Tod Mountain BC

 Flying standards at a ski hill in the early 1970s. Anyone remember this place?

https://youtu.be/b1bLgNqeWDc?t=7m30s

1980 Canadian Hang-gliding Championship

Photos from the 1980s Canadian hang gliding championship held at Mont St-Pierre, Québec. All photos by Bob Grant.

Competitors

Front row: Aer Stephen, André Guindon, Stewart Midwinter, Lloyd Matthews, Robert Longtin, Kevin Power, Jeff Blake, Graydon Tranquilla, Robert Boileau,  Michel Tremblay, Carroll Redden, Daniel Guay, Bob Grant, Willi Muller.

2nd row: Randy Rauck, Patrick Goliot, _?, Larry Croome, _?, Tony Schmidt, Martin Dennis, Gord Acri?, _Sweeney, Dainis Mednis, Luc Boucher, Dwayne Barrett, Doug Keller, Andrew Barber-Starkey, Howard Vandall, _?, Simon Mitchell, Gary Vollo, Gil Bourhis, _?.

Back row:  Pete Holden, Michael Ward (Miko Vuori), _?, Chris Sali, _?, _?,Keith Riddell, Chris Smith?

Les pilotes suivants de Québec sont inclus:  André Guindon, Robert Longtin,  Luc Boucher, Robert Boileau, Michel Tremblay (je crois en manteau de cuir rouge ligné jaune), Pierre Charron.

 

 Front row: Luc Charette, Marcel & Nickolas & Lee Charette, Robert Boileau, _?, John Farnan;

Standing: _?, _?, _?, _?, Jan Cameron, Karen Keller, _?, _?, _?

Alberta team

Front row: Chris Sali, Dainis Mednis, Willi Muller, _?, Stewart Midwinter.
Standing:  Dwayne Barrett, Gary Vollo, Graydon Tranquilla, Howard Vandall, Doug Keller.

BC team - photo courtesy Deanna Boyes

 Front row: Tony Schmidt, Larry Croome, Jeff Blake & Animal, Andrew Barber-Starkey
Back row: Pete Holden, Chris Bennett, Leo Salvas, Martin Dennis, Randy Rauck, Lloyd Matthews

Ontario team

Front row: Michael Ward, _?
Standing: Chris Smith?,Aer Stephen?, Alex Sweeney, Colin Sweeney, Bob Grant.

 

Newfoundland team: Carroll Redden, Dr. Simon Mitchell

Michael Robertson

Willi Muller

If you can help us fill in some of the missing names, please let us know. Si vous pouvez identifier quelques-uns des inconnus, svp. fournez les noms.

1980 Canadia national hang gliding championship pilot list

Bob Grant had a print out showing all of the competitors at the 1980 Canadian hang gliding competition. It appeared in a video of his about The old days of flying in Canada. (the date in the photo is wrong.)

How to post here

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If all of that sounds like more trouble than it's worth, simply use the contact form at the bottom of the page to give me your name and email address, and we'll take it from there.

Early days at King Mountain near Ottawa

Pete Clements was an early pilot in the Ottawa area. He put together a series of photos of some of his flights off King Mountain, Gatineau Park, and posted them on YouTube. Pete still lives in the Ottawa area, but gave up flying some time after this video was recorded.

Beginnings of Canadian hang gliding

Here is a great little YouTube video by lifelong Ontario hang glider pilot Sky Dog recording the beginnings of hang gliding in Eastern Canada. Enjoy!

He also has a webpage full of links to old photos and videos on his Skydog Sports page.

Canadian hang-gliding and paragliding history blog

It's now almost 50 years since the first flights in a hang glider were made in Canada, and 30 years since the first paraglider flights. It's high time we recognized the efforts of the early pioneers, and show case their early equipment and (mis-)adventures. This blog exists to record those early days before they are lost forever. If you have archival materials in your possession, bring it on! If you remember stories of the old days, share them with us! At this point, we're interested in anything that took place before the year 2000.

 This blog exists in parallel with the Canadian hang gliding history Facebook group. If you post something here, we invite you to share there if you are a Facebook user. If not, don't worry. We want all the source material to reside on this blog so that no one has to use Facebook in order to access it.

Photo courtesy Barry Meabry or James Midwinter.