All true, and couple more reasons I think. At least in FAA terms, some argue that gliders are often flown 'aerobatically' with abrupt manuvers and steep turns. Also, the guys who compete in contests over here have to have chutes. When they are not competing they are setting up their gliders the same way anyway, so all aspects of their setup is familiar.
I'm not sure the chute will do you a lot of good on the ridge, as you tend to be a lot lower.
-- IFMU