We had a good turnout for folks who had never been to Fort Ebey before to try and get some flying in before moving on to Blanchard. Around 15 people turned up to sample what Ebey had to offer. Unfortunately the wind gods were not kind enough to give us some flying time with gusty winds becoming light and South East rather than the West flow Ebey needs. However, kiting could be had and we managed to get people working on their skills and helping each other out with different techniques. The weather was gorgeous and everybody loved the views and watching the eagles fly just above our heads. After a couple of hours it was time to pack up and head over to Blanchard where it had been reported that good soaring was to be had.

Blanchard was great till 3:30. Soaring in the morning, thermals in the afternoon. Hour plus flights with good altitude over launch. Guessing 1500 feet over or better for some. Top pilots going XC. Maybe 25 people from the NWPC group many who had never been to Blanchard before. Several local hangs and paragliders also flew.

A group of us launched around 11:30 am. It was stronger West than expected but still nice and soarable. We spent the next hour and fifteen minutes in smooth ridge lift between Blanchard and Chuckanut mountains. At 12:50 the clouds were getting pushed back inland, and the sky was finally letting some sun in. We pushed back to Blanchard mountain and ended up having to scratch below launch for almost 30 min. At that point Noah, Andrey, and I all got a nice thermal that delivered us to cloud base and we pushed out to Lookout mountain.

Shortly after that the high clouds rolled in and started to shut things down. Andrey was able to establish on lookout while Noah and I bombed out at the base of the mountain. Andrey pushed across Lake Whatcom and landed on the far side of the lake. Conditions were still looking good for another flight so Noah and I went out for a quick sledder and landed in the LZ.

The forecast was interesting. The MM5 did not call for rain but the Weather Underground forecast said there was a good chance of rain. Weather Underground forecast improved by morning. The wind were stronger than expected, but it all worked out and most people had good flights.