Day 7 last day

Winds were a bit strong and from the sw. Short task was set to get everyone back for awards. 60k to the north. Ian launched first but blew it. I got ready and was in the air early.

The fires in the area intensified and the course line was right over 2. From the air I could see 200' flames, firefighters and choppers. I made it 13k short of goal. 10 were in goal with Jeff being 1st and mike taking second. Gary was last into goal but launched 2 min after the start window and only got minimum distance. He took it well.

It was a great competition and the organizers/volenteers did a fantastic job. I gained tons of experience that will help me in my future flying.
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Day 6

83K task to the north. Strong SW wind started up just as launch opened. GP piled into a tree on launch and was uninjured. Couple of ugly launches but all but 6 got off. I was one of those 6 that felt it was unsafe to fly and bagged it. At least one in goal that I know of at this time. A t-storm blew through last night causing at least 4 fires in the area. That caused a bunch of heavy air traffic too.
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Results day 5

Canceled do to unsafe wind on launch hopefully tomorrow is better
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Day 5

83K downwind dash to the north called. Gusting to 25K on launch out of the south. Lift forecasted to be the best yet but wind may be a problem.
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Day 4

125k task, no one in goal. Jeff was 10k short and lots littered in between. 2 blown launches. No injuries. Dust devils wreaked havoc on launch tossing a couple gliders around. Tomorrow looks better for lift but may be windy
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Day 2 results

Day 2 saw a repeat of day 1. Slightly different optimistic task of 80k but same stable air. I made it highest over launch height at 1100 over and when it petered out I did a dash into the shade to shoot for minimum distance but was short by 10k. Ross did a k farther than me. We were the only ones that shot for the task. Everyone else baled to the lz, which translates to another no points day. No incidents today. We are all optimistic that "tomorrow" will be better.
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Day 1 results

Day didn't turn on. Everyone sunk out. One injury, Peter from Ontario ended up with a dislocated shoulder on a downwind into the "crashpad". Everyone flew.
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Day 1

91 Km task set consisting of one out and return to the north, then another to the west from Savona launch. The overcast sky is slowly burning off and it's looking like a doable task.
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Practice day at the nats

Woke up to gray skies that turned to rain. Registration saw some optimistic pilots but alas the lift was canceled and everyone did their own thing. Some went to Savona to fly and it's looking like they my get to fly this evening. I'm just bumming around being bored. Tomorrow is looking good and this week is looking awesome.
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Secluded

In my early teens I had a dream of being a bushman, living off the land and secluded from civilization. That dream went away when I had to pay for things and got a job. From that time in my life I've always enjoyed the back woods and roads less traveled when I have the time.



While sitting in Creston watching the rain I realized I had an extra day to try out the road less traveled. I would take the long way to Kamloops north through Kaslo and Trout lake. I loaded the camping gear and kissed the kids and took off.



The windy lake road was a lot quicker than I remember and I made the ferry just in time. I've only ever been as far as Kaslo up this road and from there everything is new. The "highway" quickly turned to a gravel road with a beautiful river beside it. A quick look at the regulations showed that the Lardau river was closed to all fishing except for two tributary creeks. The first one looked too small so I continued on. The second one, Healy creek, looked good but the regs said above the falls. I drove a long time and never seen any falls. When I found a good camping spot, I set up. It was near a bridge right beside the creek. I was fast setting up my new tent and grabbed the fly rod. The fishing was great.



I found out the new tent I purchased doesn't keep water out too well and had to sleep in a wet sleeping bag.

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Weather woes

The weather has not cooperated since I've been in creston. Only flew one day so far. Windy on launch but nothing to worry about. Flew to the border and back and got into an evening glass off and floated around the valley till I was frozen. Spiraled down and landed. I love this site except for the lack of xc potential.
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Last day of the Willi

The last day was dramatic. The weather forcast was for the best day of the meet except for strong north wind. On launch the wind wasn't bad out of the north but noone wanted to be first. It was late and soon some keener pg's launched. As soon as they started climbing it was one after the other. I noticed that they were all taking collapses not soon after lauch. It was rough. I had a great day yesterday so was not into a rough day and waited till second last to launch. I noticed imediate sink that was unrelenting untill I smacked into 1200 fpm up. I gave 5 turns and altough I gained back to launch, I went negative three times. I think I know my limits and although I could fly, it would not be fun. I opted to head out and land as did quite a few do to the rodeo air.

Soon the destress calls started coming in. One reserve toss and one strung up in a tree. The helecopter was sent out and picked them up. No injuries.

The big flight was jim S made Invermere.

Gill won beginner, I won intermediate, searge won advanced, and rob won advanced topless. It was a great meet with great weather and great to see friends again.
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Invermere

The little tourist town of Invermere is 100k from launch and is the goal of many pilots that launch from golden. I have had my sights set on it for a while. Today I did it. My farthest cross country to date as well as my longest airtime at three hours ten minutes. The funny thing is I never broke 9500' my entire flight. There was once I thought I might have to land but scratched my way to jump a gap and it was quite easy. I had Gary B way out in front so I knew I wasn't the only one needing a ride and I flew a substantial portion with Greg L and Searge before leaving them in my wake.

Another gust front moved in from the north and caught a few off guard again. Chris C landed in 40k winds and did well but Fiona was much to high. She ran north 15k or so and just got down in time. Gary B and I were all packed up and enjoying a beer at the airport in Invermere when we saw Greg L landing. I rushed over to help unpack and we got 2 batons out when the gusts hit us.



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