summit flyby stories

[crestone14ers]

In 1976 we were just finishing Crestone Traverse and were on the Needle.

To the west we could hear the roaring sound of an F-4 Phantom returning back to Peterson AFB.

The pilot must have seen us and he turned his plane so that we could literally see his helmet in the cockpit as he was shooting through so close to us.

The roar of the twin engines were deafening and as he blasted by, the pilot hit the afterburners and waved his wings at us.

To say we were blown away at the power of the F-4 is an understatement.

I have other stories about the Air Force and National Guard jets buzzing the Sangre peaks and SLV but I'll save 'em for another time.

[bonehead]

I have been buzzed many times.
Sometimes even on mountain summits by aircraft.
Just about every time on Whitney,
maybe 30 summits and 20 overnights.
Lot of AF bases out there.
Whitney seems to be a favorite target.
A B1 buzzed us low driving 395.

The best was my first Whitney summit at 15 years old.
We could see the summit hut a hundred yards ahead.
A couple F-4 fighters came right over us emerging from the other
side of the summit with no clue, no warning, no hint.
They just appeared right over our heads.

Worst I experienced I posted in another thread a couple years ago.

Re: Summit Traditions
by bonehead » Sat Jul 07, 2012 7:23 am

MntOwl wrote:
I like to look at a map and exclaim, "that mountain is such-and-such"

Mt Baden Powell CA, Circa 1976??
Sitting on the summit perched over my map spread out on the ground;
a fixed wing hard body glider came right over our heads.
I swear if I was standing up it would have whacked me, it was that low.
On his second pass I flipped off the MFr.
On the third pass I bounced a softball size rock off his windshield.
SOB could have easily killed us and at the time I wanted to return the favor.
Thankfully this did not develop into my summit routine.
Nor did "Awe, the old ant jaw on the bung hole"
Pat

[planet54]

^ ^^ Continuing with the year 1976 my story takes place on a climb of Capitol Peak. I was somewhere along the Knife Edge facing the peak when above , behind and to my right I heard a loud WHOOSH. It was a glider, or sailplane if you prefer that term. The pilot banked it hard to his right, circled the top of the peak twice and then came directly at me. For a moment I thought he was on a Kamikaze mission and being where I was at the time my options were severely limited as to what I could do about it. I held my ground and watched him go by about 50 feet away at eye level. He had dark hair , a moustache and a grin from ear to ear. WHOOSH ZING GONE

[Broken Knee]

I've flown very close to Rainier and Citlaltepetl in a C130. Close enough to see clothing color, the rope, etc.

[crossfitter]

A couple weeks ago we were retreating off the Tan Buttresses near Mt Evans. Clouds were building fast and we still had 4 pitches to go (plus the walk-off up and over Mt. Spaulding) so we made the call to start rapping off. As we were getting ready to start up the first rap.... BOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Then a few moments later two F-16's came screaming low and out of the north, much to our relief. The wall had blocked our view of the jets so for a few moments we were certain that the storm had decided to open up right on top of us.

[Kovar]

Last Thursday (8/14) while atop of Pikes Peak there were two flyovers: first was a fighter jet (F-22 I think) and then a few minutes later 2 Apache helicopters. The jet came and went before I could get my camera out but I was able to get video of the Apaches. Awesome sights.

[bob863]

FYI, NOAA has been flying two planes (a C-130 and an Orion P3) along the Front Range during the past 2 weeks to capture/analyze air samples...both planes have 10-20 on-board computer stations to aid with their analysis...

[MountainHiker]

Bear Peak by Boulder. Gliders on multiple occasions. The first time I didn't know what it was. I heard a hiss and looked up to see a glider passing not very high above me.

Longs Peak on the homestretch. An F-16 flew by about our height and did a partial roll. We could see the pilot. An F-16 is one of the coolest looking airplanes, the way the bubble of the cockpit sits out above the engine intake.

Got quick glimpse of a couple F-16s fly past when we were climbing Crestone Needle. Heard the roar, and then they went past.

Sunshine, a couple F-16s flew by and one tipped its wings in answer to someone on the summit.

[iholdthepain]

July 4, 2012... on the way back down the Keyhole route... approx. 11am, close to Chasm Junction... a fighter jet came screaming over the Longs summit and nearly scared the pee outta me!

Really cool to witness that, there, on 7/4

[MarkSandusky]

I've seen the gliders up on Bear Peak in Boulder too. But the best flyby I have seen though was just after topping out on the Bastile in Eldo, an old Biplane cruised on by - pretty cool!

[SurfNTurf]

I was beginning the traverse over to Loveland Mountain from Mt. Buckskin in early November last year when a Blackhawk helicopter circled within a few hundred feet. I'd seen Blackhawks in the hills a few times before, so I didn't think much of it. It returned a few minutes later and attempted to land on the summit of Loveland Mountain. It made me a bit paranoid, to be honest. I'd waved at the crew and I was worried they thought I needed assistance. After a few unsuccessful tries, the pilot gave up, flew by one more time at a close distance and headed back in the direction of Colorado Springs. It was a very cool and unusual thing to witness.

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[highpilgrim]

After a few unsuccessful tries, the pilot gave up, flew by one more time at a close distance and headed back in the direction of Colorado Springs. It was a very cool and unusual thing to witness.

I had a recent similar experience on Horseshoe. Same thing, sort of. A pair of Blackhawks flew around the area and one made the motions of landing on top and then banked and flew off. I didn't get my camera out fast enough to capture him close but it was fun to watch.

Although like you it made me a little nervous. I thought they were on some kind of a SAR mission and that usually sucks.

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