Best soaring site in USA?

"Best" idea is to visit as many as you can! From Florida to Pennsylvania to
California - we all offer something different and that's the fun of traveling
to many sites.

Be sure to fly at historic Harris Hill near Elmira, NY and visit our National
Soaring Museum, the archive of the SSA.

For tourism and family fun, Marfa Gliders in west Texas is between Carlsbad
Caverns and Big Bend National Parks. The McDonald Observatory is open to
visitors in the nearby Davis Mountains. Go horseback riding, hiking, and visit
our new art galleries.

Summer temps are not so hot as the rest of Texas as Marfa Airport (MRF) is on a
grassy plateau at 5,000' msl. Big sky, 100 mile visibility, wonderful scenery,
super hospitality and of course, great soaring! Site of the 1970 World
Soaring Contest and where "The Sun Ship Game" soaring movie was filmed.

We just finished our new hangar and picnic facility for visiting glider
families. Park your glider here for an endless summer of soaring, or bring it
to the annual wave camp April 3-11.

Nearest airline service is to El Paso (ELP) or Midland (MAF), Texas.

Marfa Gliders is now open year-round - come visit - we'll show you a good time!

Burt & Kathie Compton
Marfa Gliders, west Texas
www.FLYGLIDERS.com
800-667-9464

What is the best soaring site in USA considering climate, services, access,
scenery, airspace etc for a tourist interested in soaring?

In article ,
Burt Compton wrote:
"Best" idea is to visit as many as you can! From Florida to Pennsylvania to
California - we all offer something different and that's the fun of traveling
to many sites.

There are some startling differences. Hawaii has amazing scenery (glide
right over the beach, wheee!!) but not much in the way of
updraft variety. Avenal has amazing thermals, but you're not EVER
gonna see a Bikini except on the back of a contest T-shirt ;P

If you like the California Sierras, and like a nice big scenic lake,
and great wave/thermals, and then gambling/nightlife/skiing, Minden is
really neat. I've been there many times, but never for
soaring, and I'm itchen to go...

P.S. Hey Al, how about telling us more about Minden, California?

I can't believe no one has nominated SOAR TRUCKEE yet
http://www.soartruckee.com . Situated only five miles from Lake Tahoe
(and about 20 mi as the glider flies from Minden) it offers the BEST
soaring with strong thermals, decent wave, views of Lake Tahoe and the
Sierra Nevada mountains that cannot be matched. It is a challenging
airport to land at with density altitudes often at 8-9000 feet, a
cross wind that comes up in the afternoon, a narrow runway with runway
lights, and a 400' drop off before threshold. But hey, if you can fly
TRK you'll have the confidence that you can truly fly anywhere.

Many pilots drive 4 hours from the San Francisco Bay area every
weekend to TRK. Yes, it is that good. There is a camp ground among
the beautiful pine trees next to the airport where many pilots keep
camper trailers throughout the soaring season. Every Saturday evening
after the day's flying there is a great BBQ...no hot dogs and
hamburgers but tri-tip, ribs, fish, steak, etc. Finally, the staff at
SoarTruckee, especially Joe and Samantha run a first-rate operation.

"James" wrote in message
om...
I can't believe no one has nominated SOAR TRUCKEE yet
http://www.soartruckee.com . Situated only five miles from Lake Tahoe
(and about 20 mi as the glider flies from Minden) it offers the BEST
soaring with strong thermals, decent wave, views of Lake Tahoe and the
Sierra Nevada mountains that cannot be matched. It is a challenging
airport to land at with density altitudes often at 8-9000 feet, a
cross wind that comes up in the afternoon, a narrow runway with runway
lights, and a 400' drop off before threshold. But hey, if you can fly
TRK you'll have the confidence that you can truly fly anywhere.

Many pilots drive 4 hours from the San Francisco Bay area every
weekend to TRK. Yes, it is that good. There is a camp ground among
the beautiful pine trees next to the airport where many pilots keep
camper trailers throughout the soaring season. Every Saturday evening
after the day's flying there is a great BBQ...no hot dogs and
hamburgers but tri-tip, ribs, fish, steak, etc. Finally, the staff at
SoarTruckee, especially Joe and Samantha run a first-rate operation.

