Hang gliding: How far can it take you?

Robb Y    Airborne Activities, Outdoor Activities    

Hang Glider In Flight

In hang gliding, as with most sports, there are competitions, amateur and professionals standards, championships to be fought over and medals to be won.

This year the World Championships were held in Tegleberg, Germany. Well, if there’s any sport that can be affected by weather it’s hang gliding. That said, it was still a surprise when the organizers were forced to stop the competition  – no one was expecting snow in April.

So, thanks to the strict safety measures the US female representative, Linda Salamone, ended up in joint 20^th place, with all the other competitors!

For beginners, the sky really is the limit and every flight a thrilling experience. Just two months later, the European Championships ran according to plan; this time Austrian pilots proved their pedigree and turned in a first and second place.

Budding US pilots moving up the world rankings also have their eyes on their Italian rivals. This year’s pre-World Championships in Perugia, Italy have recently finished, with Italy taking silver and bronze medals.

So if you’ve ever thought of getting someone a tandem hang gliding flight or even hang gliding lessons, take note: you could awaken their competitiveness.  Hang gliding is not just about the views, there’s glory up in the clouds, as well!

How far can the sport take you? Well to answer this another way, the world record for how far a hang glider has flown and returned is held by a US pilot, George Stebbins (200 miles) – so if you are considering buying a relative a hang gliding experience, it really could take them just about as far as you could imagine, and back again.

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