Here's the plan. A 2 week hang gliding vacation. I will be traveling with my flying buddy Chris and his wife Wendy. We will travel through Northern California, Oregon, and finally to King Mountain Idaho flying the along the way. Our final destination is King Mountain, Idaho, where I will compete in the King Mountain Hang Gliding Championship.
The Championships is and XC Competition (www.flykingmountain.com). It is the best 3 out of 5 days. You get one point per mile flown. I believe the site record is around 200 miles!
I hope to keep at least a semi-regular update of my trip on this blog.
About Me
Definitions You Will Need to Know
Hang Glider. This is what I fly. Not to be confused with a Paraglider, which is something entirely different. A Hang Glider (as you can see in the photos) looks like a wing. A Paraglider looks like a parachute
Launch – the point on the mountain where we leave the ground and take to the air.
Blown Out - When the wind switches to a direction that prohibits us from launching. We need the wind to be up launch. To much to either side, or blowing down from behind us, and we can not launch.
LZ – Landing Zone. This is wherever we land.
Thermal – A rising column of air. It rises because it is warmer than the air surrounding it. It is these columns of rising air that provide lift and allow us to soar thousands of feet up.
Sled Run – This is a short flight where there was no lift to be found.
Sink Out – If you are trying to stay up in the air, but you cant find lift, you “sink out” and are forced to land
XC – Cross Country. This is flying where you are trying to go far. Rather than just boating around and landing at the bottom of the hill, in XC flying we try to get high and go far. You fly without knowing where you are going to land ahead of time. It requires good conditions with lots of lift. It can involve flying over mountain ranges, valleys, towns, etc. The challenges include picking out suitable LZ’s from the air, judging changing weather and terrain, and being able to find the thermals.
Soarable – Conditions that allow us to stay up. In other words, there is rising air.
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