2012 WCSC Paragliding Sites Survey

Pilots, 

Hope everyone is off to a great spring and looking forward to the new paragliding & hang gliding season. 

We had a productive first West Coast Soaring Club (WCSC) 2012 directors meeting, special thanks to Jim DeLaHunt for chairing it so well. 

A new initiative for 2012 is to start to formally track WCSC paragliding sites status, so we can: 
-quantify which sites are presently still in use 
-quantify which sites need the most attention 
-identify specific works required 
-budget 
-raise funds if required 
-gather volunteers, contractors and equipment resources 
-and establish routine maintenance schedules for each

 
We want to get a baseline snapshot of the status for each paragliding site’s LZ, Road and Launch for spring 2012. 

So we need your help and vital input, to make the baseline assessment and hopefully revitalize interest for the resurrection of the less known and used paraglider sites and/or create new opportunities. 

We also want to involve ALL Flight Club pilots in site exploration, procuring, inspection, maintenance and preservation. This is our common interest and future in building the sport of paragliding and hang gliding!

Shouldn't take more than 30 minutes of your time and we will make this information readily available to all pilots. We want to capture and share this knowledge as we have a lot of eyes driving up and down remote roads and it well help all to share this info. 

Please only complete a survey for each specific paragliding site you have personally flown within the last 7 months, as we are looking for current information in terms of how much LZ/road/launch was overgrown end of season last year and road status prior/following the winter.

Each paragliding/hang gliding site has a separate status for LZ/road/launch and each component can be ranked on quantitative scale: 
- 100%: item is great, no obstructing: growth, trees, terrain or weather/drainage 
- 80%: item is good, but to make it safer, 4 pilots with hand tools and pick-up could fix in 4hrs 
- 60%: item is marginal, 8 pilots, two pick-ups and hand tools could fix in 16 hrs 
- 40%: item is unsatisfactory and will require small to medium machinery and 16 or more pilots to fix 
- 20%: item is poor, site should not be flown, and will require major machinery and manpower to resolve 
- 0%: item is closed and it is difficult to imagine re-opening without major equipment/manpower/funds 

The Sites we want to survey are: Woodside, Bridal, Sumas, Little Nic, Vedder, Deroche, Elk, Liumchen, Baldy, Grouse, Tamihi, Mercer, Mackenzie upper, Mackenzie lower, Miller, Pizz, East, Hurley and (add any you've been to not on this list)...

 
So please reply to this paragliding blog post in the following format to make data easy to compile: 

Site: LZ%/ Road%/ Launch% 
Details: spell out the specifics of why you assigned your numbers 

An example: 

"Woodside: 40%/80%/80%" 
"Details: Was there Mar. 18/12. LZ needs needs a good machine in it to beat the blackberries back all the way to each tree line once and make for routine maintenance in the future. Road has some minor ruts to fill. Launch needs carpet tacked down." 

Let's get the variety of sites and adventure in paragliding soaring to new heights in 2012!

 
Thanks in advance for your participation.

Comments

[MarkC]

Woodside: 60%/60%/60%
Details: Was last at launch March 25, 2012, last at LZ 3 weeks prior. LZ blackberry issue needs further addressing, especially to the west. The road to launch in the midst of the uppermost clearcut is starting to pothole to the point only high clearance vehicles will be able to get past it pretty soon. Launch is a mess to the point that the remnants of the carpets are snagging lines during launches. A logging operation has set up to the north of launch and is using part of the launch access road - while it might be an annoyance until they are done, it might also open up a more northerly facing launch option.

Bridal: ??/60%/??
Details: Road half way up is blocked with multiple fallen trees.