|
De: "Stewart Midwinter"
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2005 12:53:49 -0600
Objet: [hpac] The Willi - 1st report
hi all:
Yesterday was day one of the Willi. Lots of clouds, a few sun holes, rain showers, windshears were the order of the day. If you were in the LZ and it started to look good, it was already too late to head up as the next cloud build-up was already starting. A few pilots had sleigh rides but no XC.
At the pilot's meeting we had a good turnout, lots of old faces and a few new. Mostly it was a day for hanging around and renewing acquaintances.
In the evening the Red Bull team trike flew overhead and two parachutists jumped out of the back seat. One showed good judgement and opened his 'chute at a high enough altitude, while the other waited until he was two seconds from impact before deploying. Poor judgement, and no time to deal with any malfunction. This was followed by some low-level trike wingovers by pilot Chris Santacroce. Othar Lawrence then showed up and plopped several cases of RedBull down and laid a large bottle of vodka on top. This was to accompany the bratwurst being cooked up by Tihi at the warming hut.
A word here on the new campground at the Nicholson LZ: outstanding. Great facilities including a brand new wash-house with showers, a kitchen hut in case it's raining, a nice walk-in campground for tents, and a separate RV area.
today it's unstable with a moderate NW wind. It was light on launch, which encouraged a number of intermediate HG pilots to launch, but strong and gusty in the LZ, which kept them all on their toes. All was well with the landings.
Forecast for tomorrow looks like improving weather.
------------------
De: "Stewart Midwinter"
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 09:00:02 -0600
Objet: [hpac] Willi XC Challenge Day 3
Monday we had lighter winds on the ground, and early development of cu's on both sides of the range. First PGs were off around 12:30, but lift was light at first. Brett Hazlett and Scott Gravelle were the first HG pilots to launch, around 13:30. I was next off at 13:55; by that time at least 10 PGs had launched. Since the wind was northerly, the first thermal was down by the towers, but it was not well defined, and I had some trouble climbing. Arriving over Mt Seven, I found strong lift to near cloudbase, but also evidence of windshear, since there was lots of turbulence.
Over at Pagliaro, thermalling in front of the mountain felt like lee-side. I headed around the south side and got a worse shit-kicking so I headed out over the flat forest toward the highway. Over a remote cut-block at 1600m I picked one up and climbed back up to peak-top height, allowing me to rejoin the range at Hunter Mtn. Along with Pitor in a PG, we shot up like corks at 5 m/s or more, to cloud at 3100m. The PG pilots were getting lots of big wing folds, surges, etc. Rough for them as well. Travelling south above the range, I could see I was actually crabbing slightly to the backside at times. After going weightless at Coral Peak, I pulled in the bar and sped around Tower Peak. Eventually I picked up another thermal over a way-back cut-block and got up to 2200m. I didn't get any more out-front thermals after that, so I had to land at Harrogate along with PG Ryan from Squamish. Satisfactory for my first mountain flight of the year, and first thermalling flight on a new glider (small XC).
While the air was ugly, others were not as deterred as I was. On the PG side, Othar Lawrence flew to Spilli and then back to Parson. Nicole McLearn landed at Edgewater with Norman. Allan Dickey got to Fairmont alond with Annelies Brown. And Ron Ford landed south of Canal Flats at the 160 km mark! So did Jon Orders in a HG. Then there was Brett Hazlett, who completed the first Invermere - return flight in 15 years. No one's done it since JC Hauchecorne in 1990 (his was to Mt. Swansea and back). Brett took 7 hours, and got up to 4000m in the back range. His vario recorded +10.6, - 8.1 m/s.
On the too-much-fun side, Rob Clarkson landed uphill in a cut-block at the base of Tower Peak, no damage to wing or him. He was lucky that Scott Gravelle watched him land, then memorise the various logging roads down to the valley floor, for Scott and John Chisholm then were were able to retrieve him. They came across a black bear on the road just around the corner from where Rob was walking to. PG pilot Zack hit the trees on Coral Peak, just north of Parson, and then had a long walk down.
