Many who love the sport plan their entire vacations around being able to experience gliding in new a locale. People who love to glide are, in general, adventuresome by nature, and love to try new things. This makes the ability to travel to other states, islands, and mountainous regions one of the biggest benefits to being a glider. There are a great number of things to see all over this wonderful world, and some of them can only be seen at their best from over 1000 meters in the air. The Caribbean has become a very popular place for hang gliders to travel. An advantage to hang gliding in the Caribbean is that enthusiasts are not limited to gliding solely during summer months. While there’s snow on the ground in Maine, it’s warm and sunny in St. Croix or Puerto Rico.
The Caribbean
For those new to traveling who have never experienced the wonder of the Caribbean, come see for yourself why it’s such a popular tourist destination. Located in the Caribbean Sea, it consists of several islands (both macro and micro) some with extraordinary mountain ranges. For a better handle on where the Caribbean is, it’s located to the southeast of the state of Florida in the United States, and directly north of the continent of South America. The Caribbean is directly between the Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 37.5 million people live on these islands, including locals and people who have chosen to make this area their home.
Mountains on the Caribbean Islands
There are some great mountains in the Caribbean from which to try your hand at hang gliding. In Jamaica, you will find the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are around 30 miles across and climb as high as 7400 feet. In Cuba, you can check out the Sierra Maestra. The highest point found here is over 6500 feet. A note about Cuba: Because of the decades-old embargo between the United States and Cuba, you will be unable to cross Cuba directly from a US state or a commonwealth island, such as Puerto Rico. You may, however, go to Mexico or the Dominican Republic (DR) first and then island hop. From DR, it’s cheap and easy and in no time you’ll be in Havana, the nation’s capital.
Or maybe you would like to try the Sierra de Luquillo in Puerto Rico. You can climb over 3500 feet in several places on this mountain range. The highest spot in all of the islands can be found in the Dominican Republic. The Pico Duarte, at its highest point, is over 10,000 feet. Indeed, it’s not uncommon to see snow on these mountains. The altitude could affect your ability to breath, because the air is much thinner the higher you go. Be sure you take the appropriate precautions if you choose to climb any mountain. Of course, you may not want to climb to the highest peaks of these mountains in order to go hang gliding. You will have a lot of gear and a heavy glider to haul up those steep slopes!
There are some areas you’ll want to steer clear of because of their previous volcanic activity. When booking a “hang gliding vacation”, be sure to ask your travel agent or do a thorough Internet search to ensure your Caribbean “cheap package” isn’t landing you in the middle of volcanic ash.
There are many other mountainous areas you may want to consider visiting in the Caribbean. Research will help you determine which areas are safe and which are not. Once you have made your plans, your hang gliding adventure is sure to be a wonderful success and extremely satisfying. The islands are beautiful, the mountains wild, and the views are breathtaking. And when you’re not hang gliding, each offers its own history (much of it shared with neighboring islands) and mouth watering food.

