AND ... here's a short video of the excellent frontside and DS at Cass Ridge yesterday. This is the same place where we flew in 72mph SW wind, but yesterday it was from the exact opposite direction ... NE. And for those who love watching slope planes being hand caught, this video won't disappoint either!

Cass Easterly 7Oct2012 (6 min 7 sec)

Most impressive scenery and flying and not to forget reporting it all.
And yes you got to be well acclimatized what the weather is concerned. I lived there for ten years, and only managed to swim in the sea once.

Loving the Vids Andrew!

Great videos as ever AvB - there's at least a few of us in the UK watching every video with envy (and wishing there was such a thing as affordable hypersonic passenger travel). Looking forward to the next installment of AvB's excellent adventure

Thank Andrew and crew..
Nice hand catches Alex.

I want to know where your going next Andrew.... We all need to chip in $100 and we can send Andrew around the world searching for DS sites , and reporting.
I vote go the to windest place on earth... Antarctica

Originally Posted by timbuck

Antarctica

Antarctica Andrew could not cope with a little chill in Christchurch. How would he possibly cope with a truly cold environment

I agree! Someone else for the colder places! Anyway not sure that I can sustain this extravagant DS travelling reporting caper. My poor wife is flat out like a one armed paperhanger, trying to keep up with things at home. She's fabulous. I love her. She is nuclear powered and copes with so much. But I'm a bit miserable today because she's worn out and I may head back sooner than Sat.

The picture I'm trying to convey to you non-Christchurchers is that there really are so many slope opportunities here. I screenshotted some Google Map terrain views of the area and asked Alex to point to the sites, and I stuck arrows on, to indicate the sites, but I ran out of space for arrows. There are so many sites that are there, but maybe not used much because others are better, or better for DS.

We were discussing the forecast and different sites in the car just now, and he mumbled something about how I could even try flying at "that little slope just up the road from Peter's place". We stopped and he pointed up to a beautiful looking slope up above us, with a bird slope soaring on the lip, below the cloud. If it was around Brisbane and got wind, I'm sure it would rate as one of our best sites! The only drawback with many of these places is the thick gorse bush or broome thickets ... nasty thick stuff and there's a JW stuck somewhere in that frontside, like most slopes!

Tomorrow looks like a good WSW so should be good for Cass. Thurs is not looking like much, but Friday is a very strong NNE and we may head out to explore another ridge NE of Wainui on Summit road - other side of the Akaroa harbour that nobody's tried yet. Looks like a nice shape. There's another big ridge upwind (both about 600m altitude) but they're about 4km apart so it might work.

We love jannett aswell... For letting you go on such extravagant DS adventures,
And putting up with the DS addiction you, I mean US , ummmmm ALL of us have.

Re watching just the wizard flight on the 72mph video is amazing.
Those laps where so so so big. , it was a spec and then crazy fast. Have NO doubt that is was WELL over 300 easy.
I'm interested in the frame rate and speed.... Anyone out there can check it???

Tim

Loving the vids Andrew, although ive been there while youve been filming i still find myself checking the laptop every 5 minutes hangin for your latest installments.
I hope the Nor-easter plays ball for you while your here. Its been a pleaseure havin you here in christchurch

Rob

Just got through your first vid Andrew. Great watch as always.

Today was a nothing much day. Got together with Alex from lunchtime and did some fixing, chatting and watching videos (the video of the 380mph day with the Kinetic 100 at Wainui in May is really incredible on a good TV with good sound!). I dragged Alex off to a Paint and Panel shop to buy a bag of Dolphin Glaze, to show him how indispensible it is for filling and sanding repairs. Peter F's Windburner is now more Windburner shaped than it was after making that thonk that I heard whilst filming the last bit of that Wainui video.

I'm flying out very early Saturday morning. Alex has work for at least the next 2 days. We have no fixed plan yet, but Andrew P, Peter F and I are keen to get some more flying. The forecast is different for each day. Tomorrow might be good for having a frontside fly at the John Britten Reserve to check out the absolutely enormous lift that it's famous for. It's on the northern part of the big long ridge next to the city - if you find it on Google Earth you'll see its spectacularly steep, deep, curved bowl. It would also probably be good at Cass and/ or Sugarloaf.

But I have my eye on Tekapo for Thursday. Although the wind at ground level is forecast to be mild, the direction is perfect and could be brilliant flying. So we might head down that way tomorrow evening and share some accommodation. I might have to hire a car for a few days to do it though.

Friday has strong N to NNE winds forecast for the area around Wainui. Too north for Wainui unless the forecast changes, but Alex has had his eye on a ridge to the north, on Summit Road. It is really steep and high and deep both sides, a long ridge that runs almost E-W. So I'm keen to explore that and test it out as a northerly DS site, if possible. There are other ridges of the same height upwind of it, the first being 4.5km away. So it's possible the air will be rolly polly, but you never know till you try.

If any of the local guys are keen to accompany (guide!) us, let me know. The more the merrier. If you have a 4WD we'll be very friendly.

andrew, thanks for the videos and reports, its been great reading/watching. cheers, hope the wind comes again for you!

Originally Posted by jonoashton

Antarctica Andrew could not cope with a little chill in Christchurch. How would he possibly cope with a truly cold environment

Jono how was Aussie this yr any good

Jarred, there's more likely to be wind on any given afternoon here, unlike home! Good to hear from you. Hope all's well at the base. Alex and I have been recounting some stories of the 3 of us on the Weldon trip. Your ears have probably been burning!