Today is clear again, with light valley winds, but there is high cirrus and even lennies in the sky, so it might be another exciting day.
--------------------------
De: "nicolemclearn"
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 15:58:03 -0000
Objet: [hpac] Willi XC Challenge July 25
The past 2 days were pretty mediocre; sled rides mostly and a couple of nice evening flights to the summit etc. A couple of nights ago we did a night flight, taking off at 11pm and sled riding down to the bonfire. Yesterday was better but too windy for my tastes; but Jon Orders flew his HG to Invermere and landed at the airport.
Today was the first really nice day. Winds aloft were supposed to LV but they turned out to be NNE, so actually a bit leeside down the whole range (which we were soon to experience). Alan launched 1st about 1:30pm but wasn't getting high or away from launch, so the rest of us waited to conserve our energy. I launched about 2pm and didn't find anything at first. When I finally found something it took me right to the summit of 7 and then we were away to Pagliaro. Mark Fraser got there low and had to scratch for a bit. I was higher and rode the cloudstreet to Parson before making my first real stop to top up.
Cloudbase was about 3500-3600m ASL so not very high (to be expected since the first real sunny day after 2 days of rain cells). I mostly stayed above peak height until the 50km mark, at Spillimicheen. At this point I turned around since I was planning on the OR bonus points, but after about 6km back realized it was too windy and this was gonna take forever. So I turned around again and headed back downrange. By this time however a bunch of people had overtaken me and were ahead by now L.
Took the front range at Brisco and caught up with Norm and Mark. Got to the Gap and it was windy and bad lift. Down low it was nasty, with lots of collapses and huge thermals: the kind that rip your brakes out of your hands and then take you up at 7m/s with half a collapse. It was very industrial! I finally got tired of the ass-kicking I was getting and landed at the Edgewater Golf Course, 82 km from Mt. 7 launch. Norm also landed there. Mark and Hugo landed around Spur Valley area (77km).
There were several people still in the air when I landed. I imagine a bunch made it to Invermere and beyond. Several people opted for the OR bonus but nobody made it back. Othar flew about 56 km downrange and then about 28 km back before dirting it. Brett (on his HG) flew to Invermere and back to the GEAR LZ, for a total of about 200 km OR. I think he's in the HG lead now since he'll get the OR and LZ bonuses for a total of about 3100 points. Annelies and Alan landed at Fairmont. Charles Warren made it to Canal Flats, and Jon Orders flew to Skookumchuck (about 170 km).
Some pretty ripping thermals down low. Zack had a series of collapses at Willi's Peak (Parson), threw his reserve, and landed in a tree about 2000m ASL, right at the treeline. Some broken downtubes and tired arms, by most accounts a very rough day!
---------------------
De: "Stewart Midwinter
Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2005 09:28:59 -0600
Objet: [hpac] Willi challenge Day 5
Sunny in the morning, but a couple of lennies to the east and a touch of cirrus told me something was up. A glance on the aviation weather informed me that a cold front lay on the divide. by noon the cirrus had thicked to cirrostratus and then stratus. A cool N wind blew up the north slope and a few, mostly non-local, PG pilots flew. Others of us didn't like the fact that you couldn't see past Donald; memories of past gust fronts suggested we forego the small pleasure of a sleigh ride as it started to spit a few drops.
In the evening, a few PG pilots went up to fly, as the sky was improving, but suddenly it turned hard E, so they were skunked.
This morning, Day 6, the sky is once again clear. Hope it's a good day!
Check OLC for some of the tracklogs from the flights here.
------------------------
De: "Stewart Midwinter"
Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2005 09:35:01 -0600
Objet: [hpac] Willi XC Challenge Day 6
Don't judge a book by its cover, or a day by its clouds.
