Paragliding
Paragliding over El Cap Dam from Blossom Valley
Paragliding from Blossom Valley –
soon to be only a memory
For those who live in El Monte Valley and Blossom Valley, we are accustomed to watching the paragliders soaring like eagles above the valley floor, drifting slowing over El Cajon Mountain (“El Cap”). We feel blessed to live in a place where people come from around the county to experience the unique geography of our valley and canyon.
If SDG&E has their way, the launch site from Blossom Valley will be a thing of the past forevermore. Quoting from the FINAL EIR, “The Blossom Valley hang gliding and paragliding site is near MP I8-84. Typically, hang glider and paraglider pilots launch from a site north of Quail Canyon Road near the Talon’s Reach Subdivision and land at a site on the south side of El Monte Road (paragliders) or across the road near the San Diego River wash (hang gliders). With appropriate atmospheric conditions, pilots fly northeast to El Cajon Mountain and return to the landing sites. This flight path requires crossing the route of the Interstate 8 Alternative, which poses a safety risk to glider pilots.”
The EIR then goes on to state, ” As described above, the Interstate 8 Alternative would be constructed overhead between the launch pads
and the landing pads of the Horse Canyon and Blossom Valley hang gliding and paragliding sites. The location of the overhead conductors would present a serious safety risk to glider pilots. As such, recreational pilots would be permanently precluded from the Horse Canyon and Blossom Valley hang gliding and paragliding sites, resulting in a significant, unmitigable impact (Class I).”
There are few places for paragliding in San Diego, and this significantly impacts the quality of life for San Diegans, and takes from us the opportunity to experience this extraordinary route above El Cajon Mountain forevermore.
Again we ask SDG&E, why do you call this a “low impact” area when it has such deep and heart-wrenching impact?
Open Letter to All Hang Glider and Paraglider Pilots
We need your assistance to help preserve Hang Gliding and Paragliding flights at Blossom Valley/El Monte Valley located in eastern San Diego County, California. Hang Gliders and subsequently Paraglders have been continuously flying this site for more than 30 years.
The local utility company, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has proposed a 1,000 megawatt transmission line from Imperial County to northern San Diego County. The original route was to go through Anza Borrego State Park, but the environmentalists were successful in eliminating this route. Several other routes were proposed in the Draft EIR. One of these alternative routes (route D) would have a major affect on 2 of our soaring sites, Horse and Blossom. Route D is the current preferred route by SDG&E.
Comments to the Draft EIR submitted by Tad Hurst and myself in 2007 were successful in mitigating the potential impacts to Horse. Information can be found here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SDHGPA/message/3483?threaded=1&l=1
Also see messages 3466 and 3482
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/Environment/info/aspen/sunrise/toc-cmts3.htm
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=Tad+Hurst&(shrinked URL)=&as_nhi=&safe=images
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/environment/info/aspen/sunrise/toc-feir.htm#p4
Unfortunately the Final EIR did not address the concerns addressed in Tad’s letter regarding Blossom. The proposed 150′ high transmission towers are to be placed along the base of El Cajon Mountain (referred to as El Cap by locals due to its beauty and similarity to El Capitan in Yosemite). On Friday, January 23, 2009 SDG&E crews were in El Monte Valley at the Base of EL Cap surveying for tower locations.
For those of you fly or have flown Blossom, you know that the site is not all that spectacular in itself, except that it is very accessible and consistently flyable most days throughout the year. The beauty of Blossom is to thermal up and cross over El Monte Valley to the face of El Cap. There is usually major sink crossing the valley so you arrive low just above the ridges and spines in the valley and gradually make your way up. It is a spectacular flight.
Typical Flights from Blossom to El Cap:
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/136995
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/7553
Note that proposed Sunrise Powerlink Tower 67 and associated powerlines would have a direct and negative impact to these flights.
At the Lakeside Planning meeting on Feb. 18, 2009 SDG&E representatives lied blatantly and frequently. They made statements such as that they had nothing to due with the proposed route and that they were just
doing what the CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) wanted.
What was made obvious is that the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for this route is severely deficient, not only for recreational activities such as HG/PG, but also for fire suppression, biological, archaeological, and it failed to address the fact that the El Monte Valley is a preserved scenic view corridor.
How you can help.
Since SDG&E said that is is all the CPUCs fault regarding the deficient EIR, we will need
to write letters to the CPUC regarding their failure to mitigate impacts the recreational
activity of PG/HG.
El Cap is located in US Forrest Service (USFS) land. The USFS has NOT yet granted permission for the Sunrise Powerlink to cross property that they manage, but they will make their decision soon. The USFS has been very supportive of hanggliding and paragliding in Southern California (Horse, Laguna, Elsinore, Marshall).
We need you to write letters to the USFS explaining that how dangerous the 150′ tall 1,000 megawatt power transmission lines would be to hang gliding and paragliding in the El Monte Valley and El Cajon Mountain area. These transmission lines need to either be placed underground in this area or rerouted away from the area.
You can send your letters to: Tim Cardoza “tcardoza@fs.fed.us” Please cc: the contacts listed in the “Take Action” section of this website.
Please consider joining the ECCAC and offering financial support to stop the construction of the Sunrise Powerlink in El Monte Valley.
Respectfully,
The USFS contact is now Will Metz. Please see the email contacts for his email info. Thanks!
Gentlemen;
Since starting PG Flights 2.5 years ago I have witnessed a number of flying sites in grave danger and not having the privilege of trying out your site yet it bothers me that I may never have the chance. How many lives does it take to stop such stupidity, since the very first pilot lost will bankrupt the power company you might want to point out to them the real cost here? Pilots will continue to try this site even after the construction only to find themselves in real peril as a result of GREED, point out the real cost to them and they may see it more clearly.
Steven Snyder
AHGA P-3
Phoenix, AZ
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