We are pleased to offer tandem flights, HPAC-certified instruction, courses, gear sales, and guiding/logistics for individuals or groups wanting to fly in the Kootenays, British Columbia, Canada.
We are located in the town of Ymir, BC at the foot of Mt. Dundee, twenty minutes south of Nelson. Explore the links on the right to find out more!
Interested in becoming an equipment dealer? KPG is the exclusive canadian importer for top quality Pro-Design equipment. Let us know why you'd be a good candidate for the job - apart from having access to gear at dealer prices:-)
We want to make paragliding accessible to anyone with the passion to fly. Contact us and find out how we might be able to help you.
Check out our growing photo album at: http://picasaweb.google.com/kootenayparagliding
See one of our first videos: "Urban Session".
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Saturdayday April26th
Bit of a late update, but I should report that we flew 2 pilots and 2 student pilots this saturday.
Conditions looked promising from the valley, but were fairly strong on launch at midday. After a timely conditions report from Rob, we took our time getting up the mountain with hopes of coinciding with more student-friendly air. This time of year marks the beginning of a difficult period for launch approach: large lengths of mud and rock are appearing between residual strips of snow. We are pushing our snowmobiles to the limits of their performance, and will soon have to wait for a full melt and the opportunity to use our 4x4s again.
Once we got to launch, an assessment of conditions resulted in Chris' desision to launch and relay his experiences to us. On the ground, we could all tell that the thermals were still stronger than ideal for students. We patiently awaited our window of opportunity, and upon its arrival we sent Joaquin out to prove our assumptions. Watching Joaquin's flight and hearing his feedback made me quite confident that flying was now safe and manageble for students Fred and Douglas.
Fred was first to launch scoring a "5,5,5" for launch, flight and landing - well done Fred! Douglas was next and also had a great launch, flight, and smooth landing: bravo Douglas - well done for your 10th high flight!
At the end of the day 4 pilots flew, all 4 were safe on the ground, and all vehicles involved in the ascent (2 snowmobiles, 1 quad, and a truck) were unscathed! More turbulent weather is on the way as cold nights and warmer days make for big lapse rates at this time of year. It's blowing strongly outside my window even as I write this. Now we're hoping for a quick and complete melt, so we can get the summer season underway.
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Tuesday April22nd
Blue skies punctuated with perfect little cumulus, and calm valley winds got Fred, Chris and me excited about the prospect of flying today.
All 3 of us reached Dundee south launch by just after noon, finding smooth 7-10kph cycles rolling through consistently. Although this was very encouraging at first, after watching conditions for 20 minutes or so, some big releases sent whopping 20-25kph cycles our way. Retiring to a sheltered sunny spot, we waited and watched. After an hour or so, we were happy to see things calm down and return to smooth, steady and workable.
Chris was first to launch and did a great job of relaying his experiences over the radio while flying. He climbed and sank repeatedly as thermals intermittently released and dwindled. After almost half an hour, Chris found himself beside launch and in perfect position for a safe top-landing - nice work Chris!
After talking with him for a few minutes, I decided to set up and take a "sledder" to the valley to join my family down below. Fred and Chris stayed on top and waited for their ideal opportunities: taking advantage of some nice flight windows.
All of us ended our days on the valley floor, safe and happy after some very spring-like active thermalling conditions. Nice work Fred and Chris!
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Saturday April19th
Some of thenew photos are up in the gallery! Check out the beautiful new Pro-Design design scheme on the new 2008 Thema.
Nice weather forecasted for the next few days - we're keeping our fingers crossed!
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Saturday April12th
A rather late entry of our trip to the "northern Selkirk" site this past saturday. In anticipation of smooth ridge flights from a high alpine (6000' abpove the valley floor) site, we coordinated 9 pilots, 5 snowmobiles, and 4 vehicles for a 2 hour trip up north.
Leaving Ymir at 6:30am, we met the rest of the crew in Nelson by 7 for snacks and hot morning beverages. With most of the convoy together, we drove to Kaslo to meet the last member of our group - Pete. A big thanks to Pete for supplying 2 of the 5 sleds needed for this mission, and for his guidance to the backcountry flying site.
After arriving at the mountain's base, and an epic 50 minute sled ride up hill (2 people per sled standing side-by-side wearing PG packs!) we arrived at the site which could only be described as jaw-dropping. Checking out photos of the location in our web gallery is a must!