Wednesday looked great - light winds, a few clouds over the peaks. But the lift was very light, not inspiring any hang glider pilots to launch until 13:30 when Brett Hazlett took off. He climbed out slowly, very slowly. Mark Dowsett, next on the ramp, waited a further hour before the cycles started to look a little better. I was off right after him and, yep, the lift was very weak, drifting from the north. I was only able to reach 2700m, and got drilled departing the summit, so I returned to top up - and spent the next hour and a half trying to recover that earlier height. All of the west faces were in the lee, and only the backside was working. During that time, a few hang glider pilots got over to Pagliaro, then got stuck ridge soaring its north end trying to gain height. Most of them, indeed most of the field, ended up back at Nicholson.
however, a few PG did get down the range a little ways. Allan Dickey was in Parson, for example. But the big flight of the day was Brett's. Somehow he managed to fly down to Canal Flats and then back up to Edgewater! how does the guy do it?
In the evening, I got a ride on a Wills Wing Sport 2. Just as nice to fly as the U2, but suitable for a wider range of pilots. My four words for this glider are predicable, precise, polite, and parks easy.
Today, Thursday, the sky is again clear, but there's a solid mass of cloud visible just north of Donald Station. The question is whether we'll be able to get off before it hits us.
--------------------
De: "nicolemclearn"
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 06:55:29 -0000
Objet: [hpac] Willi XC Challenge July 27
Today was a very scratchy day! The sky looked awesome, but there was an inversion below 2200m and it was very hard to break through. Most of my flight was spent below 1600m (below Mt. 7 launch height, which is really low for Golden flying), basically looking for light lift to keep me high enough to reach the next LZ. I left for Pagliaro the lowest I have ever done, about 2200m, and got there super-low with 3 other people. We glided along until Parson, when the other people with me got too low and headed out to land. But just at that point we were reaching Willi's knob, and it was ridge-soarable up the face of it (nice cut block at the bottom, and nice NW-facing rocks). While they were landing I was able to get up to peak height finally (!) and breathe a little easier. Just my luck, since now I would be alone and not have any company to help find lift.
I could see Mark Fraser and Nickolai ahead of me flying together, but I couldn't catch up to them. I was alone for the rest of the flight, except when Will passed me at the Spilli range split, on his way back for an attempted OR. When I got to the range split I headed out to the front range and managed to scratch my way to the Spur Valley gap. I could see Mark and Nickolai up ahead at the Edgewater Cliffs on the other side of the gap, but no help to me! I was already low (back to 1600m) so I headed out to land at the Spur Valley golf course, for a total distance of 75 km. I've landed there lots of times after not making the gap crossing!
Mark and Nickolai made it across the Gap and flew to Windermere (about 110 km). It seems that if you can make it across the gap to the Edgewater Cliffs, you are OK for at least another 20-30 km, if not more and you are early enough in the day. Alan, Zack, and Annelies landed in Parson (30 km-ish), and just about everyone else landed in Parson or the Nicholson LZ. Greg Hemingway made it as far as Harrogate (45 km). Brett on his HG flew to just past Fairmont, and returned as far as Edgewater, for a flight of 190 km. I don't think many other HG pilots made it past Nicholson.
The going was SO SLOW! It took me over 4 hours to fly the 75 km, and much of that time was spent kicking trees and making sure I could glide to some kind of LZ. But the clouds looked fantastic. We just needed to get up to them! It was one of the hardest flying days I have had to stay up while on XC, but it was very satisfying to get as far as I did.
---------------------
De: "nicolemclearn"
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 06:56:59 -0000
Objet: [hpac] Willi XC Challenge July 28
The weather for today was 30% chance of thundershowers, so we were optimistic about it being good for XC, for at least part of the day. Got up to launch and it was very light winds, and practically no wind in the valley (rather unusual for Golden). But it was really hot on launch so not much of a lapse rate (that was our first clue). Some people launched and got above launch so I Iaunched too. Of course I missed the one thermal that was out there and sunk down to the lower launch, below the radio towers. I scratched there for about ½ hour before sinking even further and heading out to the cliffs. These cliffs are notorious for being able to scratch on them for hours and not get anywhere, and I wasn't looking forward to being one of those people!
Garth was already there, and had been for about 1 hour already, when I arrived. We spent about 1 hour scratching on those cliffs before Alan sank down and joined us. Meanwhile those back at launch weren't launching since everyone was low, and those that were above launch height weren't getting any higher. The clouds looked really nice, big stuff all around us and it was clearly unstable up higher, just not down low where we were!
