Geek alert: Neal Stephenson's new novel "Seveneves" has an interesting segment wherein one of the characters soars in a futuristic sailplane. The character essentially wears the plane like a suit and it is equipped with a LIDAR driven tactile and audio vario system. Clearly, Stephenson did some homework or has familiarity with soaring. The character dives off a ridge to make repeated low passes on a lake to pick up water ballast. Eventually she uses wave to climb to an extreme altitude where she contacts the lower end of a rotating orbital tether that then carries her into orbit. Sort of takes the winch launch concept to an extreme.