AYPH Newsletter February 2022

Government funding for paragliding project in Dawson City secured

AYPH has successfully secured over $55,000 in funding through the Community Development Fund. The remaining cost is covered through two generous donations specifically for this project - $5,000 from Schmitt Mining and $ 2,000 from Jerome Cassanova. Many, many thanks to the two donors!

The funding will allow us to offer a P1 and P2 paragliding course in Dawson City for youth - free of charge. For this purpose, AYPH will buy 8 sets of gear and we are working on options how this gear can be made available after the completion for the course. This is a one of its kind project in Canada and will help to further develop Dawson City as a hotspot for paragliding and to build relationships within the community. 

We would love to have 2-3 more volunteers involved with this to help with organization, potentially assist instructing, and ensure it is running smoothly. Please get in touch with Trevor or myself if you are interested! You don’t have to be an admin wizz or paragliding master - any help is appreciated:) 

Changes to the board:

Trevor Mead-Robins has resigned from the AYPH board and his role as AYPH president effective January 25, 2022 in favor of the upcoming work on the “Get High the Natural Way” project. We thank him for his many years of continued support and tireless efforts to improve paragliding in the Yukon. 

Trevor will be continuing to volunteer for AYPH and providing support when needed. He’s also joined an HPAC Advisory Council geared to improvising instruction and safety.

We will elect a new president at the upcoming 2022 AYPH AGM in March. This is a good time for people to think about who they would like to see in that position or even put their own name forward! Please don’t hesitate to talk to Trevor or myself about what the expectations and commitment would involve.  

AGM!!!

It’s this time of the year again… we are planning our AGM. This year’s  AGM will be held on Thursday, March 17th 2022 at 7pm so save the date! We hope to be able to meet in person but will also have virtual meeting options available for those who can’t join in person or if COVID restrictions won’t allow for an in-person meeting. We will send out a separate email with the link for virtual participation closer to the meeting date. Location will be Alpine Aviation - big thanks thanks to Gerd Mannsperger fir letting us use their place again. The address is Alpine Aviation Hanger, 38 Lodestar Lane, Whitehorse, Y1A 6E6.
 

It’s been a cold and windy winter so far, so there has been very little flying at Sima this winter. The windsock at the main chalet on top of the hill is up again and we are in negotiations with the Sima general manger about mounting a windsock on the south launch on/near the observation tower.

There are four corporate passes available this season to AYPH members through MEADIAsolutions. Message Trevor to reserve them on WhatApp. 

The landing area is significantly larger and once the obstructions (wood piles) are cleared up, the landing zone will be safer. Considerable volunteer effort was made to clear the trees to make a wider and longer landing approach. Thank you to all persons who contributed. There were two attempts to move the log piles, but these were not successful due to equipment failures, and weather. Once the snow clears, there is more work left to do to finish clearing and contouring the landing zone. Volunteers are welcome. Trevor will be coordinating finishing this project.

Battling the Yukon winter…

…is not for everyone. But Pilots Yannick Klein and Martin Torres weren’t afraid of the -25 C and did a fantastic hike and fly on Mountain Hero/ Montana Mountain near Carcross. If you would like to enjoy the views but prefer the warmth and comfort of your couch, you can watch the flight, which has also been featured in the HPAC newsletter, here on Youtube.

… or fun in Mexico and Columbia!

Some Yukoners instead decided to ditch the Yukon winter and went south to Mexico and Colombia.

Here is a report from Dave’s trip to Mexico:

“Our trip to Mexico was incredibly fun & successful. Trace & I started off in Puerto Vallarta where we did a flight from the very narrow & tight Concha Chinas launch. We flew over luxury hotels down the coast & landed right in front of our hotel on the beach. Next we went to Yelapa with Stefan, Ben Lewis, and Marc from Banff, for the SIV course with Herminio Cordido. Everyone did great in the course with no close calls or reserve throws. After the 4 days of SIV & towing in Yelapa we headed south to Colima for 2 days of beautiful flying. The launch in Colima is incredible & something we should strive for with our sites in the Yukon. Last but not least we went to Tapalpa for 4 days of flying where all of us got some great XC flights. I flew a 25km flight, and the next day Trace, Stefan, and Ben flew 35kms.”

Russel sends in this picture from his last flight in Colombia which, in his words, “says it all”:

Events - Atlin Paragliding

Last but not least something to look forward to: Trevor working on dates and logistics for heli-paragliding in Atlin with Jamie. We hope that everything goes smooth and we won’t have to cancel this year. The date is not set but might be the weekend after the AGM.

Wherever you currently are, hopefully you are enjoying some stellar flights or at least dreaming of them;)

See you at launch!

Denise (Secretary-Treasurer) and the AYPH board