Ali Mountain is one of the famous places in Turkey - a flying site for 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.
Mount Ali (Ali Dagi) is located right near the town of Talas. There is a version that Ali Dag is named in honor of Ali Baba, a famous fabulous character, who is said to have lived in the area. It is a triple peaked round mountain about 1800 m height. A fine road leads to the top of it.
Mount Erciyes (Erciyes Dagi) is a massive stratovolcano located 25 km to the south of Kayseri in Turkey. Erciyes is the highest mountain in central Anatolia, with its top reaching 3,916 metres. It is considered to be the highest peak of the Anti-Taurus mountain range, a northeastern extension of the Taurus Mountains to the south, and belongs to the Alpide belt in Eurasia. This volcano may have erupted as recently as 253 BC.
Mount Hasan (Hasan Dagi) is an inactive stratovolcano on the border of Aksaray province. With an altitude of 3,253 m, it ranks as the second highest mountain of central Anatolia. It eruption is considered to be in Neolithic times.

Ali Dag 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. 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. We recommend to launch at about 12:00 then you can enjoy the best house thermals. The best winds for flying are W and NW.
When flying in Ali Dag are 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 Dag is 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 should expect a normal 70 km XC flight.

Ali Mountain is a famous competition place. It hosted Paragliding World cup two times (in 2004 and 2007), with two PrePWC as expected and three Turkish Paragliding Championship (in 2007, 2008, 2009). It is also a famous Hanggliding competition place. Kayseri Hang gliding cup was held there in 2006 and 2007 and Hang Gliding European Championship in 2012.

Ali Mountain take off is located at its peak. Good ground road winds up the mountain to the take-offs. It is only 10 km to the nearest town.

Take-off 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. Its possible to make a top landing in case of necessity there. The take off has the following facilities: barracks, electricity, water, radio and 2 man 2 Women WC


Landing: 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.