I'm going to write a series of articles about certain aspects of the King Mountain co-Nationals (although not the actual meet itself). I trust that these articles will prove to be insightful and informative. I wanted to start off with a few caveats, so that perhaps the reader can view these articles with an open mind.

First, I have nothing against a open cross country type contest. I love open distance. I love competition. I love combining them. I have won open distance competitions (the Chelan Cross Country Classic). Cross country flying is for me the essence of hang gliding. Everything else is boring, for me personally. You don't have to agree.

Second, while it is not to my personal taste after many years of experience hang gliding (started in the Fall of 1984 at the age of 38), there is nothing illegitimate about holding a open cross country contest in a "big air" area. An area that rewards pilots who can engage in "white knuckle" flying. Pilots who have no fear of and perhaps revel in turbulence. Again, it is not to my taste, but that is just a matter of my values and my opinion, and my internal chemistry (and experience) and that doesn't mean that others don't have legitimate reasons for their preferences.

Third, I have nothing personal against the meet organizers of the King Mountain meet nor the pilots who fly at that meet. I have policy disagreements (which, of course, are not as much "fun" for the spectators) with decisions that they have made in their various capacities. But personally I bare them no animosity. I know that they, like me, are just doing their best to promote hang gliding and help hang glider pilots have fun.

Fourth, I love Idaho. I love the mountains. I love the scenery. I love the rivers. I love the people. I love going over the continental divide. I love mountain meadows. I had an opportunity to run the US Paragliding Nationals at Sun Valley a few years ago (and also fly there in a Wills Wing Falcon) and I loved flying there.

Fifth, I find it very stimulating and interesting to fly "near" thunderstorms. I flew "near" quite a few of them recently here in the Texas panhandle. I've flown in them in Colorado at previous US Nationals. I've flown in and near them in Florida and Maryland. I flown near them in the mountains in France and Austria. I've been in gust fronts many times and been flipped over backwards in them. Thunderstorms are just fine by me.

Sixth, I love flying in the mountains. I just got back from flying in the mountains in France. I fly in the mountains every year in Australia. I flew in the Worlds in Austria in the really really high mountains. I flew over huge snow fields near Innsbruck and Greifenburg. I've flown in the mountains in the Worlds in Italy. I've often flown in the mountains in the Cascades.

So when the question arises is it legitimate to hold a US Nationals at King Mountain, my answer is yes. Is it legitimate to choose a national champion based on an open cross country type meet, I say that yes indeed it is. This does not mean that every thing that happened at and before the King Mountain meet was as legitimate as it could have been.

For example, as I have reported previously, it appears as though the King Mountain meet organizers did not fully communicate with the organizer of the Big Spring co-Nationals so that a US National Champion could be chosen in a fair and open manner. Nor, was the scoring system used at the King meet compatible with that specified in the USHPA rulebook and it was not compatible with the one used at the Big Spring Nationals. This lead to some illegitimate results.

In the next article I will look at just how the King Mountain meet was marketed.