I would appreciate if you can write a SHORT paragraph about why soaring (and
soaring competition if that is what you do) is so special to you. Why do you

I enjoy soaring because it is for me the most interesting form of aviation.
The idea of flying for hours using only the lift provided by nature is
awesome and elegant. It's also the purest form of aviation: radios and
instruments and engines and fuel take a far backseat to making decisions and
using the controls. And all of this with more safety and speed than the
next closest brother, ultralights.

As a pilot, I was always most interested in aerodynamics,
and was less interested in instruments, engine management, complex checklists,
emergency procedures for fire or engine failure, etc. Sure we still have
the necessary complexity of initial launch while soaring, but the rest is
pure flying, in its finest form.

I often find myself sharing a meal with two other pilots, and one or
two non-pilots. The two other pilots eventually start talking about
their most harrowing flights and how they cheated death (and then
they wonder why the non-pilots won't fly with them).

At some point I chime in:
"There was this one time, I got up to about 3000 feet, and the engine
just totally stopped producing lift. I checked, and there's no oil
pressure at all! I thought what should I do? Don't panic, I've trained
for this."

"So I flew around for a few hours using ridge lift and thermals
and then when I got bored I landed back at the airport, drank a
beer, and took a nap in the hammock."

And then we talk about gliding and eventually everyone at the table
is interested and we figure out how to get them down to the gliderport.
In the past year I've taken two dozen friends flying gliders and gotten
five of them to solo in gliders: all had wide smiles.

Soaring for me is simple, cheap, elegant, clean, quiet, and fun.
What more could I ask for in a sport?