As a vision of the late Les Sebald, it certainly is one of the 'best'. We
have a similar site in Colorado, at Salida, that's soon to return to
operation, and not so hard to get back into late in the day.

Frank Whiteley

F.L. Whiteley wrote:
"James" wrote in message
om...

I can't believe no one has nominated SOAR TRUCKEE yet
http://www.soartruckee.com . Situated only five miles from Lake Tahoe
(and about 20 mi as the glider flies from Minden) it offers the BEST
soaring with strong thermals, decent wave, views of Lake Tahoe and the
Sierra Nevada mountains that cannot be matched. It is a challenging
airport to land at with density altitudes often at 8-9000 feet, a
cross wind that comes up in the afternoon, a narrow runway with runway
lights, and a 400' drop off before threshold. But hey, if you can fly
TRK you'll have the confidence that you can truly fly anywhere.

Many pilots drive 4 hours from the San Francisco Bay area every
weekend to TRK. Yes, it is that good. There is a camp ground among
the beautiful pine trees next to the airport where many pilots keep
camper trailers throughout the soaring season. Every Saturday evening
after the day's flying there is a great BBQ...no hot dogs and
hamburgers but tri-tip, ribs, fish, steak, etc. Finally, the staff at
SoarTruckee, especially Joe and Samantha run a first-rate operation.


As a vision of the late Les Sebald, it certainly is one of the 'best'. We
have a similar site in Colorado, at Salida, that's soon to return to
operation, and not so hard to get back into late in the day.

Frank Whiteley


Fingers crossed! Its a drag (pun intended) towing the Mosquito to Boulder.

Shawn,
Salida, CO

"James" wrote in message
om...
I can't believe no one has nominated...

....wherever the hell I am when the tow line is connected and I waggle my
rudder!!!

"F.L. Whiteley" wrote in message ...
"James" wrote in message
om...
I can't believe no one has nominated SOAR TRUCKEE yet
http://www.soartruckee.com . Situated only five miles from Lake Tahoe
(and about 20 mi as the glider flies from Minden) it offers the BEST
soaring with strong thermals, decent wave, views of Lake Tahoe and the
Sierra Nevada mountains that cannot be matched. It is a challenging
airport to land at with density altitudes often at 8-9000 feet, a
cross wind that comes up in the afternoon, a narrow runway with runway
lights, and a 400' drop off before threshold. But hey, if you can fly
TRK you'll have the confidence that you can truly fly anywhere.

Many pilots drive 4 hours from the San Francisco Bay area every
weekend to TRK. Yes, it is that good. There is a camp ground among
the beautiful pine trees next to the airport where many pilots keep
camper trailers throughout the soaring season. Every Saturday evening
after the day's flying there is a great BBQ...no hot dogs and
hamburgers but tri-tip, ribs, fish, steak, etc. Finally, the staff at
SoarTruckee, especially Joe and Samantha run a first-rate operation.

As a vision of the late Les Sebald, it certainly is one of the 'best'. We
have a similar site in Colorado, at Salida, that's soon to return to
operation, and not so hard to get back into late in the day.

Frank Whiteley

Well I better get in on this one as well! Minden's good not like it
use to be BUT the BEST SOARING site is Ely Nevada, We at High Country
Soaring put on the Ely soaring camp each year for the past six and I
can say in the 2 weeks that we fly at Ely 70,000-80,000km NOW that is
the best soaring site!!!!!!!!!

Tom Stowers

I like to go out on a weekday when I can, hit a big one, core it, and start
calling friends at work while holding the cell phone up against the audio
vario.

Life is good when you are going up.

"303pilot" brentUNDERSCOREsullivanATbmcDOTcom wrote in message
...

"James" wrote in message
om...
I can't believe no one has nominated...

...wherever the hell I am when the tow line is connected and I waggle my
rudder!!!

