At my club the first requisite is a minimum of 20 hours local flying.
Then we take them out in a motorglider or power plane to pick fields
and practice several simulated outlandings without actually landing
but getting low enough to see if the field was as good as it looked
from above. This is extremely helpful!!. If it´s with a power plane we
leave some throttle on to simulate glider performance.
While they are students we try to give them plenty of thermal time and
maybe fly a few ´´mini tasks´´ . As new pilots, we strongly encourage
them to fly a little 30 km triangle around the airfield.
By this time the aspiring XC pilots should have participated in at
least a few retrieves so they are familiar with that aspect of the
sport too.
Every year we have an introductory class for the new XC pilots where
we go over all the basics and we put a lot of emphasis on preparation,
attitude and safety. During the winter months we usually have some
more advanced classes on tactics, meteorology, etc. but this first
class is the most important.
If the pilot has the hours and necessary flying skills, has done the
simulated outlandings and taken the intro class, he/she is ready to
go. Most pilots go for a 100 km first task.
My club has three PW5´s and everybody starts flying XC with these.
With 40 hours and at least 5 off field landings in the PW5 pilots can
move up to a Jantar.

Regards,

Juan Carlos