May, 2004

Regional News: Vancouver Island
By Martin Nowoselski, BCHPA Regional Director for Vancouver Island

Flying Sites
Dallas Road is heavily used any time you have a south wind. Even if there is a west component you will still find people flying it. It is handy for all the paragliding pilots who live in Victoria. They have discovered the 'bubble' which sets up and you can see pilots soaring the cliff face a hundred feet up when the flag is hanging limp on the cliff edge. Go figure. We did have a meeting with Transport Canada and they gave their blessings as long as we don't go higher than the ceiling. No problems to date. One pilot did have an accident last year and broke/fractured his ankles. This occurred on the cliff face. He is on the mend.

The Malahat is also heavily used. You need a low tide, a key to the gate, and a ten minute hike to launch. The launch is not for the faint of heart but no mishaps to date. Some great ridge soaring flights from there. It is one of the picturesque sites however it is in constant danger of being closed. A lot of land developing going on and the usual kiss butt approach to have access to the gates etc. So far so good but who knows how long that will last. We fly in air space which needs permission from the Victoria tower but they are cool as long as we phone in ahead of time.

Mt. Prevost is the most used and consistent site. We didn't get much snow on it this year so it has a heavy amount of traffic on it. Some pilots log three and four flights a day. This spring has produced some epic days. In fact Claudio Mota did the longest cross country from the site on a paraglider. He flew to the edge of Nanaimo air space then turned back and landed out. He has the place scoped out and figures there is a path around it so he will extend the distance. That was a 28 km run which is pretty good for around here. A few of the other pilots have been going north as well and flying to Chemainus or Ladysmith. Les Sainsbury did Ladysmith on his hang glider last year. Jayson Biggins did Saltspring to Vancouver Island hop. That was a first for a paraglider. I am getting off topic though. Prevost is the easiest access site we have. The landing field is still owned by the same laid back farmer. He is out of the dairy business and leases the land to a beef farmer. Cow shit not with standing it is still our field.

Saltspring Island has been flown by a few paraglider pilots but it is principally a hang gliding launch. If you want to get off on a paraglider you have to have good kiting skills and a consistent wind blowing straight in. Their is a lower launch that was pioneered and quite primitive. It was good at ripping sails and catching lines. No one has used it this year.

The Beauforts in Port Alberni were the hot spot last summer. It was heavily worked on by John Haley, a local hang gliding pilot. Thanks to all his time, effort, and money he re-opened a site that hadn't been flown since the early 90's. In no time at all some great flights were had. One day John and Mark Johnston flew over the back and went cross country. When they ran out of island they hopped to Denman Island. That was a first for a hang glider, paraglider, or combination. Needless to say the potential is incredible. It will take a little more negotiating for key/gate access but I am sure it will be heavily used this summer.

Flying Schools
We have two on the island. Vancouver Island Paragliding owned and operated by Jayson Biggins has been in operation for a year or so. Jayson worked with Claudio Mota but decided to do a solo venture. Jayson is pretty active teaching and flying. He spent about five months this winter driving out to Nova Scotia and then back to California. Believe it or not he did some winter flying on the Bay of Fundy and had great soaring. Frozen ass as well but says the flying was good. Jayson has an ex-student working with him. A Jayson Leus. Jayson has great talent and so much so that the Vancouver Island Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club named him 'rookie of the year'. As for me I got shit....not even a nomination or a mention. Biggins also has a husband and wife team from Port McNeil. Don and Cheryl drive down for a couple days at a time and try to fly as much as possible. Talk about a determination to fly. Mark Antenbring, a hang glider pilot, is also taking lessons from Jayson. Mark is doing well and will be flying both wings in the future. Another pilot named Annelies Browne, who only got into flying a few years back is now an Advanced Rated pilot. She is obsessed with the sport and out flying every other day. She flew in Valle de Bravo this winter and had a lot of fun and learned a lot. She is headed for more competitions.

The other flying school we have is Fly Victoria. It is owned and operated by Claudio Mota. Mota has well over three thousand hours of air time and is highly qualified. Coming from Venezuela I don't think he did anything else but fly while living there. Claudio is the island's first certified Senior Instructor and can now work with other pilots looking for instructor certification or tandem certification.

Claudio has trained several pilots and some are making their own names in the flying community. Sean White for one is a pilot and film maker. He put together a team of pilots and went around the world shooting on location. Claudio flew the tandem which allowed Sean to do all the camera work. The result is a film called "Neverending Thermal". Get hold of Claudio on his Fly Victoria web site and he will flog you a DVD in the next month. There is a public screening at the University of Victoria on May 14th. Claudio also took a flying guided tour to Valle de Bravo and a few other Mexican locations. In the two weeks they were gone the novice pilots flew their faces off and had a good time.

Amir Izadi and Annelies Brown flew the Valle de Bravo competition and had a lot of fun. Garth Tissington and I spent about a week and a half in Valle at the tail end of the competition. It was a blast.