On Sunday, November 10, 2019 at 1:55:11 PM UTC-8, Ramy wrote:
Maybe this is why most cross country pilots started with hang gliders. In a hang glider almost every cross country flight end with an off field landing. One must be totally comfortable with the idea of off field landing to be able to fly cross country safely.

Ramy

Big difference though, between an off field landing in a hang glider and one in a sailplane as you know. Some of the newer hang gliders are a little hotter landing, but back in the day - if necessary - a tree landing in a hang glider was considered a landing, not a crash. You can put even a high aspect Rogallo into a very small and confined space in relative safety. A 21m sailplane, not so much.

Out west, even an airfield landing can be treacherous: there may be berm on the sides, the sage may have grown 4' tall since you walked it last, the snow stakes might be set up for a Cessna or small span power plane.