Anyways, we spent a long time on the cliffs before Alan and I found a thermal that took us back to launch height, just as a bunch of other people started launching. Norm, Alan, Brett, and I got above launch and the wind had switched from north to south, so we were drifting towards Table Mountain. I saw Mark Fraser head over to Table as I was climbing out, but he was really low, didn't find anything on Table, and ended up landing in the field between Table Mountain and Sugarloaf. PS there is a cable strung across, right in the middle of that field, so if you land there be aware of it! Hugo went and picked him up for another flight. Since I saw that happen and I was lower than Mark when he left, Alan and Norm and I didn't feel like doing that too, and we decided to just play around and land in Nicholson LZ. When I landed it was south wind, but later on turned north again for the later landers (There was a big cell to the north of us that was sucking the wind from the south for a time. I thought I saw a gust front approaching, but it turned out it was just a lot of dust kicked up on the highway from the logging trucks going in and out of Donald Station).
Some people got away from launch and managed to do some XC despite the scratchy conditions. Hugo flew 10 km south and 8 km back. Ron Ford flew about 24 km, landing near Parson. Brett, as usual, flew the farthest. Today he flew 50 km downrange, and turned around and flew back to Nicholson LZ, for a 100 km OR. Brett says that now he's done his 3 flights on his HG, he's now going to fly his PG for his 3 best flights!
In the end it was a spectacular looking day, but we just couldn't break through the stable layer and get up high to the good stuff. The forecast is for more 30% POP days, so hopefully it will be unstable enough down low tomorrow for us to get some good distances in.
---------------
De: "Stewart Midwinter"
Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 11:58:26 -0600
Objet: [hpac] Willi XC Challenge days 6, 7
I didn't file a report for Thursday. It was a very light day, 1 m/s climbs down low. Many pilots, including me, ended up in the landing field. I got to 2700m (9000') at Mt. 7, but got drilled as I was leaving and decided to come back to top up. An hour and a half later, I was back at the same height. Guess I should have gone earlier while I had a chance. PGs definitely had an advantage in the light conditions. Brett Hazlett managed to fly to Spilli and back.
Day 7. I put on a T-shirt that says "Big Air". It was prophetic. Kim Stauss reported that winds aloft were forecast to be 220° (SW) at 18-25kts, i.e. 35-45 km/h. Launching fairly early with my hang glider, 14:30, I got a thermal down on the lower bumps out front, and when I topped out at cloud at 3100m, I was halfway back to the Kicking Horse river. I was concerned that there were PGs below me. I didn't think it was a good day to be drifting that far back in a PG. My recommendation to PG pilots, and personal practice, has always been "keep a 1:1 glide to the peaks, with a 300m safety margin on top of that".
Anyway, Doug Keller, Jeff Runciman and I dialed it up at Pagliaro, and then again on the range, reaching 3400m. I recorded 8m/s on my vario for several turns, and others said they saw over 10m/s. The wind was definitely strong, and it seemed to actually get rougher the higher I got. Past Tower Peak at Parson, I got shaded, low, and headed out for a good landing at Harrogate. Launching later, Kim Stauss did a 110 km O/R for a gold badge distance, also logging his 5 hour requirement for the badge. Numerous other pilots tried O/R but got shot down by headwinds on the return leg.
On the PG side, Nicole McLearn got all the way down to Fairmont Hot Springs. Allan Dickey reported scratching up from McKnight's Chimney to 2700m, then barely being able to penetrate out. He decided the winds were too strong so he decided to head out and land... he barely made the landing field, but he was down in one piece.
Some idiot named Dennis from Vancouver was seen in a PG over a km behind the range on the Beaverfoot River side. In Mark Fraser's in-air photo, taken from above the range, his glider is a mere speck in the distance. Dennis' comment later apparently was "I wasn't in the lee". Not only does this reflect a basic lack of understanding of meteorology, but we've also learned Dennis has no insurance or HPAC membership, so he's endangering the privilege that we all have to fly at this site. He'll be prevented from flying again.
