I’ve been flying gliders pretty consistently since I graduated university. I learned to fly in high school as an Air Cadet but after university I joined a gliding club and my short flights in glorified kites started to look cooler, last longer and seed an addiction. Today I fly gliders cross country and compete in glider competitions. That might not make any sense to many, but I promise it’s awesome!

Flying an airplane without an engine for hundreds of kilometres isn’t a skill you acquire overnight, but some of the skills required for success in the sky, help bigly when you’re back on the ground.

1. Cut losses quickly

When success through your day depends on finding and exploiting invisible columns of rising air, picking the wrong columns or failing to adapt to changing weather could leave you struggling for hours, wasting the day, or having to land in a farmers field. Soaring requires you to constantly assess the situation and make decisions - agility and decisiveness. Most importantly, those decisions mean cutting losses and not tolerating merely satisfactory conditions while balancing the goals for the flight, pushing through adversity to make the most of the opportunity.

2. If you fall, get back up

I remember when I was just starting to fly cross country, I’d waste so much time ensuring I had absolute confidence that I could stay aloft; but if you leave only when you're certain, you’ve already missed too much of the day to be competitive. One day, I wanted to leave earlier to be further on course as the weather improved. Within minutes of saying goodbye to my home airport I was low and had to start ‘scratching’. At around 1000’ above ground, near some gravel pits and maybe gaining 35’ every minute, you patiently fight an agonizing battle to avoid ‘landing out’. Over the 40 or so minutes it took me to “dig out” I had convinced myself that I shouldn’t have left so early, that I wasn’t good enough, that if I got out of this hole I’d fly right back home. I didn’t fly home after I eventually dug out, I shifted back into attack mode. I had already faced my fear of landing out and I was prepared to do it if things came to that - now was no time to give up!

Gliding teaches you to get back up and respect each opportunity. It forces pilots to reassess and shift gears - to slow down, be humble and methodical in bad times, but to press on, push for distance, fly faster when things are good and to be able to regain an attack mentality even after you’ve been beaten down.

3. Stay Cool

I’d define staying cool as remaining calm during stressful times, when every ounce of your being wants to lash out and the highest determinant of success is slowing down, being cautions and humble. While soaring, the times you’re likely to be most agitated are definitely when you need to be most aware - group flying, low saves, landing, etc. Getting ‘stuck low’ is one of the most taxing aspects of soaring. If you were flying at 4000’ above ground and find yourself only 1000’ above ground you’re dealing with air 7+ degrees (C) warmer, frustration, agony and stress. You have to fight for every foot of altitude and keep an eye on available fields to land in. If there’s anything in soaring you want a shortcut for, it’s digging out. If you do not remain composed, you’ll miss something or fly sloppy and end up on the ground. Whereas, patience, humility and a bit of faith can regularly get you back to altitude and on your way again.

By staying calm in intense situations, you’re more likely to achieve a better outcome, instil confidence and deliver your best effort.

4. Trust the science

I make an analogy between flying gliders cross country and ice skating on a pond or lake. There is good science that supports soaring forecasts, just as ice of a given thickness will absolutely support your weight. Being able to step onto the lake takes a leap of faith and it may take some time before you’re confident that the ice can fully support your weight. Once that realization sinks in, you start to really enjoy the thrill of skating across a frozen body of water!

With soaring, at some point you have to trust the science - that there is enough energy in the region to support you. That you’re skillful enough to take advantage of it. And even if it isn’t always smooth, you can trust that there will be another thermal. Just like your next customer or next opportunity.

If in life you worried about every stride on your skates, or worried that any tough moment was indicative of how things would always be, we would never accomplish anything. Trusting that the lows aren’t forever, and knowing the same is true for highs helps create long term success over a day, opportunity, career or life.

5. Have Fun

Cross country soaring is a constant battle with very literal highs and lows. It’s a type of battle with a duration that can seem like an eternity through a low, but only in extreme circumstance does a day of gliding last beyond a sunset. Soaring provides a platform for self actualization, oneness with the elements, defying gravity and flying like an arrow at speeds regularly exceeding 200km/h. For me, even when I’m absolutely loving the flying, I know that challenges are ahead and I must keep my emotions in check. When I land at my destination, I am overwhelmed with endorphins, thinking back on what I’d seen, what I accomplished and who I can share the story with over a drink, a meal and quite regularly a camp fire.





The practice of navigating an object weighing more than 700lbs over hundreds of km with nothing but ingenuity and bit of courage has lasting impacts on one's character. Soaring has helped me remain calm when professional circumstances escalate. I see colleagues hammer at any idea that might pop in their head while I am quick to cut losses and ensure the plans we execute are more fully vetted and likely to deliver success. Most valuable of all - for me anyway - is an ability to cherish beautiful moments. I see them when snowboarding, hiking or walking through the city, but nothing compares to the expansive beauty of seeing the world from above, as a bird does - silently, freely and at great speed!

I hope you have a personal passion that helps develop your character, for me that’s soaring - a sport that provides tremendous opportunities within the sport itself and creates a strength of character that creates, manages and executes opportunities on the ground.



