Crestline Soaring Society

Crestline and Marshall Peak, in sunny Southern California, combine to make one of the best all around hang gliding and paragliding sites in the world. Thermal and ridge soaring are both plentiful during the 300+ days a year it is flyable here.

Contents:

1. Crestline General Info
2. Site Protocol
3. Crestline Launches
4. Andy Jackson Airpark

Crestline General Info

Crestline is located about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, California, in the San Bernardino Mountains. The flying site consists of the Crestline Ridge at an altitude of 5,200 feet MSL and Marshall Peak, about a mile in front of Crestline with an altitude of 4,000 feet.

The site, which faces generally SW, is reliably soarable from April to September. Beginning in September the Santa Ana winds (NW) shut the site down for periods of up to 5 days at a time, peaking in October-December and tapering off through early April. The periods between Santa Anas are often quite good and the clear air makes flying at these times quite spectacular. In the summer it is rather smoggy, but still soarable. To get to San Bernardino take Interstate 10 east from LA and go north at the I-215 junction. When the freeway splits bear right ("Mountain resorts") and take the Highway 18 offramp. Highway 18 leads to the town of Crestline and there is a paved road all the way to the Crestline launch. Access to Marshall is via a 2 WD dirt road off of Hwy. 18 part way up. Andy Jackson Airpark (map) is located just behind Cal State University, San Bernardino. From the 215 Fwy, bear left at the previously mentioned split ("Barstow, Las Vegas") and get off on University Pkwy. Head for the University (toward mountains) and turn left on Northpark Blvd. Follow the road over the dike and turn right on the first dirt road. From there it is obvious.


Site Protocol

Crestline offers a combination of ridge and thermal soaring and is primarily a hang gliding site, though PGs can fly from there when the winds are light, usually late afternoon. Marshall is an excellent thermal site for both HG and PG, with top landings possible for advanced HG pilots and very easy for PG. To fly at Crestline/Marshall a pilot must be a ushga member and be a Crestline Soaring Society (CSS) member. Day use fees are $10.00 for non-members. CSS memberships(Application) are available for $100/year(day use fees are not applicable toward membership). Both Crestline and Marshall Peak are rated Hang 3/Para 3 due to the strong conditons usually found there. Pilots with lower ratings may fly if they are under direct supervision of an instructor or if they have an instructor's sign-off, which can be obtained by contacting a local instructor and showing him or her your logbook and/or demonstrating some skills. Pilots with less than 10 hours airtime are further restricted in that they may not fly between 11 AM and 5 PM from April to September; this is due to the sometimes violent thermal activity encountered those times of day during that time of year, especially in the landing area. All pilots flying in the Crestline area are required to carry parachutes appropriate for their aircraft. Andy Jackson Airpark is the only location (in the valley) where it is legal for pilots to land. The City of San Bernardino has an ordinance against flying or landing within city limits and the police can issue tickets to violators.


Crestline/Marshall Launches

The Crestline launch is the most popular site in the area for hang glider pilots. The 5,200 foot MSL ridge, 3,500 feet above the landing area, offers a mixture of ridge lift and thermal soaring throughout the year. There is a paved road all the way up, a paved parking lot, ample set-up area, and toilet facilities. The launch is steep and smooth so the airflow is laminar even in strong conditions. Pilots may follow the ridge for several miles in either direction (E-W) depending on conditions. Just west of launch is the "Billboard" area, an excellent place for thermals. Thermal activity begins around 1 PM, peaks about 3 PM, and tapers off to an evening glass off around 6 PM. Marshall Peak can easily be reached if one leaves the ridge about 300 feet below launch level or higher, depending on the headwind. Thermalling up to Crestline from Marshall or lower is not out of reach for Novice or Intermediate pilots.

See map showing launches and LZ.

On those days where the inversion is not present (usually around 6,500 feet) one can even go over the back for XC into the desert. There is also XC potential to the east, toward Yucaipa 20 miles away. Jumping the 1 mile gap from Billboard to Pine Mtn. to the west brings a pilot to a good thermal gathering mountain which can lead to forays 6 miles farther to Cajon Pass. Flights of 1 to 2 hours are the norm, and even in sled ride conditions a flight will be about 15 minutes.

