Canadian Nationals Day 2: Silly GPS Mistake

Today's task was 57 k's - fly from launch to Donald Station, to Moberly Peak and then land at Chris Muller's old place.

I launched at about the middle of the pack and found some climbs right away. It seemed to be inverted or something around 2500 meters and the winds were pushing in from the south. I was in a climb dribbling around the antennas when the start window opened. I was a bit confused at first why my GPS showed me to go back to launch, but by the time I was half way across the valley, only then did I realize that I must have flown outside the launch cylinder, thereby not tagging it. With the south winds being the way they were and not being very high to begin with, I decided that I didn't care that much about the task, and decided to free fly instead.

I flew out to Moberly Peak, but I flew in front of it, in the valley, instead. It was pretty amusing because I found plenty of great climbs there and I could see everyone struggling at Moberly to get up. I felt like shouting, "hey, look at me! The climbs are better in the valley!!!"

Then I flew downwind for a bit, just checking out the area. I thought about flying to Donald Station, but I could see that it wasn't as close to the highway as the tempting field that I had my eyes on, so I flew there instead. Total distance: 20 k's.

I'm a little disappointed that I made such a silly mistake today, but there's a bigger part of me that doesn't really care. I've never flown North in Golden before so that was pretty cool in itself.

It overdeveloped today and it looks like it might do the same tomorrow, but earlier, so I'm not sure we'll be flying. But if we do, I'll be readier than ever baby!

GOOOOAAAALLLL!!!! 107 K'S!!!!!!!!!!!

I will make this post short and sweet. Today was the first day of the 2010 Canadian Nationals. The task was to fly from Golden to Invermere with a total distance of 107 kilometers.

I found a climb off launch right away and did my best to deal with the rough conditions along the way. I didn't really get low until the last 20 kilometers which I really wasn't sure if I could make. I basically ended up having to ridge soar part of it and take really lame climbs, but it paid off!

I am so excited and happy. I had a personal best, I made goal, and I had my highest altitude flight of 4200 meters!

There are about 45 competitors in the Nats and I think around 20 made goal.

I've been waiting for this day for a couple years now and it feels great!

I'm gonna sleep well tonight! :)

Leonardo Flight Link

Pemberton Rocks!

Yesterday I got back from doing some flying in Pemberton, and man, Pemby DID deliver!

I was out there for a couple days with my boyfriend and a friend; the forecast finally looked good and the 30 degree Celsius temperatures finally made it feel like summer.

On Wednesday I managed to find a climb pretty quickly after launching from lower Mackenzie, got high, and headed northwest along the ridgeline. Climbs were chunky at times and there were some east winds to battle, but I had a good little cross country of about 20k’s. Last time I flew Pembie was on my birthday last year and I had a good flight then, and this one was pretty good too.

On Thursday I felt more comfortable with the area and flew to Coppertop Mountain and back. Total distance was around 45k’s for an out and return – not too shabby! According to my vario I got to 3200 meters, although according to Leonardo it was higher. In any case, it was a fricken awesome day. Climbs were to be had pretty much everywhere and although sometimes a bit gnarly, they were good and strong. I had to talk myself through some breathing exercises at one point, but that was also the point where I found a 5 m/s climb that took me the highest I had been that day. I think it’s pretty cool too when you decide to land because you want to, not because the conditions are dictating it. I barely thermalled on my way back to the landing zone on the flight – uber awesome. Leonardo Flight Link

The views are so amazing in Pemberton. The big peaks, the glaciers, the snow – wow. I didn’t have my camera with me for my second flight and although I really regretted that, at the same time, I just don’t feel comfortable snapping pictures when I feel like I should be concentrating on keeping my wing centered and above me. I think what matters are the images from a flight you can ingrain in your mind and remember forever.

I really realized that part of the reason why the second flight was so great was that I flew with other pilots. There were times when I was alone, but for the most part, I could always see somebody in front of me, behind me, and sometimes even below me, ha ha! That in itself always makes me fly further and gives me the confidence to try something new. On the first day I was left to my own devices half way through the flight, and especially when I’m not familiar with a place, my sense of adventure dissipates. Part of what made Thursday’s flight so sweet was flying with others, saying “hi” on the radio, and not only knowing where everyone was, but seeing them too. It can be a sort of monkey see, monkey do type of unspoken encouragement.

I had a fantastic couple of days, and I will make sure to head up to Pemberton again when it looks good. I’ll admit to anyone that I’ve become a bit of a flying snob over the last couple years; not flying because it’s too stable, too much cirrus, too far to drive, etc. But man, I’ll take one awesome flight over five average ones any day. The Fraser Valley is a nice place to fly, but I think Pemberton is a kick ass place to fly. It’s probably not half as consistent weather wise, but I think that’s why it can be so great there – similarly to Golden. I’d like to practice some more before heading up to Golden to fly in the Canadian Nationals in a couple weeks – hopefully Pemberton will soon deliver again.

P.S. This is my 200th post on my blog. I'm glad it's a happy one. :)