By the late 1980s, it was understood by hang glider pilots that the days after a cold front were ideal for cross country flying. But in Alberta, at least in the area around Calgary, there were a few good north west or north facing sites. One emerging option was a 60m-high bowl called The Bridge along Highway 552 at the Sheep River near its confluence with the Bow River, SE of Calgary. The landowner had allowed hang glider pilots to fly there on occasion , and they did. But the hillside was covered in bushes which made it difficult to walk up if you sank out to the bottom. Paragliders had an advantage in that they could fly in lighter winds and could walk up more easily with their gear. One pilot that was soon taking advantage of this was Sean Dougherty, an accomplished mountaineer that had entered the sport. After a few tries, the managed to get up and away and flew around 50km all the way to Nanton, a record. There, he landed in a wind that was so strong that he would have been blown backwards with a normal approach. Instead, he flew downwind till Close to the ground, then made a sharp, high-speed, High G turn, which momentarily gave him enough ground speed to touch down safely.
On a later occasion, flying at the site, he drifted away quite low and experienced turbulence that dropped him into a farm field where he broke several bones. He was lucky to be spotted by a passer by and spend sometime in the hospital.
In this photo, I've captured him flying an Apco Hilite at The Bridge site one fine October day in 1991.
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| Sean Dougherty at The Bridge |
