Soaring in the Andes

I recently received a message that included a video presentation on YouTube. The subject was soaring (a.k.a. gliding, sail planning) and the venue for the video was the Chilean Andes. It featured spectacular scenery and sleek craft.

The video runs over thirteen minutes, but it is captivating and oh, so addictive to watch! These sail planes travel at speeds of 100 to 200 miles per hour, but they look so graceful that the speed is difficult to gauge.

One thing I noticed at the end of the video when the credits were running: There was not a single American in the race. That was a surprise, because I know that soaring is a good activity in this country as well as in Canada. There are contests in Denver. Colorado and in Calgary, Alberta, but to date, no one has entered in the international races.

That isn’t to say that we don’t have sites for sport gliding in both the Rockies and the Appalachians. Utah has several sites, and there are glider fields in Vermont, New York and North Carolina. For those in the Eastern United States, there is a glider port and school at Harris Hill just outside of Elmira, New York. Harris Hill is also home to the National Soaring Museum.

I encourage you to copy the link and watch the entire video, but I will explain that one of the facts I took away from it is that modern technology enables the gliders to have video cameras mounted on them, similar to those you see in the NASCAR races. Those cameras would enable television coverage of a race from the perspective of each racer’s cockpit.

With the accidents that have occurred recently at the Reno Air Race and elsewhere, the future of that sport is in doubt. In my opinion, glider races would be a safer sport and would provide every bit as much excitement as the faster air races.

I will admit that riding in a glider has just been added to my bucket list. After watching the video, I am hooked. I might just stop off at Harris Hill on one of my road trips up to Western New York to take a ride.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyaMcMzDkFM