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Mt. Victoria

1/7/25

Updated:

Morning speed laps or east wind big thermals.

Backcountry site - undeveloped but associated with RMHPA

Min Rating:

Special Skills:

Radio:

P3

High Altitude, Turbulence

151.955

Summit County Hike n Fly

Mt. Victoria is one of the few east-facing launches in the area. It's great in the morning when the sun bakes the mountain and small thermal breezes come up, or the rare day when there's actually a light east wind.

It's most commonly done in the morning before the west wind takes over the day. It is possible to launch west (while dodging trees), and immediately wrap around the mountain and out over Frisco, but this is best for advanced pilots. If there's a W wind from 8-10mph, the west side is soarable and it's possible to bench up to Peak 1.

On light east wind days, this is an excellent site for P4s to launch in the first thermals and enjoy XC flying all over Summit County. You might need oxygen!

Do not fly on strong N or S wind days due to strong rotor.

Launch

Tucked into a nice small bowl below trees at ridgeline, the main East Launch faces E and benefits from thermic collection of the bowl below. It's a slightly shallow angle, so it's more comfortable to launch with a light wind around 5mph. There's a secondary East Launch just up the hill that can work a little better if the wind is a bit SE.

West Launch, which is directly over the ridge from East Launch, is not recommended unless you are very experienced in the area.

The hike up is quite steep and makes a great morning workout!

The glide ratio to the LZ is 5.2.

Landing

The huge meadows by the lake are the best LZ. You can land right next to the bike path and easily hike back to your car. Setting up a car shuttle is also common.

It's possible to land in the school fields that you can see from launch, but only use them if school is positively out of session.

Launch and Landing Map

Winds

  • East Launch: PG: 0-10mph, ideal 5mph, gust factor 5mph. Direction: Ideal 15-60, Okay 10-75 degrees

  • West Launch: PG: 2-10mph, ideal 5mph, gust factor 5mph. Direction: Ideal 225-250, Okay 200-260 degrees

Weather

Live Wind Usage

  • On your phone, open the link below and bookmark it or "Add to Home Screen".

  • It is optimized for use while in-flight and will auto-update frequently.

Live Winds

XC Flights

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