There are a large number of people all over the world who suffer from disabilities. Unfortunately, most of them will tell you that because of whatever special need he or she has, he or she is incapable of living life to its fullest. Hogwash!
Luckily, this is not true at all, and there are disabled people every day proving them wrong. When you hear of someone with a prosthetic leg running his first marathon or a recently blind person learning to paint beautiful scenes with only the benefit of her mind’s eye, we find ourselves in amazement, don’t we? While it is awe inspiring that these people are overcoming such tremendous barriers, considering them barriers is how the problem starts.
We are wondrous creatures, we humans. Each of us has the capability to overcome a multitude of things, be they large or small. Without letting depression overwhelm them, people can adjust to any number of mental, physical, and environmental issues that they may never have thought to possible. Fortunately for us all, both through medical advancements and clearer understanding about the mental and emotional effects of physical disabilities, getting out and enjoying life, in spite of any number of afflictions is not only possible but highly recommended.
Mickey Sarraille
Mickey Sarraille is a 50-year-old man who was raised in Lake Elsinore, California. He has been hang gliding for 28 years and doesn’t see himself stopping anytime soon. At one point in his gliding career, he was the president of the Lake Elsinore Hang Gliders Association. He not only enjoys this sport as a pastime or hobby, but Mickey also glides in national competitions. Whether he wins or loses, he is extremely proud of his accomplishments and when he’s soaring through the air, the wind beneath his wings, by his own admission, is “most free”. Mickey Sarraille is also an amputee.
When Mickey was 17 years old, he was involved in a hit and run accident while riding his motorcycle. He lost consciousness during the wreck and woke up in the hospital…to find one of his legs severed. While many would have become depressed and even angry about what fate had thrown at them, Mickey just began adjusting to the very different life he had awakened to in that hospital bed. This adjustment has been hard earned, but very successful. While he left many sports in his life behind after the accident, ones he enjoyed as a teenager, when he discovered hang gliding, he just knew he had to do it.
A number of disabled hang gliders have chosen this sport over all others simply for the amazing feeling they get being in the air. Perhaps, and this is only speculation, the loss of a limb or partial sight helped these people gain something they’d previously not seen or tapped into before. Maybe in overcoming such a tragic event, something like hang gliding didn’t seem as daunting as defying death.
If you are one such person who has survived an accident or was born with a special need that had you believing you were somehow less than others, think again! If you are considering taking up hang gliding, perhaps start flying in tandem with another person. Experience the freedom of soaring while attached to someone. After you have the hang of it, do as Mickey Sarraille did and try it on your own. Hey, you never know, you might meet up with him at a competition.

If you are looking to purchase a hang glider, but looked at the price tag and nearly fell over, you wouldn’t be alone. New gliders can cost anywhere between $3500 and $5000. If you intend to make gliding a fairly regular part of your life, then you can expect to purchase another glider or at the very least make repairs to the one you own, at least every four to five years. This can be a very intimidating prospect for future gliders.
Used Hang Glider Cost
A used glider, will generally cost less than $2000, which is a huge break from the price you would pay for a new one. Okay, now that you’ve gotten back on your seat, it gets better. Now, with the worry of needing to shell out between twice and three times that, you might be ready to start flying, right?
Making the decision to buy your own glider instead of continuing to rent one is a major step to being a determined hang glider. While renting might be more cost-effective initially, if you get pretty serious about the hobby, it won’t take but a few rentals to match that $2000. And so, it might behoove you to lay out the bucks. There are several things you will need to think about before actually acquiring used equipment.
While you do not want to ever take the risk of purchasing equipment that is considered “cheap”, you do want to keep the cost as low as possible if that is an issue for you. “Cheap-ER” price is good, “cheap” construction is bad. If you wind up with a defective wing because you chose to get the dirt cheap one with possible safety issues, sure you’ll have saved money, but then you’re in the hospital having suffered myriad of injuries.
Something you need to consider when you are looking at used equipment is the rust factor. Rust is an evil thing that can cause major safety issues when you are in the air. No matter what Webster’s Dictionary says, the definition of “rust” is: dangerous; cause of many deaths; absolute opposite of safe! Bolts can fall off and bars and wires can break right in half…and if this happens while your feet are not on the ground, you are in a huge amount of trouble.
Another great bit of advice is to always fly any used glider before you actually agree to purchase it. While the serious experts out there probably think this is a very logical thing to do, any novice at purchasing used equipment may not know how important this is. Anything can affect the performance of a wing. The weight of the bolts and bars, any wear and tear, and even the type of fabric it is made of can all quickly become serious issues. These things will always be different in any used wing. You need to know how the wing is going to fly before you buy it and are depending on it every time you decide to go out.
Safety, safety, safety: the three most vital components to making the decision to purchase a used hang glider. This piece of equipment is the one thing standing between you having an amazing experience floating on the breeze and something that is altogether far too unpleasant to discuss in this blog.

