Where to fly

The spot

Annecy is the Alpine site people learn on. Cross Country's guide calls it "easy mountain thermal flying", with a valley breeze that "sets up down the lake from the north-west every day" and a season from April to October [1]. Wikipedia goes further than the guides would allow themselves — "the Annecy basin is one of the world's leading locations for the sport of paragliding" — and notes that a Paragliding World Cup leg was flown here in 2012 [6]. The town itself lies at the northern tip of the lake, 35 km south of Geneva [6]; the flying is at the other end, on the east shore.

The main launch is the Col de la Forclaz above Montmin, 1,240 m, driveable, with hang-glider ramps [1]. Below it, on the same face, is Planfait at 950–960 m, a cutting in the forest that works earlier in the day [1][3][4]. Both face west over the lake. The main landing from Forclaz is the field at the sports hall (salle polyvalente) in Doussard at 460 m, at the southern end of the lake, with a car park, a bar, fast food and a paragliding shop [1][3]; Planfait lands at Perroix, 540 m, north of Talloires, with two paragliding shops and a repair centre [1][3]. There is a third launch, Entrevernes, east-facing, "tiny, only a wing's width wide, and difficult to get away from" [1], and a quieter walk-in alternative to Forclaz called Coche Cabane [3].

What the day gives is a mid-afternoon start at Forclaz — "conditions typically begin around 1:30 PM at main launch" [1] — a climb along the ridge, and either a glide back to Doussard or a run across the lake. Spring is stronger; by midsummer the air goes stable and the guide suggests Grand Bornand, 2,050 m on the Aravis side, instead [1][3].

Conditions

The launches face west. A school's site page gives Forclaz's ideal orientations as "Nord; Nord-Ouest; Ouest; Sud-Ouest" and Planfait's as "Nord-Ouest; Ouest; Sud-Ouest" [4]; the tourist office gives Planfait as "west, south-west" and "easy take-off except in crosswinds" [3]. Altitudes disagree slightly between sources: 1,240 m and 960 m in Cross Country [1], 1,240 m and 950 m on the school's page [4], and 1,265 m and 1,199 m in the British hang-gliding sites list [5] — the last figure for Planfait is out of line with the others and is left as a disagreement.

The mechanism is the lake breeze: it "sets up down the lake from the north-west every day" [1]. The school's page describes a local breeze system with afternoon winds that are "frequently sustained" and gradient wind on the approaches, especially at Perroix, where thermals are "often strong at landing" [4]. Doussard is an easy approach but busy in season, and "afternoon thermals often strong" [4]. The regulation's own note on Doussard is that "quasi quotidiennement" the breeze direction switches — in particular to south-west "lors de la bascule de fin d'après-midi" — at which point the landing field becomes a shared NE–SW strip for paragliders and hang gliders [2].

Cloudbase runs 2,000–3,500 m [1]. The hazard the guide names is cumulonimbus to the north, which "may produce strong gusts down the lake" [1]. No station on the launch or the landing publishes wind statistics on any page read; the forecast link above is a Windy point for the col.

The year

No monthly flying statistic is published for the site on any page read; the strip above is a judgement from the seasonal statements cited.

Local knowledge

• The mat has lanes. The Forclaz take-off is divided into five couloirs: lane 1 is for individual pilots, lanes 2 and 4 for tandems and schools, lanes 3 and 5 mixed, first come first served in the waiting zone [2]. At Planfait it is three lanes: south for tandems and schools, middle mixed, north for individuals [2]. Prepare the wing on the carpet areas above the lanes, then ball it up so the next pilot has room [2].
• The regulator's word is the mayor's. From May to October a régulateur runs the launch, organises the order of inflations and take-offs, can stop launching entirely for a helicopter rescue, and can strongly advise a pilot not to fly; disobeying "pourra entraîner l'interdiction du décollage sur décision du maire" [2].
• Don't buzz the col. Low passes and top-landings at the launch are forbidden, and the terraces, buildings and restaurants of the col must be given "plusieurs dizaines de mètres" laterally [2].
• Doussard has two bands. The west/left band is for hang gliders and rigids, the east/right band — nearest the sports hall — for paragliders; hang gliders fly a left-hand circuit, paragliders a right-hand one, so neither overflies the other's final [2]. Inflations only on the paraglider band, on the Doussard side, and every inflating wing goes down when someone is on final [2]. "Don't inflate your paraglider in the landing area" is the tourist office's plain-English version [3].
• Verthier is gone. The old Verthier landing "n'est plus un terrain officiel"; landing there is at the pilot's own risk [2].
• The beach at Doussard is not a landing. The SIV field on the beach is reserved for scheduled SIV courses and kitesurfers' line-laying; "les pilotes individuels et les biplaceurs doivent obligatoirement se poser à l'atterrissage de la salle polyvalente" [2].
• Getting up. A British sites list describes eight-person shuttles from the Doussard landing to Montmin "a few times per hour" at €7 a head, with paid parking at both ends [5]; the school's page mentions a €2 eco-shuttle to Planfait [4]. Both figures are from the page read, undated.

Access and hazards

The sites are run by the communes, not a club: the Règlement des sites de vol libre de Talloires-Montmin et Doussard (April 2024) was drawn up by the FFVL, the Talloires-Montmin town hall and the local professional syndicate, and "l'accès à ces sites et la pratique sont soumis au respect et à la connaissance de ce règlement pour tous les utilisateurs" [2]. Breaches bring warnings or sanctions from the regulators, the police, the FFVL and the state; serious ones a site ban [2]. The tourist office names the managing body as SIVUHL [3].

Driving to Forclaz costs money. The last 800 m from the restaurant La Ferme to the launch car park is behind two barriers. The 2024 tariff: a one-off individual pass is €50, paid by card at the barrier; annual tandem-operator cards €2,200 per vehicle; SIV operators €1,500; schools €25 per pass capped at €2,500 a year; and a €110 professional accreditation per pilot [2]. Reduced-mobility access is free with a card from the town hall and a €20 deposit [2]. Walking up is free all year [2][3]. Vehicles over 9 m including roof load are barred, and bivouacs at the launch are forbidden [2].

Airspace and reserves. The regulation reminds pilots that paragliders and hang gliders fly VFR, "voir et éviter", and names the Annecy CTR and TMA, the nature reserve at the end of the lake (no overflight below 200 m AGL) and the Bauges reserve (300 m AGL) as the two nearest restricted zones; keep 500 m horizontally from a rescue helicopter; no overflight of houses below 300 m AGL [2]. Cross Country adds Chambéry's airspace touching the northern Semnoz [1].

Licence and insurance. The regulation requires professionals to register and carry accreditation, and groups, clubs and associations without a convention with the commune to register too [2]. It does not state a minimum rating or an insurance figure for a visiting individual pilot, and the FAI's country page for France could not be reached on the checked date (HTTP 403), so the FFVL cover and IPPI position are unverified here.

Incident record. None is published on any page read.

Schools and rental

The guide names Les Passagers du Vent, Parapente Annecy and Flyeo as schools and guides, with SIV and acro courses and the lake used for wing testing [1]. Les Passagers du Vent, Talloires, founded 1987, lists tandems at €100 (Découverte, Petit Prince) and €150 (Évasion) and courses "de l'initiation au perfectionnement" without prices on the page read [8]. Flyeo's English site returned 404 on the checked date. The school page that carries the site information above sells its own tandems and courses; no course price could be read from it [4]. Any operator working the launches must hold the town's accreditation — ask to see it [2].

Getting there

Geneva is the airport, 45 km from Annecy, then train to Annecy or a hire car [1][6]; Annecy station has connections to Lyon, Geneva, Paris and Grenoble [6]. From town it is the east shore road to Talloires, then up to the col for Forclaz or left at Vérel for Planfait [3]. Park at Doussard (paid) and take the shuttle up, or pay the €50 barrier fee to drive to the launch [2][5]. At Perroix parking is limited, the fire station access must be kept clear, and bad parking "fera l'objet d'une contravention" [2].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding site of Col de la Forclaz (Talloires-Montmin) — 98 files, inside Paragliding at Lac d'Annecy (20 files, plus a Planfait subcategory of 8) [7]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.
• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in Haute-Savoie — 84 files, parent category. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paragliding_in_Haute-Savoie

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Interlaken sits at 568 m on the flat alluvial Bödeli between Lake Brienz to the east and Lake Thun to the west, with the Aare running through the middle [6]. That geography is the whole site: the town is the landing, the mountains on every side are the launches, and Cross Country's guide counts fifteen of them, from 1,000 to 3,000 m, all ending on "a central grassy field in Interlaken town centre" at 570 m [1]. The guide's range of conditions runs from "big mountain thermals" to "easy, light thermal conditions", which is why it says the launches serve all levels [1]. Kari Eisenhut of the local school puts it as a sales line, but it is a true one: "You can fly high above glaciers or low down by the lake in just 30 km" [1].

The launch a visitor meets first is Amisbühl above Beatenberg, at 1,350 m, the one the tourist office and the tandem companies use, 800 m above the landing [4][5]. The tandem traffic is heavy there — Cross Country's one crowd warning is "Amisbühl crowded with tandem operations" [1]. Above it is the Niederhorn, 1,963 m, a peak of the Emmental Alps over Lake Thun with a gondola from Beatenberg [7], reachable by cable car [1]. The others in the guide's list are Schilthorn, Grindelwald, Schynige Platte, Faulhorn and Bira [1]; the tourist office adds Axalp, Turnen in the Diemtigtal, Niesen and Stockhorn as tandem launches "on request" [4].

The landing is the Höhematte, the park in the middle of town opposite the Victoria-Jungfrau hotel [4][5]. Flying into a town park with a lift station, a railway station and a hotel front around it is the Interlaken experience; the guide's claim of "approximately 300 days per year" flyable is a claim the local school repeats [1][9], not a measured figure, and is given as such.

Conditions

The launches are mountain thermal sites: the guide's cloudbase range is 1,800–3,500 m, launches 1,000–3,000 m, landing 570 m [1]. Three wind warnings are all the guide gives, and they are the ones a local would give too: the föhn "can reach ground level but arrives late"; a north-west wind is rare "but can blow out Lake Thun", whose launches face north-west; and the pressure rule — avoid flying when the north–south pressure difference across the Alps exceeds 5 hPa [1]. The tourist office notes "optimal thermals occurring around midday" and says a standard tandem is "about 10 to 20 minute" with roughly 800 m of height loss [4].

Amisbühl's altitude is given as 1,350 m by both the tourist office and the biggest tandem operator [4][5]; the Niederhorn's is Wikipedia's 1,963 m [7]. No launch orientations in degrees are published on any page read, and no station's wind statistics could be read for this record (Windfinder's page returned HTTP 429 on the checked date); the forecast link above is a Windy point on the landing.

The year

No monthly statistic is published on any page read; the strip is a judgement from the seasonal statements cited.

Local knowledge

• The airfield is the helicopter base. "Avoid landing at Wilderswil airfield (REGA helicopter base)" [1] — it is the flat green field south of town that looks like a landing and is not.
• Amisbühl is a tandem factory. Crowded [1]; the tandem companies run it from 1 April to 31 October with 07:15 flights in summer [5]. Solo pilots use it, but not at 11:00 on a Saturday.
• The Höhematte is a public park. One tandem operator's advice — do not scream over the landing field; the locals appreciate it — appears in search summaries of its page rather than on the page read, and is left as unverified.
• Föhn arrives late. The guide's phrase [1]. A morning that looks calm at the landing is not the afternoon.
• The school with the shop is at the landing. A paragliding shop at the Backpackers Paragliding Villa, itself at the landing field [1].

Access and hazards

Licence. The Swiss federation's page for foreign licences is explicit: "occasional flights in Switzerland are allowed with the international pilot's licence" — IPPI level IV or V for solo flying — for pilots resident outside Switzerland and Liechtenstein; a foreign tandem licence covers "occasional, non-commercial flights only"; instructing needs a Swiss licence; and "as soon as the residence is moved to Switzerland, the Swiss licence in the corresponding category is mandatory" [2].

Insurance. Solo pilots need third-party cover of at least CHF 1,000,000; commercial tandem CHF 5,000,000 [2]. The federation sells guest cover — CHF 51 for 30 days or CHF 82.50 for 120 days for solo, and "120 days is the maximum per year" [2]. Its own member policy carries a CHF 10 million guaranteed sum and "applies worldwide", with benefits possibly reduced "if the regulations applicable abroad are violated" [3].

Airspace. Wilderswil airfield, the REGA base [1]. No published airspace map or ceiling could be read for this record; the federation's site map is behind its member pages [3].

Hazards on record: föhn to ground level [1]; NW blow-out of the Lake Thun launches [1]; the 5 hPa cross-Alpine pressure threshold [1]; Amisbühl crowding [1]. No incident record is published on any page read.

Site fees. None is published on any page read for solo pilots; the tandem operators' prices include their own transport [5].

Schools and rental

• Chill Out Paragliding, Rugenparkstrasse 9, Interlaken — Kari Eisenhut's school and Advance test centre [1]: five-day basic courses, brevet course, thermal and XC training, acro over water, SIV ("SIKU"), tandem-pilot training, a Nice-to-Chamonix transalp; 2026 basic-course dates 13–17 May, 24–28 June, 15–19 July, 19–23 August, 9–13 September, ages 14 and up; rental and repairs [9]. No prices on the page read.
• Paragliding Interlaken, Höheweg 125 — tandems only, from Beatenberg at "around 1,350 metres" to the Höhematte, CHF 190 for a standard 10–20 minute flight, 30–40 minutes on the "Double Airtime" thermal flight, CHF 40 for photos and video, 25–100 kg passengers (80 kg on the 07:15 flight); summer season 1 April to 31 October [5]. Prices as read on 25 September 2026.
• The tourist office's page lists no operator count or price [4].

Getting there

Fly to Zürich or Basel, then train to Interlaken, "2 hours via Bern" [1]. Interlaken West and Interlaken Ost are the two stations; Ost connects to the mountain railways [6], and the tandem companies use it as a meeting point [5]. Beatenberg is reached by road or by the funicular from the Lake Thun boats, then the Niederhorn gondola [7]. Parking arrangements for solo pilots at the launches are not described on any page read.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in Interlaken — 9 files, inside Paragliding in the canton of Bern [8]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.
• The school's and the tandem companies' own galleries [5][9].

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Monte Grappa is the 1,775 m massif "between the Venetian plain to the south and the central alpine areas to the north" [4] — the place where the Alps stop. Its south face above the villages of Semonzo and Borso del Grappa (279 m, a comune of 6,000 people in the province of Treviso [5]) is the flying site everyone calls Bassano, after the town at the foot of the valley. The guide's one-line description of the flying is the reason to come: "ridge surfing in often strong thermals with little valley wind combined with a dive into the plains for classic flatland cloud-hopping" [1].

The launches are on the ridge's southern edge, "big grassy meadows with metalled road access" and dedicated hang-glider ramps, three main ones within 15–20 minutes' drive of the villages [1]. The local tourism body counts eight take-offs and three landings: Stella Alpina and Tappeti, south-facing at 700–850 m; Antenne, east-facing at 700–1,000 m; Casette, west-facing at 700–1,000 m; Pedana Delta, the hang-glider ramp at 850 m; Col Campeggia, the competition launch at 1,080 m; and Panettone, "legendary", at 1,563 m [3]. Cross Country's range is 700–1,550 m to a landing at 160 m [1]. The landing is the field in the grounds of the Hotel Garden Relais at Semonzo, "accessible from all launches" [1].

The mountain's other story is the First World War: after Caporetto "Monte Grappa became the most important pillar of Italian defence", and the Austro-Hungarian army tried to take it from November 1917 to October 1918 [4]. The summit ossuary and the roads the fighting left are what the drive up passes.

Conditions

South-facing, thermic, sheltered. The guide's cloudbase is 1,500–2,500 m [1]. The local body claims "approximately 300 flyable days annually", stable weather "with minimal strong winds" and a north wind that is "rare due to alpine protection" [3] — a tourism figure, not a station's, and given as such. The guide's version is that there is "little valley wind", and that a west wind in the afternoon "enables eastward return flights" — go east along the ridge in the morning and let the westerly bring you back [1].

