wave soaring

Wave soaring is a method of gliding where an unpowered aircraft flies along vertical waves of wind that form on the lee side of mountain ranges. This technique allows gliders to gain significant altitude rapidly by utilizing these powerful updrafts.1

Gliding, in general, is flight in an unpowered heavier-than-air craft, where gravity provides the power. When a glider encounters rising air that moves faster than its rate of sink, it can climb. This is distinct from thermal soaring, which uses rising columns of warm air, or slope soaring, which uses wind deflected by ridges. Pioneers like Otto Lilienthal and the Wright brothers were instrumental in the development of glider flight.12