Click photo for more imagesDayTasters for David and Paul
Solos for Merwan, Pierre, Paul, and Rick
And solos and Training Hill Action for Natalie, Trask, and Shabe
A group of us headed to Saltspring Island today where we met up with brothers David and Paul who had signed on for the DayTaster course.
Conditions were good once we arrived on the takeoff and Shabe elected to launch first as 'wind technician'. After a safe initial abort, he pulled up on his second attempt and was lifted off nicely, maintaining for a while on the lower ridge.
I went next on tandem with David who was soon enjoying himself on his first paragliding flight as we made our way through some thermals en route to the LZ. The thermals weren't that defined as the valley wind was picking up, but David was able to get a feel for the air as only paragliders can relay.
Click photo for more imagesMerwan wasn't that far behind us on his first flight on the island and Trask followed him for his first as well. Natalie was next and found what was probably the best lift of everyone but still, the valley wind didn't allow for much gain. And, to round out the crew's first flights, Pierre had a good, albeit short flight. Thanks for launch monitoring Pierre!
Meanwhile, Paul, Dan, and Rick had seen us flying as they came in on the 11am ferry to Fulford and they met us in the landing zone before snatching Pierre and heading up to try Maxwell. We decided to give Bruce Peak another try but conditions on launch were switchy this time and, after Paul and I had an abort on tandem, we pulled the plug and headed to the Training Hill to complete the solo part of the DayTaster course.
From across the valley, we could see Rick launch first and get up above Maxwell for a bit before eventually losing his height, followed by Pierre and then Paul. The wind had picked up significantly by the time we got back down into the valley, so that reaffirmed our decision not to fly from Bruce again.
Click photo for more imagesOnce at the Training Hill, we found consistent, albeit south-easterly cycles coming up and both Paul and David showed some natural skill during their initial inflations. It wasn't long before we had them both make solo flights from the top. Way to go guys!
Trask, Shabe, Natalie, and Romain (French Alps paraglider pilot and engineering student here for the summer) put in some good time at the hill as well.
It's always fun spending good times with good people.
Thanks everyone. And special thanks to Shabe and Abby for taking photos :)
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