The seasons are described in the guide in more detail than most sites get: spring (March to May) is the strongest but "prone to weather"; summer is "hot and stable, but it's still flyable with plenty of XC days"; autumn is "more stable but still consistent"; and "it's not unknown for pilots to fly 100 km out-and-return in January", with the XC season proper beginning mid-February [1].

No station's wind statistics could be read for this record; no page read gives launch orientations in degrees beyond the compass points above.

The year

No monthly statistic is published on any page read; the strip is a judgement from the guide's seasonal statements.

Local knowledge

• Buy the FlyCard first. It is "mandatory for all pilots, whether Italian or international", and it pays for "maintaining the take offs and landings" [2]. 1 day €8, 3 days €12, 5 days €20, 9 days €25, a year €40 — the prices in Cross Country's 2011 note [2], and the same figures the local FlyCard sellers were quoting in search results on the checked date; treat them as needing confirmation at the counter. Sold at the tourist office in Semonzo, the Montegrappa Air Park and the landing at the Garden Relais; you can register and upload a photo online before you travel so it is ready on arrival [2]. "You must have a valid FlyCard to access flight areas" [3].
• Carry a green smoke flare. The guide's required safety item, "a few euros"; if you land out in the mountains without signalling you are fine, the helicopter comes, and that is "€500+" [1].
• The valleys behind the ridge do not have landings. "Get high before you cross them" [1].
• Overdevelopment draws valley wind. The guide's second hazard, and the exception to "little valley wind" [1].
• The shuttle leaves when it is full. €8 per person from the Garden Relais car park [1]; the tourism body describes a van with "approximately 15-minute transfers to south-facing launches" [3].
• Where pilots stay. Tilly's B&B next to the landing, the Garden Relais itself, two campsites nearby, and Case del Cuore with its own private take-off [1].

Access and hazards

Site access is the FlyCard scheme run by the local tourist office, above [2][3]. Its administrator, Vivere il Grappa, and the club Vol Libero Monte Grappa are the two contacts the guide gives [1]. No landowner agreement beyond that is published on any page read.

Licence and insurance. The FlyCard requires "document verification" [2] — a licence — but no page read states the minimum rating, and the FAI's country page for Italy, which carries the insurance minimum, returned HTTP 403 on the checked date. The Italian third-party insurance requirement is therefore unverified here; assume one exists and carry proof.

Hazards on record: unlandable valleys behind the ridge [1]; overdevelopment-driven valley wind [1]; the helicopter charge for an unsignalled out-landing [1]. No airspace note and no incident record is published on any page read.

Schools and rental

There is no single resident school in the guide's account; "multiple European schools operate seasonal courses" here, and it names Kelly Farina's Mastering Paragliding XC courses and the ParaFly XC clinics of Monica Eller and Ferdinand Vogel in spring [1]. The local body says flight schools here teach through the Aero Club of Italy's licensing and that tandems are available, without names or prices on the page read [3]. The Garden Relais hotel's own site carries no paragliding information at all on the page read — only its phone number, +39 0423 910858 [8]. No rental price and no course price could be read for this record.

Getting there

Venice Treviso is 50 minutes' drive; Verona and Milan are the alternatives; Bassano is on the Italian rail network, but a hire car is what the guide recommends, via the A31 [1]. Semonzo and Borso del Grappa are the villages to base in [1]; Borso sits at 279 m [5]. Parking is at the Garden Relais car park, where the shuttle leaves [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Category: Monte Grappa — 37 files and 18 subcategories, none specific to flying [6]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.
• Vivere il Grappa's own pages carry launch photographs [3].

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Algodonales is a town of 5,400 people at 370 m in the north of Cádiz province, "in the Sierra de Líjar within the Sierra de Grazalema" [4]. The Sierra de Líjar is a Jurassic limestone ridge running north-east to south-west between Algodonales and Olvera, 1,041 m at its top, and the Spanish Wikipedia entry records it as "zona común de vuelo en parapente" — common paragliding ground — and notes at least one rescue of a fallen pilot [3]. The British schools have been coming for decades, and Cross Country's guide is written for the pilot they bring: it is "designed for beginners and low-airtime pilots", with XC "on strong days" [1].

There are two main launches on the same mountain facing different ways. Levante, on the western edge of the plateau, 1,027 m, takes southerlies and easterlies, with a bomb-out at 405 m [1]. Poniente, 3 km away on the opposite plateau, 908 m, takes south-westerlies, landing at 478 m in a field "framed" by power lines [1]. Between them is a smaller northerly launch served by the western landing [1]. The listing site has Poniente at 910 m and Levante at 1,019 and 1,027 m for two adjacent launches, calling the Poniente the "Spanish classic site" where you fly "with vultures until sunset" [2].

The day has two halves: "smooth early morning, ideal for beginners", then a build "by 2pm" to "punchy 5m/s thermals pushing up, even through the stronger winds, to 3,000m" [1]. The listing site's version of the same thing is blunter: "in the summer thermals are quite (read dangerously) strong and beginners should avoid flying before 18:00" [2].

Conditions

Cloudbase is "typically 500–1,000m above launch", and "up to 3,000m (2,000m above take-off)" on the best days [1]. The site's off-switch is the Strait: "easterly/westerly winds from Strait of Gibraltar can blow site out for several days" [1] — the same Levante and Poniente that the kitesurfers at Tarifa, 100-odd kilometres south, are waiting for. The launches are named for those winds because they take them at the gentle end.

Temperature is the other limit. "Summer: temperature reaches 35°C by 11am in June–July" [1]; the guide's advice is to avoid those months if heat matters, and November is "stable" [1].

No station's wind statistics could be read for this record, and neither the guide nor the listing site gives launch orientations in degrees. The Levante take-off's own hazard is its edge: "the bushes bordering the launch site are just cleared by many pilots" — adequate ground speed or a headwind is needed [2]. The Poniente landing needs the power lines passed before the approach [2].

The year

No monthly statistic is published on any page read; the strip is a judgement from the guide's seasonal statements.

Local knowledge

• Olive trees eat lines. "Abundant olive trees limit landing options; lines snag branches" [1]. Pick the field from height, not on final.
• Fighting bulls. "Uncultivated fields may contain livestock; fighting bulls present" [1]. A field without a crop is not automatically a landing.
• The launch ridge gets crowded in season [1]; Levante's edge bushes are cleared "just" by many pilots [2].
• Airspace starts at 30 km. "Airspace restrictions beyond 30km" from the site [1]; nothing closer is published on any page read.
• Camping is free in the landing field, or "~€10+" at the CIVA campsite with hot showers; shuttles "~€10 per run" [1]. CIVA also does accommodation and transfers [2].
• The vultures know where the lift is [2].

Access and hazards

No landowner agreement, site fee, permit or club membership is published on any page read for this record. The Spanish federation's position on visiting pilots' licences and insurance could not be established — the FAI country page for Spain is not reachable — so a visiting pilot should carry an IPPI card and proof of third-party insurance and assume they will be asked for them by the school arranging the shuttle. Marked "unverified".

Hazards on record: Strait winds blowing the site out for days [1]; olive trees [1]; livestock and fighting bulls [1]; crowded launch [1]; the Levante launch's bushes [2]; power lines parallel to the Poniente landing [2]; summer thermals "dangerously" strong before 18:00 [2]; a documented rescue of a fallen pilot on the sierra [3]. No formal incident record is published on any page read.

Schools and rental

The guide's list is FlySpain, Fly Algo, Ganter Fly, Andalucian Experience, Paraglidingspain and Lejair for hang gliding [1]. FlySpain is BHPA-rated and FAI-affiliated, with a training centre in Algodonales, beginner and Elementary and Club Pilot courses, XC progression weeks, guided holidays across Europe, tandems and an equipment shop; its home page gives no prices, and its 2025 TripAdvisor award is its own claim [5]. Zero Gravity's site returned an empty page on the checked date. Several schools offer free airport pick-up from Málaga [1]. No course price could be read for this record; ask the school, and note that it favours the school.

Getting there

Fly to Málaga and hire a car; "many schools offer complimentary airport shuttles" [1]. No page read gives the distance or drive time from Málaga, Seville or Jerez, and the Wikipedia entry for the town gives none [4]. The launch roads and parking are not described on any page read; the shuttle from the landing is the assumed way up [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Category: Algodonales — 44 files, with a La Muela (Algodonales) subcategory for the hamlet on the sierra's far slope; nothing filed under paragliding [6]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.
• The listing site's user photographs of both launches [2].

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Chamonix flies from the lifts. Plan Praz, 2,000 m, reached by the Brévent cable car from the town, faces south-east and "starts working as early as 10 am on a good day", with cross-country toward the Swiss Valais or west to Annecy [1]. Plan de l'Aiguille, 2,000 m by the Aiguille du Midi cable car, faces north-west and "becomes soarable after about 3pm", under the Dru [1]. Plaine Joux, a drivable launch outside the valley, "works from midday until late" [1]. The landing is Bois du Bouchet, 1,040 m, 500 m north of the sports centre on the Argentière road — "large landing field surrounded by trees", club house, information board, windsocks and a WC [3] — and it is not visible from the launch, so find it before going up (search summary). In winter the town hall gives the field to cross-country skiing and "the hang gliding field 500 m to the East and directly behind is the official landing field" [3].

Conditions

Strong thermals with "brisk valley wind in summer"; cloudbase 2,000–4,000 m [1]. At the landing, "the valley breeze can get strong in the afternoon" and "can often reach speeds of 20 / 30 kph" — go no further downwind than the small road to the gravel pit [3]. The named hazards: "aggressive leeside conditions at the Brevent in a north wind" and turbulent afternoon valley winds [1]. Winter is "1,000m top-to-bottoms from the pisted take-offs at Planpraz" [1].

The year

Local knowledge

• Mountain on the right has priority; pass on the right; the lower glider has right of way on landing; the first pilot in a thermal sets the turn [2].
• Stay 1,000 m above the Le Bois helicopter zone, Les Tines station, the railway, the Montenvers tunnel exit and the listed hotels, all year; in July and August avoid the frontier ridge from the Chardonnet to Mont Dolent and the named peaks, and stay 1,000 m over the Aiguilles Rouges and the Bérard valley for the wildlife — "leave the area when birds approach you near a ridge" [2].
• The cables. The Brévent cable-car cables run in front of the take-off; move well right to pass under them (search summary — unverified here).
• Students land here too. Manage your height on the approach for them [3].
• Tandems €120–150 [2].

Access and hazards

The rules page is the valley's own [2]; licence and insurance requirements for a visiting pilot (an FFVL foreign licence or IPPI) are not on it and were not established for this record. Hazards: the Brévent leeside in a north wind, afternoon valley wind [1][3], cables, helicopters [2].

Schools and rental

The tandem trade is large; no school page was read and no course price is quoted. The Gratte Ciel club house at the landing is the club [3].

Getting there

Geneva is the airport, about an hour by road; the lifts leave from the town. The airport figure is a judgement, not from a page read.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc — 49 files, e.g. "Paragliding at Brevent.jpg" [4]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Kössen's mountain is the Unterberghorn, and "the launch site at an altitude of 1,500 meters is easily accessible with the Unterberghorn gondola lift" [2] — a fifteen-minute ride, hang gliders carried at no extra cost [1]. Launches at "1,500 – 1,700m", landing at 650 m, cloudbase around 3,000 m [1]. Two landing areas, one by the cable-car station and one at the flying school [2]; the Fliegerbar arena hosts the Super Paragliding Testival every year (search summary), and the locals' landing rules "can be found at the Fliegerbar" [1].

The magazine's verdict is the reason it is on this list: "Kössen is as safe a place to fly as you can find in the Alps", with "XC possibilities for all levels of pilots from the Unterberg — you can go 20 km or 200 from here", and for the advanced, "wrap up a monster FAI triangle. 200km plus is possible from here" [1].

Conditions

Thermals from both flatland and mountain; "regular alpine breezes set up in the afternoons but, as the area is quite green, the heating isn't too intense so the winds rarely get unmanageable" [1]. North winds rise up the north slope of the Unterberghorn and the sun adds the thermals [2]. The one hazard both sources name is the "Bermuda Triangle", "a landingless valley to the west of launch" [1][2].

The year

Local knowledge

• 70 m from the cables — "absolutely necessary" [2]. Use the designated launch sites; listen for loudspeaker take-off bans and landing restrictions [2].
• No speedgliders [2].
• The Bermuda Triangle — the north–south valley west of the Unterberg with no landing in it [1][2].
• Register your flight in the app before launch and close it after landing — a rule reported in search summaries of the Testival coverage, unverified on the pages read.
• The landing rules are on the wall at the Fliegerbar [1].

Access and hazards

Austrian sites are flown on a national licence or IPPI with insurance; the lift company's page does not state the requirement and it was not established here. "There are no additional starting and landing fees" in the search summary — unverified; lift prices for pilots were not on the page read [2]. Hazards: the cables, the Bermuda Triangle [1][2].

Schools and rental

Kössen Flight School — instruction and tandems all summer, group discounts on request [1]. Six tandem operators are listed by the lift company: Kössen Flight School, NOG, Airtaxi Kössen, Paragliding Workshop, Parashop, Tandem Paragliding Center [2]. No price was read.

Getting there

Kössen is on the German border east of Kufstein; Munich and Salzburg are the airports, each about ninety minutes by road — a judgement, not from a page read. The gondola is the way up [1][2].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Kössen — 53 files with an Unterberghorn subcategory; "Blick auf Kössen vom Unterberg.jpg" [3]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Àger is a valley in the Catalan pre-Pyrenees walled on its north side by the Montsec, and the wall is the site: "the orography of Ager's Valley is unique in the world because of its great walls of more than 35 kilometers long" [2]. The magazine's figures: "launch: Coll d'Ares at 1,586m", "landing: campsite at 606m", about 980 m of height [1]. The search summaries add the structure that makes the place work — four launches on two tiers, Coll d'Ares and La Pedra above, Raudoral and Gabrielo below, so "if you miss lift on the first level you get a second chance to hook a thermal on the second tier, and if the top gets too strong to launch there are favorable launch options lower down" — and that the main landing is "right next to the bar, the pool and accommodation"; those sentences are from pages not read in full and are unverified here. It has hosted the hang-gliding worlds and the Paragliding World Cup (search summary).

Conditions

"Flyable all year round. Thermic flying starts in early February and continues until the end of October" [1]. Cloudbase "2,000–4,000m": around 2,000 m early and late in the year, over 4,000 m in midsummer [1]. "Spring and summer thermals near ridges can be intense"; "XC season peaks during late spring and early summer with strong but manageable conditions"; July and August "intensify significantly" in the peak hours, with gentler mornings and evenings [1]. The local school's line is that thermals take you to "2,000 meters above the sea level, taking off at an altitude of approximately 1,000 meters" [2] — a lower-tier figure.

The routes: the 55 km "milk run" from the Terradets gorge to Vilanova de Meià via Mont-rebei; "200km out-and-return to Sierra Ferrera" for the experienced; and lines to Castell de Mur, Tremp, Isona and the Sant Antoni reservoir [1]. Hazards: "the Col d'Ares launch is in rotor in easterlies", an SIV tow-boat line near the Chiringuito, and local traffic enforcement [1].

The year

Local knowledge

• Easterly means rotor at Coll d'Ares [1]; the lower tier is the answer on a strong day (search summary).
• The tow line by the Chiringuito is the SIV boat's [1].
• Traffic police are mentioned by the magazine as a hazard; take it as the locals do [1].
• The landing is where you sleep — campsite, bar, pool (search summary).

Access and hazards

What a visiting pilot needs — the Spanish federation's temporary licence and insurance — was not established: the school's page does not say [2] and the guide pages that would have were unreachable. Hazards as above [1].

Schools and rental

Fly Àger (Nicky Moss), Entrenuvols, Albatross Alsnuvols and Alsnuvols — courses, tandems, SIV and acro [1]; Àger Parapent — tandems, courses and photo flights, +34 608 325 830 [2]. No price was read.