"James" wrote in message
om...
I can't believe no one has nominated SOAR TRUCKEE yet
http://www.soartruckee.com . Situated only five miles from Lake Tahoe
(and about 20 mi as the glider flies from Minden) it offers the BEST
soaring with strong thermals, decent wave, views of Lake Tahoe and the
Sierra Nevada mountains that cannot be matched. It is a challenging
airport to land at with density altitudes often at 8-9000 feet, a
cross wind that comes up in the afternoon, a narrow runway with runway
lights, and a 400' drop off before threshold. But hey, if you can fly
TRK you'll have the confidence that you can truly fly anywhere.

I agree with your praise of Truckee soaring. Truckee is the best place I
have flown from regarding early launching with easy getaways from low tows.
The main glider runway, 1-19, is 4,650' by 75', which I don't think is
particularly narrow, and I fly 18 and 20 meter gliders. Yes, there is
sometimes a crosswind on 1-19, but the crosswind runway, 10-28 is 7,000' by
100', and a dead easy landing. Soar Truckee will send a golf cart to get
you if you land on 10-28. The 'dreaded dropoff' at the end of runway 19 is
a measured 150' high and one definitely doesn't want to go there, but with
4,650' ahead should not be a problem. At least there is no barbed wire
fence, like many airports have.

Many pilots drive 4 hours from the San Francisco Bay area every
weekend to TRK. Yes, it is that good. There is a camp ground among
the beautiful pine trees next to the airport where many pilots keep
camper trailers throughout the soaring season. Every Saturday evening
after the day's flying there is a great BBQ...no hot dogs and
hamburgers but tri-tip, ribs, fish, steak, etc. Finally, the staff at
SoarTruckee, especially Joe and Samantha run a first-rate operation.

The staff is exceptional!

Soar Truckee is an "S" corporation, co-owned by many (58 total) of the
pilots that fly there. When Soar Truckee was first conceived by Les Sebald
and Jerry Niedrauer, they decide to form a corporation instead of a club, so
that equipment might be depreciated and to have more clout with the airport
than a not for profit club. This recipe has clearly worked, and Soar
Truckee is thriving. Soar Truckee is open May 1 through the end of
September each year. There are FBO gliders for instruction, but not for
rent. There are also three clubs based at the field, Silverado Soaring, Bay
Area Soaring Associates, (BASA), and the Northern California Soaring
Association (NCSA). These clubs also provide instruction, and aircraft for
members.

The part I like best about Truckee is that I live in the HOT Sacramento
valley and each weekend I escape to my motor home in the pine trees as
Truckee, usually the coldest reporting point in the 48 contiguous states in
the summer. Many summer nights are below freezing, and days can warm to the
low 90's, but more usually in the low 80's Fahrenheit. I get out of bed in
the morning, shiver, and smile...

Did I mention the soaring? I was able to complete three 750+km and many
500+km flights this past year out of Truckee, with no land outs. We fly the
same basic airspace that the Minden and Air Sailing folks do.
-Bob Korves
5H Duo Discus
5K LAK-17a

At 05:24 16 January 2004, James wrote:
It is a challenging
airport to land at with density altitudes often at
8-9000 feet, a
cross wind that comes up in the afternoon, a narrow
runway with runway
lights, and a 400' drop off before threshold. But
hey, if you can fly
TRK you'll have the confidence that you can truly fly
anywhere.
SNIP

Truckee is a nice mountain site with some great soaring.
However as far as most *challenging* airport in North
America that gliders launch from, I nominate Telluride.
Some of its more unique features a
1.) 9k' msl and it gets hot
2.) One way in and out runway due to terrain and noise
considerations.
3.) Situated up on a 800' mesa for true carrier type
launches.
4.) Did I mention the biz jets on their 8 mile straight
in finals
5.) Or the commuter props popping in over the 12k'
ridge 5 miles north of the field.
6.) Low rope break options mean if u walk away from
the wreck, it was a good landing.
7.) The runway has a 150' dip in the middle, makes
for interesting launching when towplane touches back
down on the second half of the runway.
8.) All worth it, unbelievable scenery and great
soaring.