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Mara / Skyline Launch (Sicamous) Updated: Feb 5th 2010

Direction of Launch: West . . . . . . . . . Site Suitable For: PG & HG
Type of Site: Mountain, SIV . . . . . . . . Type of Flying: Thermal
Elevation Launch: 4400' asl . . . . . . . . GPS: N 50 42 42.9 W 118 59 44.4
Elevation LZ: 1100' asl. . . . . . . . . . . . GPS:
Site Regulation: Formal . . . . . . . . . . . HPAC Insurance: mandatory
Cross Country Potential: Excellent flights to Vernon and east past Lumby are common.

Location: South of Sicamous at the SW end of Mara Lake.
North Okanagan Valley in South Central British Columbia, Canada.

Ratings Recommendations:
Mild conditions: Int . . . . . Moderate conditions: Int . . . . . Strong Conditions: Int. Adv.

Flying season: Assign value 0 1 2 3 or 4 (Highest 4):
Spring: 4 . . . . . Summer: 4 . . . . . Fall: 2 . . . . . Winter: 0

Vehicle Requirements: 4WD or good clearance 2WD with a good low gear.

Description of Launch: Famous SIV Site.
a) Nicely carpeted primary launch. New replacement carpets soon. (See Below)
b) Pg - 100m to the SW and below of the main launch (off the point.)

Launch Road Name and Directions:
a) South of the Mara Store, Go 10.4 km Up the Ashton-Mara East Skyline Road
- then turn right onto Rogers Road for 3.7 km.
b) 10.2 km South of Sicamous or 4.0 Km North of Crystal Sands Resort.
Turn East off Hwy 97 at the Fire Hall along Mara Lake at Davidson Drive and then immediately turn right up Rogers Road. Stay on the main road up.
Turn right when you reach the T-Junction. Drive South 1.1 km and take the Left turn.
From there it is 3.7 km to launch: 4WD or high clearance 2WD with a very good low gear.

Times to Fly - Noon on, all day for SIV's and novice flights.

Soaring Information and Weather Notes:
Site Turns on around 1:00 pm, great evening flights also.
Excellent thermals, well away from the hill, terrific for novice or intermediate pilots, and the LZ is huge.
Excellent evening glass-offs occur frequently, especially over the Poirier Rd. Lz. ¨Cream Chees Air.¨
Famous for, and host site of many Paragliding SIV (Advanced maneuvers) Courses.

Lots of altitude ~ 9000' ASL recommended to clear the Enderby gap to the ridge heading south to Armstrong.
CAUTION: The ridge south of the Mara Store to the Enderby Gap, and between Enderby to Armstrong have NO ROAD ACCESS
- so stay high and fly intelligently to avoid outlandings in "Tiger Country."

Landing Road Name and Direction:
Primary LZ: NW end of Poirer Rd, West of Highway 97A, north of the Mara Store.

Poirer Rd - the main LZ can bee seen in the middle of the photograph.

Do Not Land at Crystal Beach at any time. Do Not Land Here: GPS N50* 43' 01.7" W119*02' 11.8"
Above Right. It is off limits and trespassers will be prosecuted.
Avoid flying low overhead and of course landing on the property,
and especially on the turtle eco reserve (grassy area on the east side of the beach.)

Alternate LZ's
a) Prior permission is needed in order to land at Mara Provincial park (ie. SIV Courses.)
- Phone the Parks board at 250-838-6272.
b) Southeast corner, field on the south side of Riverside Road loop by the highway.
c) just East of the Mara town access bridge. Rotates with crops.
d) all along the south part of Riverside road.
All along the north side of the road (except any fields with horses in them) and the large field on the south side of the road at the SW corner.
This used to be a forbidden zone due to a cattle / horse breeding ranch but it is OK to land there now, we have been given permission. April 2009.

Other Information:
Please file your HAGAR before flying the site. Class "E" Airspace above 700' AGL.
The Enderby VOR (Immediately behind launch) is the beacon used by virtually every commercial flight through western Canada,
is the turnpoint for air traffic on descent into Kelowna Airport - the 9th busiest airport in Canada.
Read: http://www.hpac.ca/pub/?pid=159
Please re-set your altimeter to the accurate launch altitude before flying.

VFR Chart:


Mara Provincial Park is nice for swimming. Terrific scenery. Our primary summer flying site.
Whispering Pines 250-838-6775 is the pilot's chosen campsite.
See: http://www.sicamouschamber.bc.ca/Ads/Whispering.html

Photo Tour: http://members.shaw.ca/photodropbox/Mara/

FIC Advanced Weather Briefing and HAGAR Notification:
1-866-WXBRIEF (1-866-992-7433) French service: 1-866-GOMETEO (1-866-466-3836)

Radio Frequency: 123.4 Mhz (Aircraft) & 173.640 Mhz, Local Club: to be determined

Site Record(s): Altitude Gain: 11,000' ASL (Max) Open Distance: Nth to Revelstoke
Dog Leg: SW to Cherryville, Duration: . . . . . Out & Return: . . . . . Triangle: . . . . . Race to Goal: Lumby.

Primary Contacts:
HG: Rick Carr Tel: 250-836-0276 Cell: 250-804-0276 (Sicamous) rnj22@REMOVE.THIStelus.net
HG: Tim Staal Tel: 250-833-4349 tim_staal@REMOVE.THIShotmail.com
HG: Fred Wilson Cell: 250-309-6651 ftlwilson@REMOVE.THISshaw.ca
HG: Borg Host Tel: 250-836-0276 OkanaganSoaringAssociation@REMOVE.THISshaw.ca
HG: Joe Podanowski Tel: 250-545-8281 Cell: 250-558-8775
PG: Colin Dowler Tel: 250-833-7868 colindowler@REMOVE.THIShotmail.com
PG: Doug Nitchie Tel: 250-308-9854 dougtnitchie@REMOVE.THISgmail.com
PG: Greg Penner Cell: 250-306-1325 skydawg_73@REMOVE.THIShotmail.com
PG: Alf Giesbrecht Tel: 250-546 8193

Bottom Line:
For the past 25 years, the only reliable source for living room size used carpets for Mara (and elsewhere) have been the magnificently helpful installers:
Les Couy, Greg Roth and Ty Wyharman at:
CJV Carpet One Floor & Home: 4413 - 29th St. Vernon BC V1T 5B7
250-545-4454 Fax: 250-545-5885 Email: cjv1@telus.net

Make no mistake: a full size uncut rug is very, very heavy and a real struggle (brutal at times) to move through hallways and around corners, noting they sometimes work alone.
We are ever so grateful for their kind consideration over the years and are appreciative of their continued support into the future.
Thank them one and all.