Getting there

Tarragona 150 km, Barcelona 180 km, Girona 250 km [1]. A car; the launches are reached by track from the valley.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Àger — 15 subcategories including Views of Àger (14 files) and the Montsec observatory; no paragliding subcategory [3]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Devil's Dyke is the deep dry valley in the South Downs north of Brighton, and the ridge beside it is the Southern Hang Gliding Club's busiest site. The club's guide: "works in WNW – N", "700 ft amsl (215 m)", "500 ft (152 m)" top to bottom, rating "CP+", car park BN1 8YL, airspace "4,500 ft QNH to the north; 5,500 ft QNH overhead & south" [1]. Landing is "the designated packing area in the large field below take-off, beside the road", or elsewhere if not in crop [1]. Parking is the National Trust pay-and-display; roadside parking risks a ticket [1].

Conditions

A north-westerly ridge. The hazards the club lists are the ones that matter: "high-voltage power lines approximately halfway to Truleigh", fences below take-off, sunken pathways, and the sea breeze — "dangerous and turbulent air" when it encroaches [1]. No station near the ridge publishes statistics; the month strip is a judgement and marked as one.

The year

Local knowledge

• The paddock is the hang gliders'. "The paddock — from the earthworks to the fence immediately west of the Pub — is essentially for the use of hang gliders"; paragliders may not inflate there unless "with total certainty" no hang gliders are present; when the red windsock is up on the paddock fence, no inflating there at all and no flying below 150 ft agl in front of it [1].
• Red Ribbon pilots: top-land or bottom-land only — no slope landings [1].
• The wooded bowl north of the pub is the model fliers' — do not overfly it below 250 ft agl [1].
• Ask for the briefing. Overseas visitors must complete "mandatory site briefings" [2].
• The pub is on the hill [1].

Access and hazards

SHGC membership or a pass: UK BHPA pilots, "visiting pass — £10 for 7 days", bought online or from a marshal on the hill [2]; overseas pilots, "free 14-day temporary membership" once every twelve months, on proof of national-association membership, "IPPI 3 minimum" competence and £5m third-party insurance, uploaded online, plus the site briefing and the foreign-pilot guidelines [2]. Rating CP+ [1]. Hazards as under Conditions [1].

Schools and rental

The club's coaches brief on the hill [2]; schools train elsewhere on the Downs. No school or price read for this record.

Getting there

From Brighton by the Devil's Dyke Road, ten minutes; from London, the A23 to Brighton then up — about an hour and a half; a bus runs from Brighton in summer. The times are judgements, not from a page read; the postcode is the club's [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Devil's Dyke (West Sussex) — 179 files of the valley and the ridge, per the Commons category search; no paragliding subcategory [3]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Saint-Hilaire is a plateau on the eastern edge of the Chartreuse above Grenoble, "with a 700m vertical drop as the backdrop" [3], and it is where the Coupe Icare — "the world's largest free flight event", "over 100,000 visitors from every continent" — has been held every September [3]. Three official take-offs: North at 890 m, carpeted; East at 921 m, grass; South at 940 m, grass and "the largest of the three" [1][2]. Everything lands at Lumbin, 240 m, "a large flat grass field with easy road access" [1] where you can "land in any orientation" [2]. The Ultimate France guide's line: "arguably the most reliable flying site in the northern Alps", which it puts down to the plateau's shelter from the weather systems [4].

Conditions

The launches face east to south-east and the site is flown in "EAST / SOUTH EAST / SOUTH / SOUTH WEST" [2]. The valley breeze "comes from the North (from Chambéry)" and "it is not recommended to fly with a North flow" [2]; the same guide warns it "can be reinforced by the weather wind". The day's shape: "Morning glass-offs give way to organised thermal cycles by mid-morning. Thermals build reliably from early spring through autumn" [1]. XC is the point — "Chartreuse, Belledonne, Vercors, Bauges" — and the site record is a 324 km FAI triangle [1].

The year

Local knowledge

• Don't fly the South launch in a northerly — "Lee-side turbulence on South launch in northerly winds" [1].
• Mown areas only at Lumbin in summer — "hay fields restrict landing area in summer" [1].
• No low passes over the houses by the landing — "low overfly of houses near landing prohibited" [1].
• Coupe Icare 2026 runs 15–20 September; "pre-registration requirements for certain flight slots"; accommodation "books up months in advance" [3].
• Hike-and-fly to the Dent de Crolles, 2,062 m is the plateau's classic [3].

Access and hazards

French sites are flown on a national licence recognised through the IPPI card — "Carry both your BHPA card and IPPI card — some site regulators and clubs will ask to see both" — and "Third-party liability insurance is mandatory for paragliding in France. No exceptions" [4]. Many FFVL sites "require a déclaration de vol or registration with the local club before you fly" [4]; whether Saint-Hilaire does was not established on the pages read. The funicular from Montfort to the plateau is the historic way up: one guide says it "suffered storm damage and is not currently operational" [1], the other that it runs "from spring to autumn" [2] — check before you rely on it. Hazards: the lee of the South launch, summer hay, houses by the landing [1].

Schools and rental

Prévol Parapente, "operating on this site since 1986" [1]; Air Alpin and Biplace Parapente are also listed [2]. Tandems "75€" to "110€", initiation courses "450€ – 700€" [2].

Getting there

"30 minutes from Grenoble by car" — the D30 from the north or up from Saint-Ismier from the south [1]. Lumbin is on the valley floor below; the funicular, when it runs, joins the two [1][2].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Saint-Hilaire (Isère) — 38 files with Coupe Icare (15 files) and Funiculaire de Saint-Hilaire du Touvet subcategories; "Station de Ski de St-Hilaire - Plateau des Petites Roches.jpg" [5]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Zermatt is a village at 1,600 m with the Matterhorn at the end of the street, and the lifts that serve the skiing serve the flying. The site list [1]: Sunnegga 2,311 m; Blauherd 2,488 m, WNW, "Large launch site", reached "via tunnel funicular and cable car from Zermatt"; a second Blauherd launch at 2,554 m; Riffelberg 2,550–2,700 m, "Northwest and West", "Only a SUMMER takeoff!", "Slightly inclined large slope"; Unterrothorn 3,100 m with north and south launches; Schwarzsee 2,584 m; Höhbalmenstaffel 2,490 m, a meadow reached on foot; Gugle 2,700 m, "Very steep grass slope"; Oberrothorn 3,300–3,400 m on scree; Kleines Matterhorn 3,806 m; Testa Grigia 3,442 m, "Rolled flat runway, easy", "Covered in snow almost all year round"; and the Breithorn at 4,121 m, "High Mountain decoration, good experience necessary". The tourist office calls the Klein Matterhorn "the highest commercially used take-off point in Europe" [3].

Conditions

The tandem operators describe the flying rather than the meteorology: Riffelberg and Blauherd at "2600m" for the 15–20 minute flight, the Rothorn at "3100m" for 20–25 minutes, the glacier at "3800m" for 30–40, all "shorter in winter" [2]. The one written wind rule is Blauherd's: "Do not use in southerly winds, as there is a risk of leeward winds" [1]. Everything else about the air — the valley wind, the morning window — is what any alpine pilot expects and was not read on a page; treat it as unverified.

The year

Local knowledge

• Blauherd, not in a southerly [1].
• Riffelberg is summer only [1].
• Weight and age limits on the tandems: 80/90 kg winter, 90/100 kg summer for women/men; "60 years in winter and 65 years in summer" [2].
• The landing field in the village was not read on any page — ask the operators or the SHV.

Access and hazards

Foreign solo pilots: "Occasional flights in Switzerland are allowed with the international pilot's licence (IPPI) level IV or V"; "A liability insurance with at least 1 million Swiss francs coverage is mandatory"; guest insurance is sold for "30 days (CHF 51.-) or 120 consecutive days (CHF 82.50). 120 days is the maximum per year"; and "Commercial tandem flights are only permitted with a Swiss licence" [4]. Hazards: lee on Blauherd in south wind [1], high-mountain terrain on the Breithorn and Oberrothorn [1], and the general alpine set — none of it quantified on the pages read.

Schools and rental

Matterhorn Paragliding — Adventurer 190 CHF, Spectacular and VIP 240 CHF (VIP plus a 160 CHF helicopter lift to the Rothorn), Ultimate 420 CHF; pilots "fully trained and licensed by the Swiss paragliding association (SHV)" [2]. Fly Zermatt is the other named operator, with passengers "as young as two and a half years old, as well as adventurers aged 94" [3]. No solo school was read.

Getting there

Zermatt is car-free; the Matterhorn Gotthard railway from Täsch or Visp (a judgement, not from a page read). The Sunnegga funicular, Blauherd and Rothorn cable cars and the Gornergrat rack railway to Riffelberg are the ways up [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Zermatt — 233 files, 26 subcategories, none for paragliding; "00070506KleinMatterhorn.jpg" [5]. The Paragliding in Switzerland category holds a Matterhorn paragliding photograph (search summary). Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

The take-off is "on Monte Baldo, less than a km from the top station of cablecar Malcesine Monte Baldo", at 45°46.70′ N 10°51.80′ E, and the landing "on the lake shores, 2 km north of Malcesine" at 45°46.93′ N 10°49.07′ E [1]. The magazine's numbers: launch 1,760 m, landing 60 m [3]; the local guide's: "about 30 minutes and the height difference is about 1700 metres" [1]. Three take-offs [2]: West, "on the lake side facing west. To reach it exit the cable car and walk north"; East, north of the Capannina hut; and Mitico, "Smaller take-off for more experienced pilots and XC lovers" with "a possible landing at the departure station of the Prealpesina chairlift about 300 meters below". The official landing is "140 x 25 meters" and "Landable in all winds" [2].

Why it is on the list: "one of the best SIV and acrobatic training sites in the world", with 1,200 m of altitude over the lake to work with [3].

Conditions

Two winds, on a clock. "The northern Pelèr wind, which dies away at about 11" is "replaced by the southern wind Ora, blowing constantly from early to late afternoon" [1]; the magazine has the Pelér "particularly strong before 10am" and the Ora "peaking around noon before diminishing toward evening", with soaring improving again around 5 pm [3]. XC is modest: "A short 30km flight in the afternoon is possible along the ridge to the south, but it takes about 45 minutes one way and five minutes back thanks to the Ora" [3]. Cloudbase was not given on the pages read.

The year

Local knowledge

• Licence, insurance and life jacket — all three "mandatory if you want to fly in Malcesine" [1]; "lifejackets are mandatory" [3].
• Don't launch south-west in a north or east wind — "avoid launching southwestward in north/easterly winds" [3].
• Föhn days: ask — "Foehn conditions require local consultation" [3].
• Ask Claudio — the club president is at the Hotel Ideal, Via Gardesana 228, and "can give you some good advice about the flight and the weather conditions" [1].
• Water landings happen and are "a documented risk" [3].

Access and hazards

The rules are the club's (Paragliding Club Malcesine, +39 335 611 2902) [2] and the three mandatory items above [1]. Landing fees for commercial flights and the water-recovery service exist in search summaries but were not on the pages read — unverified. The cable car office is +39 045 7400206 [1]; the pilot fare was not read. Hazards: the strength of both winds, the lee of the wrong launch, the lake [3].

Schools and rental

"Michael Nesler and Gudrun Öchsl offers safety and acro clinics at www.profly.org" [3]. The club is the contact for everything else [2]; a bar sits "2 metres away from the lake" at the landing [1].

Getting there

"Fly to Verona, then use public transport or rental car to reach Malcesine's cable car station" [3]. Malcesine is on the Gardesana Orientale, the east-shore road.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Monte Baldo — 193 files, 21 subcategories including Funivia Malcesine - Monte Baldo; "Gleitschirmflieger 20170731 171952.jpg" is a paraglider over the lake [4]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Kobala is "4 km E from Tolmin. Upon leaving Tolmin, drive towards Most na Soči (or Ljubljana) and then turn left after approx. 1500m" [2]. Take-off 1,080 m, landing the Tolmin meadow at 181 m — 899 m of difference — with an alternate landing at Camp Gabrje by the Soča [2]. "Kobala is big and grassy, and suitable for pilots of all" levels [1]. The club's statement of purpose: "Kobala and Vrše take-off point with the landing place in Tolmin is intended for flying hang gliders and paragliders, for sport flying, competitions, events and training hang glider and paraglider pilots" [4]. Coordinates N46°10.86′ E13°46.76′ and an airspace ceiling of 2,900 m come from search summaries of the club's Kobala page, not from a page read.

Why it is on the list: "Three of the current world out-and-return records were set here (Arduino Persello's 280km in June 2012; Nicole Fedele's 259.7km women's record" [1].

Conditions

"The air in Slovenia is never that rough or rowdy and pleasant flights are" the norm [1]. Cloudbase "2,200m" early in the season, "2,800m maximum" late [1]. The routes: "55km as an out-and-return between Kobala and Stol"; "Gemona, Italy (100km)"; and "the challenging 120km routing via Bohinj Lake through major mountain ridges" [1]. The wind card on the site record shows E, SE, S, SW, W and NW [2].

The year

Local knowledge

• Buy the vignette: "Day ticket: 5 €", "3-day ticket: 13 €", "10-day ticket: 24 €"; "Solo flying tickets are valid for take-offs at Kobala, Vrše, Kuk, Ozben, and Stol"; "Lijak take-off with its landing spot IS NOT included"; ZPLS members are exempt [3]. The magazine's older "€3 or €4" figure [1] is out of date.
• The road up is narrow — "it is advisable to drive placidly and carefully" [2].
• Don't drop into the big mountains — "Be careful of dropping into the big mountains" [1].
• "The biggest danger is the schnapps. It's vicious!" [1].

Access and hazards

The vignette is the site rule; it is sold at the Kobala centre, Camp Gabrje, FlyZone Čiginj, Camp Siber, Penzion Šterk, Club Adrenalin and Bar Teja in Kobarid, or online [3]. Contact: kobala.info@gmail.com, Matjaž Klemenčič +386 51 237 081 [2]. Licence and insurance requirements for foreign pilots were not stated on the pages read. Hazards: the terrain behind the ridge on XC days [1], the access road [2].

Schools and rental

"Most local schools are run by the clubs on a part-time basis. There are no full-time commercial schools" [1]. Tandem vignette "2000 €" a season for operators [3].

Getting there

"Trieste Airport (45 minutes) or Ljubljana Airport (90 minutes away)" [1]. Access to the launch by car, on foot or by the club's transport [2].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Tolmin — 71 files, Soča in Tolmin (41 files) among 11 subcategories; "Tolmin panorama.jpg" [5]. No Kobala or paragliding subcategory. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

The principal launch, Peña Negra, is directly above the town, "1.909 metres (6204 feet) ASL", "900 metres (2925 feet)" top to bottom, "NW", reached by "Tarmac road linking Piedrahita to the Peña Negra pass" [3] — twenty minutes by car (search summary). "Altitude: 1909m" with "Orientation: N, NE, NW" [4]. Landing 1,000 m on the flats [1]. The southern alternative, Chía: "1800 metres (5850 feet) ASL", "400 metres (1300 feet)", "S and SE", "large grassy launch, suitable for easy top landings" [3]. Piedrahíta sits on "the 300+km convergence line that sets up here" [1].

Conditions

Cloudbase "3,200m" on average, and in August "often in excess of 4,000 m" [1][4]. "Reliable thermals commence around 11:30 am" [4]; "good thermic conditions with little breeze in the open flatlands, though generally stronger at the pass some 20km from launch" [1]. The wind rules: "With strong easterly winds the take-off is sheltered, but winds further out can be strong and turbulent"; westerlies "strengthen toward the pass and Ambles valley"; and be airborne "by 1.30 pm as the thermal breeze at launch can become very strong by mid-afternoon" [4]. The XC: "50km eastward to Avila regularly achieved by inexperienced pilots"; "100km out-and-returns and even 200 km open distances are regularly achievable" [1]; "200 km flights are already made on every direction from take off and every year we can see even +300 km record flights" [4]. Going west [2]: the Chalets thermal first, "Very good climb" at the Santiago del Collado col at 12 km, "Marked venturi effect" at the Lastra del Cano ridge, the convergence at the Tornavacas pass at 35 km, and "terraced cherry tree plantations" with "Few easy landing fields" in the Jerte valley beyond — keep "at least a 4:1 margin for a glide to the valley".

