Gliders > Slope Sites in Ireland

Minaun Heights - Achill

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Fred:
Right.. A lot is said about Minaun in Achill, but it seems that informations about flying there are far from reliable.

So, I had to check that by myself !  :D

I'm not going to tell you how to get to Achill, take a map, or check Google !



Well, one thing is sure, this is one of the most beautifull place you can find in Ireland !

To go to the slope, from Achill sound, take the direction to Keel. Going to Keel, you will cross Cashel. This is where you have the Achill Tourism Office, just beside a petrol station.

Just before the petrol station, on your left, you have a sign in Gaelic for Menaun


Just follow the road. Access is easy, and obviously, the road is brand new !
You are about 10 minutes from the top.

At the top, you park where the TV antennas are. You can get closed to the top of the hill by parking your car at the 3rd antenna. You can park at least 200 cars at the top !  :wink:




The slope :

From the antennas/car park, you have a 10 minutes walk to get to the first "bump" wich is more than enough to fly ! You have a further 10 minutes to walk to the end/Cliffs


The first step/bump, is where you can see the pile of rocks at the very top. Viewed from the car park

The view from the slope is absolutely fantastic ! The photos don't give justice to the place at all !





So, now, for the downside !

While the slope is perfect (you can fly almost all wind directions, except the directly to the antennas, but everything else is possible  :D ) this is a foamies slope only !

The slope is made of really sharp rocks, all the way up !  :cry:


I flew the Easyglider, but I will not fly anything else with a wood/fiberglass fuselage !

Once again, great slope, but very limited to what you can use it for !  :(

But that can be the perfect venue for a combat/race foamies event like the ones in Wales, UK, France and so on  :?:
Forget everything else !

Fred:
Atlantic Drive

Well, it's all not lost !
Once in Achill, you can follow the "Atlantic Drive", this is a road going almost around the island, and you can find a few spots there and there to fly, but not great.
The best spot, is the one going to the weather station. Beautifull view and you can fly any glider size you can ever imagine !
Just check for a good landing spot, as you also have rocks here (the slope is almost 2 miles long, along a road, but the top is flat. Park your car, walk to a safe distance from the road.. and enjoy !)







I have also checked a few other slopes in the Island, some impossible to go up, but they are all rockies !  :cry:

Alan_Perse:
The Achill slope look great Fred, a pity about the rocks  :( . But thats what you get when you go that West. The west of Ireland is quite rocky.

skyhawk newbie:
Handy to know that about Achill...
Spent too many summers there as a kid,but still go back now and then,to go Kitebuggying in Keel..
Planing to go up there Paragliding later this year,never thought to bring my glider with me.....will now     :D

Fred:
Hey Sean,

Welcome to the forum  :D

Yeah, great slope(s) in Achill.

Might be carefull with the weather, change really quickly ! The day I took these photos, weather went from perfect blue sky and light wind, to snow and storm in 2 minutes! Lasted 5 minutes or so, and back to blue sky!
Weird, but I guess this is the Atlantic weather system!

But you can see the weather front approaching miles away.

Anyway, great slopes, and the view !  =P~
Will go back there one day for sure!

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