Canadian National Hang Gliding Championships

June 22, 2015

The Canadian National Hang Gliding Championships will soar at the Lumby Air Force Flying Club in Alberta this June 27-July 4, marking the 9th time Lumby has been chosen to host the event, primarily because of the area’s exceptional flying conditions.

Lumby is known for light winds and many warm lifting thermal pockets, an important factor for allowing glider pilots to get safely back to the designated landing area. The location offers multiple launch locations as well as the large and flat landing zone at Freedom Flight Park that has the extra advantage of being approachable from every direction.

The event is expected to draw pilots from all over North America as well as entries from many countries around the world, most coming to compete and some simply to take advantage of nearly ideal flying conditions.

The week-long race will have an FAI class 2 world rating with the CIVL FAI World Sport Flying Association and will earn points for the winners toward the next Hang Gliding World Championships to be held in Brazil in 2017.

In the United States, glider pilots compete in a series of seven meets with competitions the USHPA designates will award points toward the US National Championship (Class 1, Class 2, Class 5, Sport, and Women’s.) Previous to 2014 the US National Champion was chosen at a single competition, but recent changes mean results from these seven events will determine the winner. It is now based on a pilot’s best two scores from among the seven sanctioned hang gliding events.

The Canadian National Championships are the second big air event for Lumby this month. The 10th Annual Lumby Air Races were held earlier in the month as part of the “Lumby Days” festival which included flight competitions and demonstrations by hang gliders and paragliders.

Vicki Clinebell majored in journalism at the University of Colorado and headed to an advertising agency before beginning a long career in broadcasting, spanning production and copywriting to Sales and Management for an ABC affiliate station.

Her decision to switch gears to pursue a career in writing fulfilled a lifelong ambition. She started as a blogger for a diverse group of businesses, and now writes for a number of digital publications for companies stationed in her hometown in the Rocky Mountains, and provides advertising copy and media buys for national and regional clients. She finds the research as intersting as the writing—she loves learning about subjects as diverse as construction scaffolding, child safety seats, and the newest trends in beauty and fashion.