The year

Local knowledge

• Launch before half past one [4].
• In an easterly, land by the town — "the flatlands near to Piedrahita" are the safe landing "during strong wind conditions from any direction" [4].
• West means cherry trees — few fields, venturis, a headwind low down [2].
• Barco de Ávila at 20 km has "excellent large fields on the south east of town" and wind that can "pick up quite suddenly" [2].

Access and hazards

Spanish sites are flown on a national licence or IPPI with insurance; no site fee was on the pages read. Hazards: the afternoon breeze at launch, easterly turbulence beyond the shelter, the Jerte valley's landings [1][2][4].

Schools and rental

flyPiedrahita runs guided weeks and wrote the route tutorials [2]. "Four hotels and many houses to rent, but no official camping site" [1].

Getting there

"200km" from Madrid; "bus from Madrid direct to Piedrahita for €14" [1].

Pictures

• No Commons category for Piedrahíta could be found under three spellings. Wikimedia Commons, Sierra de Gredos — 153 files, 25 subcategories, none for flying; "Sierra_de_Gredos_1.jpg" [5]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Greifenburg is at 620 m "in southern Austria, close to the Italian border" [1]. The DHV card: take-off 1 at 1,735 m, take-off 2 at 1,889 m, landing at 590 m (Fliegercamp) and 606 m, "1299 m" of height, rated "einfach, beliebt" — easy, popular — and "Topgelände der Alpen" [4]. The magazine has the main launch at 1,740 m and "a higher launch at 1,840m for SE winds, which requires a 15-minute walk" [1]; the site database lists "1940 Meter" main with 1,860 and 1,760 m alternatives, "SO S", landing "610 meters at Greifenburg", "Very easy" [3]. "Use the large altitude difference between Emberger Alm and the valley (about 1200 meters)" [2]. The valley "gets very little valley wind, producing reliable and comfortable flying with big fields for landing" [1].

Conditions

"Unbroken south-facing ridges shoot off in all directions with short crossings in between. This allows pilots to stay high and eat kilometres" [1]. The routes: a 50 km "milk run around the eastern end of the Drautal" when base reaches 2,500 m; "200km plus out-and-return to Brenner and back", flown in early spring in light valley wind; "Triangles from 50km to 350km are possible" [1]. The hazards are the wrong winds: "Starke westliche und nördliche Winde sind gefährlich, da dann die Thermik turbulent ist (Leerotoren)", and east wind in the valley gives "heftige Leeturbulenzen" [3]; "Starts nur bei Vorwind" [4].

The year

Local knowledge

• Fees: "Shuttle service €9 per pilot; daily pass €6; seasonal pass €60" [4]; "6,50 EUR Auffahrt, 5,50 EUR Tageskarte" on the older card [3].
• Nature reserve on the summit meadows — "Startverbot von den Gipfelwiesen: Naturschutzgebiet!" [3].
• Land on mown meadows only — "abgemähten Wiesen"; "Landevolte beachten" [4]; don't overfly the campground on a southerly approach [3].
• Power lines — "Stromleitungen" [4].
• The hotel collects you — "Wolfgang will pick up guests staying at our hotel from the landing site once a day for free" [2].

Access and hazards

Austrian sites are flown on a national licence or IPPI with insurance; the site fees above [3][4]. Contact: "Fliegercamp Franz Mandl, +43 4712 8666" [4]. Hazards: west and north winds, east wind in the valley, power lines [3][4].

Schools and rental

The Fliegercamp at the landing runs the shuttles and the campsite [4]; the Emberger Alm hotel serves "Daily flying weather... with breakfast on sundeck" [2]. No school price was on the pages read.

Getting there

The upper Drau valley between Lienz and Spittal; Klagenfurt or Salzburg the airports — a judgement. "Nine-seater taxi shuttles" leave the landing car park on flyable days [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Greifenburg — 50 files, 16 subcategories, none for the Alm or flying; "Gnoppnitz mit Blick ins Tal nach Greifenburg, Karnische Region, Kärnten.jpg" [5]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

The Risco de Famara is the eastern flank of a Miocene volcano, what is left of a caldera about ten kilometres across, and its highest point, Peñas del Chache, stands at 671 m [4]. Below it, the Playa de Famara runs two kilometres of sand and volcanic pebbles facing the Atlantic, with the surf village of Caleta de Famara at its southern end [4]. The paragliding take-off is at Chimida, on the cliff itself, at 450 m, reached by a dirt track of just over a kilometre out of Teguise that a car can manage [1]. Cross Country's guide calls the cliffs "huge" and "long been known to hang glider pilots", and notes in the same breath that few visiting pilots come to Lanzarote for its cross-country, most going to Tenerife instead where the sites are sheltered from the strong north-east trade wind [9].

What the site gives on a good day is a ridge run. The Tourist Guide's hang-gliding page describes "the Famara ridge run" as smooth ridge lift along the beach, with thermals triggering along the first section of the ridge [3]. A NOVA team pilot who spent a week on the island in 2018 called the Risco "the absolute highlight of any trip to Lanzarote", a ridge 23 km long reaching up to 600 m, and in the next sentence said it "mostly behaves little like a diva" — the full run needs a precise NNW–NW direction [2]. Hello Canary Islands describes the flight as thermodynamic, following the mountainside north along the cliffs toward the Mirador del Río [1]. That is the day people come for; the other days go to the inland hills.

The record here is written around the cliff, but the same operators fly Mala, Tenesar, Macher, El Cuchillo, Orzola and Playa Quemada depending on the wind, and a visiting pilot should read them as one system rather than one site [2][3][7].

Conditions

The direction is the whole game. Hello Canary Islands gives the take-off as working in a west-northwest wind [1]. The NOVA account says the complete ridge needs NNW–NW [2]. The Tourist Guide's hang-gliding page gives a wider band, north-northeast to west-northwest, and adds two take-offs: "Chimidas", the higher one for lighter days, and a lower dome-shaped launch preferred in good conditions, about 30 m from the car; the upper take-off has rotor and cannot be top-landed [3]. Those three ranges are not in conflict so much as describing different days — the closer to NW the wind, the more of the ridge is on.

Behind that sits the trade wind. Cross Country's line is that the island's problem for cross-country is exposure to "the strong NE trade winds" [9], and the NOVA pilot's list of sites is organised by direction for exactly that reason: Orzola for NE, Macher for SE–NE, Playa Quemada on the south-east coast for laminar seaside soaring, Tenesar on the north-west coast with launches "from low to strong wind" and heights over 700 m, El Cuchillo for laminar wind with soft thermals off black lava fields, up to about 700 m [2]. Mala works in a north-easterly, above Arrieta beach, top-landable but bumpy [3]. Macher works in a south-easterly, gets bumpy, and is best when cumulus form [3].

Heights on the cliff: the NOVA account gives tops "up to 600m" on the Risco and 1,200 m on a good Orzola day [2]; the cliff itself is 671 m at its highest [4]. Air temperature on the NOVA trip in the winter week was over 20 °C [2]. No site publishes a wind-speed range for the take-off; Windguru's Famara point forecast [10] and the Lanzasurf live station on Famara Beach [11] are what pilots read, and the beach station reads the sea-level wind, not the cliff top.

The year

No station publishes a monthly flyability table for the cliff, and the strip above is a judgement from the three seasonal statements cited, not a measurement.

Local knowledge

• Two take-offs, two kinds of day. Chimidas, the upper one, is for lighter wind; the lower dome launch is the one preferred "in good conditions", and the upper launch has rotor and no top landing [3]. Pick the launch for the wind, not the view.
• Cloud on the cliff edge. The Tourist Guide lists "deceptive cliff edges at Famara when clouds form" as a hazard [3].
• Landing is easy; that is the site's one gift. Besides the beach, "there are plenty of flat areas" 300 m across from the beach on the far side of the road under the take-off [1].
• The island wants glider control. The NOVA pilot: Lanzarote requires "good glider control" and some take-offs "demand a certain respect" [2]. Famaraíso's founder is quoted on the same page as the school's, so take that as a school's view too [5].
• Share the sky. El Cuchillo is used by hang gliders in the daytime, which makes it unsuitable for paragliders then [2]; Macher is "shared peacefully" with hang gliders because of a huge landing zone [2].
• The airport. There is a no-fly zone near the airport on the San Bartolomé volcano side [3]. No page read gives the boundary in degrees or metres — ask a local operator.
• The kite crossover. The paragliding school in the village runs kitesurfing lessons on the days the wind is too strong to fly [5] — a useful read of what "too windy" means here.

Access and hazards

No landowner agreement, site fee or federation permit is published on any page read for this record. The only regulatory frames found are the tourism ones: Famaraíso is registered as an active-tourism company, TA-3-0008637.23 [5]; LavaFly says its pilots are "certified tandem pilots from their national certifying body" without naming it [7]. The Canarian federation's site could not be reached on the checked date, so the licence and insurance rules for a visiting solo pilot are unverified here.

Hazards on record: rotor at the upper take-off, and no top landing there [3]; cliff edges hidden by cloud [3]; the airport no-fly zone [3]; a steep wind change between the rigging and take-off areas at El Cuchillo, with a landing at least 300 m behind take-off [3]; hang gliders at El Cuchillo in the daytime [2]; and the general note that "weather transitions can be dramatic" though most sites have a safety landing option [2]. The whole cliff and coast fall within the Chinijo Archipelago natural park, and the inaccessible cliff face hosts around ten endemic plant species [4] — a reason, beyond the obvious one, not to land on the slope. No incident record is published on any page read.

Schools and rental

• Famaraíso Paragliding Lanzarote, Caleta de Famara. Founded by Robert Schwarzenbacher, "more than 20 years of experience"; tandems, solo courses, kitesurfing when it is too windy, climbing when it is neither [5]. Tandem prices from 1 January 2025: Discovery €140 (up to 20 min), Adrenaline €160 (up to 20 min), Deluxe €200 (30–40 min, sunset priority), photos and video included [6]. Course prices and the certification ladder taught are not on the pages read [5][6].
• LavaFly Lanzarote. Tandems only, from Mala, Orzola, La Graciosa, the Risco de Famara, Tenesar, Playa Quemada and La Asomada/Macher according to the wind; €90 for 20 minutes, €120 for 30, €140 for 45, €220 for 60 with photos and video, €20 for photos otherwise, 10% off for residents on the longer flights [7].
• Abubila Parapente, Miguel and Luc, "over 30 years of flying experience in the Alps, certified by Swiss Quality Pilots": Discovery €120, Rollercoaster €160, Adventure (about 45 min) €200, paid to the pilots directly [8].

No school publishes a solo-course price or a gear-rental rate on the pages read. Every price above is the school's own figure.

Getting there

The take-off track leaves Teguise and runs just over a kilometre of dirt that a car can drive [1]. The landing is the beach at Famara or the flat ground across the road under the launch [1], so a retrieve is short. The island's airport is at Arrecife (unverified — not on any page read for this record). LavaFly and Famaraíso both work from the wind of the day rather than a fixed meeting point [5][7]; ask when booking. Parking at the take-off is along the track [3].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Category: Caleta de Famara — 87 files: the village, the beach (a Playa de Famara subcategory of 53) and views of the cliff. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Caleta_de_Famara
• Wikimedia Commons, Category: Risco de Famara. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Risco_de_Famara
• Famaraíso's own gallery and video on its site [5][6].

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

The launch is Hangur at 650 m — "A cable car takes you up, and there's a café to wait in while you watch the wind"; "The site accommodates all wind directions with safely developed takeoffs" [1]. The Hangursbanen gondola runs from Voss station at 56 m to Hangurstoppen at 820 m [2]; the original cableway was "1,126 metres (3,694 ft) long with a top altitude of 660 metres (2,170 ft)", "built in 1963" [3]. Two starts: "East-facing main start with good winter hanging conditions" and "South-facing start with good thermals" [2]. "Main landing at Vangsvatnet in the city center", "a popular gathering point especially on nice summer and spring days" [2]. "Voss Camping sits '200m from landing'" [1].

Conditions

Cloudbase "1,400m to 2,000m" on a good day; base thermals reliable; "magic air" from about 6 pm in high summer [1]. The hazard: "In the afternoon the sea breeze kicks in...It can be strong" — land before the onshore wind reaches the valley [1]. The XC classic: "Voss to Ulvik is the classic route (about 40km)" over mountains and fjord [1].

The year

Local knowledge

• Watch the sea breeze [1].
• The café at the top is where you wait for the wind [1].
• Club rules and weather at vosshpk.no — the resort defers to the club for "technical info, weather data and club rules" [2].
• The lake landing is the town's park — share it [2].

Access and hazards

Norwegian sites are flown on a national licence or IPPI with insurance under the club, Voss Hang- og Paragliderklubb [2]; gondola fares for pilots were not on the pages read. Hazards: the sea breeze [1]; the lake — a judgement.

Schools and rental

"The local club (vosshpk.no) offers beginner training, acro courses, and SIV instruction" [1]; tandems are booked through the club [2].

Getting there

From Bergen: "airport bus to the railway station (20mins) and a local train to Voss (60mins)" [1]; the gondola leaves from the station [2].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Voss Municipality — 103 files with Aerial photographs of Voss and Geography of Voss; "Voss kulturhus på Vossavangen.jpg" [4]. No flying subcategory. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

The Long Mynd is a plateau "11.26 km (7.00 mi) N–S" and "4.8 km (3.0 mi) E–W", highest at Pole Bank, "516 m (1,693 ft)", bought by the National Trust in 1965 [2]. "The Long Mynd has been home to the Midland Gliding Club since 1934" [2] — "a large airfield sat on the Long Mynd", "approx. 1400 ft above sea level", "approximately 50 gliders based on the site", winch launches "7 days a week, April-Sept" [1]. The windward western slopes draw "glider, hang-glider, and paraglider enthusiasts" [2]. For free-flyers: "parking on the top right next to where we take off and land", "a viewing area and a café in the glider club house" [3]. The Long Mynd Soaring Club "promotes hang gliding and paragliding over Shropshire for qualified pilots" [4] and "boasts one of the best westerly sites in the country" (search summary). This record leans on the gliding club's visiting-pilot notes, which are written for sailplanes but describe the ridge everyone shares; the soaring club's own site answered 500 on three visits and its rules are unverified.

Conditions

"Excellent thermal, ridge and wave" — the sailplanes have flown "more than 750 km and reached over 20,000 ft in wave" from here [1]. The ridge is long, so "the wind runs up it rather than around it" (search summary). The hazards are in the notes: "Beware the curl over when the wind has a strong Easterly or Westerly component"; "if you think the curl over on the West side is bad, the curl over in a strong Easterly is eye-watering!"; "cloud base can suddenly drop quite dramatically in the winter, so don't get caught out on the ridge"; "you may well be landing into the sun" in autumn and winter [1].

The year

Local knowledge

• The ridge rules [1]: "Always turn away from the ridge"; "Always overtake between the glider and the ridge"; head-on, "the glider with the ridge on the left gives way".
• The lanes — northbound "closer to the ridge", southbound "further out", divided by "the road at the foot of the ridge"; "your left wingtip must never go over this line" [1].
• The winch — "there is a cable running or lying between the main winch and the retrieve winch at all times"; "Please do not cross the field below 2,000ft QFE, as winch launches can be to this height" [1].
• Keep clear of the free-flyers' area is the gliders' rule too: "Keep well clear of the areas in which any hang gliders and/or model gliders are operating" [1].
• Walkers, cyclists, horses, sheep — "Any of them can be anywhere on the airfield" [1].

Access and hazards

BHPA membership and the Long Mynd Soaring Club's rules apply — unverified in detail, the club's pages being down. Radio: the gliders call on 123.815 [1]. Hazards: the cables, the curl-over, low cloud, the shared sky [1].

Schools and rental

Shropshire Paragliding flies tandems here, "Flight Time 15-20 Minutes" [3]. No school for solo pilots was read.

