Surprise Sunday

Post snowstorm sunshine

I've lived on Vancouver Island since '92 and, until the last few years, I've never experienced much snowfall during the winter months. The cherry blossoms usually come out in late February/early March and we brag to friends back east about how green the grass is. And then there was yesterday.

Six-eight inches of snow fell on various parts of the southern island while Ontario dwellers were relaxing in the low 20s (Celsius). What is up with our climate?

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So, after last night's VIParagliding Season Opening Party at Shabe's, no one was really expecting much flying today. But there were those of us who were rewarded for our efforts.

Myself, Natalie, Grant, Hans, Mark, Mary, and Doug from Edmonton met up with Rick and Heather at the Training Hill and were greeted with switchy but consistent cycles for the few hours we were there.

The wind at the airport held a steady 15kph out of the east for most of the day so we decided to try the Malahat. Graeme from southern England was keen for a tandem flight so, after planting a windsock at the beach, up we went.

The new dumping of snow made the drive up the backside of the mountain quite picturesque and half of the ramp was still covered with it when we got to launch. We didn't make it there until close to 3:30pm so it was quite surprising to see straight in, 10kph cycles!

Rick executed a nice reverse launch as he trotted down the snowy ramp and found the lift to be almost workable ("we should have come earlier!"). Natalie was next with the wind closer to 15kph when she took to the air and she got above launch height straight away!

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Mark showed fine reverse form on his first solo flight at the Malahat and he, too, got above takeoff altitude. Congrats Mark!

Lastly, Graeme and I (after a few safe aborts due to the slippery snow) ran off together down the ramp and into the buoyant Malahat air. We banked into a 360 out front and waved down to the launch assistant/retrieve drivers (Hans, Grant, and Doug) before making our way down to the shrinking beach.

Great to see Mary and Heather both out with us, enjoying themselves. And thanks for taking photos Heather!

On a different note, my son Jaron did some editing recently on two short videos of Charlie and Paul. Have a look: