Golden August 2

A rather windy day and I didn't like the conditions that much, so I landed early at the 15 km field. About 5 other people joined me, so there were 6 of us on the side of the road, trying to hitchhike. Since this was obviously not going to work, I got the other 5 people to hide in the bushes, as I would try to hitchhike solo, return to GEAR, pick up a vehicle, and return for the rest of the people.

After getting rid of the deadweight :) I stuck my thumb out and lo-and-behold, the first car whizzing by stopped to pick me up. Turns out it was a friend of Vincene Muller's brother! Back to GEAR and picked up a truck and returned for the rest of the hitchhikers.

Meanwhile there had been 2 incidents. Louise had drifted over the back in a thermal and found herself pinned behind the range just past Harrogate, where the range splits. She was unable to penetrate back into the valley and landed on the backside of the range, high up, but OK. Another pilot tossed his reserve about 35 km downrange at about 2300m after flying into massive rotor (it was windy!). As there was no radio contact with this second pilot a helicopter was dispatched to rescue him. A bit of a cluster with the heli as it was a long weekend and the longline person was away, and some other issues with GPS co-ordinates of the downed pilot. In the end it was something like 2-3 hours post-reserve-toss that the heli actually left. In the meantime the pilot had hiked down and out on his own and had been picked up on the highway. So the heli was called off that rescue, and since Louise was still on the wrong side of the range the heli went to pick her up instead.

So in the end all ended well but I think there will be some changes made when a heli is called out for a PG or HG rescue on the range.

Some pilots flew far. Robin and Gray flew to just past Invermere and towards Fairmont (Robin 118 km, Gray 130-ish km). Many pilots at Harrogate and Brisco, but I don't think there were any out and returns today due to the strong winds.

Awards ceremony was held in the Events Pavilion and we had an awesome catered dinner and then the prizes. I can't remember who won what, but the results will eventually be posted here.