Site Description:

Blueberry Hill is a favorite training hill in the Anchorage area. It can be a good ridge soaring site or a thermal release point where flights up to 6000’ MSL have started out.

Continue up the well-established trail to Flat Top on you’re on the most hiked mountain in Alaska; you can expect to see a lot of other people. It’s a steep hike and a rocky launch from Flat Top.

Works Best When:

Flying is good with north, northwest, south and southwest winds. In south winds from Blueberry it is marginal getting back around the corner and downwind to the LZ, so light NW winds are favored. You can fly down into the valley on light south wind days, but LZs are few and tight and power lines riddle the area.

A south wind launch from the back side of Flat Top is possible, but it is quite a shallow sloped launch (strong running skills are a must). West wind is favored and north winds will have you cross wind launching or 1000’ cliff launching the north side (NOT recommended!). For best thermal potential, look for a late summer afternoon with moderate cumies and a light SW wind. Fly from Flat Top and look for thermals off of Blueberry Hill.

Requirements:

The Arctic Air Walkers pays annual fees to insure this site through USHGA. Contact an Arctic Air Walkers member for information on how to join the club.

Potential Hazards:

• Beware of strong southeast winds. Do not fly (rotor city)
• Scrubby trees around the LZ are fairly forgiving, but they’re line-grabbers and will scratch you if you’re not fully protected.
• Large, sharp boulders on Flat Top are unavoidable and the launch is steep enough to be called a cliff. Strong launching skills are a must for Flat Top.

From the Seward highway, take O'Malley exit east. Turn right on Hillside then left (east) at Upper Huffman. Right at Y, up steep hill, follow road to Glen Alps trail head parking lot ($5/day fee required) and hike a short 15 minutes south east up a well-maintained path to launch Blueberry hill. About five minute into the hike the scrubby trees give way for the LZ. Flat Top is about a 45 minute hike.
This site description is by no means meant to be complete. Contact a local pilot for a briefing before flying any site and fly within your USHGA rating limits.

This site description is by no means meant to be complete.  Contact a local pilot for a briefing before flying any site and fly within your USHGA rating limits.

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