Past news since 2003

Past News

December 2008. Wishing happy holidays and great new year to all friends of Mount 7!

October 2008. 24 October: After a week of bad weather, flying resumed. It was rather marginal however and didn't get a flight of over an hour in the stable air. Nice finish though on 21 October, after a snowy day in the mountain. The air was cold and crisp like Spring, and plenty of thermals. Cumulostratus were forming above the eastern ridges. The next day I was parking car and wing for the winter. Another year full of great flying memories.

September 2008. 14 September: Rather stormy at the beginning of September but the good weather returned nicely. Air too stable for distances however. Several good flight though. Not bad this weekend with many hang gliders and paragliders coming from Calgary. Saturday was better with a light WNW wind. Good scratching flights. Today was more difficult in more stable air. Possible to stay up for a while above the west cliffs. 24 September: The cold has arrived this week. The air is more active, harboring good bubbles when the sun shows up.
End of September: The Glassoff was excellent this year. The best yet. The weather was terrible on Saturday and it was fine. Some had flights but the forecast was great for Sunday. So the main interests were the dinner and the following party. Even I, usually not too fond of parties, had fun. Sunday, a bright sun showed up after the fog lifted. In flight costumes are starting to get more elaborate a little. The next days were very sunny but more and more stable.

August 2008. 14 August: Finally some time to update here. The Willi was very successful in spite of the rather inconsistent weather. See the results. The weather got excellent for a few days, then a rainy stretch. We are now in what seems to be a long good stretch of sunny days. Expect a lot of people this weekend. 20 August: And there sure was. The weather being ideal for some distance Saturday. Thermals were going very high, over 4300 m (14000') altitude. Doug Keller did very well. One serious paragliding accident happenned in unusual risky conditions: badly broken ankle. Ouch! Sunday was more touch and go. A couple of good windows only. The sky may clear for next weekend. 24 August: It did and Saturday was good scratching, although some hesitated a bit too much. Sunday got windy with low pressure system due overnight.

July 2008. 4 July: Yes, it's summer. Hot. Tomorrow, saturday July 5 the road access to the takeoff will be limited. The bike club provided us with passes to go through. These passes are available at the GEAR office at the landing zone. There are a limited numbers of passes, so please car pool more than usual on saturday. 20 July: Finally we get a long stretch of good weather and it coincide with the start of the HG national. Great flying if you can handle the rather strong (and rather small, today) afternoon thermals. Much easier in the evening. One missed takeoff damaged a glider and caused benign injuries. A reminder to be careful. 29 July: The Willi is happening. The weather stays uncertain but we pass a good time. The breakfast volunteers are extraordinary, good quality movies, BBQs, good flights, camp fires, and other activities. Not too late to enter.

June 2008. 14 June: Thursday was nice. Too windy and stormy for a return distance. Still very nice. Forecast for the week is excellent. 29 June: Well, it got mostly cloudy and marginal until this weekend. Great sun, light wind but an inversion to keep us attached to the mountain. Lots of visitors. 30 June: The last weekend was only good, not super-good. Lots of flying with many visitors from Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and even a group of Californian hang gliders.

May 2008. 16 May: The mountain road is blocked by snow at the km 9,5. It's icy but passable at the km 8. Flying is then possible from the km 9 launch but the weather is lacking so far. Late start, this year. 30 May: Some flying was possible at the end. Not sunny enough, so turned into good exercises for the beginning of the season.

April 2008. 17 April: Scott is back from New Zealand and had a flight on the first with the help of a snowmobile ride. We were invited to an informal meeting with CSRD and Forestry BC representatives and we heard very good things for the future of our beloved mount 7 flying site. 18 April: The fresh snow sure seems to announce a late Spring this year.

February 2008. 15 February: Confirmation of the annual Willi cross-country challenge end of July, see events calendar. 16 February: The website is moving. Indeed, the mount 7 website visiting traffic exceeds Geocities limits. Serge Web Service is the new host.

January 2008. Happy new year! I embedded two videos Youtube in my videos page. One is mine the other is by Rob Green. I will post more of these from videos sharing sites if they are relevant to mount 7. I will consider suggestions while reserving the right to embed or remove videos according to pertinence. 21 January: Sorry to report here the tragic death of Peter Bowle-Evans last wednesday in an avalanche while backcountry skiing. There will be a memorial tomorrow in the main GEAR building, at the landing zone.

December 2007. Merry Christmas!

November 2007. Here is the snow, here are the clouds, here is the cold. One tandem paraglider has migrated south while the others have put theirs away. Some wings will surely see the snow again a few times this winter.

October 2007. 15 October: Finally, we had a couple of sunny days last weekend. Sunny enough for workable thermals. We were a few locals to enjoy it, and some in tandems, and one from Canmore. The season is winding down. The big wind sock is stored for the winter already. Snowy peaks announce and promote the coming ski season.

