No sim can beat flying in RL but it gives a good approximation of what it's like to fly a glider. I found it a bit too easy to gain altitude, didn't really have to work hard for it.
As it's a sim give gliding a go, try out a few of the gliding tutorial missions and if you enjoy the challenge. Cumulus x is free to try
http://www.luerkens.homepage.t-online.de/peter/ and grab winchX as well.
Give gliding a try what could possibly go wrong, you can have a visual representation of thermals easy big green spirals or natural eagles soaring found in the settings menu and midday is the best time to go gliding.
Have fun, I had a very smooth landing at Heber