By the time we were ready to fly, it was just past 11am and conditions were just starting to come alive. Interestingly enough, the site never acted as it historically has (ridge lift), but instead provided fat and usable thermic conditions. Due to the massive snow-covered launch area (>5 football fields), many top-landings and touch-and-gos were possible throught the day. Everyone got to fly! At close to 3pm to conditions turned cross and sadly never came back. At just after 4pm, we decided to pack it in. 3 of us were lucky enough to get an opportunity for a flight to the valley floor: a straight flight lasting just over 24 minutes (22 when spiralling in over the LZ) from a launch of over 6000'.
By the end of the day, we were all safe and smiling despite being tired, sunburned and facing a solid drive home. Great job everyone: Rob, Joaquin, Chris, Tyko, Jeff, Pete, Fred, Douglas, and me.
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Tuesday March25th
Another great afternoon of soaring started with a break in the weather: encouraging Tyko, Chris and me to sled up to launch on Mt. Dundee. By the time we arrived cycles were strong at 10-15kph, but organized and flyable.
I inflated first and had an uneventful launch followed by a respectable climb to a few hundred over. Flying around for a while, it was apparent that the thermals had good strength and were exploitable. Staying close to lauch, I watched Chris and Tyko set up to go. The wind on the ground looked stronger than it felt in the air, and their uninflated wings were being blown around.
With good timing, Chris took advantage of a soft cycle, inflated nicely and ran off: climbing out quickly to join me. Together we made many passes back and forth above launch while calling to each other excitedly.
After a good session of more wing wrestling on the ground, Tyko was able to make it all happen and come out to join Chris and me. We all flew together for about 20 more minutes, then headed to LZ when the sun disappeared behind a large expanse of higher-level cloud.
All three of us had textbook landings in the snowy LZ, pack-up and talked happily about our flights as we walked the 1km back to Ymir.
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Thursday March5th
After a looong run of downtime due to snow, snow and more snow, 4 of our Team members took a spontaneous trip to a high alpine ridge site a few hours from here. Joaquin, Tyko, Jeff and Chris all had multiple flights at the beautiful, wide and friendly snow-covered "Northern Selkirk" site.
The ridge's 500 meter size requires only 10kph of steady wind to work well. Due to its length and smoothly rounded snow-covered top, flying at all altitudes is both possible and safe (even really low).
Upon their return home, it was easy to see how much the boys enjoyed themselves from their smile and stories. Check out the pictures by clicking here.
A big thanks to Pro-Design for our new incredible wings! Check out the new 2008 line-up here.
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Wednesday January23rd
More winter flights today with 3 people flying in total. Tyko was first to take to the air: coaxing up a reverse inflation during a light cycle on the south launch. A very smooth launch and landing with a little soaring in between - particularly impressive considering it was Tyko's first flight on a new pro-Design Accura 1-2.
Next off were Joaquin and tandem passenger Elyssa. After a great inflation and run, the two were airborne and enjoying an extended "sled ride" before touching down safely in the snowy LZ. Elyssa really enjoyed her flight and even managed to record some of it for later enjoyment. Nice going Elyssa!
Unfortunately, I was the anchor man and by the time I was set up and ready to go the cycles were not co-operating (read "catabatic"), so I resigned myself to returning the snowmobile to the valley. Hopefully, I can chaulk the experience up as a small deposit in the karma bank for later.
More sunny weather on the way and we're planning to take advantage of it!
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Friday January 17th
Wow, it has really been awile since we've flown! with the exception of a few flights by Ymir locals that didn't get published on the webpage, the flying has really been sparse - mostly due to the outrageous amounts of snow we have been receiving.
Today started out sunny and clear with gentle winds from the southwest. It was perfect conditions for a smooth student flight, so we encouraged Isabelle to take advantage. After an uneventful snowmobile ride to launch, Isabelle set up and executed a perfect forward inflation and launch: finding herself back in the air for the first time in over 3 months! Allowing her the freedom to make her own decisions, Joaq and I watched her fly a conservative course to LZ: where she set up a solid figure-eight approach and landed softly in the middle of the LZ.
Congratulations Isabelle, you did great from beginning to end! With more high-pressure days in the forecast, we hope to log more flights throughout January. Keeping our fingers crossed!
