Sieben Ranch

• Wind directionWNW (285°) → N (350°)
• Ideal speed6–15 mph
• Upper limits≤ 18 mph base · gusts ≤ 20

Sieben Ranch is a foothills free-flight launch in the Sieben Ranch / Lyons Creek area north of Helena, Montana (~5033 ft MSL), listed in the siteguide.app and paraglidingEarth databases as a W/NW/N-facing site. No club or USHPA chapter guide with explicit wind numbers was found, so direction arcs and speeds below are INFERRED from the published octant orientation (N, W, NW) plus general Rocky Mountain foothills knowledge — treat as low confidence and get a local briefing from Montana Free Flight before flying. Ideal flow is a NW-quadrant wind FROM roughly 285-350 deg (core NW ~315), straight in to the launch face. Marginal/cross extends down toward WSW (~255) and up across N into NNE (~15); beyond those it becomes cross-to-tailwind and rotor-prone. Hazards typical of inland mountain-foothills sites: thermic midday cycles that can overdevelop, gust fronts, mechanical rotor/lee turbulence if the gradient or thermals back the wind into S/E, and rapid valley wind shifts. Best window is generally calmer morning glass-off / smooth thermal cycles or evening; avoid strong midday overdevelopment and any S/SE flow (lee side). Likely a P3/Intermediate-level, private-ranch-access site requiring local club coordination and landowner permission — confirm access and rating with Montana Free Flight. Speeds are conservative estimates: comfortable 6-15 mph, max usable base ~18 mph, keep gusts under ~20 mph for paragliders.