Getting there

The road up from Church Stretton to the gliding club; "Don't try driving up to the airfield in the winter unless you are sure the roads are not icy" [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Long Mynd — 150 files with Carding Mill Valley (145); one file titled "Hang Gliders at Long Mynd"; "Pole Bank trig point (516 m) - geograph.org.uk - 6959404.jpg" [5]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Col Rodella: launch "2,360m", "launches to the north, south-east and south-west", the cable car up from Campitello di Fassa "under 10 minutes", landing "1,418m" with valley buses for the retrieve [1]. The site atlas lists four launches on the col [2]: Col Rodella 1 at "2371m", five stars, "100m from cable car station or 30 minutes on foot from Sella Pass", the left side for a north wind toward Gardena and the right for south and south-east toward Fassa; Col Rodella North at "2380m", where "rock flanks are gigantic, but can also be quite turbulent"; Col Rodella SE at "2371m", "not for beginners when the thermals bubble"; and Col Rodella 3 at "2383m", "very steep take-off area", "Anyone who slips or falls here runs the risk of sliding down". The mountain itself is 2,484 m [5].

Conditions

"2-6+m/s climbs" in the recommended season, cloudbase "3,000m to 4,000m" [1]. "Spring and summer it can be pretty violent" but autumn gives "more relaxed and less intense flying" [1]. The routes: "Evening soaring around Col Rodella and Sasso Lungo is accessible for even the patient novice" (search summary of the same guide), and the Fassa tour, "50-70km" over "Sasso Lungo, the mighty Sella group, Sass Pordoi, Latemar, Rosengarten and...the Marmolada" [1]. The October flight in the guide's companion piece: a "28km FAI triangle" "up over the Langkofel Gruppe and then down the Val di Fassa, towards the Vajolet Towers and Rosengartenspitze", through a "persistent morning inversion" [3]. Hazards: "Strong turbulent upper winds, especially from the north"; "Flying in the north foehn should not be attempted" [1].

The year

Local knowledge

• Autumn — the guide's one-line verdict [1].
• Which side of the col — left for north, right for south [2].
• Col Rodella 3 is steep — reverse launches only [2].
• After the cable car closes — "pilots relocate to Lokomotive and Sella Pass" [1].

Access and hazards

Italian sites are flown on a national licence or IPPI with insurance; the cable-car pilot fare was not on the pages read. Hazards: north wind, upper winds, the turbulence off the rock, the steep launches [1][2].

Schools and rental

"Local school and guiding services available" [1]; Fly2 and Gardenafly fly tandems from Col Rodella and the Alpe di Siusi [4].

Getting there

"Nearest airports: Bolzano or Innsbruck" [1]; Campitello di Fassa on the road to the Sella pass; "From camping to five stars" for beds [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Col Rodella — 10 files; "Col rodella e marmolada - panoramio.jpg" [5]. No flying files. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

"The Start Site is quick and easy to reach with the lift. It is found at 2000m directly by the exit from the Combination Lift" [2]; "Mount Penken offers two paragliding launch sites: Launch site east – right at the Kombibahn mountain station" and "Launch site south – near the Knorren mountain station" [3]. The Penken is "the favourite 'Home Mountain' of all the local paraglider pilots" where "It is possible to fly in wonderful conditions almost all year round" [2]. "The Landing Site is behind the Ahorn Lift in Mayrhofen" [2]. Across the valley system, "Launches: 1,100m to 2,000m in Zillertal and up to 3,250m in Tux", "Landings: In Zillertal around 600m, and 1,400m in Tux", on fields big enough for sailplanes [1].

Conditions

"Cloudbase: 3,000m to 4,000m" [1]. Spring after a front gives "8m/s or greater"; summer's valley wind strengthens as the snow goes and favours the high launches; autumn is "smooth, stable thermals" [1]. The routes: "the 50km Zillertal tour" for the new, "a straightforward 100km FAI triangle or the 140km Zell am See out-and-return" for the rest [1]. Hazards: "Innsbruck airspace restricts flying to 2,600m"; "Süd Föhn"; "Lee-side flying during strong valley winds"; the Gerlos pass crossing with "limited landing options" [1]. "If the weather is not quite up to flying, pilots with their equipment can use the gondolas to travel back down to the valley for free" [3].

The year

Local knowledge

• 2,600 m is the ceiling — Innsbruck [1].
• Föhn — "Süd Föhn" days are not for flying [1].
• Free ride down if you don't fly [3].
• Weights and ages for tandems — "min 20 kg – max 120 kg", "at least 4 years old" [4].

Access and hazards

Austrian sites are flown on a national licence or IPPI with insurance; the lift's pilot fare was not on the pages read; a wind-measurement system serves the launch [3]. Hazards: the airspace, the föhn, the lee, the Gerlos [1].

Schools and rental

Zillertaler Flugschule — courses "from January to November", introductions "from March to November" [4]; Kelly Farina's guided XC through austrianarena.com [1]; seven tandem operators from "€100.00" to "€210.00" [4].

Getting there

"Taxi transfers from Munich cost €100 for a two-hour journey" [1]; Innsbruck is nearer; the Penkenbahn leaves from the town centre [2].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Penken — 29 files with Penkenbahn and Klettersteig Knorren; "Austria - Tirol - Finkenberg - view from Penken (53081563637).jpg" [5]. No flying subcategory. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Launch "1,340m on a 'south-facing grassy slope'", landing "560m", by chairlift from a car park "~2km outside town" [1]. The competition card: take-off "1450 m ASL" at "N 42.687330°, E 24.749962°", "East - South - West exposures", landing "570 m ASL" at the "Lift station landing field" [3]. The lift: "starts near the Sopot Monastery 'Ascension' (557 m above sea level, station I) and reaches the area 'Pochivaloto' (1389 m above sea level, station II)", "Travel time is 22 minutes at a speed of 2 m / s", "3990 m" in all; "At the second station is the steep meadow, from where you can fly a paraglider", and "The landing takes place on the lawn of the lower station of the lift" [4]. The take-off "can accommodate more than 70 gliders" (search summary of the school's page). Sopot hosts the Paragliding World Cup [3].

Conditions

"E-SE wind in the morning, South wind at noon and S-SW wind in the afternoon"; "wide and powerful thermal triggers of 5-6 m/s" "between 11 am to 6 pm" [3]. April–May "more than 5-6m/s thermals" with overdevelopment; June–August "milder and smoother but still very good"; cloudbase "2,300m" [1]. "You can have 80-90% flyable days" [2]. The routes: "100km out-and-returns and triangles are regularly flown" [1]; "open distance flights (205 km up to Black Sea), Out and Returns (140 km), FAI triangles (200 km)" [2]; records of "207 km" and "201 km" [3]. Hazards: "Avoid north winds; watch valley winds"; "Military airbase 40km away causes occasional airspace closures"; "It's forbidden to land in some areas" [1]; "may be very unstable with cumulo nimbuses, during the second half of May and occasionally in June and July" [3]; "strong north winds" send everyone to the alternative sites [2].

The year

Local knowledge

• The lift — "from 9.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. (4.00 p.m. in winter)", "A one way ticket costs 15 Bulgarian Lev with a minimum of 8 people required" [3].
• Ask before you land — some areas are forbidden [1].
• North wind: go elsewhere — alternatives "within 1-2 hours' drive" [2].
• Camp free in the landing field [1]; beds "from €10 to €30 per person" [1].

Access and hazards

Bulgarian sites are flown on a national licence or IPPI with insurance; the lift fare above [3]. Hazards: north wind, valley wind, the airbase's closures, the storm season, the forbidden landings [1][3].

Schools and rental

Skynomad — "training and guiding" [1], XC guiding weeks [2]; tandems from the lift's meadow [4].

Getting there

"From Sofia: 140km away; from Plovdiv: 60km" [1]; the monastery car park and the lift [4].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Sopot, Bulgaria — 13 files, 12 subcategories, none for the lift or flying; "Sopot, Bulgaria.jpg" [5]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Cape Town's flying is two hills inside Table Mountain National Park, both a few minutes from the Atlantic seaboard suburbs. Lion's Head is the peak between Table Mountain and Signal Hill, 669 m at the summit, with two designated launches on its western flank — the bottom launch at 400 m ASL and the top launch at 450 m — that look straight down on Camps Bay and Clifton [1]. Signal Hill is the lower ridge running north from it toward the city and the harbour, launched from the car park at the top or from "The Bench" a little below it, and landed on the grass of the Sea Point promenade [2]. Between them they carry most of the tandem trade in the country: a ten-minute tandem from R1,900, flown from whichever of the two the day's wind allows, from 06:00 onward in summer [7].

What makes the place worth a visiting pilot's trouble is the same thing that makes it hard. The city's summer wind is the south-easter, the "Cape Doctor", and the good Lion's Head flying is not in that wind but in the sheltered lee of the mountain when it blows lightly — "from 3 pm during South-East wind-shadow conditions" in SAHPA's own words [1]. The rest of the time the site wants a south-westerly off the Atlantic, "the wind that most solo and tandem pilots fly LH" [8]. The book this atlas belongs to spends a chapter on why a British Club Pilot cannot fly here; the short version is below under Access.

Conditions

Lion's Head. Launch directions W to SSW, plus the thermic lee-side in a light south-easter; launches at 400 and 450 m ASL; airspace ceiling 1,200 m ASL [1]. The local technique page reads it as a south-westerly of at least 15 km/h at the top take-off to soar, reverse-launched from the bottom take-off and turned immediately right toward the middle of the mountain; a yellow-marked circle defines the safe soaring zone and the green-marked side areas carry a Venturi that can push a pilot over the back; whitecaps offshore are the cue to land [11]. SAHPA's entry says the same in fewer words: "when it is soarable, the strong venturi effect at both launch sites can be hazardous" [1]. Werner van Rooyen's site wiki lists three winds — the SE wind shadow and a straight southerly, both "advanced, not recommended for first flight", and the SW — and quotes the Glen club's landing talker: "Tandems stop flying when it hits 24 km/h" [8].

Signal Hill. NW to W. The car-park launch suits a north-westerly, The Bench a westerly; 35 km/h is the maximum for take-off and landing; the recorded hazard is "strong wind-gradient during North-West conditions; the wind also increases rapidly", and the site warns against hot gusty Berg winds from the NE and a freshly swung NW [2]. Crossing from Signal Hill to Lion's Head wants 150 m above take-off at the Kramat in a north-westerly [2].

Numbers that could not be had. No station near the launches publishes statistics: Windfinder's Signal Hill-Bench page carries a live reading and "No statistical weather data available" [9], and its Cape Town (Tide) page says the same [10]. The month strip above is built from the operators' seasonal descriptions [6][7], not from a station, and says so.

The year

Southern hemisphere: the UK winter is the Cape's summer and its windiest season.

Local knowledge

• The first four flights are not yours to plan. Lion's Head requires them "under supervision from an instructor or Sport-rated local pilot" [1], and Signal Hill requires every first-time pilot to report to an instructor on the hill for a briefing [2]. The site wiki is blunter: the mountain "can soon get very dangerous (and yes, experienced pilots have sadly passed away here)", so "do proper research and get a proper briefing" — an in-person briefing by a Sport-rated pilot or higher [8].
• Launch only where the mat is. "Only launch at the two designated launch sites. Do not pioneer a new launch site" [1]. On Signal Hill, clip in before walking onto the mat, and no smoking on launch — the hill is a World Heritage site carrying critically endangered Peninsula Shale Renosterveld [2].
• Do not overfly the tennis courts. The Glen club's paragliding section has an agreement with the Glen Country Club not to, because "your presence overhead can be disruptive to matches" [1]. Do not land on the Glen oval while school sport is on it; use the Camps Bay High School field above the main road if it is empty [1].
• Slope landings on Signal Hill are incidents. "Slope landings are forbidden and must be reported to SAHPA as an incident"; recreational solo pilots may top-land only on the designated area [2]. On Lion's Head the lower slopes "may only be used to slope-land in an emergency" [1].
• Beaches in summer are not landing fields [1].
• Whitecaps mean land [11]. The Glen club's talker stops the tandems at 24 km/h [8]; a visiting solo pilot has no reason to be braver than the tandems.

Access and hazards

South Africa regulates this more tightly than Britain does. A visiting recreational pilot "must have an IPPI 4 card (or greater)"; an IPPI 3 "is required to fly under supervision of an approved school"; a pilot without a card "is required to be assessed and signed off by an approved school" [3]. Foreign temporary membership of SAHPA runs three or six months, "includes 3rd party liability aviation insurance", and is applied for at members.sahpa.co.za; landowner permission to launch is a Civil Aviation requirement; "Foreign instructors may not conduct training or commercial tandem flights in South Africa", and a passenger needs a pilot with a tandem rating and IPPI 6 [3]. Fees were on a separate page not read for this record; the paragliding book read R500 for two months and R750 for six on 20 September 2026.

Then the site rules on top. Lion's Head: SAHPA membership and a Basic licence with a minimum of 55 flights, first four supervised; landowner SANParks; safety authority the Glen Paragliding Club, which holds the landing rights on the Edgar Lipsett Oval "and you will be expected to become a member if you land there regularly"; a Foreign Pilot Permit and a SANParks Level 2 Activity Permit both mandatory [1]. Signal Hill: minimum Sport rating (IPPI 5) — "No Paragliding Basic-license pilots are permitted, not even under supervision"; no novice training; foreign pilots fly only under the supervision of a Sport-rated pilot or instructor; SACAA National Pilot Licence and the same TMNP Level 2 permit [2]. The Glen club's own page names itself custodian of "all flying sites on the Table Mountain National Park, including Signal Hill or Lion's Head", and asks that "all pilots, including visiting pilots, strictly adhere to the sites' rules in order not to jeopardize our right to fly"; its visiting-membership fee is not on the page and the club is reached at glenclubparagliding@gmail.com [4].

The SANParks permit pages refused the fetcher on the day this was written (HTTP 403), so the permit's price and purchase route are not stated here; the requirement itself is stated by SAHPA [1][2] and the tandem operators carry the permit [7]. Provenance note on sources 1 and 2: SAHPA's site-guide pages were read in full on 20 September 2026 for the paragliding book and are quoted from that reading; on 25 September the same URLs, live in search results, returned 404 in a real browser too, and the site-guide index itself was empty: SAHPA's public site guide has gone. Internet Archive copies of both pages from May 2026 were read on 26 September and carry every statement quoted here (the links are in the source lines). The rules quoted are the last published ones; get the current ones from the Glen club before you fly.

Hazards on record: the Venturi at both Lion's Head launches [1]; the Signal Hill wind gradient in a north-westerly and the speed with which it builds [2]; the Berg wind [2]; a fatality record among experienced pilots [8]; the tennis courts and the Bungalow restaurant as no-overfly areas [1]; summer beaches [1].

Schools and rental

Tandem operators, all launching Signal Hill or Lion's Head by the day's wind: AirVentures — registered with the SACAA as a training organisation, pilots SAHPA-registered flight instructors, holding a SANParks operating permit; R1,900 for a ten-minute flight, R400 for photo and video, from 06:00 [7]. Sky Safari, whose seasonal guide this record leans on [6]. Others named in search results and not read: Fly Cape Town, Table Mountain Paragliding, Para Taxi, Cape Hope Paragliding, Signal Hill Paragliding. Solo training for a visitor is not on offer here and the rules above explain why; no school publishes a course price on a page read for this record.

Getting there

Cape Town International is 20–25 km from the seaboard by the N2; every operator meets clients at the launch or a hotel, and none of the pages read gives a drive time from the airport. Lion's Head's launches are a walk up from the Signal Hill road; Signal Hill's car park launch is at the road's end. No page read states the parking arrangements, which is a gap.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in South Africa — 24 files, mostly Cape Town: Sea Point landings, Table Mountain from the air [12]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.
• The tandem operators' galleries [6][7] are their own copyright.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Porterville is the site South African cross-country flying is organised around. Cross Country magazine's guide calls it "strong South African inland desert flatland and ridge flying along the main north-south running ridge, foot launched from Dasklip Pass" [1]. The ridge is the western face of the Winterhoek mountains; below it is the Swartland, "endless farmland, mostly harvested and fallow in summer" [2], and the flying is either along the wall or out over the valley toward Clanwilliam. The two classic tasks are the ridge run "north to Renosterhoek and back – 90km" and the valley run "to Clanwilliam – 100km", the latter crossing into the back valley at Bumpy Peak, over Citrusdal and up to the Clanwilliam dam [1].