Around 15:45 the winds went "nuclear" on launch. At one point, all the windsocks were blowing downhill on all sides, and dust was flying off every surface. Most pilots drove down after that, but in the evening it calmed off and a number of intermediate pilots had good flights, as they did again this morning (Saturday).
Now the bad news... one PG pilot pushed the envelope too far. He got behind the peaks south of Harrogate, tried to get back out, and ended up on the ground behind the summit. No one saw him go in, but his wing was later seen on the ground. Likely he was on full speed bar trying to clear the summit and took a huge whack on his comp wing at low altitude, then fell to the ground in the strong rotor. A helicopter rescue team was sent to recover him, and he was rushed to hospital. At last word, he was unlikely to survive, but no details will be released until we have confirmation of his status.
Today, Saturday, the sun is shining above thin cirrus, and the winds aloft are forecast to be the same as yesterday. It's unclear how many pilots will fly today.
------------------------
De: "will gadd"
Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 15:59:07 -0600
Objet: Re: [hpac] Digest Number 1300
Congrats to Nicole and Brett (it sounds like they are going to win the Willi), GOOD WORK!
It was a pleasure to fly with everyone, thanks to Randy and the Golden Eco-Adventure ranch for the very positive atmosphere and good times. I had to leave early due to work issues (go paragliding for two months straight and things tend to stack up, grin) so I'll miss the awards. Even with fairly average conditions Golden is just such a fantastic place to fly, and the Willi is a big part of flying around here for a lot of reasons.
Wg
PS--My best wishes to the accident victim and his family/friends. Perhaps it's a good idea to keep the speculation about the accident to a minimum on this list and the net in general, we don't know who is reading it--any Yahoo member can join the list. Other forums are totally public, and the media can be evil without even trying sometimes. Once the outcome of the accident is clear and perhaps some of the reasons for it then "public" discussion will be good so we can all learn from the accident. Right now all we know is that there was a serious accident, not truly why.
--------------------------
De: "nicolemclearn"
Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:28:37 -0000
Objet: [hpac] Willi XC Challenge July 29
A very windy day today. The forecast winds was for strong westerlies, and the clouds were actually showing that for a change. But the development looked good so up to launch we went. Since the past 2 days have been stable down low, nobody wanted to launch early and sink out, so I didn't launch until about 3pm. The cycles were getting stronger so I got off and went straight up (good thing!). It was windy from the west, so the thermals were drifting us back over the peaks in to the next valley over (towards Calgary), so we had to be careful not be blown over the back. Staying out front was key to having a nice flight. It was so windy that the clouds and thermals from the other side of the valley (the Kicking Horse resort side) were making it over to the Mt. 7 side, so there was nice lift in the middle of the valley further down the range.
I got up to the summit of 7 and then went on glide for Pagliaro, once again rather low. But I figured it would be ridge soarable on the cliffs so I wasn't too worried about arriving low.
Meanwhile back on launch it had apparently blown out just after I launched. 40km/h gusts and dust devils all over the place. Some HG's flipped over and nobody else launched after me. Norm was heard to say "How much to get a ride down the mountain?", and everyone packed up and drove down.
Got to Pagliaro and yes it was ridge soarable. In fact it was ridge soarable just about the length of the mountain range, if you kept an eye on the glide out. I basically dolphined my way along until the Harrogate burn, where I got low (1500m). I had to ridge soar a little hill until a good thermal came through, and then it took me to 3630m. At this point Nickolai and Klaus joined me and we went on glide together to the front range of the split. Good thing we left for the glide then at the 45km mark since it was really windy, and getting to the 50km mark and then punching straight out front wouldn't have worked (from 45km you can diagonal your way out front).
Anyways, out at the front range it was windy again. More ridge soaring the knobs to the Spur Valley gap. I wasn't going to land at that golf course again! At this point I caught up to Dennis, who had been flying the back range (?!?!) and passed him on the Edgewater Cliffs. At this point Nickolai and Klaus were too low to make the glide to the Cliffs and headed out to land. Nickolai actually landed on the logging road out to Spur Valley since it was too windy to glide further into the valley. I was higher and had another LZ in Edgewater on glide so I was OK to keep going.
