Soaring experience at Driggs, ID with Teton Aviation

For those of you who are not familiar with the King Mountain Glider Park its' website is http://www.kingmountaingliderpark.com.

Wayne
http://www.soaridaho.com/

"Ramy" wrote in message ...
I second Gen on his description of King Mountain. This was my 2nd year
participating in their annual safari. The Kangas family enthusiasm is
second to none. In additonal to providing tows and full ground
support, we also had daily briefings with weather briefing and pilot
reports, and pot lucks in the evenings around the campfire. Everyone
gets personal attention. They even collect your spot info in their
registration form to make sure no one will go missing.
And they only charge (very reasonably) for tows and O2. We had 2 tow
planes this year, one from Hamilton, MT and one from Williams, CA.
The weather and scenery is absolutly spectacular. Both years we had
great soaring conditions most of the days. 500-700km flights are very
doable in a good day. I went as far as Yellowstone and Grand Teton to
the east, Glacier National Park to the north and near the Oregon
border west of Boise to the west (some in straight out flights).
I am hoping to go there again next year and whenever they will open
full time.

Ramy


On Aug 30, 5:40 pm, gen wrote:
I participated in King Mountain safari both last year and this year.
In fact, I went to Driggs right after this year’s King Mountain
safari. A few 18 m gliders made round trips to Teton from King
Mountain on the day Wayne mentioned. I was feeling under the weather
that day and didn’t fly, but it’s about 400 km round trip, so I bet
there will be another chance. I haven’t participated in Mackay safari,
but it’s only 20 miles north of King Mountain, so I assume the soaring
experience is the same. I’ve heard of Haily, but as far as I know,
there is no longer a glider operation there.

It’s funny you mentioned King Mountain because I have been pondering
on the vivid contrast of King Mountain and Driggs. King Mountain is a
developing gliderport and this is only their second year. Facility-
wise, They don’t have anything fancy. A campfire range, porta
potties, and a temporary shower are all they have. They don’t have a
nice front desk or big screen TV Teton Aviation has. But they have
great wing runners, and all staffs were enthusiastic to support pilots
and to listen to us to improve their services. For example, they
supplied a cooler full of cold bottles of water near the tow queue,
free of charge, everyday. This is not just for comfort, but because
they know dehydration is one of the common safety hazards for cross
country flights. A few other gliderports do the same. When the safari
ended, many of us voluntarily left them extra money to support the
future improvement of King Mountain Glider Park.

I haven’t been to Salida, but have flown at Durango (130 miles
southwest) and Boulder (100 miles north) in Colorado. They both had
great scenery with beautiful mountains. Durango is a very busy ride-
oriented place and only a few private gliders were flying. But I was
able to do a 500 km on my first flight there, so I believe there is a
good potential for long flights in the area. Boulder has separate ride
operation and a club, and they seemed to be working well. There were
some great pilots in the club. I also enjoyed the city and hiking
trails. It also has an NWS branch and NCAR lab. Both of them offer
tours to the public.

Tom, thanks for sharing interesting history. Maybe I didn’t spend as
much as jet people, but I bough lunch for the CFIG and towpilot who
gave me an introduction on the first day, bought and wore a hat with
their logo, wore fresh and clean shirts whenever I visited the FBO,
and gave tips to the staff who brought oxygen cart to my glider.