Over the last decade, hang gliding has surged in popularity. Searching for the top locations can be a lifelong hunt. Like a surfer who is constantly searching for the biggest and best waves, gliders spend a lot of time, money, and effort trying to find the shining star of gliding peaks. Some big contenders for this title are, surprisingly, located in the United States. The three states at the top of the list to go hang gliding in are (in no particular order): Florida, California, and Arkansas.
The most important thing to remember when choosing somewhere to go hang gliding is that the height of the peak you choose to glide from is not the key to a good gliding experience. Air flow, mountain views, and the quality of a mountain’s lifts and thermals you are able to steer into…those are what truly ensure a great ride.
Florida: The highest peak in Florida is only around 345 feet. This does not mean anything when it comes to hang gliding. You can choose to glide from one of the mountainous areas, or your glider can be lifted by plane and released once you have reached the height you desire. This allows you to choose where you want to start and to have a little momentum once you are released. Florida, albeit short in stature, because of the currents emanating from the ocean, make it a very popular place to hang glide.
Hint – Bonita Beach and Miami should each be on your list of places to glide.
California: This state boasts several mountains, many of which are quite tall, but again, this is not the key to a satisfying glide. In California, the thing to do is choose a cliff close to the ocean. This offers the same benefit that the ocean does in Florida and allows you to take advantage of the amazing natural lifts and thermals that come directly from the coast.
Hint -San Francisco and Santa Barbara are both high quality places in California to go gliding.
Arkansas: When considering a state with beautiful and majestic mountains, indeed Arkansas is not one that often comes to mind. But Arkansas’ ranges make for some incredible hang gliding. The highest peak is less than 3000 feet, so there are many mountain areas to choose from. The placement of the mountains and the currents that flow around them really benefit any glider, both experienced and novice alike.
Hint – The Ouachita Mountains, Mt. Nebo State Park, and Mt. Magazine State Park are beautiful places to go hang gliding and a great place to watch others glide.
No matter where you choose to go, be sure to follow all of the rules posted, if there are any. Also, all safety precautions should be taken any time that you glide. Take all of the equipment you need to have a safe and enjoyable glide without having to worry. While hang gliding can often be a risky sport, you should always do everything possible to avoid returning home a little broken.

If you are an experienced hang glider, then you know the basic equipment you need to have for a successful trip. But did you know that there are a lot of other things that can help you during your flight? Many of these items can make it easier and safer to sail through the sky and then make a smooth landing. As any experienced glider can attest, safety is one of, if not the most important thing to bear in mind when hang gliding and there is no such thing as being TOO safe, should anything arise.
Goggles
This sounds like a logical thing to some of us, but others have never considered wearing goggles because they don’t see the value in them. Imagine being on your bicycle or running and being able to triple or quadruple your speeds. That’s about how fast you’re going when you’re hang gliding. As such, any impact in your eye area can potentially cause serious damage. If the contact is directly in your eye, it can even cause blindness in one or both eyes. Any trauma at such accelerated speeds will cause agonizing pain, especially when taking in account the sensitivity of the area we’re talking about. Recall the pain your eye feels when a piece of dust falls into it, or an eyelash drops in. That foreign object is falling in at such a slow rate of speed, and yet what is your immediate reaction? Run to the restroom, blot a towel, or immediately start rubbing your eye, regardless whether your hands are dirty, right? Imagine something making contact with your eye at high-speed. Not sure about you, but that doesn’t sound like fun!
Once you remove even one hand to tend to your eye or eyes, loss of control of your glider is the next step, because any damage to your eyes or surrounding area, as well as the pain that will result, will take your full attention away from the act of gliding. There’s nothing worse than the panic of losing control and then hitting a tree or worse than that, the feeling of free falling! Get some goggles, before you go up there, please.
Reserve Parachute
This is an item that every glider should have but pray he or she never needs to use. No matter how experienced you are or how much skill you have, accidents can happen when you gliding through air. This is something that you have to be prepared for, because that preparation can often mean the difference between life and death, or at the very least, serious injury. Hang gliding, as fun as it is, is a sport where things outside of your control can run amuck quickly. To ensure that your reserve parachute is always at the ready, check it prior to each flight. Honestly, there must be few things more frustrating and not to mention frightening than knowing you have the reserve parachute and it failed!
Wheels
Wheels may sound like a pretty lame piece of safety equipment, but they are truly important to the hang gliding process. They can help you during take off and when landing for safety and convenience. Wheels offer of balance to your glider and can give you an added bit of air when you are launching off the ground. This means less tripping over items, less damage to your glider, and less chance of dragging and messing up your departure. When coming down, the wheels give your equipment a better chance of staying upright once you meet the ground as well as decreasing the possibility of leg injury.
For hang gliders, the safety aspect should be much more important than fun. After all, if your safety is compromised, there is no having fun, now is there?