Got to the cliffs and then easy flying to Radium and Invermere. Dennis was still behind me and not catching up so I decided to not wait for him and kept going. Got to Swansea launch in Invermere and ridge soared the launch for a bit. There was nobody on launch and the windsock was pegged straight out. Not launchable! My GPS was saying 72km/h downwind glide.
At this point it was getting late so I started to think about landing. Kept going to Windermere and then punched out front to some LZ's. There was a big cloud in the middle of the valley which was still working from the other side of the valley, and I was able to use it to get high enough to glide further down the middle of the valley, to land in Fairmont. Landed just past the Fairmont airport in a scrub field for a total of 128.3 km from Mt. 7 launch. Just as I was on final approach and a few feet off the ground, the grass beneath me started to shake around and I was wondering what I was about to land on. Then 3 Canada geese burst out of the grass in front of me as I flared. Collision with large birds not good I think! The only other wildlife in the field was a deer that wandered by as I was packing up about 8pm.
Packing up nobody else was flying overhead so I don't think anybody else was in the air at that time. Hitchhiked back to Nicholson LZ and arrived about 11pm. Total flight time 4:55 (really slow flying!).
Dennis landed around Invermere I think (106km). Hugo and Mark landed at Brisco (53km), and Nickolai and Klaus landed at Spur Valley (75km).
I didn't know about it until I got back to Nicholson LZ, but Charles Warren crashed on the back range. Apparently he was following Dennis and got worked on the back range while trying to punch back out front. Fortunately a sailplane pilot saw the glider on the rocks at about 8000' and a rescue helicopter retrieved him. He was sent to Calgary with serious injuries, but the prognosis isn't good. We'll find out more tomorrow.
--------------------------
De: "Randy Parkin"
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2005 18:29:42 -0600
Objet: [hpac] Charles Fund/Friends
I have received inquiries regarding donations for Charles, and have already gathered just over $800 graciously donated by SOGA (via Vincene Muller), John and Cathy-Anne at the Golden Eco Adventure Ranch, and the pilots who attended the Willi (the "profits" - I hope no one minds but I shorted the prize money to make sure Kathy's (Charles' girlfriend) expenses were paid while she was in Calgary and there is still a little more left).
Paul, Charles' brother, and everyone else I had a chance to talk to feel this money should go to Kathy as her expenses are not likely to be covered by any other means. She and Charles had plans to move in together, and she was devastated by the news of his accident. I have let her know our plans and asked if she would prefer that these donations be directed in some other way. In the short-term, I suggest we wait till I hear back from her then I'll advise next steps for anyone who would like to donate.
Out of this sad situation, I hope we all learn. We are learning what we can from how the process for rescue worked or didn't work, and there is a lot of passion right now to make sure it works better next time - it can never be good enough. Please rest assured the right people are working at this and improvements will be made. I'm also open to hearing from anyone who thinks there are changes we can make to the Willi to make these situations less likely or improve our response - let me know privately if you have any ideas.
Just as important, I've learned how much I value the friendships made through flying. Charles has been coming to Golden for the Willi and Nationals about 8 years as far as I can remember. 8 years, but really only 8 weeks. Only 8 weeks, but long enough to feel the pain of loss of a good friend known for many years. I will miss the opportunity to enjoy his talent, wit and wisdom for a long time. I wish I'd told him how much I enjoyed his company and friendship.
It is easy to make friends with pilots. Our shared passion for flying bonds us very quickly. I have lots of friends outside of flying, but only another pilot can appreciate intimately the risks we take when we fly and the rewards we get for doing so. We also know that these friends can be lost to us: some because they choose not to fly any more; others, like Willi, Bruce, Jill, Chris and now Charles, because they died doing what we all love to do.
I don't want to lose another flying friend, whatever the reason, without you knowing how much I value your friendship and the times we spend together. This note is a start - I'll do better when next we're together. I encourage you all to do the same with your flying friends. In the meantime, please take care and fly safely,
Randy
|