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Thursday September6th
Taking the yesterday's late start into account, we headed up the mountain half an hour earlier today. When we arrived up top, we found conditions to be cycling 7-10wnw and building. By the time I was laid out to wind tech, the increasing cycle speeds and larger cumulus development seemed to indicate that it was not a morning for students. Soon after I launched it was apparent that our suspicions were correct. Conditions were erratic with disorganized lift and sink. Sharp edges could be felt while entering and exiting turbulences - not good for students, particularly on their third flights ever! As Chris and Tyko are more experienced, they came out to feel the air for themselves. Though the lift was hard to work, both Tyko and Chris did a good job: with Chris climbing out, and benching back over launch. All three of us were greeted with tricky landing conditions: reinforcing the good decision to keep the students on the ground.
We are hoping for another chance this afternoon, but it doesn't look good as high west winds are in the forecast.
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Wednesday September5th
A full day today with flights in the morning and evening! Both students Jim and Douglas had their first and second solo flights today! Congratulations guys! This morning had us waiting on launch for a good direction until about 11am. When it finally turned we were ready: I left first followed later by Douglas, Jim, Fred, and Tyko: well done on all your flights.
This evening presented some beautiful mountain ridge soaring with a steady 12-14km sw on launch. Rob launched first, shouted down that it was inddeed glassy smooth air, and was soon followed by Tyko, Chris, and Joaquin. The students and I watched the spontaneous ridge soaring clinic for 15-20 minutes or so before launching. Douglas was first off again with a nice inflation and launch: getting a special soaring flight for his second ever! Not to be left out was Jim. Taking the "anchor position" he showed good poise on launch: choosing not to comit on his first inflation. Jim's second inflation came up well and was transformed into a controlled launch. On his second ever solo paraglider flight, Jim was also able to enjoy some soaring before heading to LZ. After everyone was off, I was content to drive down as the day turned to dusk.
Good safe inflations, launches, and landings by everyone made for a great day of flying for everyone! There's similar weather forecasted for tomorrow, and we're hoping for the best!
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Tuesday September4th
We headed up the mountain early this morning for a chance at some smooth rides. The skies were overcast and launch was dead still until 10:30am or so. As I was doing a tandem with student Douglas, we patiently waited for some light cycles to ensure a safe inflation and launch. Our patience was rewarded, and we had a smooth flight straight to LZ, with Douglas flying almost half the time.
After we landed, both Tyko and student Fred were able to launch before the conditions became too strong for students. Both Tyko and Fred had nice flights and good landings.
We hoped for good conditions again this evening, but strong and eratic northwinds set up and were still not subsiding by dusk. Hopefully some more consitent weather tomorrow!
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Wednesday August 22nd
The day after returning from a cross-country trip to see family, flying conditions presented well and we got a crew together to head up the mountain.
By 4pm conditions had calmed with light cycles of 3-5km rolling up from the west. Tyko, Jeff, Joaq and I all launched into glassy conditions and each enjoyed nice sledders. Joaq, jeff and I all got a chance to get to know our new Pro-Design wings in the neutral conditions. The Accura, Thema, and Jalpa all looked and performed beautifully inducing big smiles on their respective pilots.
We are keeping our fingers crossed for the good weather forecasted for the next week: hoping that cooler days will present more subdued conditions than the wild summer thermals that have kept us ground-bound for so long.
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Thursday August 9th
With fresh new Pro-Design wings in tow Joaquin, Andrew, Douglas, myself, and Jeff met at Lakeside for the first of many fun kiting sessions on their new gear. Unfortunantley there are still over-development issues daily in the valley with some dry thunder and lightening cells today.
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sunday Aug5th
We snuck in some flights just before sunset tonight. Visiting pilot Glenn led the charge: showing us that conditions were smooth despite towering cu's in every direction on the horizon. Launching quickly afterward were Joaquin, Terry, me with Jim as a tandem passenger, and finally Tyko bringing up the rear. Conditions were glassy and we all had smooth launches, flights, and landings.
We are all hoping for more sedated mornings and afternoons in the weeks to come. Come on weather!
