By BRADLEY S. RICHARDSON
When the ancient shores of Lake Bonneville receded more than 14,000 years ago, no one imagined it would create one the world’s greatest locations for hang gliding and paragliding.
The Point of the Mountain, a deposit of lake sand and gravel, lures hang gliders and paragliders from all around the world.
“The Point of the Mountain is known world-wide,” said Steve Hoopes, owner of Above and Beyond Paragliding. “It’s one of the top in the world for flying sites. You can go up there any day of the week and find someone from Europe,” he said.
Richard Toyne, 39, from London, hang glides extensively. He has flown in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
“It’s certainly one of the most consistent (spots) in the world,” Toyne said.
With its unique A-frame configuration, the mountain is prone to constant winds — coming up the south face in the morning and shifting to the north face in the evening.
“Typically, you can fly from 6:30 to 7 a.m. until 10 or 11 a.m. (on the south side),” said Kent Price, 56, from Grand Rapids, Mich. “Then you can go up on the north side (and) fly from 5 p.m. until dark.”
Price’s expertise in aviation includes 30 years of airplane pilot experience — he also hang glides and sky dives. Price has spent much of his summer vacation at the Point of the Mountain.
Gliders are powered by two types of wind currents — ridge lift and thermals. Ridge lift currents flow up the face of the mountain. Thermals are formed when the earth’s surface is heated causing pockets of warm air to rise.
Gliders use both currents to lift themselves off the ground.
“It’s taken people up to 18,000 feet,” Hoopes said. “If (the wind) stops, you glide. A paraglider and a hang glider can fly with no wind.”
Hang gliders typically don’t start on the top of the mountain. Instead, gliders take off from a flat plateau about 300 feet above the ground. Hang gliders can climb to about 10,000 feet above sea level, Toyne said.
“A misconception that people have is that people run and jump off hills,” Hoopes said. “Most of the accidents we have are pilots doing maneuvers too close to the ground or flying in too strong of wind conditions. It’s a safe sport as long as you have the right instruction.”
“If it’s gusty, you don’t fly,” Price said.
With advancement in gliding equipment, paragliding is becoming more popular.
“We’ve had people from 12 to 78 years old that have done it,” Hoopes said.
Flying on the mountain provides gliders with a natural high and also a new way of life.
“It’s a very fluid, true experience,” Hoopes said. “Being up there by yourself and flying around is incredible.”
“That feeling stays with you,” he said. “It’s not just a sport — it’s a way of life.”
“Once you get going in hand gliding or paragliding, it takes over your life,” Toyne said. “It’s just such a wonderful thing that you want to do it all the time.”
But, the fun may not last forever. Because of the mountain’s high content of gravel, much of the mountain is being dug out and shipped to other locations.
“The whole mountain is under threat,” Toyne said. “The western part of the south side is a (gravel) quarry.”
“On the north side they are building a lot of houses,” he said.
With all the new houses being built, gliders could virtually land in nearby residents’ back yards.
The north side is a Salt Lake County Park and is protected from housing construction. The south side is leased to a hang gliding association and for the moment safe from further development.
The origin of hang gliders was in early 1960s when NASA was looking for a space capsule retrieval system, Hoopes said. Francis Ragallo was given the responsibility to create a steerable parachute that could land falling capsules on dry ground. The chute never worked, but the sport of hang gliding was born.
The longest paraglide is about 170 miles, and the longest hang glide is around 4,000 miles, Hoopes said.
Paragliding has not caught on in the United States like it has in other regions of the world. In fact, there are only 4,000 to 5,000 paragliders in the United States, in comparison to 20,000 in Japan and about 300,000 in Europe, Hoopes said.
Hang gliders differ from paragliding in that their wings are ridged and can fly higher and farther. Paragliders, on the other hand, are more flexible and easier to land and transport.
“It’s like having an airplane in my trunk,” Price said.