September 2007. 3 September: A better weather than forecasted on the 1st, allowed a few good flights until a stratus, leftover from distant thunderstorm, comes stopping it all. Clouds and rain come back the next day in afternoon. Grey and humid weather. 10 September: A mild weather comes back this weekend bringing several visitors. Saturday was particularly good, better than forecasted. Showers spared mount 7 and even allowed Rob to claim a Parson and return. The wind became stronger later, many free fliers took advantage to appreciate our occasional dynamic lift north side. 16 September: Very beautiful past week. A few visitors from Calgary and the USA have enjoyed the all sunny conditions of Friday and Saturday. Sunday, with a cold front approaching rapidly in a moderate wind, all cancelled their flight. 30 September: The weather stayed on the rainy side for two weeks with very few flights if at all. However, somewhat miraculously, yesterday the weather was rather excellent. The sun was there for most of the time and when layers of smooth altostratus came, the wind was light and the thermals still climbing. I had a great Parson and return flight. The flying was low with cloudbase getting barely higher than the peaks and I recovered from low right above parson. Back to GEAR... I don't recall the winners' names of the target competition, sorry. They were all paragliders I think. Remind me, if you know them. The preferred and winning costume entry was of Tim Middlemiss. A beak and tail for the hang glider wing, which is in the spirit of the event inspired by France's renowned Coupe Icare. Paragliders were wearing elaborate costumes actually more visible in flight, compared to hang gliders. The event was fully sponsored by GEAR under John McIzaac and Cathy-Anne David direction. All entry fees collected (about $1000) are to be given to the HPAC canadian competition teams. Participants received more than the traditional t-shirt! A nice dinner was served, presence prizes were distributed, a pretty good live band played and the floor was danced until the end. This was the second instalment of the event, and the owners are very attached to it. It will surely grow more. Cheers to next september!

August 2007. 3 August: The paragliding national continue in a beautiful blue sky, read Nicole's Blogs . Eighty participants mostly from Canada and the USA. No serious incident so far. Lots of fun. 4 August: Final results of the paragliding national, Jamie Messenger from Great Britain won, Matt Beechinor from the USA second and Keith MacCullough from Canada arrived third. One helicopter rescued a paraglider stranded on a cliff by the side of mt 7. How to tell them to avoid getting grounded?

10 August: The Willi cross-country challenge is already over. See the results, some photos and a short report. One grave accident to report, no relation to the Willi. A student paraglider froze during the approach and struck a tall tree. He'll have to recuperate from several grave fractures.
18 August: Another week of great flying. Edmontonians, one Calgarian, one Hawaïan and a couple of New-Yorkers enjoyed it. Many tandem flights were had too. A few Calgarians are here this weekend. Flying conditions are becoming smooth and scratchy. 19 August: Saturday, the weather dramatically deteriorated in afternoon. Rain for the next few days.

End of August: That's it, the weather pattern changed for cloudy and rainy. A few time windows best exploited by paragliders occurred nevertheless. Short flights in general.

July 2007. 3 July: The long weekend and nice weather bring many visitors from Calgary and farther. Very good flights by Rob Clarkson and Scott Gravelle among others, the first doing Radium and back to Spillimacheen while the second decided rather to stop in Invermere for a friendly diner (that's what he said). Organized activities are starting this month with the bike race and the distance clinic, then the paragliding national at the end of the month. See events calendar. 4 July: Scott announce that the last bit of road to the takeoff will be temporarily closed between 3:45 and 4:45 pm Saturday 7 July for a wedding. 8 July: Rather windy and cloudy weather reduced the quality of possible flights. Still flights Friday evening and in two periods Saturday including dynamic lift in the evening. 19 July: Vincene Muller was also here for the cross-country clinic and all went well past weekend. The Psychosis didn't disrupt the flying too much in spite of road complications. There was a nice BBQ fundraiser organized by Scott Gravelle for the canadian team on Saturday with participation of Brett Hazlett. Muller Wind Sports and Rob Clarkson made nice donations that were auctioned. Yours truly (Serge) survived a scary landing Sunday during an untimely gust front, downtube broken. The group from Saskatchewan is here for the week, including Cas Wolan. One visitor from New-Zealand also. We finally get some serious rain today to abate the dust. 22 July: Rather cloudy weekend. Muller Windsports have brought nineteen new fledglings paragliders for their first high flights. Visitors are becoming more numerous. 29 July: The paragliding national commence in a beautiful blue sky, read Nicole's Blogs . The Willi cross-country challenge is coming soon.

