Soaring at Invermere, Canada

[Roy Clark]

Am thinking about a soaring week+ with a soaring pal at Invermere next
season.

We both have FAI Gold C with 1-2 Diamonds.

Base my DG-300 at Ephrata, Wa, USA.

Have visited the Invermere website and have a Canada Calgary VFR
Navigation Chart that already has some "Wow!" and drool stain spots.

Any suggestions/tips on times of year, 500Km folded or 500Km or nice
other tasks/routes, camping/rooms, tips on local color, microbrews &
fun, issues with Canadian or US Customs, etc. would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks,

Roy Clark
B6

[Tom Seim]

(Roy Clark) wrote in message >...
> Am thinking about a soaring week+ with a soaring pal at Invermere next
> season.
>
> We both have FAI Gold C with 1-2 Diamonds.
>
> Base my DG-300 at Ephrata, Wa, USA.
>
> Have visited the Invermere website and have a Canada Calgary VFR
> Navigation Chart that already has some "Wow!" and drool stain spots.
>
> Any suggestions/tips on times of year, 500Km folded or 500Km or nice
> other tasks/routes, camping/rooms, tips on local color, microbrews &
> fun, issues with Canadian or US Customs, etc. would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Roy Clark
> B6

Hi Roy,

I flew at Invermere this summer. Conditions were outstanding: instead
of hearing the dreaded "You should have been here last week" we flew 9
days straight. The country is, simply, truly awesome. We are talking
5,000 ft. haning glaciers, 6,000 ft. shear rock walls, innumerable
high mountain lakes. The mountains continue North literally farther
than the eye can see. This is not a place for beginners (although they
do a lot of flight training at Invermere). Once you cross the mountain
ranges there are no landing sites for a long ways (save for the
highway). It is helpful to buy an area hiking book before you go
(there are far too many mountains to be listed on the map).

The tow plane is, also, awesome. It is a Pawnee with a new engine and
a high performance prop. Typical climb rates on tow are 1000
ft/min-and this is at a field elevation of 3K.

500Ks can be done readily by rig running. If you want to do an FAI
500K, however, you better have industrial-sized kahunas. It will take
you over some damn intimidating country. This can all be done safely,
but you will have to be satisfied with a single airport at times. This
doesn't sound that bad until you see what you will be landing on if
you don't make the A/P. The best case is a lake.

I rarely got above 14K, so O2 is not an issue.

We barbequed almost every night at the field. There is a club house on
the field and 2 bbq's. The socializing was super. There are lots of
restaruants at very reasonable prices if you aren't into bbq. There is
limited camping on the A/P. There are plenty of motels in Invermere.
We stayed at one for 65 CDN per nite. The exchange rate makes most
things pretty cheap (except for gas).

You have to bring your own anchors with you if you want to tie down
(its in the dirt). The field is quite crowded; a single runway with no
taxiway. They are used to this and everything goes pretty smoothly, in
general. But if the wind is from the wrong direction you will have to
tow down the runway. Having a tow bar would be a good idea (I, of
course, motored down).

For MG's: the under-powered MGs will have to take tows at Invermere
(unless you like to dodge trees low to the ground).

You don't need a passport, but you will need a birth certificate.
Crossing the border was a non-event (they did look in my trailer for
the first time). I recommend crossing in the morning, if possible.
Usually, there is no wait, but we got in a half hour line going in
because it was Sat afternoon.

We are planning on returning next year for 2 weeks, probably the first
part of August (unless a better offer comes along).

Tom

[Ray Perino]

Roy,
I live in Invermere and fly regularly in the local mountains.
June and July are often excellent months to fly, with May and August as
possibilities, too. Although this was not a great weather year, I still put
in over 200 hours of flying time. If you are new to mountain flying there
is definitely a learning curve, but you can easily fly 5 to 7+ hours at a
stretch within final glide of an airport while familiarizing yourself and
admiring the beautiful scenery. Members of the Canadian Rockies SC are a
wealth of local and x-c flying knowledge and planning, and are always
willing to share.
For the straight goods, you should contact owner/operator of the Invermere
Soaring Centre, Trevor Florence, at the phone or e-mail listed on his site.
Hope to see you up here.
Ray


"Roy Clark" > wrote in message
om...
> Am thinking about a soaring week+ with a soaring pal at Invermere next
> season.
>
> We both have FAI Gold C with 1-2 Diamonds.
>
> Base my DG-300 at Ephrata, Wa, USA.
>
> Have visited the Invermere website and have a Canada Calgary VFR
> Navigation Chart that already has some "Wow!" and drool stain spots.
>
> Any suggestions/tips on times of year, 500Km folded or 500Km or nice
> other tasks/routes, camping/rooms, tips on local color, microbrews &
> fun, issues with Canadian or US Customs, etc. would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Roy Clark
> B6

[Terence Beasley]

One item to note is that Canadian Ministry of Transport will require you to
get a permit to fly if your 300 is registered Experimental, which I
understand is the case for all or most DG-300s in the USA. I believe they
will rob you of $100 CDN for this.
Terry. (Eastern Canada, so no experience of Invermere apart from lots of
good hearsay!)


"Roy Clark" > wrote in message
om...
> Am thinking about a soaring week+ with a soaring pal at Invermere next
> season.
>
> We both have FAI Gold C with 1-2 Diamonds.
>
> Base my DG-300 at Ephrata, Wa, USA.
>
> Have visited the Invermere website and have a Canada Calgary VFR
> Navigation Chart that already has some "Wow!" and drool stain spots.
>
> Any suggestions/tips on times of year, 500Km folded or 500Km or nice
> other tasks/routes, camping/rooms, tips on local color, microbrews &
> fun, issues with Canadian or US Customs, etc. would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Roy Clark
> B6