The sport is soaring and your wings come in the form of a sailplane, a modern-day pterodactyl that is made of aluminum, fiberglass, carbon composites and specially treated fabrics.

Sailplanes vary in size from under 40 feet to over 80 and are designed to withstand G forces more than that of an airplane. They’ve also been known to fly at altitudes that jetliners cruise.

Sailplanes have a glide ratio from 35:1 up to 50:1. Glide ratio is the horizontal distance covered divided by the amount of descent.

The Nevada state record of 46,000 feet was set over Minden NV by Ed Peerens, while the world altitude record of 49,000 feet was set over Lone Pine CA by Bob Harris.

"Soaring is a pure form of flying. It’s back to the basics—all about stick and rudder," says Court Farrel, a commercial airline pilot who flies 747s for Cathay Pacific.

In the Sierra Nevada, soaring is far from being consigned to an exotic realm of its own, somewhere in the blue yonder. There is an estimated 200 to 300 glider pilots in the Truckee-Reno area and roughly more than 100,000 across the world.

This individualistic, but far from laid-back, sport was first introduced into this country during the 1920s by pioneer pilots from Wasserkuppe in Germany’s Rhone Valley. But you don’t have to go any farther than the Martis Valley outside Truckee for some of the best soaring conditions in North America.

"Because of its geographic and atmospheric conditions, the Truckee area is one of the 5 or 6 best places for soaring on earth," says Joe Silvestri, Manager of Soar Truckee, Inc. "The scenery is especially beautiful and long flights in the summer months are easily attainable because of the tremendous lift."

The tremendous lift that Silvestri that speaks of is the most sought after meteorological effect in soaring, thermal lift. It is a rising current of air created when the sun has heats the ground.

Such currents are especially prevalent over mountainous terrain. Even though invisible, they are easily sensed by an experienced pilot who will usually do his best to maneuver so as to stay near the core of the thermal; doing so, the pilot can rise higher and higher until the current begins to dissipate.

There are other types of lift such as ridge lift and wave soaring, but thermals remain the main name of the game. Without them a sailplane would have no way of gaining altitude. With them, pilots have been known to soar for more than 1,000 horizontal miles without touching down. Silvestri adds: "Because the Sierra Nevada suns north to south, it’s not unusual for some plots to travel from Truckee down to Mount Whitney and back in one day."

"In the Sierra Nevada, thermals start earlier in the day and last longer than other areas of lesser elevations," says Farrel.

"Soaring is an extremely safe sport," insists Silvestri, a former commercial charter pilot who has been flying sailplanes for over 25 years. " Sailplanes can be piloted at extremely low speeds, there is never any fuel to catch on fire, and, in general, sailplane pilots tend to be much more precision type pilots, more aware and able to concentrate."

Though soaring can be an expensive sport if one invests in a plane, it is relatively inexpensive and readily available for the beginner wanting to learn, or for the visitor just wanting to go up for a view.

"Soaring the Sierra takes me totally outside myself," says Farrel. "It is very pure. I get excited about soaring every time I go up. Every flight is different from the last; every thing is still new. Cooking off the thermals is like surfing a classic wave. It comes closer to the ancient dream of human flight than any of the more technically advanced forms of human flight are ever likely to."