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Fly Over La Jolla from the Torrey Pines Gliderport
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Tip of the Week: May 10, 2008
"The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air." --Wilbur Wright
Remember when your mom would ask, "would you jump off a cliff, if so-and-so, told you to?"
Truth is, for us, the answer was always "no," with our heads low and our voices reflecting the shame we felt just even thinking about what our wayward friends were cajoling us to do.
But there are some who have always secretly donned a mask and a cape and dreamt of flying, who would grow up to, voluntarily, jump off a cliff. When they jump, it isn't about how high, but rather that they fly.
San Diego has a spot that many of us know about, but probably haven't gotten wind as to its historic designation as significant in aviation circles.
We don't want to leave you up in the air. We're talking about the Torrey Pines Gliderport.
Back in the 30's and 40's, the Gliderport was home to a lot of research and development of flight. Charles Lindbergh set a record at this site in 1930. How'd he do it? He took off from Mt. Soledad hugging the Torrey Pines Cliffs,
past this spot, and then landed north in Del Mar. Pretty amazing, huh? In fact, February 2008, marked the 78th anniversary of his flight.
Torrey Pines is the oldest active gliderport in the world. The 1960's brought
many things that were out-of-the-box for sure, and along with it came hang
gliding. Over the years, Torrey Pines has become world reknowned. It is now designated as historic with the United States, the State of California and the City of San Diego. What's equally impressive, perhaps, is that pilots can take a leap in a single bound nearly every day of the year because of the conditions at Torrey Pines.
The Torrey Pines Gliderport is one of the top schools in the United States. It was one of the first to be a hangliding and paragliding site in the United States and they teach in, get this, English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Pharsee, German, Swiss, and French.
You don't have to jump off a cliff. You can spend some time, though, watching those brave souls who do. So grab a sandwich at their deli or bring your own and you can have yourself a bird's eye view of one the most beautiful spots in San Diego.
Torrey Pines Gliderport
2800 Torrey Pines Scenic Dr.
La Jolla, CA 92037
CALL FIRST to make sure they are open (due to winds)
1-858-452-9858 map
