On Tuesday, December 23, 2014 10:09:10 AM UTC-5, Bob Pasker wrote:
I'm a newly minted CPL-G, who also hold ASEL, ASES, heli, and instrument/airplane, who has a lot of XC experience in powered flight.

I have searched in vain for a place to start training for XC, and it has been very difficult because most glider clubs and commercial operation websites focus on club member activities, PPL-G training, and sightseeing rides (commercial). Also, I'm not by nature a "joiner," and the club process (go to some meetings, join up, fly with some people, etc) doesn't fit my Type A personality. My messages to club info email addresses info@blahblah go unanswered, or the people who've responded are like, yeah, sure, come to a meeting, which I didn't feel was very inviting.

My experience with finding a place to learn wave has been similar.

So my current plan is to buy a used SLMG and start flying.

Any thoughts or ideas please let me know.

--bob

@bobpasker: As a start, join the SSA. SOARING magazine has great articles, and in particular, articles on Condor - the Soaring Simulator. Scott Manley writes a column on it. It is a reasonable way to become familiar with cross-country techniques, which translate well into the aircraft, after your physical skills are learned; in the long winter (depending on your location) you can fly online with (or against) other pilots and communicate (via Teamspeak) or not; Frank Paynter's book "Cross-country soaring with Condor" is inexpensive and a good introduction (available on Amazon and in e-book format). You probably have a joystick and rudder pedals already, and Condor is relatively cheap (makes a nice Xmas gift).

Commercial operations that may cater to your situation are Ridge Soaring, Williams Soaring and Soar Nevada, among others. Your geographic location may make one a better choice than the others.

Clubs by necessity concentrate on focusing their limited energy on their members, and select their members carefully. They are a great way to make friends, and continue learning in cross-country, or aerobatics, or instruction, or giving rides, building a homebuilt, or towing. If you want to come/fly/go, they probably are not for you.

Though you are experienced at powered XC, safely learning to fly a glider XC is a whole other thing, and I'd urge you to get instruction rather than buying a self-launcher and starting flying it XC.