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.

Local rules & hazards

Any west wind here is dangerous, and the site is usually only safe right at the tail end of a Bora event — the morning valley wind needs an easterly component, which typically swings back to the west in the afternoon, letting pilots fly out downwind in the morning and return downwind later, but turbulence builds fast if you're caught flying against the wind in either direction. Treat each day on its own conditions rather than assuming yesterday's good flying means today is safe too.

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.