midtoad's blog

Crossing the valley

(pic above: Mount Nelson from the west)

Recently I had a chance to achieve a personal first while soaring in a sailplane at Invermere, BC: cross the Columbia River valley and get up on the mountains to the west. It's a whole different world over there!

Whereas the mountains on the east side of the Columbia River (in the Beaverfoot Range) tend to be rockier and steeper (hence, part of the Rockies), the peaks on the west side (in the Purcells) can be less rocky in places. Another difference: there's no granite east of the Columbia River, but there is to the west (e.g. the Bugaboos).

After taking off at Invermere and making my way down to Canal Flats and back, I made my way north as the day improved. Over Edgewater I got to 13,000' ASL, and then looked south. This is what I saw:

It was a weak wave over the Columbia River valley! I decided to try to see what the clouds had to offer, so I headed south, aiming for the leading edge of them. I didn't actually find any lift, but I did get lessened sink. In fact, I glided 35 km and only lost 1200m! That's about a 30:1 L/D, which is pretty good for a PW-5. On my valley glide, I went by Radium Hot Springs at around 12,500' ASL. In the pic below, you can see Mt. Redstreak (not looking so imposing from this angle!), the 'middle ridge' to the east of it, and then 'the back ridge'.

Ending up west of Invermere, it was an easy hop onto the peaks near the Panorama Ski Hill, and then I slowly made my way westward, gaining all the way in small, drifting thermals. By about 18:00 I'd gone as far as I dared, and the sky to the west was quite overcast. Looking south from my position, I could see a vast expanse of wilderness that would make good exploring:

I felt like I was a long way from a safe landing place, but my trusty GPS told me that Invermere was only 11:1 away. And in fact I was able to glide out safely and reach the airport with close to 8000' ASL.

You can see a tracklog of the flight on the OLC which, with the map background, will give you a good idea of the local terrain.