Mountain Soaring in Omarama, New Zealand
Mountain soaring
Professional gliding instruction, mountain-soaring courses and tailored flying in DuoDiscus gliders from Omarama Airfield in the Southern Alps.
Instruction, courses and tailored flying in New Zealand’s Southern Alps.
From a first flight to serious mountain soaring
Flying for every level
Whether you are visiting New Zealand for one memorable flight or already have a licence and want to develop mountain and cross-country skills, the flying is built around your experience, goals and the conditions of the day.
First flights, pilot development and mountain soaring—built around your goals and the day’s conditions.
Omarama Classic
5 days
The full mountain-soaring course: 15 hours in a DuoDiscus, with daily lectures and debriefs focused on cross-country flying in the mountains.
Five days of mountain-soaring instruction in a DuoDiscus.
Mini Mountain Course
3 days
A concentrated introduction to mountain cross-country soaring, with 9 hours in a DuoDiscus plus daily lectures and debriefs.
Three focused days of mountain-soaring instruction.
Introduction to Gliding
First flight
A proper first experience of gliding: briefing, 1–1.5 hours in a DuoDiscus, hands-on control time when appropriate, and a debrief afterwards.
A proper first flight in a DuoDiscus, with briefing and debrief.
Also available: a focused course day, casual instruction for qualified pilots, and the long gliding experience.
Where the Alps conduct the air
Why Omarama?
Omarama sits where the Southern Alps conduct the air. The sun lifts thermals from the dry basin; wind climbs the ranges into ridge lift; the nor’wester can set vast mountain waves in motion; and the Pacific sea breeze pushes cool air inland. These forces do not perform alone. They overlap, strengthen, soften and replace one another through the day—a beautiful, changeable symphony of lift.
To fly here is to learn how the whole sky is connected.
Fly the DuoDiscus
Kahu Soaring operates a DuoDiscus X (“DD”) and DuoDiscus XL (“FF”) for instruction and mountain soaring. These two-seat high-performance gliders give us a capable platform for teaching, exploring the Southern Alps and covering real distance.
Two-seat DuoDiscus flying for instruction and mountain soaring.
Meet the Team
The instructors, coaches and mountain people behind Kahu Soaring bring experience, patience and local mountain sense to every flight. It is a team effort from the first briefing to the final landing.
Meet the people who make every Kahu Soaring flight personal.
Plan your Omarama trip
Plan your trip
Need help with the practical side of flying from Omarama? Start with accommodation, glider support, and local operating costs.
Choosing the right glider flight
Kahu Soaring is a training operation. Our flying is designed for people who want to take part, learn and develop—not for sightseeing-only passengers.
Instruction with Kahu Soaring
Kahu Soaring provides glider instruction within the CAA Part 149 system administered by Gliding New Zealand. A first instructional lesson is available if you have a genuine interest in the sport. It includes a briefing and, when appropriate, the opportunity to handle the controls under instructor supervision.
Looking for a scenic flight?
If you are looking only for a scenic sightseeing flight and do not want to participate in flying the glider, please contact Glide Queenstown. It is a CAA-certificated Part 115 adventure aviation operator specialising in scenic glider flights.
Kahu Soaring is not a Part 115 scenic-flight operator. Please see our full disclaimer for eligibility, participation and operational information.