The purpose of this column is to disseminate information about accidents & incidents in the hope it will add to our collective knowledge & thereby improve our safety record. The quality & quantity of information found here depends largely on information I collectively receive from you, so please keep forwarding any information on incidents or accidents. Also remember that you can file accident reports on SFBAPA.ORG. It is, of course, club policy to keep names & other private information confidential.

I am aware of three recent incidents lately. Fortunately none of these resulted in injury although all certainly could have. Two occurred during frontal activity & one apparently during an intentional (aerobatic??) maneuver. I’ve summarized what I know below, but the information may not be totally complete or verified.

Well we are in the thick of winter. For those of us stuck here praying for those pre-frontal or post frontal conditions we relish those wonderful tales of trips and pictures taken taken by our fellow pilots.

Please take the time to read the feature story of such a trip to Columbia! Then start planning for your visit to this beautiful country!

If you have a story to tell or even just pictures to share....please pass the on. We'll make sure theyget in!

In the meantime...get stinkin' high! 

Rich

P.S. from Julie:  Still working out some nits in the RidgeDancer menus, but I think things are a little better this month than last.  Also, you may have noticed we renamed the previous issue "Forward Launch" since it was really last year's content.  This is officially the January 2006 issue.

Here you can be!

This is Bob and Sarah's account of their recent "Vuelo Libre" tour of some of Columbia's premier PG sites led by Richi and Annie! - Ed.

Half a dozen or so Colombian vultures or “chulos” marked the thermals as we soared together high above Chicamocha Canyon, just minutes from the “farm” or Vuelo Libre, headquarters for Richi and Annie Mantilla’s Vuelo Libre tours on Mesa de la Santos, forty-five minutes south of Bucaramanga, Colombia. On this, the 3rd day of our journey, Richi, Annie, Andy Palmer and I launched at 11:00 a.m. from Tumba de Aleman (the “Tomb of the German”) located on a private lot in Chicamocha Doroda, a gated community extending along the northern rim of the canyon. Randall McCormick missed the window on this day but joined us several days later in a flight from the opposite rim.

Post-flying at Camalla, Mexico - photo by James Smyth

If you have not yet paid your 2006 BAPA dues, please do as soon as possible.  We have many educational and enjoyable activities planned for the year so you don’t want to miss out on those. In addition, our revitalized Ridge Dancer will bring you articles of interest and keep you updated on events. Please feel free to submit articles and photos to Rich Hammer, the editor. Articles are due by the 15^th of the month for inclusion in that month’s Ridge Dancer.

At the February 1 BAPA meeting in SSF, Dan Foust will do a slide show on his trip to Peru last Fall.  Dan had an exciting trip with Jeff Cristol from Telluride.   The two flew 9 sites in the Huaraz area which is a valley with peaks ranging from 16,000’ on the west side to 22,000’ on the east side.  I’m sure Dan has some amazing photos to show as well as stories to tell.