Sorica

Sorica is a demanding cross-country site above a narrow valley, and it only comes into condition a handful of days each year — this is not a site to visit hoping to find lift. The launch, reached by a 20–30 minute walk (or occasionally a lift-assisted ride up), is small enough for one glider at a time, and the flyable window each morning is short: launching much past mid-morning usually means conditions have already gone too strong. Once airborne, pilots head east along the shoulder to work the terrain. Sorica rewards pilots who already fly cross-country confidently and can read a marginal day correctly, because the landing options if you sink out are limited, and the site's wind pattern is easy to misjudge from the ground. It's best treated as a site to fly only with local knowledge on hand, on a day that genuinely looks right rather than one that merely resembles yesterday's good conditions.

Launch & conditions

The launch is small — room for one glider at a time — reached by a 20–30 minute walk, with a ski lift sometimes arranged the day before. Launching later than about 10–11am usually means the wind has already gone too strong; once off, head east to the shoulder to climb.

Getting there & local rules

The site is car-only, via the road to the Sorica Planina ski resort. Landing is in the village of Sorica, near the bar, or on open farmland a little closer to launch; strong pilots sometimes stretch the flight with a roughly 15km glide east instead.

Check conditions before you fly

A forecast for the valley is not a forecast for the launch. Before heading to Sorica, read the wind and thermals for the site itself, confirm the day's rules with the local club, and remember the standing rule — when in doubt, don't launch. In the free OutDare app you can open Sorica with a 7-day forecast built from high-resolution weather models, see who else has been flying, and get there with offline maps.