Makes me wonder about the lack of supervision at this gliding site; power pilots who take up gliding still carry the assumption in the irrational mind that you can put on power and go around.....I've seen exactly this happen.
I wonder if it was his own glider? most gliding ports in the US that I have visited are very very reluctant to let the renter fly cross country. In fact, the instructor/supervisor may have precious little cross country experience; when I was visiting the US, it was not required by the FAA rules.
Choosing a field for an outlanding must be studied, demonstrated in a motor glider, and understood; and in mountains, the local fields must be pinpointed by the local experts at the morning briefing for the benefit of even the most experienced cross-country flatlander. The guy didn't choose his landing area, it chose him. Pressing on and hoping for the best is never a good idea.