Koktebel is the heart of Russian gliding. During all festival days, the country's best glider pilots will take off from the legendary Mount Klementyev to show off their skills.
In 1923, the first gliding attempts were made in the village of Koktebel. Since then, the area has been considered the birthplace of this sport in the former USSR. The first All-Union Gliding Competition took place here, on the Uzun-Syrt Plateau (Mount Klementyev), in 1920-1930, which opened doors for a whole generation of Soviet aircraft designers and pilots. This area is a curved 7-km long plateau, where anabatic winds allow glider pilots to stay in the air for several hours without landing.
Mount Klementyev was named in memory of test glider pilot Pyotr Klementyev, who was killed here during a test flight on September 11, 1924.