Hang gliders and its accessories are pieces of equipment that many people know absolutely nothing about, because they have never gone for a glide themselves. Well, those people don’t know what they are missing, because it is an absolutely invigorating experience! Before trying this activity, however, you really should know the names and uses of each type of gear. This is one way to ensure that your glide will be safe and you will get the most out of your experience.
Glider
The actual hang glider has two parts. One is the frame and the other is the wing. The frame is made of aluminum tubes, various metal bars, and quite a few wires. While that doesn’t sound like much, the objects that come together to make the frame are extremely important pieces of hardware. Without them, you might as well just be riding on a kite and hope that you don’t slip! These materials keep the wing form stiff, which allows you to steer properly and then safely land the glider. The wing is the part that catches the air and really makes the glider soar through the sky.
Harness
The harness is one of the most critical pieces of safety equipment you can have when hang gliding. It attaches to both the glider and the pilot to make sure that there is no chance of the pilot falling off the glider. It is vital to have a strong harness in place before you attempt to go gliding. This tool keeps you steady while you are in the air, but it also gives you the freedom to move in any way that is necessary while you are launching and while you are up. There are several different types of harnesses that fit to the pilot in specific ways, depending upon what is most comfortable for each individual. Bearing in mind that as every person is different, so too should harnesses be. In the case of the harness, just as with gliders themselves, there’s no such thing as, “one size fits all.”
Helmet
A helmet is less of a technical necessity and more of a safety oriented one. There are many things that can cause an impact in the areas you will be gliding, and while you are in the air it is sometimes hard to avoid them. If a bird, bug, or branch (in the event you are flying too close to trees, which happens more often than not with new gliders) get in your way, you may accidentally bang into them. Given the speed you can achieve during gliding, this could cause some serious damage if you were not wearing a helmet. When you are landing, your helmet can be an asset as well. Even the most experienced gilders tumble upon landing. There’s experience and inertia, and the first you have control over, the second, yeah, good luck trying to defy the laws of physics!
Hang gliding is a great way to enjoy the great outdoors and open sky. Be sure to have the right gear to make your glide both fun and safe. There are other pieces of equipment that can help you when you are in the air and after you have come down, so it is a good idea to do some research before you go. Hang gliding is an extremely fun sport, that once you’ve done everything to ensure your safety, you are free to soar and be the bird you often dream of being.

