Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

Flying Tater

3rd Annual Tater Hill Paragliding and Hangliding Open in Boone July 27 to August 2

Story by Sam Calhoun

The High Country is once again welcoming a high-flying competition on a whole new level—that level being 2,000 feet above ground level and 5,000 feet above sea level, the exact height of Tater Hill. The competition is the 3rd annual Tater Hill Paragliding and Hangliding Open, taking place from Sunday, July 27, to Saturday, August 2.

With only a handful of events of its kind in the entire nation—and the only to take place on the East Coast—the Tater Hill Paragliding Open is a unique opportunity that draws interest from paragliders and hangliders from around the world.

Even though local pilots have been using Tater Hill for more than 20 years, it wasn’t until 2006 that a nationally sanctioned event flew into the High Country. Almost 20 competitors took part in the event last year.

Bubba Goodman, who has flown off Tater Hill for more than 25 years and is the organizer of the event, said that 15 paragliders and no hangliders have registered for the Paragliding Open so far.

Entrants are from the immediate region and from far away, including, the country of Columbia and the states of Texas, California and Florida. Because free flyers—people who will fly hangliders or paragliders on the dates of the event but not compete—are allowed to take part in the festivities, Goodman expects to see at least 40 people at the competition site during the week. As an added attraction, 13-year-old Marcos Rosenkjer will fly in this year’s competition, following in his father Luis’s footsteps. Luis Rosenkjer is a 20-time paragliding national champion.

This is the first year that the United States Hangliding and Paragliding Association (USHPA) and the Worlds Air Sports Federation are not sanctioning the competition. Goodman didn’t want the event to be sanctioned this year so more beginner flyers could take part.

“This year, the event is more of a fun competition, geared more for beginners than hard-core flyers,” said Goodman. “It’s not sanctioned and geared toward people who want to learn how to fly cross-country.”

Throughout the seven-day event, launch times will change daily depending on the weather. Experienced local paragliders find that they need winds out of the west at roughly 0 to 20 mph to take flight. Tentatively, however, free flyers will be able to launch from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. each day, with the daily competition starting about noon.

Each day’s race will consist of a certain task that each competing pilot must complete. This task can be as simple as flying to a certain peak in the distance or as daunting as completing a triangle course between three points on the horizon. An easy way to envision the triangle course is to think of a sailing course with three buoys that each boat must round in order to finish. According to Goodman, some tasks can cover 50 to 60 miles.

This year, the competition is available to “less experienced” pilots, said Goodman.
“We’re making [the open] a cross-country clinic for less experienced pilots,” said Goodman.

Goodman welcomes free flyers, whether hangliders or paragliders, to take some runs off Tater Hill before, during and after the Paragliding Open, but pilots must be in the company of, or have permission from Goodman to go up Tater Hill. Goodman and other qualified meet officials have the final say and will not hesitate to stop someone from flying if they think the pilot is not qualified.

Although spectators are not allowed at the top of the racecourse this year, Goodman said various vantage points are available for spectators to watch from along Highway 421 between Trade, Tenn. and Boone.

A mandatory pilots’ meeting takes place at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 26, at race headquarters, located at Valley Grocery at the intersection of Tater Hill Road and Highway 421. Headquarters will be open daily throughout the competition starting at 9:00 a.m. each day.

At the headquarters, flyers can sign up and receive an escort to the top of the mountain, maps will be available and people can sign up for tandem flights. Tandem flights will once again be offered this year for $150 per flight. To sign up for a tandem flight, contact Goodman at 828-773-9433 or 336-385-9075.

As a new offering this year, Atlanta Paragliding will offer lessons in paragliding. To sign up for a lesson, contact Goodman at 828-773-9433 or 336-385-9075.

Single-day flying rates are $20 per flyer, but a three-day flying rate of $45 (not including shuttle fees) is currently available by contacting Goodman. The entry fee for the entire competition is $175 and includes shuttles to the launch, a t-shirt and an awards party.

All free-flying fees collected during the Paragliding Open will be used for road and site maintenance. Free flights during the Paragliding Open will be limited to flights before the official launch window opens and afterward once competition pilots are on the course line and finished.

Goodman asks that free flyers planning to attend the event preregister the same as Paragliding Open competitors but fill out “NON-COMP” in the space reserved for a second phone number on the application. Applications are available by clicking to www.flytaterhill.com.

Cash and prizes will be awarded to pilots taking part in the competition at a ceremony on Saturday, August 2.

Participants can pay registration fees by check, money order or credit card, but credit card users must call Goodman to process fees over the phone. Checks and money orders should be mailed to Bubba Goodman, 3482 Peak Road, Creston, NC 28615.

Pilots must have a valid USHPGA card and a GPS system.

For more information about the competition, weather and availability, call Goodman at 828-773-9433 or 336-385-9075 or click to www.flytaterhill.com.

A Little Information on Tater Hill

Tater Hill, or “Potato Hill” according to maps, gets its name from its shape—it looks somewhat like a big potato with a hump or two of rock jutting out to break its clean lines. The hill is privately owned and it harbors protected species of plant and animal life.

For more than 20 years, a small and devoted group of hangliding and paragliding pilots has used Tater Hill as their home flying site. And why not? The location is only 8 miles north of Boone on Highway 421.

Tater Hill is a perfect location for top landing and relaunching without breaking down, according to local pilot Bubba Goodman. The pilot takeoff is a shallow slope and, although a breeze up the face of the mountain of a few miles per hour makes for an easier launch, pilots can get airborne in no wind conditions.

Goodman said that the longest flight from Tater Hill was 98 miles, done in a hanglider flown by local Nelson Howe.

What is the Difference Between Paragliding and Hangliding?

Hangliding and paragliding are two different sports cut from the same cloth. In hangliding, a rigid airframe holds the material used for flying. Paragliding has more similarities to parachuting; the apparatus has no rigid frame, but consists of a large piece of material that is attached to a suspended seat for the pilot. According to local pilot Bubba Goodman, paragliders often prefer the sport to hangliding because paraglide rigs can fit in a backpack and can be taken on airplanes because they have no rigid frames. Both hangliding and paragliding provide similar in-flight experiences.

“But it’s just different,” said Goodman, who added that some pilots prefer paragliding because of convenience even though the sport is viewed as being slightly slower than flying hangliders.