ACR ON RNO 2 SID. DEP CTL CALLED TFC 10-11 O'CLOCK 2-3 MI XPONDER EQUIPPED. RPTR SAW TFC ON TCASII BUT COULD NOT FIND VISUALLY. THOUGHT DOWN LOW WHEN SAW GLIDER AT 10 O'CLOCK SAME ALT. REVERSED DIRECTION OF BANK AND CLRED TFC BY 1000 FT VERTLY. DEP CTL ADVISED HAVE HAD PREVIOUS INCIDENTS OF GLIDER ENCOUNTERS IN THE AREA.

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NEAR MIDAIR COLLISION WITH A GLIDER OCCURRED ON CLBOUT OF RENO. THE DEP WX WAS GOOD; ALL THE MANY TERRAIN HAZARDS CLRLY VISIBLE. RWY 16R RENO 2 DEP PASSING THROUGH 6500 FT ON CLBOUT; GIVEN A TURN TO 060 DEGS OUT OF 9000 FT TO INTERCEPT THE LLC 207 DEG RADIAL. WHILE CLBING THROUGH 8000 FT ON THE IRNO 164; DEP CALLED OUT VFR TFC AT 10-11 O'CLOCK 2-3 MI. TFC WAS XPONDER EQUIPPED AND SHOWED UP ON TCASII AS A WHITE DIAMOND. PASSING THROUGH 9000 FT; STARTED A GRADUAL TURN TO 060 DEG HDG; DEP SAID IT COULD BE LOW ALT VFR TFC. THE GRADUAL TURN WAS TO ENABLE US TO MAINTAIN SOME SORT OF SEPARATION FROM THE TFC UTILIZING THE TCASII WHILE TRYING TO LOCATE IT VISUALLY. PASSING THROUGH APCH 10500-11000 FT AND A HDG OF 100 DEGS; THE DIAMOND TURNED TO YELLOW; 'TA' SOUNDED; AND I PICKED UP THE GLIDER VISUALLY AT 10 O'CLOCK; LEVEL TO SLIGHTLY HIGH IN A SLIGHT BANK IN OUR DIRECTION. I RAPIDLY REVERSED THE DIRECTION OF BANK; AGGRESSIVELY INCREASED THE RATE OF CLB; AND NOTIFIED DEP CTL. (MAX BANK 35 DEGS; MINIMUM AIRSPD 210 KTS.) I ESTIMATE LESS THAN 1000 FT VERT AND 0 FT HORIZ SEPARATION. I SUSPECT THE GLIDER PLT SAW US AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME. MY LAST SIGHTING OF THE GLIDER WAS IN WHAT APPEARED TO BE A STEEP BANK TO THE L -- AWAY FROM OUR POS. IF I KNEW MORE ABOUT GLIDERS; I COULD PROBABLY GIVE YOU THE MAKE; MODEL; AND DATE OF MANUFACTURE. WE NOTIFIED DEP CTL WE PLANNED TO FILE A NEAR MISS RPT AND WERE GIVEN A PHONE NUMBER TO CALL AFTER LNDG IN DENVER. UPON LNDG; WE CALLED RENO TRACON AND SPOKE WITH THE SUPVR ON DUTY DURING OUR DEP. HE SAID THIS WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME HE HAD SEEN THIS. THERE WERE SEVERAL GLIDER ARPTS IN THE VICINITY OF RENO; SOME OF THE FLTS WENT ABOVE FL180 AND WERE EQUIPPED WITH ALT RPTING HOWEVER; HE FELT THIS GLIDER MIGHT BE OUT OF THE MINDEN ARPT. IN THE PAST; HE HAD ATTEMPTED TO POINT OUT TO THE GLIDER COMMUNITY AND FLT SAFETY SOME AREAS OF HIS CONCERNS. THE GLIDER PLTS FELT THEY HAD AS MUCH RIGHT TO BE IN THE AIRSPACE AS ANY OTHER ACFT. IN RETROSPECT; AND 24 HRS AFTER THIS OCCURRENCE; SEVERAL THINGS COME TO MIND. SOMETHING TO MAKE OUR ACFT MORE VISIBLE TO THE GLIDER PLT MAY HAVE ENABLED THEM TO TURN AWAY FROM OUR FLT PATH. THE PULSATING LIGHTS ON SOME B737'S COME TO MIND. ON TKOF/CLBOUT; I SET THE TCASII TO SCAN UP. COOLER HEADS MAY HAVE REALIZED THAT AN UP-SCAN ON THE TCASII PROBABLY WOULD NOT HAVE PICKED VERY LOW ALT VFR TARGETS. MY ATTN WAS FRAGMENTED: LOOKING BOTH HIGH AND LOW; WITH THE EMPHASIS ON LOW. AND; PERHAPS DELUDING MYSELF INTO BELIEVING I COULD MAINTAIN ADEQUATE SEPARATION UTILIZING THE TCASII SYS WAS INAPPROPRIATE. TO AVIATE; NAV; AND COMMUNICATE IS DIFFICULT ENOUGH. BUT; TO CHEW GUM AND ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN SEPARATION MAY BE ASKING TOO MUCH. IT MAY BE A JOB BEST LEFT TO PROFESSIONALS WITH THE PROPER TOOLS LIKE RENO TRACON. THE WX WA PART OF THE TRAP. IN IMC OR WITH LIMITED IN FLT VISIBILITY; I WOULD HAVE PERHAPS REQUESTED VECTORS TO REMAIN CLR OF THE TFC.