For anyone who has never actually BEEN hang gliding, the reality of going just might be enough to make you reconsider every decision you have ever made. Perhaps you will, from now on, hire someone with a little more common sense to make those decisions for you. Standing on the edge of a cliff with nothing but a big metal structure and what looks like a large kite attached to your back, looking out over what seems like nothing but vastness between the ground and you, may cause your heart to skip more than a few beats. But as you are about to find out when you step off that cliff, there is nothing like it!
Hang gliding can be one of the most exhilarating, thrilling, and fulfilling activities you ever attempt, provided you can get past the fear that is natural when you over think it. Fear is inate, and it is completely normal for the thought of jumping off a cliff or the side of a hill to make you run screaming back to your nice, safe, home or the closest cave. You would actually be a little weird if it didn’t have some trepidation. But one of the most important and truly enjoyable aspects of life is facing your fears and triumphing over them.
Learning more about hang gliding can be a good way of helping you become more comfortable with the idea of doing it. As with anything else, “knowledge is power” (Thank you, Sir Francis Bacon). It can mean the difference between fear and excitement, injury and safety and of course, failure and accomplishment. It is the key to successfully and happily living your life, whether we are referring to the day-to-day, completing college and grabbing your first job or gliding off the top of a mountain. Overcoming the fear, learning the steps for safety and as another expression goes, “Just do it” are all important when attempting hang gliding.
If hang gliding has long been something you’ve entertained the thought of trying, but fear prevented you from doing so, then get in touch with some people in your area who have experience with it. The statistics on hang gliding accidents are really quite low, when comparing them to far riskier endeavors, such as climbing in your car to go to work each morning. It has approximately the same risk level as having surgery. You wouldn’t let your fear of danger keep you from having your tonsils out, would you? So why would you allow it to keep you from an activity that could add a lot of excitement to your life?
Hang gliding is a genuinely fun activity that once you’ve slayed your fears. You can expand your friendships by including other people who enjoy gliding, begin living a less fearful life, and really learn what limits you can push your mind and body to. Other benefits can include alleviating stress in your life (not much stress when you’re soaring above your home and everyone else on the ground, right?) and getting off that couch. Another one is that hang gliding increase hand and eye coordination. There’s nothing like thinking of steering one way to avoid a tree and actually steering the correct way. And fear? Once you’ve overcome your fear of flying, that smaller stuff just seems irrelevant.
Got family drama? Invite them to hang glide with you. Those silly squabbles will all but work themselves out.

If you are thinking about taking up hang gliding, there are myriad of things to consider.  There are also several things you have to remember that many people never even think about.  It is always the little things that can make or break any attempts at this extremely fun but potentially dangerous pastime.  Pay attention to these and you will be a great deal better off.

Transportation Rack

Have you ever seen someone in a small car driving down the road with a pair of skis sticking out their back window?  Or someone on their way to the beach with a surfboard tied to the top of their car with an extension cord?  These are NOT appropriate ways to transport expensive and such safety intense equipment!  You must respect the job that this gear is going to do for you.  Your glider is going to carry you through the air with just the few pieces it takes to make it.  It will allow you to feel something few in the world will ever feel – the freedom of flying through the sky with nothing but the vastness of the earth surrounding you.  It also, when handled properly, helps to ensure your safety while you are experiencing all of this wonder.  Your glider takes care of you, so you should take care of it.  Get a roof rack to guarantee that you don’t unintentionally damage your equipment while you are transporting it.

Storage

Having an acceptable place to store your hang gliding equipment is just as important as having a transportation rack.  Again, for the safety of your gear, having a proper place to keep it while you are not off using it can mean the difference between a successful glide and a disastrous one.  Before but before you even purchase your glider, you will want to have made proper storage arrangements.  Because of their bulk and potential room they can take up, it can be hard to keep them in your house or apartment.  This is not something you want to discover once you have brought it home.  It is best to keep it in a secure place where it will not collect water, small animals, or insects.  All of these things can damage the materials, be they sturdy like metal or fragile like the parachute, your glider is made from, making your next glide quite a bit more dangerous than you’d like to even consider.

Hang gliding can be tons of fun, but is also a big responsibility.  Being conscientious and safety aware now will ensure your well being, when it really matters.  Whether you are a novice or an experienced glider, thinking of purchasing your own paraphernalia, you must remember to consider the reality before you decide to really make the purchase.  You may find bringing home an eighteen-foot long hang glider from the store to be difficult enough if you do not purchase the transportation rack…but try explaining to your family that someone is going to have to give up his or her bedroom so the glider has a safe place to sleep!