Safety

The sport of hang gliding is, simply put, as safe as you make it. If you approach the sport with a safe and cautious mentality, you can enjoy the sport for your entire life without a single incident!

Community

In the United States, hang gliding is regulated by the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, or USHPA for short. To learn more about USHPA, click here.

On the local level, most flying sites have a local club that regulates flying at that site, as well as maintaining the site. At Point of the Mountain, the local club is called the Utah Hang Gliding and ParaGliding Association, or UHGPGA. Visit the UHGPGA site here.

Possibilities

People have flown hang gliders "cross country" over 400 miles, soaring for more than 8 hours!

High performance hang gliders are capable of going faster than 100 mph!

Hang Gliding in a Nutshell

There are several ways to get airborne in a hang glider, but the most common is to foot-launch from a hill or mountain. Once in the air, hang gliders are able to stay up for hours by finding columns of rising air (thermals), or by flying along the ridge of a mountain (ridge lift).

Hang gliders are controlled by weight shift, meaning that the pilot shifts his or her weight to steer the glider. If you would like to turn to the right, you simply shift your weight to the right and the glider will turn. Speed is also controlled by weight shift- if you pull your weight forward you lower the nose of the glider and it flies faster. Through these simple controls, we are able to easily take to the sky and soar for hours... there's nothing like it!

When it comes time to land a hang glider, you push out and shift your weight back, raising the nose of the glider until it stalls (stops flying) and stops your forward progress putting you gently on your feet.

History, Part I: In the Beginning

The first hang glider was actually developed by a NASA engineer named Francis Rogallo. As news spread about the invention of this "Rogallo Wing", people all over the world began building their own gliders out of readily available resources- bamboo and plastic sheeting were commonly used. With absolutely no instruction, people were taking these home-made hang gliders and flying them from hills and even off of cliffs!

The learning curve was quite steep, and as you might guess, many people were hurt or even killed during this time. Because of this, hang gliding became known as a dangerous, high-risk, extreme sport...

History, Part II: Modern Hang Gliders

Hang gliders have come a long way since those early days. Modern hang gliders are built to exacting specifications, as well as tested and certified for strength and stability (safety). What does this mean? It means that hang gliding has never been safer or easier, and there is no better time to get into the sport!

As well as advances in hang gliding equipment, the instruction has evolved over time as well. Today there is a standard curriculum that is taught by certified instructors.

The combination of modern gliders and instruction have made hang gliding so safe and accessible, ANYONE can do it!