2019 – It’s All Over But The Crying…

Well the 2019 paragliding and hang gliding season on Mount 7 has come and gone. Snow arrived at The Lookout at the end of September this year. While there were a few warmer days in the valley through October, snow on the upper part of the access road continued to accumulate. Weather was unsettled and windy throughout the month so generally there was not much incentive to head up, even for a late season sledder.

Spring and Summer this year were somewhat disappointing. The Lookout was accessible by vehicle relatively early (last week of May) but June, July, August & September could essentially be described in a very few words – rainy and unsettled. Some of the nicer, more flyable days tended to be compromised by less than appealing wind forecasts.

The good news is that the generally wet weather resulted in far fewer wildfires throughout BC and none in The Columbia Valley. After last year’s smokefest through August and September, this year’s “clear mountain air” seemed a bit of a bonus even if the days were not ideal for flying.

Despite the changeable conditions, there were some major XC flites completed during the annual Willi-XC Challenge event July 27 to August 4. Two pilots made it to near the US border (200+ km) and one pilot flew a deep route northeast over the Rockies landing in the eastern edge of the mountains a bit west of Sundre, Alberta. Luckily most of the good flying days of the summer occurred during the Willi XC so everyone went home happy. Check out pics and more info on the Willie Facebook Page. Check out the distances/scoring in the various categories at this link.

So that’s it for 2019 folks. See you in the air next spring over Mount 7 in beautiful Golden, British Columbia, Canada!