Marshall Peak offers several launches, the primary one being Marshall Peak itself, 4,000 feet MSL and 2,300 feet above Andy Jackson Airpark. Marshall is the main launch for paragliders flying in the area. Access to Marshall Peak is via fire road 2N40 from Highway 18, after crossing the top of Waterman Canyon. There are actually three launches on the peak, the top is a wide flat SW slope suited to both PG and HG. There are two slightly lower launches facing SSW and S which provide options for HG pilots when the wind is more south than west. Because of the mixture of aircraft at Marshall PG pilots flying just in front of launch are asked to keep an eye on HGs wishing to launch and to yield to them so that they may launch safely. The usual indication that an HG wishes to launch is when he has picked up his glider from the ground. The top of Marshall is flat, about 60 yards wide and is very easy to land a paraglider on. Hang gliders can top land by coming up the slope on the NW side, but this is tricky at times and is definitely an advanced skill. There are thermals along all of the spines around Marshall and the top is even ridge soarable in moderate winds, though the area is not very wide. It is rather easy for pilots to fly back to Crestline from Marshall, but getting back out front can be quite a challenge for paragliders, who risk a VERY inconvenient "out landing" if they do so.

Other Launches

There is a little used launch known as "Regionals" to the west of Marshall Peak and about 600 feet lower than Marshall Peak. This launch is used for competitions and when cloudbase is below Marshall Peak. There is also a launch at 750 feet AGL just above the Airpark which (normally - see note below) can be reached in 12 minutes via a dirt road from the LZ. The "750" launch is good for both PG and HG and is well suited to training and landing approach practice. Good pilots can even thermal up from the "750" and fly all over the place. It is quite satisfying to launch from the 750 and land on Marshall Peak.
Limited Access - hopefully NOT permanent.
Since the 'Old Fire' in Nov. 2003 the dirt fire road (2N40) from near the LZ to the top of Marshall has been closed to motor vehicles, limiting access to the 750 launch. Paraglider pilots can hike up a trail with their gear and launch from the 750, but HG access is pretty much out of the question. The 'Regionals' launch, about 1700 feet above the LZ is also on 2N40 and thus is not currently a normal option, even for PG pilots, though if Marshall were in the clouds one could hike down the road 1.2 miles to Regionals and launch.


Andy Jackson Airpark

Airpark Sign: Our LZ Entrance is well marked.
This is our cast-concrete Airpark sign, ca. 2002, placed at the turn from the 'main' dirt road to our access road. The sign is the handiwork of Dusty Rhodes and Owen Morse. Congratulations for a great idea and excellent realization of it.

The Airpark is our custom built LZ which replaces the old Pinecrest Airpark, which was swallowed up by an expansion of the Devil Canyon Powerplant. The LZ has ample parking, some shade, benches, and toilet facilities. The LZ is a trapezoidal plateau about 600 feet on the long axis (which points into the prevailing SW wind) and about 350 feet wide. The field slopes up into the wind at 2%, with a 50 foot drop-off at the upwind end. The slight up-grade helps make landing at the Airpark a true joy. The (rare) overshooting pilot finds him or herself 50 feet high in the air, but there is plenty of room to make an emergency landing, though the terrain does slope down slightly into the wind and one will have a long walk back to the LZ. There are bluffs just downwind of the Airpark which provide soarable lift, so landing approaches are set-up from the sides of the LZ, which has no obstructions to approach from any side. The PG approach is from the west side and the HG approach is from the east. There are two 50 foot diameter grass target spots, the West for paragliders, the East for hang gliders. Landing pilots are asked to move their wings to the ample grass-covered breakdown area along the west side of the LZ as quickly as possible after landing. The 50 foot high upwind end of the LZ is also used for instructional flights for both PG and HG, as traffic allows. There is a small 20' high mound built up at the northeast end of the LZ for hang glider training (usually with bungee assist). This hill lies right under the HG approach path, but even when in use it is not in the way, and affords students a good view of 'real' flights and landings while they are taking their first runs and flights.


Conclusion

If you are planning to visit Southern California a visit to Crestline should be near the top of your list of things to do, even before Disneyland and Universal Studios. The site offers fun and challenging flying for pilots of all skill levels and is consistent enough that getting up in the air is virtually assured. We look forward to seeing you here and sharing our excellent site.