Paragliding - The First Flight

When you can show us that you have good habits on the lower slope, we'll take you to the top of the 200 foot hill, where you will really know you are flying! Your instructor has been evaluating the weather all morning, and will determine whether it is appropriate for you to fly. After a briefing of the launch, review of your flight plan and discussion of the approach and landing, it's time to set up for your flight.

This is where the real magic starts, although I must admit that on my first flight, I was terrified! It wasn't until I returned to the top of the hill for a second flight that I realized that this really does work, and that I could fly safely and easily from the top of a hill with no power. On my second flight, I looked around, looked up at my wing, then looked up and down the coast from the viewpoint of flying and I was exhilarated!

You may want to have someone come along to take pictures of you before and after these first few flights, we've seen some pretty big smiles and bright eyes when we pick you up at the bottom of the hill! It will be an experience you will never forget! By the end of the first lesson, most of our students get two or three flights from the top of the hill, allowing them to really feel what paragliding is like from a first-hand point of view.

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  Leonardo da Vinci