The classic site of Point of the Mountain in the USA is under threat from opencast mining. Nick Greece wrote about flying cross country here for our book Classic Routes, published last year. It's one of his favourites places to fly.

No visit to the wide-open skies of the USA would be complete without a trip to Utah's Salt Lake City and arguably America's most popular site, Point of the Mountain.

The site has a thriving flying social scene and even has a paragliding shop, one of the very few in the whole of the United States.

Few places in the world tick as many boxes – Point of the Mountain is accessible to pilots of all levels, from beginners to XC hounds. Pilots have flown here for decades.

A consistent northerly breeze sets up in the afternoon here, making the site soarable until late in the evening.

The classic, local cross country route is the 23km run from Point of the Mountain to Mount Olympus, or vice versa.

Although some classic routes are only doable on particularly good days, this is one route that any half-decent XC pilot will be able to fly, even on a school glider.

The flight only actually takes three thermals, but each is separated by a classic transition which forces the pilot to make solid cross country decisions. There are numerous variations, and the flying is always interesting.

Conditions are consistent throughout the day, and even 9-5 workers can show up after work and still get a good XC flight in. Or, with the luxury of time, you can show up at 1pm to fly over 100km downwind.

The Point of the Mountain to Mount Olympus run is without doubt a classic route, no matter how often you do it.

To find out more about the campaign to save Point of the Mountain from destruction, and see how you can lend your voice to help save this site, see savesteepmountain.org