What happened
During his first solo flight while training for a glider rating, the pilot of a glider experienced an overrun upon landing. The pilot reported that the flight proceeded without incident until the final approach phase. During this stage, the pilot noted being high on final approach and attempted to use a slip maneuver to lose altitude. However, during the slip, the aircraft gained airspeed. Consequently, the glider landed long and fast, resulting in an impact with a dirt mound located at the edge of the airport perimeter dirt road.
The investigation
Witnesses at the scene observed that the spoilers did not appear to be deployed during the final approach and landing. Based on this observation, the pilot surmised that he had mistakenly placed his hand on the flap lever, leading him to raise and lower the flaps instead of deploying the spoilers.