On Aug 10, 5:17*pm, Brad wrote:
Not being a competition pilot myself I am not in the know regarding
this subject. But.......are there any soaring competitions held in the
U.S. where flying in the mountains is common for the whole course?

I've been told that pilots prefer the "safety" of desert or basin
flying since there are "more" places to land and that the separation
between ground and aircraft is greater.

One undisputed fact is that the scenery is better in the mountains.

Regards,
Brad

Brad,

As Warren mentioned Logan, Utah is one of the few places were pilots
fly "in" the mountains in the US. Run my flight from Monday (8/10) in
Google Earth and you will get to see the mix of "in and "over" the
terrain we do.

Had a great 400 K run today out over the Salt River and Wyoming ranges
in Wyoming. Most of us were in three states today and up near 17,500
feet.

Tim