Blaine Perkins sends:

Hello this is John Kangas with a Crow update and great news for
February 28, 2013.

We are very pleased to announce that a special use permit has been issued by
Idaho Fish and Game for the Crow Gliding Hill just east of Boise. After a years
discussion and planning, gliding enthusiasts Patrick Harper and Marshall
Sinclair working together with great IDFG representatives including Director
Virgil Moore, Scott Reinbacker, Jerry Deal, and Krista Muller formulated a very
flexible and workable agreement that will allow gliding from the Crow to begin
May 1st and extend until November 15th. This time frame coincides with general
hiking access allowed into the Wildlife Management Area, and encompasses the
best gliding weather Boise has to offer.

We would like to thank all of the neighbors, citizens, sportsman, and gliding
enthusiasts who contacted their elected representatives, and took the time to
attend the various meetings that have been held. We would like to also thank the
members of the Boise City Council and staff who felt that a 35 year heritage of
gliding in Boise was important, and who conveyed those feelings with the sale of
the property to Fish and Game. We also give thanks to all of the members of the
press who covered our story and shared it with their readers and audiences. This
would include the Boise Guardian, the Boise Weekly, the Idaho Statesman, Channel
2, Channel 6, Channel 7, Channel 12, and Paul J's KBOI 670 talk radio.

This Saturday, March 2nd at 8:00 am folks will be meeting for the annual
volunteer planting of bitter and sage brush at Hammer Flat next to the Crow
Gliding Hill. We gather at Idaho Fish and Game headquarters on Myrtle Street and
the proceed to the great outdoors at Hammer Flat. We are forecast to have sunny
conditions with a high temperature of 60 degrees! Come on out, plant some
habitat, see some wildlife, and have a look at our nifty gliding hill next to
Boise.

Once again beautiful gliders will grace the Boise skyline on May 1st. Gliding
enthusiasts can review the dates, conditions of use, and other important
information about the Crow Gliding Hill at
http://www.facebook.com/groups/421036654652036/

Blaine Perkis writes:

Please everyone read and follow the rules for our seasonal use
permit, for a still very sensitive site. No club membership required. As for
local contacts, Marshal Sinclair or Patrick Harper. Lately they have both helped
to get us flying there again. IHGA also was a big help in getting us back up
there. Join this group to show support for the site:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/421036654652036/.

Sadly it is not as good as it sounds. Great for the paraglider crowd but not
so good for us hang glider pilots. Looking at the map of where we are allowed to
hike up, it will be much harder to get a hang-glider up top using the trail the
paraglider pilots hike up with basically only a backpack. The map shows a
couple of switch backs that might be tough carried or with a glider bag rigged.
The road is now off limits! Then there's the landing zone. It is smaller and
narrower than I would like to have seen, and closer to the hill and has a slight
down hill slope to it. It might be fine for paragliders, but I would have wanted
a bigger area where we are allowed to land! But that is what is in the deal.

My plan is to try and land out across from the Crow Inn bar/grill next to the
sports rental place. It is the LZ we used when flying off Shaw Mt. It is flat
will be easy to reach on a Falcon after soaring the Crow Gliding hill. I'm
guessing a sled ride straight there might even make it too. With no hiking a
glider back to the only parking area we are requested to use. I used to park
next to the west edge neighborhood and had a short pack out.

Blaine Perkins writes:

The vertical hike up the only trail we are allowed to use is a
500' from the parking lot we are to use. It is not going to be a hang-glider
friendly site.

On flights I have made from Shaw Mt. on an intermediate wing, a Sport 167, I
would always try to connect with the Crow hill, and soar it till my driver
arrived at the LZ. It was very hard to do being such a small hill in width. On a
falcon type glider it is much easier.

As for when is the best time of year? The season they gave us will be just fine.
Any day of the summer when there is no front coming or going, the valley does
its breathing thing. A bike ride any day of the summer out to the dam in the
morning is a catabatic headwind. A ride back to town always has a headwind.

If the winds (West or NW) are more than 7mph at the airport it is usually too
strong for PG at the Crow hill. Anything over 15 at the airport and the ridge
would be blown out for a falcon type glider.

The glass offs are awesome there. Last time I went there I got a 45 min flight
getting as high as 600' over after working till 5 pm a 30 min drive and the 1/2
hr hike up. It will be worth the hike any summer afternoon.

I am not sure if wheels are allowed on the trail yet for biking up. I am look
forward to standing on a shovel helping improve the trail up as soon as they
ask. The old road is definitely off limits.

Crow - Permit Conditions