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.

I'm not aware of any place in the US where pilots routinely fly IN the
mountains, as they do in places like the Alps and NZ, but there are a
lot of places where pilots routinely fly OVER the mountains. Is that the
kind of distinction you are making?

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
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