June 2007. 1 June: Visitors come with the sun and since the Lookout is open. Will Gadd came back from a 30 km out and return to land at the Lookout. Another went under reserve south of Parson after venturing too much into the lee side. Safe and sound, he climbed 1.5 h to the small peak and relaunched. It turned nice in the evening.
2 - 3 June: It got even better, still few to enjoy it. Less wind meant great thermals. I tried two Brisco and back but did not complete them. Fabulous flights anyway. 13 June: After over a week of clouds and rain, time is found to install the new windsock.

May 2007. 7 May: The road was plowed last week, sponsored by the tandem pilots. However, not quite ready for showtime as you see. Give it a couple of weeks. 14 May: The 9k (lower) launch is accessible now and the summer is on! Last half: gives a few good days for cross country flights as shown in my provincial ranking. Scott Watwood in tandem with Sam (québécois) landed in Fairmont on the 29 while I did an out and return to Spilli. Magali, a newcomer, went to Parson on the 30, while I experienced an electric fenced landing in Horse Creek. That bailout field is now to avoid of course because these fences make it really too small to land safely. In spite of the snow left, the Lookout can be considered open since four days of sun are forecasted.

April 2007. 12 April: Melting, melting and there, the first Spring flights. Paragliders Dan, Hugo, Scott, J.-P. and more already went off cross country even: Briso, Spilli... The longest being by Dan, landing yesterday at the Invermere airport, about 100 km. The road is drivable up to the 8 km and could be open to the Lookout next week. 14 April: After verification, the road is challenging, snowy and muddy at places. It was plowed all winter for tree harvesting. Higher? At least a metre of snow, quite hard still, since it doesn't melt fast in altitude. The 9 km takeoff is clear though, if you're willing to walk. 24 April: Yesterday was nice and sunny. Scott took off from the expert 5k launch. First north to Willowbank then south to Edgewater. One hundred thirty-five km, he estimates. "Up to cloud base of 11,700'. It was tiring with violent lift out there." he reports.

December 2006. Good snow falls this year. And it's already time to wish merry Christmas and happy new year. Some take advantage of the rare nice weather to go for a little flight. Here J.-P. and Dan satisfied after a flight from the summit (helicopter transport to the takeoff).

November 2006. Well, since the snow fall and fall again during the first week, put the wing away seems like the thing to do. The mount 7 road is already too snowed in for the car. It looks great for the ski and snowmobile... and avalanches!

October 2006. Sunday morning free flight aplenty and Glass Off finalization. Greg Leslie, a well known veteran, won the target competition, I'm told. Very good conditions in the afternoon when I find myself alone during set up and in flight. All gone already. Air is cold... Incredible, nice weather come back again for Thanksgiving weekend. Very nice flights and even a cross country! Several short flights the following week in a superb weather. Clouds and rain since mid-october. Cold and snow fell upon us, the last week.

September 2006. Good start for the month with a nice sunny week end during the rodéo. The decidedly stable air makes long flights difficult. Scott takes a paraplegic in tandem, helped by Peter and Hugo at the take off. Weather keeps good during week ends and so the forecast for the first Golden Glassoff, a costume and target landing competition, on saturday 30. Saturday was too windy for paragliders and most hang gliders. Thirty participants, a good portion in costumes, did appreciate the supper, and the following party.

August 2006. Less good weather the first week. Perfect to cool off and keep the dust down. And good weather comes back for the Willi (read more). A paraglider needed rescue on Pagliaro's plateau. Lucky a 4 meters tree slow him down, scraped his face, scrapped his glider. South takeoff was modified by and for paragliders. An Emu was found on mt 7, and rescued. Several hang/paragliders from Calgary and elsewhere come in the week ends with this nice weather. The tandem instructors decided to do some mountain cross country camping flights together for pleasure alone. Nice weather comes back for the last week end. Must know how to climb in thermals. Some good distances, of which one landed in Lake Louise. Janet adopt the dog wandering at the LZ. If you know its owner, tell us.

2006 July. Good weather continues during Canada day weekend and fills up the Lookout with hang glider and paraglider pilots, and mountain bikers. An american ("Spike") was here but not in best weather. I suffered an attack from hawks in flight: more patches on my wing. Second week is rainy enough for a respite. The Willi cross country challenge is coming. Great flying weather during the mountain bike race week end attracted many. Good weather continues while Bruno Berti, the national paragliding champion 2006, travels through, a hang gliding group from Saskatchewan camp in town and Will Gadd do some cross country. Uncertain weather during the last week did cause special conditions, wednesday and saturday especially. A hang glider pilot landed poorly and sprained an ankle, in a cross country flight.

2006 June. A bit rainy and windy start. Some good days. Tandem season is on. The nationals hang gliding in Vulcan being cancelled, Doug Keller directs it at mount 7 at the last minute, June 18 to 24. Brett Hazlett made the task on Sunday and everybody else went for the LZ and the second place. Monday was rain. Tuesday cleared early enough to call a task and most had a good start. Read more and photos...

