Ali Mountain is a famous competition flying site - it hosted two World Cup tours and dozens of minor paragliding events. It is located near the town of Kayseri in the Kayseri Province in central part of the country, in Anatolia. The area of Kayseri is surrounded by the Mount Erciyes, the Mount Hasan and the Mount Ali (known also as Ali Dagi), a triple peaked round mountain about 1800 m height with a fine road leading to the top of it where the competition takes place.
The flying site enjoys a dry continental climate of central Turkey and attractive thermal conditions. The best flying season is of course Summer but it is possible to fly in Winter in this area too. The average cloud base in Summer is about 5000 m and thermal strength is about 4 m/s. For comparison in Spring thermal strength is twice as low and reaches only 2 m/s. The best month for XC flights is July. Thermals work all day long. It is recommended to launch at about 12:00 to enjoy the best house thermals. The best winds for flying are W and NW.
When flying in Ali Dagi, one should take the following precautions: the area of the volcano may be turbulent, with S wind in the higher level and avoid to fly to the north of the take off as military airfield is close and international airport is not so far.
Ali Dagi is also a record site. The longest flight from this take off was 157 km made by Yurdaer Etike in 2008 and also in 2010 a Turkish pilot Durali Karaca made an altitude record of 4900 m there. But on average Summer day, one can expect a normal 70 km XC flight.
1: 1100 m ASL (38.667987, 35.545920)
It will be the competition main take off. Exposure E SE. Winds N, NW. Take off ground is large enough to lay 10 gliders. The slope is covered with grass. It's possible to make a top landing in case of necessity there. The takeoff has the following facilities: barracks, electricity, water, radio and 2 man 2 Women WC
700m ASL (38,68812, 35,51734)
A large field at the bottom of the mountain covered with grass. The landing is right on the border of Talas town.
Photos: © Ali Dagi Open, copyrights applied.
Source: http://www.talas.bel.tr
