On Monday, December 18, 2017 at 1:40:34 PM UTC-7, wrote:
I've been a CFI-G since 1971, instructed in many settings (both commercial, though not recently, and 5 different clubs) ... and I am afraid that I don't think your question is answerable without knowing both more about your background, and then also your intent.

Do you have other flying experience? Or starting from scratch?

What is your goal? Is it just to solo, that's it? Honestly, that's OK if so.

If your goal is to actually go on from that in soaring ... then you need to pick your milieu to make that possible ... and that's a more involved question.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I am not a pilot. I have handled the controls and taken a few turns in a 150 and 172, but that doesn't count. I completed ground school in the early 90s, but didn't have the money to get in the air. I have flown RC model gliders (slope soaring) quite a bit though. Even designed and flew my own 60" foam-core/fiberglass body ship, until I crashed it. I hope to fly the slopes in the mountains locally where I live in MT, but there is no local club. I would like to try cross-country flying as wellThere is a municipal airport about 2 miles from my house though, that serves Air Tractors during wildland fire season in the summer. There is only one glider club/school listed in MT (Bozeman) on the SSA website, which is a good 4hr drive from where I live. There is another in Spokane, WA, which is only 3hrs away, but those are the closest options. If I'm going to drive that far, then it's not practical to do one day a week or month. Better to take a block of time and get as much training as possible during that time, and for that, distance isn't as much of an issue. I believe the area we live in locally has TREMENDOUS potential for glider flying, and would like to ultimately get a club "off the ground" here. Of course, our local mountains may prove to be nothing worth flying once I actually do it though. I may not know what I'm talking about. They certainly are beautiful though.