Black Forest Glider Port

Just by chance, I ran across this 1972 film called "Soaring Country." It was produced by our Uncle Mark at Black Forest Glider Port.  Mark Wild was a successful businessman and talented amateur photographer. 

The film was "lost" for many years, according to the YouTube note. In 2014, the staff at Soaring Cafe received a VHS copy of the original 16mm movie and they digitized it for historical purposes. The film may have come from the estate of Aunt Ruth, our mom's sister, who passed away about that time. 

In the 1950's, Uncle Mark and Aunt Ruth built a small glider port on their ranch east of Colorado Springs. It became a mecca for soaring enthusiasts from all over the world, who came for the thrilling "waves" generated by Pikes Peak and the front range of the Rocky Mountains. Ruth and Mark both became glider pilots. The film has some impressive aerial footage, long before digital devices and go-cams made it easy.

They eventually sold the Glider Port in 1985.  You can bet there are still some old soaring enthusiasts nostalgic for those good old days. And it was a great lifestyle for the Wild family.

When our family moved to Colorado Springs in 1958, the glider port was just getting started. Our Pennsylvania dairy farm was sold, and we brought just about everything we owned west in a Chevy Suburban, camping along the way.  Mom put a "Pikes Peak or Bust" sign on the back of the truck. It was a big adventure but we were pretty homesick at first.  When we arrived, Aunt Ruth and Uncle Mark's generous hospitality really helped us with that transition.

As kids we loved visiting their ranch and playing with our cousins. In those days, Black Forest seemed like a long drive from Colorado Springs, across prairie dotted with ranches.  And horses!  Coming from a small eastern farm, the mountains and plains were amazing.  We soon fell in love with the West.

The movie runs 28 minutes. There is just a glimpse of Aunt Ruth (cooking barbecue) and Uncle Mark (in a cowboy hat addressing a large room full of people.) I think the smiling girl in the glider at the beginning is our cousin Gail.

On a poignant note, no trace remains of the old glider port on the edge of the Black Forest.  The Wild Ranch was subdivided, and is covered with the urban sprawl that now reaches far east of Colorado Springs.