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| Castle Ridge, Boreal California |
| Local Weather Info: Usually 2x+ Truckee winds Boreal Ski Resort Weather |
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| Lower parking area gate to upper parking lot. Closed until snow clears in summer. Usually mid July. |
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| This meadow lies about half way between upper and lower parking area. Turn left and continue up the trail |
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| Keep on Truckin |
| Upper Parking Area |
| From the upper parking lot it's a short walt to the saddle. Once you make it to the saddle follow the ridge line to your right. As your walking up towards Castle Peak you will see the flying ridge to the left of the peak. Try to get a feel for the wind direction on your way up. It can be tricky the way the winds blow over and around the ridges. Your going to want to target the spot where the wind hits the face squarely. Once your about 2/3 up to the peak you'll see a path heading off to the left towards the flying site. If there's still snow here, forget it, you'll need to go to the peak and then go down the side alighned with the ridge. |
| Directions: From E on Hwy 80 from Sacramento to Truckee. Take the Boreal Exit shortly after the 7000 ft. elevation marker. Go under the highway and up the hill to the gate. This is the lower parking area. If the gate is closed or you don't have enough ground clearance you'll need to walk from here. The distance from the lower parking lot to the upper parking lot is about 1-1/2 miles (30-45 minutes walk) so it's definitely worth it if you can make it. Just inside the gate you'll come to a trail crossing, continue straight through, you'll know your on the correct trail if the slope up stays or your left. The slope up will remain on your left all the way to the ridge saddle. About half way between the upper and lower parking areas you will come to a meadow. This is a tricky spot when there's snow because you cannot see the trail. Make a left here and follow the path up the hill. (Slope up will be on your left) Park in the upper parking area. |
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| Last leg up to Saddle |
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| Looking back towards saddle |
| Looking forward to peak trail |
| Flying Site Ridge Line |
| Castle Ridge Videos: Panoramic from Peak Peak Backside Oh-No! Lost Super-Tron 207 mph Super-Tron 279 mph Velocity |
| Copyright 2005,2006,2007 Tuff Planes LLC |
| Things to remember: This is rugged terrain. Be sure to wear good hiking boots, bring lots of water and wear sun screen. This is definitely a site where you can loose your plane. Don't risk your life climbing on the edge of a cliff trying to recover something that's only worth a couple of hundred bucks! Remember these words before you climb or go after your plane, "IS THIS REALLY WORTH IT!" |
| Description: This scenic location in the Sierra Mountain range is just spectacular. The front side lift is huge. Gaining altitude was as quick as Sierra Rd with 70mph winds and continuous effort had to be made to keep the ship at a reasonable leavle, Although I have yet to find the perfect DS spot here I'm pretty sure I know where it is now. Even in the marginal locations I flew I was able to reach speeds of 136mph on a seasoned (beat up) Super-Tron and 135mph on a clean Super-Tron as indicated on a tripod mounted radar gun. This is definitely going to be a 200mph site if not a World Record site for DS Speed. |
| King of the hill: Crunchy: Vernon Anderson, 298 mph Opus MC3 10/6/07 Foamy: Norman Mertke, 207 mph Super-Tron 10/1/05 |