Launches: Dasklip Pass at 713 m and Pampoenfontein at 900 m in the magazine's figures [1]; the competition organiser gives Pampoenfontein (Leeuwenkop) as S32°55.616' E19°02.235' at 800 m ASL [4] — the coordinates in this record's header. The local site wiki lists Kardoesie, Dasklip and Pampoenfontein as the main launches, with Du Toitskloof and Antennas on the eastern ridge and Piketberg and Koringberg on the western side "not recommended" [2].

The Porterville Paragliding Open, an FAI Category 2 Pre-PWC, runs 13–19 December 2026 from Pampoenfontein, organised by All Mountain Aero and SAHPA, with live tracking mandatory and entry at R4,700–6,200 depending on service and date [4]. The organiser's one-line site description is the honest one: "Porterville is a demanding summer site and is recommended for experienced and current XC pilots" [4].

Conditions

Thermals are "mainly blue thermals stopping at inversions between 1,200m and 1,800m", with 4,000 m "the agreed legal ceiling" [1]. The site wiki's airspace is more specific: an airspace restriction, FAR45, covers most of the valley and needs permission; flight is prohibited inside FAP38, the Krantzkop explosives site; the ceiling is FL140 everywhere and FL085 south of Saron [2].

The condition that decides every summer day is the sea breeze. "A huge mass of dangerously fast-moving wind (often up to 40–50 km/h) comes from the Atlantic Ocean" most summer afternoons at around 16:00, and the wiki's author aims to be away from the ridge by 15:00 and on the ground by 15:30 on days when strong wind is forecast [2]. The Windfinder station in the town — the only one with published figures — reads an annual average of 4 knots from the WSW with daytime 21 °C and night 15 °C over 2010–2026, and carries no monthly table [5]; a valley-floor average like that says nothing about the ridge at four in the afternoon, and is recorded here only so the gap is visible.

The year

Local knowledge

• Sign in and pay before you fly, or never fly here again. Dasklip and Pampoenfontein: "arrive early, sign in, and pay at the Porterville Flyers Lodge"; Kardoesie: "pay the daily site usage fee at the restaurant" [2]. The visitors' guide adds that "people who have skipped this step received a lifetime ban from taking off from the site" [3]. Neither page prints the amount.
• Be down by half past three. The 16:00 Atlantic wind is the hazard everyone here plans around [2].
• The farmers are the landing. "Usually friendly (or ambivalent)"; close gates, do not cross wire fences, avoid the rooibos bushes and the animals, and greet the farmer [2].
• Bombing out is a walk. Far from a road it is "a hike of an hour or two in the 30+ degree sun", and the remote eastern mountains can be a one- or two-day hike [2]. The magazine's version: "bombing out in really remote places and meeting some of South Africa's diverse fauna" [1].
• A south-westerly into the north-facing gullies makes a dangerous thermal interaction [2].
• The Flyers' Lodge sleeps twenty in eight air-conditioned rooms with a pool and a bar, and is the contact for the site (Rob Manzoni); the campsite at the waterfall, Twin Trees and The Palms are the alternatives [1].

Access and hazards

Everyone paragliding in South Africa must be a SAHPA member [3]; a visitor needs IPPI 4 or an approved school's sign-off, and SAHPA foreign temporary membership carries the third-party aviation liability cover the law requires [6]. The competition organiser mentions a 60-day Foreign Pilot Permit for international entrants and requires a valid medical insurance [4] — the visitors' guide names IMG Signature and World Nomads level 3 as policies that cover paragliding [3].

SAHPA's own Dasklip Pass entry was read on 20 September 2026 for the paragliding book and had gone by 25 September (404 in a browser, the site-guide index empty; an Internet Archive copy survives and confirms the reading — see source 7); from that reading: wind NW to SW plus SE, launch 450 m above the valley at 700 m ASL, airspace ceiling 2,900 m ASL, primary landing the "Turkey patch" below take-off at the base of the Y-junction, other fields needing the farmer's permission, no recovery vehicles on private farmland, rotor off the spine and Venturi in strong wind, and "site fee payable to land owner Rob Manzoni" [7]. The 2,900 m in that entry and the 4,000 m in the magazine [1] are two published ceilings for the same valley; the wiki's FL140/FL085 [2] is a third. This record does not resolve them — check NOTAMs and ask at the lodge.

Hazards on record: the afternoon Atlantic wind [2]; the air force training area to the west [1]; the explosives site airspace [2]; remote landings [1][2]; heat [2].

Schools and rental

None found on the pages read. Porterville is flown by visiting pilots with their own kit, staying at the Flyers' Lodge [1]. The book's research found no published site-fee amount [7] and this record did not either.

Getting there

"Approximately 120 km northeast of Cape Town" above the Swartland valley, from the competition page [4]. Roughly ninety minutes by road from Cape Town by the N7 and R44 — a judgement from the distance, not a published time. A car is assumed; retrieval is by the road below the ridge or, in the competition, by the organiser's recovery vehicles [4].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Porterville, South Africa — the town and the Winterhoek; the "Porterville, Western Cape" name redirects there [8]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Wilderness is the soft end of South African flying. Cross Country's guide describes "mellow coastal soaring looking out over the ocean and landing on the beach", from launches between 18 m and 150 m, most of them under an airspace ceiling of 465 m ASL [1]. The sites are strung along the Garden Route between George and Knysna: Paradise Ridge, launched "from dunes at Klein Krantz" at 100 m, rated Student/Basic, wind S–SW, landing on the dunes or at the ridge's east end with a walk out to the Swartvlei car park, and "none needed" under rules because it is a public beach; Serpentine, a Sport-rated 173 m grass slope launched over the trees, S–SW; Buffalo Bay, a 40 m Basic launch in front of the highest dunes in an easterly, landing on the beach; Brenton on Sea, 90 m, Basic, launched from a ramp on the dunes (or the lawn for Sport pilots), S–SW [2]. Cloudbase, the local school and B&B, publishes those entries; Jan Minnaar runs it with Khobi Bowden and is the magazine's named contact [1].

The classic flight is Paradise Ridge: "an easy 20km out-and-return in a sea breeze with plenty of photo opportunities and a chance to see dolphins, whales and sharks" [1]. The magazine's hazard entry for the site is "chilling out too much and having too good a time" [1], which is a fair summary of who it is for.

Map of Africa, the viewpoint launch above the Kaaimans river bend at the west end of Wilderness, is the site SAHPA's guide lists — its entry is quoted under Access. The header coordinates are that viewpoint, read off the map and not from a published source.

Conditions

A sea-breeze site. The working directions at the dune launches are S to SW [2], and the sea breeze that makes the Paradise Ridge run is the mechanism [1]. Whitecaps mean it is too strong, in the SAHPA Map of Africa entry [3]. The only station with published statistics is George Airport, 15 km inland: annual average 8 knots from the SSW, gusts 29 knots, daytime 18 °C, night 14 °C, over 2001–2026, with no monthly table [4]. That is the airport's number and not the dune's; it is here because nothing closer publishes one.

For the days the coast is off, Du Toits, 950 m, N–NE, "quite rocky committed launch", Basic-rated, designated landing 5 km east of take-off, 4×4 access, contact Jan Minnaar [2]. The magazine records a 93 km flight from it [1].

The year

Southern hemisphere: the season is the UK winter.

Local knowledge

• Ring George tower first. The Map of Africa entry says contact George ATC before flying (044 801 8809) [3]; the 465 m ceiling is the airport's [1].
• Land clear of the sunbathers. "Anywhere on the beach, well clear of sunbathers", and east of the rocks in peak season [3].
• The site fees go through the Map Jump Club [3]; amounts are not published on any page read.
• Avoid easterly launches and SW conditions at Map of Africa [3] — the dune launches want the S–SW that Map of Africa does not [2][3]; the two sets of sites are complementary, and the local school knows which is on.
• The B&B is the school. Cloudbase has five rooms [1] and its site guide is the published one [2].

Access and hazards

SAHPA membership for everyone [5]; a visiting pilot needs IPPI 4 or an approved school's sign-off, and SAHPA foreign membership carries the liability insurance [6]. The dune launches on public beaches need no further permission [2]. SAHPA's Map of Africa entry was read on 20 September 2026 for the paragliding book and had gone by 25 September (404 in a browser, the site-guide index empty; an Internet Archive copy survives and confirms the reading — see source 3); from that reading: wind S to SE, launch 120 m ASL, airspace ceiling 450 m, landing on the beach, George ATC before flying, fees via the Map Jump Club, whitecaps mean too strong [3]. The rating requirement is not stated in that entry.

Hazards on record: the airspace ceiling [1][3]; crowds in the holiday fortnight [1]; a rocky committed launch at Du Toits [2]. The ocean has sharks in it, in the magazine's cheerful list [1].

Schools and rental

Cloudbase Paragliding, Wilderness — school, tandems and the five-room B&B, Jan Minnaar [1][2]. No price appears on the pages read. Dolphin Paragliding's Sedgefield launch page, which the paragliding book pointed at, returned 404 on 25 September 2026 and is not cited.

Getting there

George Airport is the Garden Route's airport, roughly 15 km from Wilderness by the N2; Knysna is 40 km east. No page read gives a transfer time. A car; the launches are beside the N2 and the beach roads.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Wilderness, Western Cape — 35 files including "RSA Wilderness MapOfAfrica.JPG", a beaches subcategory of eight, and "Wilderness Beach, sunny but very windy" [7]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Sir Lowry's Pass carries the N2 out of the Cape Town basin over the Hottentots Holland mountains, and the viewpoint at the top is the launch: 320 m above the valley, facing west over Gordon's Bay, Somerset West and the whole of False Bay [1]. It is the mountain site nearest the city that a Basic-rated visitor is allowed on without the Lion's Head flight count or the Signal Hill Sport rating, and that is its place on this list — the Cape Town record above explains why those two are harder to get on to than they look.

What the published record holds is one SAHPA site-guide entry, read on 20 September 2026 for the paragliding book and had gone by 25 September (404 in a browser, the site-guide index empty; an Internet Archive copy survives and confirms the reading) [1]; everything below that is not otherwise cited comes from that reading, and a visiting pilot should read the live entry and get the local briefing before launching. No school, tandem operator or blog page describing the site in its own right was found within this record's fetch budget, and this record says so rather than pretending to a depth it does not have.

Conditions

Wind NW to SW [1]. The site's hazard is the gradient: "severe wind gradient in a North-West wind", and the air turns "very turbulent" if the wind swings south [1]. Airspace ceiling 1,200 m ASL [1]. Light aircraft operate below controlled airspace here and the guide says to watch for them [1].

No station near the pass publishes statistics: Windfinder's Gordon's Bay page reads "No statistical weather data available" and points at stations 10 km and more away [2]. The month strip above is therefore a judgement — the site wants westerlies, the Cape's westerlies come with winter fronts and in the shoulder seasons, and the summer south-easter is the wrong direction and the turbulent one [1] — and it is marked as such.

The year

Local knowledge

• Land on the bald spot south of the road before the pines, or in the low bushes — watch the powerlines and do not land near the road [1].
• Top-landing is discouraged when the launch is busy, and for Basic-rated pilots [1].
• Baboons. "Beware of baboons (keep windows closed and food out of sight)" [1].
• Caretakers are the Overberg Paragliding Club and the Cape Albatross club [1]; a visiting pilot's briefing comes from them.

Access and hazards

Rating: "Valid SAHPA Membership with minimum of a Basic licence (IPPI 4)"; foreign pilots need SAHPA Foreign Membership [1], which carries the third-party liability cover and is applied for online; an IPPI 3 flies only under an approved school [3]. Everyone paragliding in South Africa is a SAHPA member [4].

Hazards on record: the north-westerly wind gradient; turbulence on a southerly swing; powerlines near the landing; the road; light aircraft below controlled airspace; baboons [1].

Schools and rental

None found on the pages read for this record. The Cape Town tandem operators fly Signal Hill and Lion's Head, not this pass.

Getting there

About 60 km from Cape Town by the N2, roughly an hour; the launch is at the viewpoint car park at the top of the pass. Neither figure is from a published source read for this record.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Sir Lowry's Pass — 61 files: the viewpoint, panoramas over Gordon's Bay, the pass itself; flora and animals subcategories [5]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Hermanus is the whale town on Walker Bay an hour and a half east of Cape Town, and the ridge behind it is the Overberg's easy site: "beginner-friendly" with "a big takeoff right next to where you park your car" [2]; "a gentle thermic and soaring site, with a long wave-like ridge which offers consistent soaring conditions", a Basic-rated site, 235 m ASL under a 2,300 m ceiling, launched from "a clearly-defined concrete slab on the right of the scenic road with benches for spectators" — that description is SAHPA's site-guide entry as the search index still shows it, and the entry itself was gone on 25 September (404, as with every SAHPA site page); the paragliding book read it on 20 September and this record quotes that reading [4]. Along the coast, Betty's Bay has "dunes for soaring and nailing your spot landing and ground handling", and Kleinmond is "a hike and fly (with a tiny clearing for takeoff once you've mastered your ground handling)" [2].

Conditions

"South (S) to South East (SE)" [4]; the 20 September reading also carried "SW on the western end", which the archived copy of January 2026 does not — treat SW as the earlier wording, not the current one. The wind limit in the local wiki: "up to 18–20km/h (and even 22–24km/h, but then you'll have to have good ground handling and wing-killing skills)" [1]. The hazards in the 20 September reading: "beware of the East wind" — it wraps up deceptively and turns severely turbulent; SW is "highly turbulent"; high-tension power lines on the ridge; rotor off the trig beacon and the cliff edge [4]. "There is wonderful local soaring, but also some great XC flights have been clocked here" [2]. No station statistics were read.

The year

Local knowledge

• Launch inside the yellow rocks; never west of the radio tower [4].
• Land below, right of the tennis courts, or top-land "directly behind the launch and not to the left or right"; never on the cricket pitch or the golf course; Grotto beach is the alternative [4].
• The east wind lies [4].
• The full briefings are Google Docs linked from the local wiki — Hermanus, Betty's Bay, Kleinmond — and were not read for this record [2].

Access and hazards

SAHPA membership — foreign temporary membership for a visitor, IPPI 4 or an approved school's sign-off [3]; the caretaker named on SAHPA's Hermanus entry is The Glen Paragliding Club [4] — an earlier draft of this record said the Overberg club, which is the caretaker SAHPA names for Sir Lowry's Pass, not for Hermanus. Hazards as above [4]. Provenance: SAHPA's public site guide has gone; an Internet Archive copy of January 2026 was read on 26 September and carries the rules quoted, which are the last published ones.

Schools and rental

None read; the Cape Town tandem operators do not fly here. The Overberg club briefs visitors.

Getting there

About 120 km from Cape Town by the N2 and the R43, ninety minutes to two hours; the launch is on Rotary Way above the town, with parking at the slab [2]. The road figures are a judgement.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Hermanus — 131 files: the coastline, Walker Bay, the whales; no paragliding subcategory [5]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Saint-Leu is the west-coast town on Réunion where the island's free flight lives — "le site de vol libre n°1 de La Réunion" in the local schools' billing. Two launches: Les Colimaçons at 800 m, the primary take-off [1][2], and the Forêt de Tamarins at 1,500 m [2]. The flight crosses the cane fields and the Mascarins botanical garden and lands at the water's edge "a few hundred metres from Kélonia", the turtle sanctuary [1] — "atterrissage face au lagon turquoise" [2]. The tandem menu tells the shape of the site: a discovery flight of 15–20 minutes from 800 m at €90, a long flight of 25–30 at €100, extra-long 30–40 at €115, "Panoramic" from 1,600 m at €140, and a Maïdo flight from 2,200 m of 45–60 minutes at €299 [1].

Conditions

"On vole toute l'année" — "conditions aérologiques exceptionnelles" [2]; "the dry season, from May to November, gives the calmest air and the clearest view" [1]; 300 flyable days a year in the search summaries. No wind data is published on the pages read, and the aerology — a west-facing island flank under a trade-wind regime, with sea breeze up the slope by late morning — is a judgement. Whale season is July to October, which is why the schools fill then [2].

The year

Local knowledge

• The shuttle is ten minutes from the beach office to Les Colimaçons (search summary).
• Only a Brevet d'État pilot may fly you for money in France, and the schools say so [1].
• Four years and 20 kg is the lower limit for a passenger, 120 kg the upper [1].
• Book in the holidays — July–August and December–January are full (search summary).

