Crawford Flying

The Crawford Mountains rise steeply 1,500 vertical feet from the valley floor East of Randolph, Utah. The Northwest facing range runs about 18 miles from Highway 30 at the Wyoming border, South toward Evanston, WY. Most of the range is within Utah, but most XC routes will take you into Wyoming. The dark, steep cliffs along the face gather and release heat nicely, but can also be a source of some mechanical turbulence if not respected. A decent 2wd gravel road takes you from one of many wide open LZ's to the top in about 15-20 minutes.

The view from launch out over the valley and the meandering Bear River is spectacular. Set up areas on top are limited, but there is plenty of room right behind the ridge.

There are 3 or 4 wide open launch options, depending on your preference and angle of the wind. The ridge drops off quickly making for an easy launch, but you do have to be aware of how the gullies, spines and ridges affect the local airflow. Wonder wind glass-offs are not uncommon here, sometimes lasting beyond sunset. We were hoping today might be such a day!


A 10-15 mph NW wind is perfect here, but a cross-wind launch is feasible if it is more Westerly or Northerly. Launching in winds over 20 mph is not recommended here, due to the potential for some spooky/scary turbulence that the sharp cliffs can generate in higher winds. Yesterday, Cody, Landon and I drove together, met Bruce and Greg in the LZ and then carpooled up to launch.

Upon arrival at about 3 pm, the wind was coming straight in at 10-12 mph, so we all started right in with our setup routines.

This is the first set up area I have been to where you have to watch out for the sharp cacti!
By the time we were ready, the wind had died and was even crossing out of the NE!

So we hang-waited the next hour and a half in the hot sun, finding occasional shade from some nice cumies building just South of launch. We watched about 10-15 turkey vultures playing in the thermals in front of launch, sometimes high, sometimes low. We weren't sure if they were trying to utilize the lift, or if they were purposely staying near or below launch altitude. Finally at about 5:30 some cycles straightened out enough for Landon and me to safely launch. It was still a cross, light-wind launch, but we pulled it off nicely! The view straight down on the sharp rock spires is stunning, but we didn't have time to enjoy it much. Unfortunately we found nothing but sink, as the northerly component just slid across the face producing no lift. We made 3-4 passes, and were soon setting up our landing approach. We came in for a gentle wheel-in landing on a recently cut alfalfa field.

About 15 minutes later, conditions dramatically improved on launch, and Cody was the first to show everyone how to soar above the ridgetop!

Bruce and Greg soon joined him,

along with 2 paragliders. It was painful watching everyone air-playin' directly above us as we broke down the big Falcon, but some days require a sacrificial flight before the wind Gods oblige.

I was glad that it turned good for them, but couldn't stand waiting around, so Landon and I decided to hike up the face to retrieve the truck from the top. The cliff face appears impenetrable by foot, but we found a gully which safely took us to the top in just under an hour. About halfway up conditions got light again, as one by one everyone flew out to land.

Here is a video clip of Greg's stellar landing (it's a little shaky because I took it zoomed in from half-way up the mountain face.)

While we were loading up, Landon had to make sure he could fit into Cody's new dog kennel! (No, he didn't ride home in it!)

It didn't turn out to be a magical day over the Crawfords, but almost everyone got over an hour of some nice, smooth airtime.