First 2009 Winter flights from the Summit of Coronet Peak

Good conditions today. We have Charlotte on the left and Jon on the right both enjoying the Winter air!









And here is Jon in video!

The Ski Lifts are opening!!!

We're getting really excited now. Only another three days and the ski lifts will be open on June 6th!!!!!

This means we will be able to launch from the summit of Coronet Peak at 5400ft. The most spectactular flying in New Zealand. Here are a couple of photos from previous years!

Brocken Spectre

We managed to get a flight in from Coronet Peak this morning and the Terraces at midday. We had broken cloud beneath us which always adds to the fantastic views that we already have.

It also gave us the opportunity to see one of the most rare and elusive of sights, a Brocken Spectre. I say elusive because although I've seen a few now, I've never managed to capture the true magnificence of their beauty in a photo yet. The photos below were taken by Abe and in no way do justice to seeing one through your own eyes. If you look close enough, you should be able to see the shadow of the glider right in the middle of the circle. A Brocken Spectre is a completely circular rainbow and can range in colour from a muddy brown to the full blown luminescant, Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain, complete spectrum. Click here for more info from Wiki.

Coronet Peak

We managed to fly at Coronet Peak today for the first time for a couple of weeks now. We couldn't drive all the way to take-off as the track was too treacherous for our van. So we had a short walk through the snow to the take off with our equipment travelling in the 4x4. A busy day in the end with the sun and cloud coming and going. The wind was coming up the hill most of the time until about 2 o'clock when the cloud intensified and the katabatic wind overpowered the very light Southerly.

Terraces and snow

Snow on the Terraces! The snow line is getting lower. We managed to sneak a couple of flights in this morning before the weather came in all snotty again. Daniel (right) bought his girlfriend Tina (left) a tandem paragliding flight for her birthday! Must be love!

May Rain Facts

Some mornings, I can tell, even before I open my eyes whether its worth getting out of bed. Its the sound of the car tyres ploughing through standing water on the road!
An eager client called very early this morning and I opened the blinds to see horizontal sleet! They were genuinely suprised when I said that the weather wasn't suitable for paragliding. I then asked if they had looked out of the window . . . they hadn't . . . and the weather forecast yesterday had said it would be sunny.

Here are some stats as reported in the Mirror by local meteorologist David Crow:

Lake Wakatipu is the highest it's been in six months. Local businesses near the water front are getting concerned.

• More than double the usual monthly average rainfall has already fallen in the Wakatipu this May, with 15.87cm already recorded. Usual rainfall for May is 7.75cm!
• In the 24 hours up to 9am Sunday 17th May, the Wakatipu had its heaviest rainfall since September 2002; 5.63cm!
• We are heading for an all-time record low sunshine hours reading this month, with just 36.7 hour recorded up until 9am Monday. The average sunshine hours reading for May is 91.7. The lowest May reading on record is 55.7 hours in 1933. Te lowest all time record was set in June 1932 with just 48.9 hours clocked up.

Pouring with rain

I'm told this is one of the worst Mays we've had EVER! It's been non-stop rain or sleet with just the occasional respite. We managed to seize a brief window yesterday afternoon for some more flying at the Terraces. Chris did his first 'successful' flight, landing in the right field at the bottom ;-) "Amazingly satisfying" he said. Well done Chris.

In the mean time, I've had a chance to look through some of the photos from earlier this year when the weather was much better! This one below, titled 'Flight Mechanics 101', was taken at Arrowtown bakery. It must have been an incredibly scintilating lecture judging by Ged's expression ;-) or maybe he was just suffering from 'Queenstown syndrome'. Those of you who have been there will know what I mean!


The days of shorts and t-shirts seem so far away. But they will return!