Access and hazards

French metropolitan rules apply: a visiting solo pilot flies on an FFVL licence or an IPPI card with insurance, and the local club controls the launches — none of which is stated on the pages read, which are tandem pages; a visitor asks a school. Hazards: none published on the pages read.

Schools and rental

Air Lagon Parapente — prices above, state-certified instructors [1]. Black Air Parapente — Colimaçons and Tamarins flights, all year [2]. Several more on the seafront; none read.

Getting there

Roland Garros airport at Saint-Denis is about an hour north by the coast road; the schools' offices are on the Saint-Leu seafront by the landing [1][2]. The airport figure is a judgement.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Saint-Leu (Réunion) — 15 files and eleven subcategories, the town, the botanical garden, a surfer; no paragliding [3]. Thin.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Aguergour is the village on the Kik plateau where Marrakech's paragliding goes: "Aguergour: 1,258m elevation, faces north-west with a high plateau behind"; landing at 400 m [1]. Its partner, Aït Ourir, is "a beautiful north-westerly-facing shark's fin" at 946 m with a 654 m landing, 35 km the other side of the city; pilots fly between the two [1]. It is Morocco's tandem site — "the village of Aguergour which culminates at 1300 m of altitude", 8 km up from the road [3]; "approximately 1,500 metres" in another operator's account [2] — and the winter home of the French schools' guided weeks: "many of the French schools operate guided trips to Morocco" [1].

Conditions

"October to April" is the window, "November to February" the calmest, when the European pilots come [1]; cloudbase "1,500–2,500m"; "thermals are gentle most of the time" in the warm, stable winter air, and "rowdy in spring — April to June" [1]. The daily cycle: "mornings are calm with weak thermals building from 10am, peak thermal activity 11am–2pm, tailing off in the afternoon" [2]. The hazard with a name is the Chergui, "a hot, dry wind from the east that brings dust and unstable air. Operators ground operations immediately when the Chergui arrives" [2]. The magazine's two-word hazard list: "dust devils and con men" [1]. "XC routes extend in all directions", but over the back is isolated country and self-retrieves [1].

The year

Local knowledge

• Watch for the Chergui [2] and the dust devils [1].
• Ask "Is your pilot FRMF certified for tandem flights?" — the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Vol Libre is the CIVL body [2].
• Tandems €73–120: "73 Euros per person, excluding transfers" at one operator [3]; "roughly 80–120 EUR per person, transfer usually included" in the guide [2]; 20–25 minutes on a glide day, 30–45 on a thermic one [2][3].
• Metalled road, then dirt track to both launches [1].

Access and hazards

No permit mentioned; the FRMF certifies tandem pilots [2]. Hazards: Chergui, dust devils, isolated country over the back, and the con men [1][2].

Schools and rental

Atlas Parapente — €73 tandems, 35–100 kg, daily 9 to 5 [3]. Passion Paragliding among the guided-trip operators [1]. No solo school on the hill; the French schools bring their own.

Getting there

"Approximately 35 km" south-west of Marrakech [1], "45–55 minutes on the Ourika Valley road" [2]; operators collect from the city [2][3].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in Morocco — 7 files including "Parapente Marrakech.jpg" and a paraglider over Toubkal [4]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Langstrand — Long Beach — is the strip of holiday houses "sandwiched between the high sand dunes of the Namib Desert and the Atlantic Ocean" between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund [3], and the dunes above it are the flying: "the dune belt between Swakop and Walvis Bay, especially the dunes overlooking Long Beach (Langstrand), are favourite spots"; "the Namibian coast, where the dunes range from 70–150 metres, is one of the great training and fun-flying sites in the world" [1]. The one Commons photograph of Namibian paragliding is this dune [4].

The rule that comes with it: "in Namibia paragliding is usually done with a guide who knows the conditions and flying sites in Namibia. You are strongly advised not to try this on your own" [1]. The search summaries add that the Long Beach dune is the only site where Namibia's civil aviation authority permits non-motorised paragliding and that access needs a Dorob National Park permit from the environment ministry — unverified here; the pages that state it refused the fetcher.

Conditions

"The fresh south-westerly winds offer ideal 'lift', and once air-borne there are spectacular views of the desert and ocean" [1]. The Benguela's cold water makes the coast's wind (search summary). "Current tours are offered from October to March, which is the main season and the best flying times in Namibia" [1]. Nothing measured was read.

The year

Local knowledge

• Go with a guide [1]; the park permit is the guide's business (unverified).
• Namib Gliding flies "full and half day paragliding flights over the Swakopmund dunes" under an instructor with eighteen years, and sells flights at Sossusvlei, Sandwich Harbour, Dune 7 and Henties Bay too [2].
• Quad bikes share the dunes [3].

Access and hazards

Guide, aviation-authority site permission and park permit, per the search summaries — unverified. Hazards: none published; bare dunes in a fresh wind are soft to land on and hard to walk up, which is a judgement.

Schools and rental

Namib Gliding, Swakopmund — +264 81 208 0678, Mario Oprandi [2]; no prices on the page.

Getting there

Walvis Bay airport is the coast's; Swakopmund and Langstrand are 30 and 15 km north of Walvis Bay by the coast road. The distances are a judgement.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in Namibia — one file, "NA Swakopmund LongBeach Paragliding.JPG" [4].

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

"Launch: the main take-off is next to the Kerio View Hotel, 2,340m" [1], at "North 00˚ 39′ East 35˚ 30′", "adjacent to the lodge" [2]. Below it the Kerio Valley, "between the Tugen Hills and the Elgeyo Escarpment", "80 km by 10 km wide at its broadest" with a floor at 1,000 m, and "The Elgeyo Escarpment rises more than 1,830 metres (6,000 ft) above it in places" [4]. You can top-land, drop to "the 'shelf' 200m below", or go to the valley floor 1,300 m down "though this requires extended retrieval" [1]. The NOVA pilot's version: "The only active takeoff spot in Kerio currently is in Kilima, with a daily fee of 500 Ksh. It offers easy takeoff for about 5 gliders" [3].

Why it is on the list: out-and-return flights "up to 200km", and "In 2011, three German pilots 'bagged five tandem world records'" [1]; the NOVA pilot flew "five flights exceeding 200 km" in ten days, best "260 km, marking a personal best and the longest Polish flat triangle" [3].

Conditions

The winter monsoon sets up "an almost permanent northeast wind" averaging "15-20km/h" on the good days, and the escarpment "produces strong thermals, which mix with the dynamic lift"; cloudbase "to 4,000m" [1]. The valley floor can exceed 50 °C, "generating thermals up to 2,500 meters higher than the takeoff altitude"; the northerly means "roughly half the route is flown upwind", at "25km/h and more" at times, with rotor off the terrain, and the air turns "unpredictable" after about three hours [3]. Airspace: Eldoret's controlled zone limits paragliders to "a maximum authorized altitude of 1500 meters above ground level" [3] — check the current rule with the association before flying.

The year

Local knowledge

• "Carry water, food, radio and a tracker and tell people you are going flying" [1].
• Bombing out is expensive in time — "a time-consuming journey back up" [1]; boda-boda motorbike retrieves "typically arrive within 30 seconds after landing" [3] and are, per the hotel, "riskier than paragliding" [2].
• Register with the Paragliding Association of Kenya — "to ensure legal and insurance concerns are met"; a small ground-use fee applies [2]; 500 KSh a day at the launch [3].
• The valley floor is hot [1].

Access and hazards

Registration with PAK [2] and the launch fee [3] are the rules read; the Eldoret airspace ceiling [3] is the one to confirm. Hazards: turbulence and rotor on the upwind legs [3], heat [1][3], "limited search and rescue facilities" [1].

Schools and rental

No school. The Kerio View hotel is the base — launch by the bar, "drinking a cold beer at the KV Lodge bar" within ten minutes of landing [2]. Tandem prices were not on the page read.

Getting there

Eldoret is the airport, "50km" from launch by taxi; four-hour shuttles from Nairobi, or a flight at about €90 [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Elgeyo-Marakwet County — 22 files with an Iten subcategory of 20; "Elgeyo escapment.jpg" [5]. No paragliding subcategory. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Lone Tree Hill, "25°48'06.66"S-31°03'21.70"E", elevation "1285M", three kilometres outside Barberton [1]; "a Basic/Student graded paragliding and hang-gliding launch site above the historical mining town of Barberton" at 1,290 m [2]. Landing is the golf course, "3.5km from launch site" [1], at about 830 m (search summary). The launch "can comfortably accommodate three gliders launching simultaneously" (search summary). The older national site list is blunter: Lone Tree is "DANGEROUS" with "Long Recovery", and a second Barberton launch, Bulembu Road, is a "STUDENT" site in "E,NE,W" at 1,200 m with 200 m of height [3].

Why it is on the list: the Barberton Paragliding Open, "Jun 14 - Jun 20, 2026", a Category 2 competition with "101pilots registered" from "7countries" [2] — Africa's longest-running (search summary).

Conditions

"Thermal conditions allow for perfect flying in mainly winter, when a north easterly is the prevailing wind" [1]. Thermals "~0.5–5 m/s with flying often starting ~12:00 (sometimes as early as 10:00)" and flyable directions "westerly to northerly to north-easterly" are search summaries of a page that could not be read — unverified.

The year

Local knowledge

• Get the gate key first — "A gate key is required to get access to Lone Tree Hill", from the Information Centre at Market Square, "a deposit is charged for the key" and "refunded when the key is returned" [1].
• Three abreast at launch (search summary).
• Land at the golf course, 3.5 km away [1].
• Not a beginner's site [1] — whatever the competition grading says [2].

Access and hazards

South African sites are flown under SAHPA membership or a foreign licence with insurance; the pages read did not state the requirement for this site. The gate key [1] is the practical rule. Hazards: the site list's "DANGEROUS" and "Long Recovery" [3] — nothing more specific was on the pages read.

Schools and rental

No school was read. The Open is organised by All Mountain Aero and the Lowveld Slope Soaring Club, Mias de Klerk and Willie de Klerk, club chairman [2].

Getting there

Barberton is about 45 km south of Mbombela (Nelspruit), which has the Lowveld's airport — a judgement, not from a page read. The hill is 3 km from town [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Barberton, Mpumalanga — 25 files with Makhonjwa Mountains and De Kaap Valley subcategories; "BarbertonMts.jpg" [4]. No paragliding files. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

"A gentle slope of grass overlooking the village of Bulwer" [1]; "Students launch from the Amahaqwa Mountain at a height of 1840 metres above sea level" [2]. Three launches on the one mountain: the '600', 200 m high; the '1000', "330m ASL" as the club's page has it — 330 m above the landing is the sensible reading; and the '1600', 600 m high [1]. The landing is "A large, sloping field down and to the right of takeoff, accessed via Alexander Road, just behind the garage on the south side of town" [1]. Site grading "BASIC" [1], "STUDENT" for both listed launches on the national planning list [3].

Conditions

By launch: the '600' takes "N-SE", the '1000' "NE-SE", the '1600' "S" [1]. "On the luckier afternoons, you can soar high above the peaks in smooth 'valley release'" [1] — the evening lift as the ground gives back its heat. Great height gains and cross-country all year, chilly in winter, are search summaries of a page that could not be read — unverified. The school's one hazard note is the company: "eagles and cape vultures" [2].

The year

Local knowledge

• Pick the launch for the wind — three of them, three quarters [1].
• Permission through the Bulwer Airsports Club — "Bulwer biosphere permits are available" [1].
• Wait for the valley release on a good afternoon [1].
• The landing is behind the garage on Alexander Road [1].

Access and hazards

"Through Bulwer Airsports Club (BAC)" [1]. South African sites are flown under SAHPA membership or a foreign licence with insurance; the pages read did not state it for this site. No hazard was listed on the pages read.

Schools and rental

Bulwer Hang Gliding School — "nestled at the foot of the Drakensberg Mountains in the town of Bulwer", a course of "10 to 12 days" [2]. Wild Sky Paragliding is the paragliding school (search summary); its site did not resolve.

Getting there

Bulwer is on the R617 between Pietermaritzburg and Underberg, about two hours from Durban — a judgement, not from a page read.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Bulwer, KwaZulu-Natal — 4 files; "Old Yellowwood Church, Bulwer.jpg" [4]. No flying photographs. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Mirleft has "soarable ridges directly above the town's beaches", with "further cliff sections" at Legzira and on the Sidi Ifni side; local pilots "choose the take-off to suit the wind on the day" [1]. Legzira: "Altitude: 250m | Coordinates: 29.439, -10.12", with "higher area on the mountain or lower area next to the arch depending on the day conditions", both rocky and cleaned by pilots; "Top landing and landing on the beach are your options", but high tide reaches the cliff base and the beach is crowded by the cafés [2]. Aglou, 20 km north: "Altitude: 40m | Coordinates: 29.845, -9.804", "a perfect beginner site" on laminar coastal flow; land "at the bottom on the beach, on the slope of the dune or top landing", anywhere "except in the cave house terraces and gardens" [3]. The whole coast: "numerous soaring sites" within easy reach of Mirleft, and "Coastal soaring can be done all year around. The climate of the Atlantic coast resembles that of the Canaries" [4].

Conditions

"The essential ingredient everywhere is the onshore wind: it needs to be blowing from the sea, roughly perpendicular to the cliff, and at the right strength" [1]. Aglou works "especially when there is good sea breeze from NW" [3]. Strength figures were not on any page read. "This is coastal soaring, so no wind means no flying, full stop" [1]. Mist: "Sea mist can reduce visibility and prevent takeoff from the upper launch" at Legzira [2].

The year

Local knowledge

• Legzira's launches are rock — cleaned, but rock [2].
• The beach fills — "The crowd on the beach must be avoided as they have no awareness about paragliding" [2]; check the tide before planning a beach landing [2].
• Don't turn rocks — "Scorpions live under rocks in this area" [2].
• Aglou's approach is soft sand — "Many vehicles get stuck there, especially when it's your first time" [3]; and "For barefoot people, sharp shells, piece of glass so not recommended!" [3].

Access and hazards

Own-wing flying "requires a pilot rating and insurance" [1]; consult local pilots about airspace [4]. Hazards: mist, tide, crowds, scorpions at Legzira [2]; rocks, cave houses, vehicles, soft sand at Aglou [3]; the wind's absence [1].

Schools and rental

Tandems: "Discovery tandem (~10–15 min): 600–800 MAD", "Scenic soaring (~20–40 min): 800–1,000 MAD" [1]. Flying bases run guided weeks from Mirleft [4]. No school for own-wing courses was named on the pages read.

Getting there

"Mirleft lies on the coast road roughly 40 kilometres south of Tiznit and about 150 kilometres south of Agadir"; by car or grand taxi from Agadir [1]. "The mountain takeoff is accessible with any type of car" at Legzira [2].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Mirleft — 33 files with a Legzira beach subcategory of 56; "Mirleft_beach.jpg" [5]. Sidi Ifni has 72 more (search of the category page). Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

"The Fly De Aar aerodrome site launches predominantly by winch, although mountain top launches are also possible" [1]. The site list has it plainly: launch height "0", wind "ANY", rating "STUDENT", "Pay site fees required", good infrastructure and "road access in all four wind directions" [2]. De Aar sits at "1,286 m (4,219 ft)" in a semi-arid climate with "196 mm (8 in)" of rain a year [3], and "is famous amongst Paragliding & Hang-Gliding pilots worldwide as it holds 2 World records & some countries' National Distance records" [3]. "Many of the world's records have been set in De Aar and Kuruman where flights of up to 350km have been recorded" [1].

The flight that made the Karoo: Nevil Hulett, 15 December 2008, "507 km" from Copperton, "approximately 60km southwest of Prieska", on a Mac Magus 6, in conditions "really strong, high clouds, strong winds, strong thermals" [4] — the first paraglider flight over 500 km (search summary). The FAI's record page was not readable (403).

Conditions

"Thermals soar from the baking earth to the cooler cobalt skies supplying an ideal lift for paragliders and on good days you can fly forever" [1]. The record day's weather is the only measured description read [4]; cloudbase and wind figures were not on the pages read.

