then saw a couple competition pilots turn around and to try flying back to the main LZ. It was more a case of monkey-see-monkey-do than my own decision-making, admittedly, but that’s exactly what I did too.

I got low once on the way back, but flying back was quicker than flying there. Lots of big sink holes, but I did manage to make it, so all in all, it was a really good day. A personal best for me in terms of an out and return flight (66k's!) which was great. I peed in the air for the first time too! Competition-wise the extra bonus is that out and returns count for more points than straight distance and landing back at the main LZ entitles you to an extra 100 points which is the equivalent of 10k’s straight distance. Not that the Willi is an especially competitive competition, but hey, it’s always nice to do OK.

I didn’t take any pictures from the air as I forgot to bring my camera, but I’ll try to do so tomorrow. Hopefully it’ll be another good day!

Too Close to Utter and Total Carnage

Oh Golden! You never cease to provide excitement.

Yesterday was my first time flying out here in around a year and it’s good to be back. I love Golden not only because of the flying but also because it’s a chance to catch up with fellow pilots who you end up seeing only once a year and only out here.

The forecast called for thunderstorms in the afternoon but that’s typically not surprising out here with such a big valley system. I ended up flying around Mt. Seven for a little while after heading south towards Pegliarrow (the next mountain over). Climbs were pretty strong and choppy at times but nothing unmanageable. After getting to Pegliarrow and getting higher than I had previously been, I could see that the wind had an easterly component to it which meant we had been flying in the lee around Mt.Seven. I climbed to about 9000 ft or so and started heading towards the next mountain past Pegliarrow when my vario started croaking and I started going down at 4 mp/s then 5 mp/s, then 6 mp/s and thought “shit, I’m in rotor here somehow” even though I was directly above the ridge (clearly not enough east however with so much wind). Sure enough WHACK! I got a bit collapse.

I’ve had collapses before (duh), but this was by far my most spectacular. I can’t even recount exactly what happened but it was like a slow motion SIV course where I controlled a big surge, saw my wing below me off to the side, went weightless, fought additional collapses, etc. (not in that order of course!) Anyway, this lasted for maybe 5 or 6 seconds where I basically shat my pants and decided I didn’t want to play paragliding anymore, so I ran away from the mountain as quickly as I could.

I crossed the valley to the other side, flew just past Sanders Lake, tried to fly back to launch to attempt a mini FAI triangle and landed. Total distance: 23 k’s. Total time crapping myself: probably 1/3 of the flight after my SIV show.

Throughout my flight there was a cu-nim sitting around 50 k’s downrange or so to the south. I saw it, everyone saw it. Some people flew towards it (but not toooo close), turned round and came back. A couple other pilots saw it after launching and decided not to head towards it at all. I thought it was OK during my time flying towards it but then again, I never got especially close at all.

I landed at the main landing zone, took a shower, came back and noticed that the cell was much closer and the sky turned milky. The pilots in the air were being sent to the moon! They were going up everywhere without turning and almost everyone had big ears on. Some people got down just in time, before the wind really started to pick up. First to 30 kmph, then 40, then gusts to around 55 kmph!

Some hangliders managed to squeeze in some landings, and they were not pretty. I never EVER want to see something like that again - people fucking pounding into the ground like rag dolls. Amazingly, the hangglider pilots managed to walk away and were fine.

The paraglider pilots who were still in the air were getting collapses closer to the ground and most still tried to push upwind. They were getting blown back obviously and we’d just see them disappear behind the trees towards the town of Golden. Long story short, one guy landed in a school yard, another in the swamp, another at the airport, and another in a railyard, etc. And you know what? They are all fine. Other than some cuts and scrapes and one guy with a tailbone injury, everyone was OK.

It blows my mind that nobody got seriously injured. It was absolutely horrifying seeing people fly in that sort of air and reaffirms my respect for flying in Golden. Big cloud development is not a funny thing here and you have to respect what comes along with it - gust fronts from far away. I’m not being preachy as it could have happened to me too, but hell, if I start seeing wind in the valley or clouds growing, you bet I keep an eye on it and if I get scared, I land asap. If it means I fly less distance than everyone else, so be it.

A paraglider pilot out in Revelstoke didn’t get so lucky as the pilots here in Golden as he also got caught in a gust front yesterday. A broken knee, a broken wrist, a broken arm, a broken leg (all on different limbs!!!), and an injury to his L4 – fuck, how terrible would that be?

Anyway, it’s not my place to lecture anyone about safe flying – pilots make their own decisions and hell, some of the pilots who got caught in the shit yesterday were a lot more experienced than I am. I’m just happy that nobody died, everyone will heal, and that everyone learned something so that it hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, never happens again.

Hot & Sticky at the Bridal Falls Air Races (BFAR)

BFAR is an annual event hosted by the West Coast Soaring Club here in BC to raise money for the club.

Solo pilots pay an entry fee for a chance to win tasks including highest altitude, furthest flight, best picture, etc. Tandem pilots are asked to do free tandems where all proceeds are donated back to the club. There are t-shirts for sale as well as a steak dinner where tickets are also sold.

It is quite a popular event and on the weekend it was my first time participating.

I was asked to do tandems, and they went very well. I had excellent passengers who were super-stoked and we had great launches and landings. It's nice when tandem flying comes together so well.

The organization of the event was also excellent and the weather for flying was great, but man, it was too freaking hot! It was over 30 degrees Celcius for sure, and my guess is that it was more like 35. In any case, I am a big baby when it comes to heat. After doing my second tandem, I didn't feel too well and after being offered a chance to do some solo flying, I declined and instead drove home missing the dinner and a live band. I didn't feel well that night, but the next morning was worse as I started throwing up and I felt like I had a terrible hangover. Needless to say, I didn't do any flying that day.

After spending 5 months in Australia, one would think that I've become accustom to the sun, but after getting sick in AUS, it's almost as if I'm more sensitive than ever. Super-sucky...I drank TONS of water Saturday night and throughout the day as well, wore a hat, and tried to be in the shade as much as possible. Next time I suppose I have to do these things even moreso.

In any case, attending BFAR was very cool. At one point there was more than 40 gliders in the air and people along the Trans Canada hiway were stopping to take pictures. It's a great event to raise the profile for paragliding and money for the club.

Flying-wise, I won't be doing any anything for just under two weeks, at which point I'll be heading to Golden. I'll be there for over a week and my goal is to fly my first 100k's - can't wait!