Local hang gliders and paragliders — part of the Arizona Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association — are hoping to increase the number of safe landing zones to use when they fly off of Mingus Mountain in Cottonwood, and Dale Major made a presentation to the Cottonwood City Council at the Tuesday, Jan. 7, general meeting in hopes of securing an area that can be used for that purpose.

According to AZHPA Mingus Site Director Kris Thomsen, the issue is not necessarily with the current areas that the group has to land.

“We have this beautiful place where we launch that’s on top of Mingus,” he said. “You need a place to launch, and you need a place to land. If you launch and nothing else happens — you just have to glide down — we have a place in the forest a couple miles out front of Mingus. It’s under the same permit we have with the forest service up on top of the mountain.”

For the full story, see the Friday, Jan. 10, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.