Rocky Mountain Racing Venues

At the very least, racing in the mountains appears to be a very sensitive issue in the USA. I believe that the Europeans have come to terms with many of the concerns, and are able to offer racing at mountain venues safely that appeal to ‘flat-landers’ and ‘mountain-lovers’ alike:

• Tasks are generally called to the more benign terrain with easy-to-find land-out sites,

• “Tricky” areas that are well-known only to the local pilots are strictly avoided for fairness,

• When strong conditions exist, Turn Area Tasks are called to allow pilots of all mountain-experience levels to profit (flat-landers stay close to the big, open valleys while the mountain-comfortable pilots fly deeper into the high terrain), more specifically:

• Assigned Tasks NEVER force pilots into high terrain while Turn Area Tasks offers the OPTION of going into high terrain,

• And most importantly, mountain training is readily available in the task area.

Contests in Europe are carefully prepared to find the best all-round pilot, and not the best mountain-specialized pilot. The mountain contests here are safe, fair and fun.

I believe that if mountain contests in the States followed the European example, some of the great Rocky Mountain Soaring Venues would become more popular among the American pilot group as a whole. Just my 2¢…

Chris Fleming
F2