While attempting to get a handle on my out of control email Inbox, I came across this link that Mirko sent me a long time ago. I’ve been meaning to figure out how to get a trip to this place!
http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/tourwreck.htm
I don’t know if anyone has ever sloped this area but I’d sure like to give it a try! No trees, lots of wind and steep mountains sounds like a slope flyers paradise.
{pgomakase}
I used to fly hang gliders on the west coast of Newfoundland. Now I R/C slope on the east coast of Newfoundland when I can. Unfortunately the terrain is unforgiving, usually “moist”, and the brush is dense here. Lately St. John’s, is undergoing a bit of a housing boom. Once a decent slope site opens up available by road, a subdivision pops up. This is logical as it’s probably why the road was put there in the first place. Such is life with the oil boom here.
But if you don’t mind driving and bush twacking, there is always wind in Newfoundland and plenty of hills to slope on. Also, with the stiff onshore breeze we get here, breakwaters and beaches (or what we call a beach) are great for sloping for the intermediate. Just be prepared for a little salt spray, and hiking/rubber boots of course.
My father was a bush pilot before he retired and would occasionally save fuel by sloping the DeHavalland Beaver or the Grumman Widgeon he used to fly. Luckily the Long Range mountains were along the way on most trips.
As for Wreckhouse. Wreckhouse is a geographic anomaly that when the wind blows in a particular direction, very high winds result over a stretch of the Trans Canada Highway resulting from both a funneling and a Bernoulli effect. Although the road is impassible for occasionally, the terrain in the area doesn’t make it cost feasible to move the highway. North of wreckhouse is a place called Cape Anguille. It’s just north of a town called Codroy and was fantastic for hang gliding soaring. However the comment of no trees is a bit of a misnomer as there are seemly endless stretches of dense brush, bog, and low trees called tuckermore. Tuckermore ia a local adaptation where a tree doesn’t grow higher than the boundary layer. I’m sure wreckhouse would be a great spot for sloping, but it’s huge. if there were farmers fields (and 20ºC warmer) it would be a full scale sloping mecca most days.
Either way, if you want to make it over to “da rock” we’d love to have ya. Just be warned it’s a big province.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/05/22/wreckhouse-trucks.html