Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 2: February 2014 | Page 19

OPPOSITE Cade palmer pushing off the
repeater. TOP Becca Bredehoft isn’t afraid of
the cold. BOTTOM LZ crowd about to board
one of the two large retrieve vehicles.

W

e often talk about “risk
management” in paragliding
and hang gliding: knowing
your limits, calculating your risks,
asking if “it,” whatever that might
be at the time, is really worth doing
in spite of the potential consequences. Is it going to feel good
enough upon landing to go that
last 10 miles, despite numb frozen
fingers and a painful near-bursting
bladder? Sure! Are those last few
centimeters of speed bar really
necessary in this much turbulence
to eke past your buddy on glide to
goal? Obviously. Should one risk
hosting a fall fly-in for 50+ people
at a wind-finicky location with no
accommodations that is considered
to be the coldest place in Utah, just
because there will be a full moon,
and irritate a whole lot of iced-over,
bummed-out buddies? No, thanks!
It’s good that people who are
seemingly much better at risk management than I are willing to put the
effort and stress into believing with
all their hearts that the wind and
weather will cooperate with them
on scheduled days. Because without
these optimists, events like the 2013
Randolph Full Moon Fly-in would
never have happened. Cade Palmer
and Becca Bredehoft decided to
throw down, pioneer, and host that
event in an interesting format, and
the risk was well worth it.
Crawford Ridge, located in the
northeast corner of Utah west of the
Wyoming border, overshadows the
town of Randolph, population 464.

This west-facing 1500- foot ridgeline
overlooks the snaking Bear River and
has been well used by hang gliders
for decades. There is a dirt/rock road
all the way to launch that is twowheel-drivable for the daring. The
ridge is well known for mosquitos,
flat tires, two giant passive microwave
repeaters, and frequent blown-out

conditions. But those who risk the
mild calamities are often rewarded
with quick-turnaround speed-wing
flights, mini-wing soaring, smooth
ridge lift peppered with large thermals, and epic sunset glass-offs—as
was the case for this lucky weekend.
The fly-in was held October 18
and 19, 2013, with a $50 registration fee, which provided pilots with
$5 rides from the LZ to the top as
fast as you could lap it, tasty Jackson
Hole BBQ and microbrew, raffle
entries, and the always popular event
T-shirt. Judging by the size of the
turnout, this was a great deal, especially for speed-wing pilots and those
looking to get in a lot of sledders
quickly.
Friday began with dead winds
during the early part of the day, so
those with speed wings took advantage of the two large vehicles cycling
as fast as possible from launch to LZ,
with some pilots pulling off over ten
1500-foot laps through the jagged
jaws of lichen-covered rock outcroppings along the ridge. The wide-open
LZ at the base made for safe landings
for those attracted to the grass, while
the gravel road provided long, swooping slides for the daring. The winds
increased as the day progressed.
As late afternoon approached,
full-sized paragliders and hang gliders came out and began enjoying the
slightly south, but otherwise tremen-

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

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