2006 May. The lower launch, the one at 9 km, is now accessible. Good weather this third week. Fun every day! The Lookout is open on the 21^st. And then rain.

2006 April. Some pilots couldn't wait for the road to dry out any more. They reinstated a former launch. Scott demonstrates. Spring sun is so pleasant. Beware though, the air is active!

2005 November. One nice sunny day brought three of us in the cold air. Otherwise, low clouds, lack of sun, snow prevents flights. Most wings are tucked for the winter.

2005 October. Weather keeps rather foggy and cloudy, sometimes rainy. Snow starts to accumulate on the peaks. Some rare but welcomed flights in ridge lift and weak thermals.

2005 September. Quiet month so far. Weather rather uncertain if not rainy. Still, the last two week ends were sunny enough and several Calgarians came by for at least a flight.

2005 August. Check the results of the Willi Muller cross country challenge. We were blessed with good weather. I personally recorded 21 flying days.

2005 July. The Muller flight park (Nicholson landing zone) open officially as part of the eco-adventure ranch. Vincene Muller did cut the ribbon. See Landing Zone section. A reminder of the Willi Muller cross country challenge at the end of the month (this week). Reminder also about the Session 7 shuttle up from reflection lake.

2005 June. Weather keeps cloudy and stormy during all month. The road was repaired. The grass grew.

2005 May. The lower launch is now accessible. Too much snow left above 12 km to reach the Lookout. Garth and Annelies stopped for a short flight returning from Chris Muller memorial. We all mourn the early departure of our skillful, most daring and loving pilot. Mid-May the road is practically open to the Lookout. Four gorgeous days end of May.

2005 April. Snow and ice on the road are melting. Patches of soft granulous snow, mud, and hard icy snow makes the climb hard. Must be 4wd. Weather ain't so good yet.

2005 March. The low season for forestry work leads to an increased flying activity on the mountain. Still spotty days.

2004 December. It's dark, it's cloudy. Wings are tucked in. Merry Christmas and happy new year!

2004 October. The weather improved a little. Only a few good spotty days so far though. Check the forecast before coming to fly. It's dark at 7:00 PM and days shorten fast.

2004 September. The atmosphere is now in rainy and cloudy mode most of the time in here. As usual for this season, check the forecast before coming to fly. ~ Read the new tree rescue page.

2004 August. Weather was good but challenging during the Willi cross country challenge 2004. Check the results and more. ~ Well, it's rain, clouds and rain for the last half of the month. Let's hope for the return of the sun before automn and the first snow!

2004 July. Session 7 shuttle with a small bus from Reflection lake to mount 7. It carries up to 6 passengers and mountain bikes. Also open to tourists and paragliders. ~ The Willi cross country challenge brings many visitors. ~ Fields problems: read carefully the Cross country flights and Etiquette sections before going in distance.

2004 end of June. Summer and sunny hot weather are here together. Great conditions. Regular calgarian pilots, well, start coming regularly. Already some good cross country distances reported. A field in Edgewater is now to avoid. Read the sections Cross country flights and Etiquette carefully before doing distance flights.

2004 end of May. The cloudy and sometimes rainy weather did maintain and continue. It's typical in the Spring. One must be watching the atmospheric conditions more closely.

2004 mid-May. After two weeks of clouds, rain, snow in altitude, the sun returns. The Lookout is now accessible for all. Take-off areas were cleared of all tree regrowth and of many bushes. The landing zone owners now request to sign a waiver, in addition to the HPAC membership.

2004 April. The road to the lookout was cleared of snow but the paragliders blocked access to it with a cable. There's a need for more hang glider pilots, here! Fortunately, the Spring-efficient lower launch was accessible and I had a great season start with 7 hours 30 min. total airtime and a flight to Brisco, all during the last week. Paragliders had some good flights too, and earlier in the month. Improvements at the landing so far: graveled parking, fence open and no horse.

2004 March. The snow melt in the valley and good South wind days brought a few paragliders back to life at the gravel pit. A few hours of airtime claimed in total.

2003 December. Apart from more snow and lower sun, the Nicholson LZ property changed hand. The new owners plan to develop it as an eco-adventure ranch including a flight park. Maintenance and convenience should improve. Merry Christmas and happy new year 2004!

2003 November 9. Snow falling and low clouds. The early sunset, the road, the weather preclude good free flights. All hang gliders and most paragliders are tucked in for the winter. Time to cultivate your knowledge. Time to travel South.

2003 October 9. We just had 11 great sunny days. Conditions were very pleasant although marginal.

2003 September 9. The recent rain announces the start of wet season and the end of the forest fires. Access to the backcountry, and mount 7, is open. Let's now wish for some sun. Check weather forecasts before coming.