Mount Evans

• Wind directionSW (225°) → NW (315°)
• Ideal speed3–10 mph
• Upper limits≤ 12 mph base · gusts ≤ 15

No published club/USHPA site guide exists for Mount Evans (officially renamed Mount Blue Sky in 2023); it is NOT a maintained RMHPA flying site. This is an isolated 14,134 ft MSL summit flown only opportunistically by experienced/expert pilots, typically as an early-morning sled run or speedwing descent before thermal/valley winds build. As a freestanding high peak the orientation hint reports all eight octants work, so the usable launch can be picked to face into the prevailing wind; in practice the prevailing free-air flow over the Colorado Front Range high country is westerly, so a W-to-NW (roughly 225-315 deg) launch facing is most reliable, with S-through-N tolerable at light wind. Because of the extreme altitude, treat wind numbers as very conservative: true airspeed and sink rates are much higher than at sea level, wing performance is degraded by thin air, and launch/inflation is harder, so keep base wind under ~10-12 mph and avoid any gust spread over ~15 mph. Major hazards: rapidly building afternoon thermals and convergence, severe leeside rotor and mechanical turbulence off the surrounding 13-14k ridges, fast-developing afternoon thunderstorms (launch only in the calm early morning), and venturi/valley-wind reversals. Access is via the Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway (seasonal, summer only, fee/timed-entry reservation, gated) to a paved summit lot; the area is alpine tundra with land-manager restrictions, so confirm current launch legality locally. Expert-only, high-consequence, fair-weather morning site. Numbers below are inferred from terrain/orientation and general high-altitude practice, not from a documented site guide.