Narrative:

I landed on a ridge. I landed to the north and came to a complete stop. I proceeded to taxi and turn upon which the tail of the aircraft abruptly rose with the prop striking the ground. The aircraft came to a rest in the vertical position. I exited the aircraft and righted it back onto all three wheels to keep the aircraft from getting blown completely over. As I worked to secure the aircraft the wind progressively increased and the wind chill became approximately -20 to -30F. I was aware of a large system coming through the area which would bring high winds the next day and a local pilot informed me via VHF that it was going to blow somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 mph where I was located. The ridge I was located on provided no shelter and little opportunity for securing the aircraft against any significant wind. The aircraft had no significant damage other than the bent prop. A propeller of the same design was flown in and installed. With the concern of the safety of myself and the aircraft in mind; the decision was made to relocate the plane back to the airport versus spending multiple days and nights in an inhospitable area with significant weather approaching. Better awareness of the wind direction and speed along with greater consideration of the terrain being taxied over along with quicker corrective action could have prevented this incident.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A PA-18 pilot landed on a ridge top and while taxiing the wind lifted the tail causing a propeller strike. With a front approaching in very cold weather; a new propeller was flown out so the plane could be recovered.

Narrative: I landed on a ridge. I landed to the North and came to a complete stop. I proceeded to taxi and turn upon which the tail of the aircraft abruptly rose with the prop striking the ground. The aircraft came to a rest in the vertical position. I exited the aircraft and righted it back onto all three wheels to keep the aircraft from getting blown completely over. As I worked to secure the aircraft the wind progressively increased and the wind chill became approximately -20 to -30F. I was aware of a large system coming through the area which would bring high winds the next day and a local pilot informed me via VHF that it was going to blow somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 mph where I was located. The ridge I was located on provided no shelter and little opportunity for securing the aircraft against any significant wind. The aircraft had no significant damage other than the bent prop. A propeller of the same design was flown in and installed. With the concern of the safety of myself and the aircraft in mind; the decision was made to relocate the plane back to the airport versus spending multiple days and nights in an inhospitable area with significant weather approaching. Better awareness of the wind direction and speed along with greater consideration of the terrain being taxied over along with quicker corrective action could have prevented this incident.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.