Each year over the Memorial Day and Labor Day holiday weekends, individuals jump off of the cliffs at Sand Turn Interpretive Site and glide slowly down to the ground with a hang glider in the Bighorn Mountains. 

Instructor Johann Nield is one of those individuals participating each year. He has been hang gliding since 1978 and conducts classes to train individuals in the sport of hang gliding. 

“I encourage people to try it out whether it is a bucket list thing or a lifelong hobby you want to get into,” he said.

Nield starts instructional classes at ground level. Once participants understand and demonstrate basic knowledge of hang gliding and use subtle movements to steer on solid ground, Nield will gradually take them up the mountain, eventually gliding off Sand Turn. 

Before traveling to Sand Turn, where there are only five steps to launch off of the mountain successfully, students must be able to take off and land without injury. 

Nield compares hang gliding to riding a bicycle, where individuals eventually obtain the muscle memory to do it without thinking. To acquire that muscle memory, Nield recommends his students take three classes before trying it on their own. 

Students use equipment such as a hang glider, harness, a quality certified helmet and a parachute, according to Kyle Fedden, who has been hang gliding since 2000. 

Most modern hang gliders are stronger than a lot of small aircraft, being able to withstand plus or minus six G-force, which is the loading experienced by the aircraft and the pilot in flight, Fedden said. 

While modern hang gliding is a relatively safe sport, the practice has come a long way since its development, when in the late 1940s many deaths were recorded from individuals crafting their own hang glider equipment.

Still, there are factors to consider that might jeopardize one’s safety. 

When in the air, there are thermal pockets that are caused by cooling air along with a relatively warm ground. Signs of these pockets include cumulus clouds, where there is high humidity and pressure. These spots create a thermal bubble that, when hit, can cause a hang glider to gain elevation quickly. People who are not used to the turbulence and quick jerks can panic. 

On Sand Turn, hang gliders will generally stay in the air for eight to 10 minutes, requiring the ability to control one’s equipment when coming into contact with thermal pockets.

While thermal pockets can cause distress for many, they also allow hang gliders to stay in the air for longer. Fedden has seen people travel for 410 miles just by hitting thermal pockets to stay in the air. 

To be able to stay in the air for an extended amount of time, hang gliders will use variometers to help the pilot determine if they are rising or sinking, according to Sara Bowman, who has been a hang glider for 35 years and a part of the U.S. women’s hang gliding team. 

Nield said it’s a good stress reliever from everyday life. For him, hang gliding is a way to escape from stressful situations but also gain that adrenaline of jumping off of a mountain. 

“No two jumps are the same,” Nield said. “I have not lost the thrill of hang gliding and I have been doing this for a while.”

Nield said he always looks forward to seeing the crowd gather when they see the hang gliders at Sand Turn, and he enjoys talking to the public about his passion. 

When he is ready to take on the challenge of jumping, though, he focuses his thoughts on only three things: wind, the glider and himself. Then he proceeds to jump.