Paragliding Site Guides > Mussel Rock > Blow Back

Why it’s Dangerous

When the wind is strong enough to blow you back, there will be strong turbulence / rotor behind the cliffs. As you descend through this turbulent layer, your glider is likely to take a deflation, often times very close to the ground, leaving you little altitude for recovery. In addition, there’s the danger of landing in power lines, the roof of a house, or in traffic. Many pilots have ended up in the hospital after being blown back.

How to avoid it

Prior to flight

Mussel Rock has its own microclimate, conditions on site can vary quite a bit from conditions even a mile north or south. It’s important check the wind meters around mussel rock as they provide valuable information about what the over all air mass is doing and especially what the wind is likely to be doing at the top of the cliffs. There’s often a strong wind gradient present, and it’s not uncommon for it to be blowing 10 mph or less at launch while the wind at the top of the cliffs is over 20mph. A few rules of thumb, regardless of what the wind on launch feels like:

Don’t fly if the wind at the SF buoy, Sharp Park or Funston meters are close to or gusting over 20mph.

Don’t fly if there are white caps visible from the shore.

Fly with a speed system attached, properly adjusted and that you know how to use it as well as when and how to apply big ears.

While Flying

Stay as low as possible. Stay out on the front edge of the lift band. You can locate the front edge by fly away from the cliffs until you start descending, as soon as you do turn back into the lift, and you will be positioned on the front of the lift band. When the wind is strong, this may be hundreds and or even thousands of feet out over the ocean!

While flying Mussel Rock, monitoring your crab angle should become second nature. As the wind speed increases, you will have to crab more into the wind and your ground speed will decrease. If your crab angle is within 20° of the wind direction, strongly consider landing.

What to do if you’re getting blown back

If you find you have no forward penetration or even worse are drifting slowly backwards, stay calm but react quickly. If you are at least 200ft in front of the top of the cliffs, big ears and full speed bar while pointing your glider directly away from the ridge is your best chance to avoid being blown back. If you are already directly above or behind the top of the cliffs, do not use big ears, doing so will slow your glider down, just use speed bar and point directly away from the cliffs.