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sunday July22nd
Well, we'll take it when we can get it... A full 10 days after we last flew, conditions finally presented themselves again as "flyable". Joaq, Rob, Tyko and I set out to fly in what looked to be calming evening conditions with steady winds of 10km/h in the sock on launch. All signs pointed toward what would be steady ridge conditions with occasional thermic bubbles, but as weather has been so inconsistent lately, we were all weary of potential suprises.
Rob was first to launch and confirmed our predictions of smooth and easy soaring - YES! Upon hearing Rob's radio confirmation of what we saw, the 3 of us launched in fairly rapid succession to go and join him. Everyone's launches were very sedate and beautifully controlled - solid work everyone:) Once we were all "out in it", we jockeyed a little for optimum soaring locations: soon spreading out into our own workable zones. Soaring was indeed a mix of ridge and smooth thermic bubbles of 2m/s - predictable and relaxing.
I had the pleasure of flying a brand new Pro-Design Jalpa which felt incredibly balanced, and handled in an impeccably proportional manner. I can't say enough about this wing, and I'm really looking forward to flying the other new models in the Pro-Design line-up. Luckily, there are more on the way!
After about 40 minutes of soaring, we all decided to head to LZ. Both arriving high, Rob and I had the opportunity to push our wings through some paces: Rob enjoyed a couple of SATs, while I tested the Jalpa's performance through tight 360s, mellow spirals, reversing turns, and entry and exit from different bank angles. Everything felt really good. The Jalpa offered up no suprises: keeping me confident right through the flare until my feet were planted on solid ground. Joining everyone else, we all talked about our flights and were happy to be flying again. Thanks for driving Paul!
Potentially more good flying weather on the way...
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thursday July12th
Finally some more flying! Pete, Jeff, Rob, Tyko, Andy, Joaq and I all had soaring flights this afternoon through to the evening. Rob launched first at close to 4pm, while I landed last at close to 7:30pm. Conditions could not have been better, with smooth organized thermals from 1m/s up to 4m/s. Almost everyone had nice out and returns to Jubilee. All flights except one lasted at least an hour, with the longest at close to 3 hours. Checking my gps after landing, I noticed that I had tracked over 98kms over the ground: as I stayed within a 10km radius of the site it equates to a whole lot of turning!
Everyone performed beautifully on their launches and landings. After such scattered and rare good flying weather so far this summer, it was great to see everyone doing so well.
The forecast is calling for a weeks worth of thundershowers, but we are still hoping the outlook may be better.
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July6th,7th,8th
A little tired of being blown-out for so long, Joaq, Tyko, Jeff, Pete and I took a trip to the Lumby/Vernon area. Our travels went well, but we arrived to find similarly windy conditions. Not to be discouraged, we checked out the Baldy launch near Vernon which was facing the prevailing west winds...
Well, we were initially stonewalled as the winds became too strong by the afternoon. Luckily, saturday was not as windy: allowing us to all have numerous "sled rides" with a little playful soaring. I was great to be back in the air! Joaquin was able to practice his tandem skills (completing 4 by the end of the day), while the rest of us either enjoyed being passengers or flying ourselves.
Sunday brought suprisingly good conditions with lighter than forecasted winds and some decent thermic activity. Joaq was able to do more tandems while the rest of us helped out, and flew solo. With a good ridge/thermal mix we were all able to have extended flights in the sunny and HOT Vernon weather. The temperatures reached 37 degrees celcius by 2 pm!
By the end of our trip we were all happy to have had the chance to return to the air. Tyko, Pete, and Jeff also had the opportunity to fly with other pilots in more crowded skies: a very important situation to be comfortable with. Well done guys!
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Wednesday June20th
Sorry for the tardy update... great flying today with 5 pilots in the air soaring from 45 to 95 minutes in mixed ridge/thermic conditions.
We were able to fly quite close at times when conditions were smooth: talking easily back and fourth without radios. Andy, Tyko, Jeff, and Pete made the most of their flights: showing good decision making, solid soaring skills and adept right-of-way knowledge. I was happy to look on, proud at how far the now graduated students have come.
A first for Kootenay Paragliding pilots: Pete landed in our LZ to find he had to share it with a fair sized bear. Luckily, the black bear showed no interest in Pete or his tasty blue glider :-) I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to topland and therefore officially logged two flights.
Beautiful day with great flights finding everyone safe on the ground at the end - perfect!
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