Outside Work — Arvind T. Mohan

When I am not working, I try to spend as much time as I can outdoors… or in the air.

Mountain Rescue First Responder

I volunteer as a first responder in Atalaya Search and Rescue, Santa Fe, NM which is a group filled with many exceptional individuals rated in wilderness, mountain and high-altitude rescue in Northern New Mexico. Almost all wilderness/mountain rescue in the US is volunteer run, so teams like these fill an important part of public safety infrastructure. Most of these teams are donation-supported and do not charge the subjects they rescue. Please support your local team!

Arctic Adventures

I travel whenever I can, usually with some kind of adventure involved. I enjoy being somewhere unfamiliar, spending long days outside, and occasionally choosing a vacation that requires an unreasonable amount of gear. And preferably as far north as I can get. The colder it is, the more desolate it is, the better it is. (Yes, its possible something may be wrong with me)

A frozen waterfall and snowy mountain landscape above the Arctic Circle in Sweden. — Ice climbing far above the Arctic Circle in Abisko National Park, Sweden.

Arvind ice climbing a frozen waterfall above the Arctic Circle in Sweden. — Ice climbing far above the Arctic Circle in Abisko National Park, Sweden.

Alaska is one of my favorite places in the world. I also work closely with the State of Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the University of Alaska Fairbanks on scientific AI for permafrost modeling and disaster mitigation… which gives me an excellent excuse to keep returning and exploring whenever I can.

A small backpacking tent on autumn tundra beneath cloud-covered mountains in Gates of the Arctic National Park. — **Many days alone in the Brooks Range.** Solo backpacking near Anaktuvuk Pass in Gates of the Arctic National Park: no roads, no trails, and no one else in sight. Had to be get on a bush plane to drop me off. The pilot was (half) joking I won't make it back...

Arvind in the Brooks Range tundra near Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska. — **Many days alone in the Brooks Range.** Solo backpacking near Anaktuvuk Pass in Gates of the Arctic National Park: no roads, no trails, and no one else in sight. Had to be get on a bush plane to drop me off. The pilot was (half) joking I won't make it back...

Flying

Being a pilot who chooses gliders means learning to fly stripped down to the essentials. Without an engine, you learn to manage energy and feel what the aircraft and the air are doing rather than relying on punching through the air with power. It develops a very intuitive kind of piloting “stick and rudder skills” as its known.

And oh, you get ONE chance to land. For a pilot on a power plane, that is an emergency landing. Lucky for us, every landing is an emergency landing :D.

The best part of flying gliders is how directly it connects you with nature and aerodynamics. All that you need to climb high and soar for hours is Mother Nature. And not having an engine means its super quiet up there while you sit fighter-pilot style and look at the earth below.

This also means I have to intuitively feel how the air moves: Thermals, ridge lift, sink, wind, and their impact on the aerodynamics… all the nerdy phenomena I love from fluid dynamics suddenly become something I can feel through the controls and use to stay airborne. Nothing like putting a little skin in the game to find out whether I actually understand the field I got my PhD in.

Arvind seated at the controls in a glider cockpit. — No engine, no go-around—and suddenly fluid dynamics feels very practical.

A white two-seat glider parked outside its hangar. — No engine, no go-around—and suddenly fluid dynamics feels very practical.

I fly out of Moriarty Airport, New Mexico (0E0) which is close to Albuquerque Class C airspace, so we have to be mindful of commercial airline traffic, and occasional power pilots buzzing around without radio calls. Moriarty is a world class soaring spot and has truly exceptional pilots flying for far longer than I’ve been alive. Every day flying with them is an invaluable learning experience.

Aeronautical sectional chart showing Moriarty Airport east of Albuquerque and the nearby Albuquerque Class C airspace. — Moriarty Airport (0E0), just east of Albuquerque's Class C airspace.