Helicopter up then

2 hours paraglidng Peak to Peak

from 7,000' Mt Cheam (Fri, Oct 13th)

John Mascavage (130 flts... started May, 2006)

When I dragged myself out of bed at 5am on Friday to begin the day trip to Mt. Cheam, all my partially conscious mind could muster was the thought "this better be worth it" -

Now I have to pinch myself to confirm that this dream flight really happened!  Let me recount the day so that those who were not fortunate enough to go this time know why they should jump at the chance the next time such an opportunity comes along:

OK, getting up at that hour is miserable for those of us that are not morning people - so those that can go to Harrison Hot Springs the night before should do it - but, on the positive side, driving in your sleep makes the time pass quickly.  After meeting at 6:30am at the Kirkland CompUSA, shuffling between cars, driving 75mph in the fog, making a caravan run to McDonald's for what some might call breakfast, and crossing the border into Canada, the surreal experience began. 

As we drive eastward we are looking at a long line of the Northern Cascades with 11,000ft Mt. Baker on the right drawing our attention away from the much smaller looking, craggy, and bent form of Mt. Cheam far to the left.  The diminutive perspective is deceiving, which becomes clear as we complete the final 30 minutes of our drive.  While we remain near sea level on the highway tracing a river's edge, the shear wall of Mt. Cheam's north face rises as a vertical wall before us, towering up to its 7,000ft summit - even with our necks kinking looking straight up we do not yet have a full appreciation for its 1.25 mile vertical.

We pull into Highland Helicopters and get a (very brief) briefing of how the helicopter drop-offs will work - something like this:
"Try to get two of your bags in this tiny compartment in the tail of this tiny helicopter - don't force the door closed because it might rip off during the flight and take out our rotor.  The other two bags go with the three people stuffed in the back seat.  The doors are a bit tricky, so be sure that they are closed when we take off.  You might want to wear a seat belt if you can figure them out.  While you are flying please stay out of my flight path because I hate cleaning paragliders off of my blades.  OK, who are the first four vict..., uh, passengers?"

Tandem instructor Marc Chirico & 6 yr old grandson , Spencer) After the careening drive through the fog and eating McDonald's, the helicopter flight is the scariest thing about the trip (it is pretty fun actually).  You are pinned against the glass windows and deafened by the noise.  You soar over the river, then over trees, then abruptly come to the vertical wall of Cheam, and during this flight you learn to appreciate looking straight down 7,000ft - while being suspended by an egg beater.  The helicopter turns the corner, goes over a sharp edge, and drops onto a small, flat scree field.  The legs hit the ground, we jump out and grab gear (ducking as if the blades were inches overhead), and the pilot takes off - you are now in a new world. Unlike the shear north face, the south face is a gently sloping scree and lichen-covered rock field that empties into a shallow mountain bowl with multiple peaks along its edge.  Between these peaks, on the steep northern sides, are ice flows - small glaciers working their way down the slopes.  Mt. Baker glistens as a snow covered back-drop.

Paths lead up the the summit where you can re-live the vertical drop-off one last time while still on terra firma as well as review the terrain and potential places to fly.  To the left, the next peak over is Lucky ("you are lucky if you can reach it"), to the right is a saddle in the mountain - cross it before you get too low or you are hiking back up, once you have crossed it you are committed to land. The wind was coming 3-5mph straight up the gentle slope and the launches were easy.  Evan took off and showed us that the thermals were working around the saddle  - within minutes he was already 500ft over the summit, and climbing!  The rest of us quickly followed.  This was no Tiger Mt., this was alpine flying.  As you climbed higher, every face looked steeper, harder, less forgiving, and yet the air was pleasant and buoyant.  As we reached 1,000ft over the summit, Evan led the way to Lucky and we took turns visiting and returning, looking down on an ice flow below and taking in the expanse of the Cascades before us.

(Andy Wood, 120 flts... started June, 2006)  On one jaunt I got enough lift off of Lucky to visit the next peak over (I do not know its name).  As I approached, I noticed an off-white blotch among the snow only a few feet from the upper edge - a mountain goat, a beautifully proud ram, not even flinching as I got closer.  Looking down I saw the mother and a child racing along the face - amazing! We float for over an hour among the peaks, entering the void to the north to take in the vertical drop-off and returning to the edge of the bowl to work the lift.  As the thermals weakened we clustered by the saddle to the west and eventually went over its edge.  By this time the wind had shifted to be a bit more from the west and this allowed us to work the next ridge over - a tree-covered area slanting from the 6,500ft ridge of the saddle to around 3,000ft over the valley floor.  The sun was still shining strong on the ridge and we were able to nearly reach the saddle again on some thermals. Now, at 2 hours into the flight, with fingers going numb from the cold (the day was warm but my gloves were too thin), it was time to head back.  I followed the ridge down to 4,000 ft and then flew out over the valley.  The evening fog had started to form an ocean of white below us, and looking west, with the sun shining from behind them, several mountains poked through like black islands on cottony water.

The view below was still very clear and the air was smooth as could be, so you could sit back and relax, taking in the river below and the mountains and lakes in the distance.  For an LZ we had permission from a local farmer to land in a HUGE, smooth, grass-covered field, 6 times the size of Tiger's LZ.  It took almost 20 minutes to cruise from the mountain to the LZ and I was still as 2,000ft!  I couldn't resist finishing off this amazing flight with a SAT to burn off altitude, followed by a cushy landing and the smiling faces of the 20 other people that just shared the same inspiring flight.

To cap the day off we headed over to Harrison Hot Springs to see the "Harisand" Sand Castle exhibition and, more importantly for the famished among us, to eat at the Black Forest German restaurant.  Some brautwurst, strudel, black forest cake, and dinner with a great crew of friends, it was time to head home...with a memory to last a lifetime.