Mountain Soaring Courses

Whatever your level of experience, our Mountain Soaring Course affords the best introduction to Cross Country and Mountain Soaring at Omarama, the best value for money and the most fun. These are our most popular courses and are tailored to your experience level whether you are new to soaring or have thousands of hours.

On a Mountain Soaring Course there is one guest per instructor and glider.  This is the most effective and enjoyable way to maximise the amount of flying, learning and the experience. The course will be tailored to your particular aspirations and your level of experience.  We can also arrange a similar Shared Mountain Soaring Course for two people with one instructor and one glider.  Details are below.

You will receive daily seminars from G Dale and Gavin and fly a Duo Discus with one of our highly skilled and experienced instruction team. Gavin and G ( known just as G!) endeavor wherever possible, to fly with each Private course guest for at least a day or more.

Over the past ten years Gavin and G have rewritten "the book" on Mountain Soaring and how it is taught. During the Course seminars, much of the material you will recieve about how the atmospheric engine works has been inspired by their long involvement with the complex Omarama soaring envirionment. It has been written up in numerous soaring magizines and is unique to our Mountain Soaring Courses.

The seminars, therefore are a highlight of the courses and include many aspects of the "how, why and where" of mountain thermals, ridge running, alpine convergences and lee wave. Plus there is ample opportunity for discussions about and development of your own personal soaring skills including high altitude soaring, badge flights, records and racing gliders.

GlideOmarama equipment is second to none. On Mountain Soaring Courses we operate up to 7 Duo Discus's. Each is a high performance two seat sailplane equipped with computers, GPS navigation, reliable loggers, FLARM anti-collision devices and SPOT automatic satillite tracking.

Strictly limited numbers are accepted for Private Mountain Soaring Courses. This ensures a family-like sociable atmosphere for which we are reknowned and guarantees quality personal attention. You will be neither alone nor overwhelmed by the crowd.

We are happy to look after a wide range of experience levels, from beginner cross country to pilots with many thousands of hours. But to help us help you, our Mountain Soaring Courses are pitched at three different levels of experience (see experience requisites below).

Group Courses for two to six individuals (see below) may also be arranged.

What you get on a Mountain Soaring Course is:

• 5 days of intense soaring
• quality personalised coaching from our highly experienced and dedicated instruction team
• fun, fun, fun!
• unique seminars and illustrated debriefs pitched to suit your experience and aspirations
• some of the most spectacular and challenging mountain soaring in the world
• a welcome into the GlideOmarama family that includes a comfortable briefing room, internet access, free tea/coffee and a memorable course dinner at the famous Kahu Cafe
• a full service ground crew to manage your glider.

Course Fee is: NZ$4,950 each - or for a Shared Course is: NZ$2,900 each.

The fees are packaged to include:

• minimum of 15 hours Duo Discus time
• daily briefings, debriefings, seminars and ground school
• club membership, maps, visiting pilots guide
• internet access, use of club rooms, tea/coffee facilities
• 6 nights Airfield Chalet Accommodation

Refunds and Extras:

• refunds of unachieved Duo Discus time is at NZ$130 per hour.
• Duo Discus time from between 15 and 20 hours is charged at NZ$130 per hour.
• Duo Discus time over 20 hours total is free
• aero tows and any outlanding retrieves are not included - pay only for what you need!
• If Airfield Chalet accommodation is not available alternate Hotel, Motel or caravan accommodation will be arranged. As a result a small refund or supplement may be due. Details on our accommodation page.

Shared Courses only:

• The shared course package price includes all the same points as the above regular course except that :
• Accommodation is shared, double or twin. Single accommodation can be arranged.
• There is a combined maximum of 20 hours flying available (so as to not wear out your instructor!)
• Both participants must be at a similar experience level and comfortable about sharing their flying opportunities.
• The shared course normally suits guests who are happy to do less flying per day or to alternate the flying days with each other.
• A second glider and instructor, if available, may be arranged at casual rates ($220 per hour) should conditions encourage both to fly the same day.

Experience Prerequisites:

These are guidelines only to assist us design your programme. There is plenty of opportunity to discuss your experience and modify our programme to suit particular needs once you are at Omarama and have met our team and your instructor.

• No XC: Little or no cross country flying experience.
• Level One: Never before flown in mountains.
• Level Two: Either never flown in mountains but with extensive cross country experience or already flown up to 100 hours in the mountains.
• Level Three: Extensive cross country and more than 100 hours of mountain flying.

2010 - 2011 Mountain Soaring Course schedule

Courses run every week from Monday through Friday starting October 1, 2010 and finishing March 25, 2011.

Arrival day is normally the Sunday prior and departure the following Saturday for a total of six nights. If feasible its a good idea to add an extra day at the end to allow for a weather day during the week or an extra day of flying.

Racing weeks this season are as follow:

13 to 20 November 2010 - South Island Regional Championships

02 to 15 January 2011 -  New Zealand National Championships

A limited number of Courses continue through racing weeks but the airfield is busy.  Some people love to be here at these times while others prefer to avoid them.  There is always the opportunity to  fly one of the competitions with an instructor.

Private Group Mountain Soaring Courses

• book your own group of two to six pilots
• are tailored to the experience and aspirations your group
• are best run with pilots at similar experience levels
• are still more fun and cheaper than multiple private courses
• can be run with up to six Duo Discus and/or up to four single seaters in various combinations.

Price on application