The year

Local knowledge

• It is a winch site — "predominantly by winch" [1]; a payout winch on a vehicle (search summary).
• Site fees — "Pay site fees required" [2].
• Any wind — "ANY" [2]; the road network gives a launch in every direction [2].
• Retrieves are long — 500 km is 500 km; a judgement.

Access and hazards

SAHPA membership and the site fee [2]; Fly De Aar runs the aerodrome [1]. Hazards: none listed on the site card [2]; the Karoo's heat, distance and strong days [4] are the obvious ones.

Schools and rental

Fly De Aar (search summary; the operator's own page was not read). No prices were on the pages read.

Getting there

De Aar is on the N10 between Cape Town and Johannesburg, roughly eight hours from either — a judgement, not from a page read; the town is a railway junction [3].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, De Aar — 13 files, mostly railway; "De Aar Wind Farm Northern Cape South Africa.png" [5]. No flying files. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

"Launch at Bambi (1,605m) is large and accommodating, with gently sloping grass to see you off on your flight" [1]; "1600" m altitude and "250" m height on the national list, wind "E", "STUDENT", "Pay Site fees" [2]. The landing is "a big, grass field within easy glide" about 230 m below, and "The flat lands of the Crocodile River valley extend from the turkey patch to the Kwena Dam, about 12km distant and offer many other landing alternatives" [1]. The club's claim: "Some of the best inland flying in South Africa" [3]. The coordinates are the forecast site's, "25.48° S, 30.33° E", 14 km from Kwena Dam and 25 km from Dullstroom [4]. The magazine's one line: Bambi and Ngodwana "both have local sensitivities, so check in with local pilots first" [5].

Conditions

"Bambi can be flown in wind directions from north to east-south-east, but is ideally suited to a north-easterly" [1]. It is "essentially a ridge soaring location with embedded thermals that can take pilots more than 1,500m above launch" (search summary of the briefing), and "There is often a strong, evening valley release that can take pilots 600m above launch in silky smooth air" [1]. XC runs along the escarpment north toward Lydenburg with the vultures, or downwind to the south-west over rising ground (search summary). Hazards in the briefing: "existence of power lines along the road on the west side of the field", "thermic and rotor turbulence associated with the farmhouse", and "Venturis can also affect those bowls/gulleys when the wind is stronger" [1].

The year

Local knowledge

• R100 a day — "Bambi is on private land and daily sites fees of R100 per pilot apply" [1].
• The rules [3]: "All pilots must be current SAHPA members"; "No flying without a club representative on site"; "Site check-in is mandatory"; "Site briefing is essential to all first time visitors"; "No student ground handling on launch"; "Keep gates closed"; "Avoid landing in planted fields unless deviating is dangerous".
• Air rules — "Right = right", "Lower pilot has right of way", "First pilot to enter thermal dictates direction of turning", "Overtake on inside of ridge" [3].
• The farmhouse makes rotor [1].

Access and hazards

SAHPA membership, the club representative, the check-in and the fee [1][3]. Hazards: power lines, the farmhouse rotor, the venturis in the gullies, spring thermals [1].

Schools and rental

The club is a flying club, not a school; Anton Naude in Nelspruit is the instructor the magazine names [5].

Getting there

"About 300 km from Johannesburg" (search summary); off the R36 between Dullstroom and the Kwena Dam by the forecast site's reference points [4].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Lydenburg — 16 files of the nearest town; no Bambi or flying files [6]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Kijabe stands "on the edge of the Great Rift Valley at an altitude of 2200m", "some 50 kilometres north-west of Nairobi" [4]. The hill above it reaches "2,600m altitude" with a "600m height difference from the valley floor" [1]; "2615m above sea level" at the main launch [2]. "You can take off in all directions apart from the East", and pilots "tend to take off from the West facing launch because of the dynamic wind" [2]; the association lists "three takeoff points (South, North, and Southwest)" and directions "N, NW, S, SW, W" [1]. Below, "large landing field at the base of the hill, ideal for accuracy landings" [1]. It is Kenya's oldest site, flown since the 1990s (search summary), and "a great starting place for some decent XC Flying" — locals fly home from the flower farms at Naivasha [2].

Conditions

"In the good flying season there is a prevailing Southerly wind. This usually starting in July" [2]; the tandem operator's version is "southeast trade winds and the thermal activity off the Rift Valley floor" [3]. "Strong thermals and turbulence" in the peak hours, and "easterly" winds bring "rotor" [1]. The warning: "Thunderstorms with all their inherent dangers can develop incredibly quickly", and watch for "build ups of gust in the venturies" of the valley [2]. "Clear visibility across the valley is best in July and August" [3].

The year

Local knowledge

• The fee: "take off fee of Kes 500" [2]; "Free of charge for PAK members" and "No access for Non members unless they apply online for annual or short membership" [1].
• The radio: "local radio frequency (144.225)" [2].
• Camping: "ksh 2000 (including security & firewood)"; "please contact Chege (caretaker ): 0723 478 322 before camping" [1].
• Retrieves: motorbike taxi "ksh 600", retrieve service "ksh 1000" [1].
• Acacia thorns around the landing [2].

Access and hazards

"Federation registration (annual)," "basic flying license," "club pilot membership," the radio and the fee [2]; PAK membership [1]. Hazards: thunderstorms, venturi gusts, rotor in an easterly, the thorns [1][2].

Schools and rental

Tandems: "KES 20,000 per person", "15 to 30 minutes", "25kg minimum — 110kg maximum" [3]. Mawingu Camp and Cloudbase Kenya fly the hill (search summary). Beds: "Fishermans Camp, Sanctuary Farm, and Mawingu Camp" [2].

Getting there

"From Nairobi, take the A104 (the highway following the escarpment)" to "S0 52 46.1 E36 33 46.8"; "a 4X4" in the rains [2]; "1.5 to 2 hour drive to Kijabe via Limuru" [3].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Kiambu County — 105 files with a Limuru subcategory and historical Kijabe images; "Rolling tea plantations leading to Kawaida Waterfall, Cianda, Kiambu County 01.jpg" [5]. No flying files. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

"Takeoff: 1300 m", the valley at 1,000 m, "NEE, SEE, E" take-offs, a "Small landing field at the base of the ridge", and "2 hours drive east of Nairobi" [1]. "Tala ridge itself is 10 km long" and faces "North East" [2]; the association calls it a 20 km vegetated ridge with a small steep take-off that connects to flatland XC (search summary). It is the dry-season alternative to Kijabe — the tandem operators move here and to Iten when the home hill is off (search summary).

Conditions

"Prevailing North Easterly winds" through the winter season; "Strong wind produces plenty of ridge lift" but also sink behind the hills and turbulence; "the stronger the wind gets and landings can be problematic" out in the flats [2]. The XC line runs south-west toward "Tanzania, Rift Valley, Natron lake and Magadi" — one flight reached "30 km before Tanzanian border" [2] — but downwind toward Nairobi is "only 30 km because of airspace restrictions" [2]. Kenya's XC season "tends to be sandwiched between the end of the Short Rain season (around November) and the hottest months (Starting in March)"; "December to February to be the best months" [3].

The year

Local knowledge

• Pay Juliana — "MPESA 'Juliana' 250ksh after landing please: 0720 126 452" [1].
• The CTR — "Be aware of the Nairobi CTR airspace to the south of the spot!" [1]; 30 km downwind is the limit [2].
• Sink behind the hills [2].
• The landing is small [1].

Access and hazards

PAK membership as at every Kenyan site (see Kijabe) and the landing fee [1]. Hazards: airspace, sink and turbulence, strong-wind landings in the flats [1][2].

Schools and rental

No school; the tandem operators fly it in the Kijabe off-season (search summary).

Getting there

Two hours east of Nairobi on the Kangundo road to Tala [1]; the launch is reached by a map link on the association's page [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Machakos County — 54 files; "Climate smart agriculture in Machakos county (15018757814).jpg" [4]. No Tala or flying files. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Sedgefield's dune "extends from Langvlei in the west to Goukamma River in the east, a distance of about 24 kms" and is "around 350 000 years old" [4]. Two SAHPA-registered launches on it, both run by Dolphin Paragliding. Cloud 9: "The owner of 'Sedgeview', Michael Rohwer on the South side of The Dune has given local paragliders permission to launch from his property" [4]; "Sedgeview is a great site that works most days & some days it can really be strong thermic conditions", "one of the best sites for Tandem flights in South Africa" [3]; on a good day "up to thirty paragliders catching the thermals" [4]. Gerickes: "+/-120m", "Student under supervision", "E-SE 15 – 25 Km/h", "All year", at "34° 1'50.85″S 22°45'49.52″E", in "a private nature reserve" [2]. The Wilderness record covers the launches 30 km west; these are Sedgefield's own.

Conditions

Gerickes is the sea-breeze site, "E-SE 15 – 25 Km/h" [2]. Cloud 9 is the thermic one — "Do not scratch close to the tree as it can become quite turbulent" and "Watch out for sudden increases in wind speed" [1][3]. Ceiling: "Max 1400 m ASL" [1][3]. No cloudbase or strength beyond the km/h was on the pages read.

The year

Local knowledge

• Pay first — "Pay at the Shell garage in Sedgefield" [1]; "Pay full entrance fee" at the reserve [2]; Deon "072 1990622" is the contact for both [1][2].
• The pine trees — "Do not fly past the Pine trees 1.5 km to the West as the residents have objected to low flying Paragliders" [1].
• Gerickes' rules [2]: "Skywings members only"; "Pilot must have helmet sticker visible"; "Don't trample dunes or disturb bird-life"; "No smoking, even in vehicles" — smoking or fires mean a "life ban from this site"; "Don't speed as the road is narrow".
• Parking — "limited, so please double up where possible" [1].
• XC needs a driver — "Cross-country flights require a designated recovery driver" [3].

Access and hazards

SAHPA membership, the site fees, the club's rules above [1][2][3]. Hazards: the tree's turbulence, wind surges [1], the narrow reserve road [2].

Schools and rental

Dolphin Paragliding — tandems from Cloud 9 [3]; the school "operate from various launching sites" along the Garden Route (launch-site index, read). No price was on the pages read.

Getting there

Sedgefield is on the N2 between George and Knysna; Cloud 9 by "a dirt road that begins at Egret Street on the north side of the N2" [4]; Gerickes through the reserve gate [2].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Sedgefield, Western Cape — 8 files; "Sedgefield lagoon.jpg" [5]. No dune or flying files. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

"The starting place is Located at 420m ASL" with "a height difference is about 80m", "Ridge soaring on a 100m high ridge, wind off the sea" [2]. "The starting site can be easily reached by a normal car, as there is a restaurant directly next to the meadow start site" — Kimerimeta, "run by a Swiss" [2]. The association has it "20km inland from Diani Beach", take-offs "SEE/ E / NEE", by "all tarmac road and a short 1km dirt road", "around a 45min drive from Diani Beach Airport" [1]. Diani Beach itself "can only be flown by paramotor" (search summary), with its own rules [1]. This record is the ridge.

Conditions

"Oriented according to ONO, but goes with all eastern winds" [2] — the coast's trade winds, north-east in the northern winter and south-east from May. "With thermals forming in the flat foreland, you can also fly to higher heights" with views of "the forest-covered mountains of the Shimba Hill National Park on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other" [2]. Landing: "The toplanding, no problem on the huge starting place, but if it should not go up (very unlikely), there are also possibilities to land directly below" [2]. Where there is no hill on this coast, "they use a winching setup" and release at "2000 ft" [3].

The year

Local knowledge

• Lunch at the launch — Kimerimeta [2].
• PAK membership — fees "USD 25-30 range" [1]; register with the association as at every Kenyan site.
• The beach is paramotor only — "Beach takeoffs should be planned south of Neptune Beach Hotel", "do not fly beyond the reef", "Wear a life vest when PPG over water" [1].
• WhatsApp — the base guide points to a group for beds and lifts [2].

Access and hazards

PAK membership [1]. Hazards: none named for the ridge on the pages read; the beach's tourists, fishers and reef are the paramotor hazards [1].

Schools and rental

No school on the ridge; the Diani flying base runs from the coast [2]; "www.paraglidekenya.com" is the general pointer [3].

Getting there

Diani Beach airport, then 45 minutes to the hills [1]; "approx. 10 km from the coast" as the crow flies, "an hour drive from Diani Beach" by road [2].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Shimba Hills National Reserve — 14 files with Giriama Point and Sheldrick Falls; "Shimba Hill 02.JPG" [4]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Prieska "is 240 kilometers south of Kimberley", on the Orange River and the R357 [3]. In the magazine's survey of South Africa, "The most popular sites are at airstrips like De Aar, Kuruman and Prieska" — winch flying [2]. Two records anchor it. Beau Basson, December 2000, "265 km declared distance to goal", the declared-goal world record, launched by winch from "Prieska airfield" on an Apco Tigra [1]. And the 507 km open-distance record: Nevil Hulett, "December 15, 2008", from Copperton, "approximately 60 km southwest of Prieska", on a "Mac Magus 6", landing "near the Lesotho border"; the report's words for the day were "The conditions were really strong, high clouds, strong winds, strong thermals, just the stuff one needs", and "only a handful of pilots in the world can handle that kind of flying" [5]. This was a thin record — two magazine pages and an encyclopaedia entry, and no site card; the national planning list has no Prieska entry. A second pass on 2026-09-27 added the 507 km report and the provincial tourism board's page, which names De Aar and Kuruman and not Prieska: "Many of the world's records have been set in De Aar and Kuruman where flights of up to 350km have been recorded", and "The Fly De Aar aerodrome site launches predominantly by winch, although mountain top launches are also possible" [6]. It is here because the records are here.

Conditions

Basson's day: "7-8 m/s thermal climbs, initial 54 km/h tailwind increasing to 68-75 km/h, base height of 4,900 m ASL"; and his line — "I just kept drifting in nothing for a whole 5 km before the thermal eventually released against a small hill and I got up again!" [1]. That is a record day, not an average; no ordinary figure was on the pages read. The 2008 day sixty kilometres away was the same kind — "strong winds, strong thermals" [5] — and the board's description of the region is the same in gentler words: "Thermals soar from the baking earth to the cooler cobalt skies supplying an ideal lift for paragliders and on good days you can fly forever" [6].

The year

Local knowledge

• Bring the winch — the Karoo circuit is De Aar, Prieska, Copperton and Kuruman; De Aar's operator is the base (see that record) [2].
• Retrieves are the flight — 265 km to goal means a driver [1].
• The Orange River — the town's reason and the one landmark; a judgement.

Access and hazards

SAHPA membership; the airfield's permission — not on any page read. Hazards: the strength of the record days [1], the distance and heat of the Karoo.

Schools and rental

None. The winch operators run from De Aar (see that record) [2].

Getting there

The R357 from Kimberley, 240 km [3]; Upington is the other way. Nothing closer flies.

Pictures

• No Commons category for Prieska could be found. The nearest Karoo town on Commons is Kuruman, 27 files, none of flying [4]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Two sites on one ridge. Katelembu: "Just an hour's drive south of Nairobi, easily reached by any car", "an evening soaring site", take-offs "ENE, E, ESE", "a PAK managed site", with an alternative take-off "3km north called Kaseve" [1]. Mua: "just 3km down the ridge from Katelembu", "An All Day Flying Site", take-offs "ENE, E, ESE", where "The designated landing field is also closer to the takeoff, making easy sleddies possible" [2]. Both are "For independent pilots who fly without radio supervision (PAK3 Level)" [1][2]. The association gives take-off and landing positions as map links, not figures; the coordinates above are the Mua Hills road on the ridge, from the map index, not from a page read — treat them as the ridge, not the launch. This was a thin record — two association cards with no altitude and no wind figure. A second pass on 2026-09-27 added a site directory entry with an altitude and a description of the launch, and a general Kenya season statement; the association's own newer site (paraglidingkenya.or.ke) did not resolve. Still no wind figure on any page read.

Conditions

No figure on any page read. The directory entry puts Katelembo at "2003m" altitude, rated three stars, with the take-off "A small grassy area in the midst of a banana plantation" and a large tree immediately to the left [4]. For the country as a whole, a flying-guide page says "The flying cross country season tends to be sandwiched between the end of the Short Rain season (around November) and the hottest months (Starting in March)", with "December to February to be the best months" [5] — that is the north-east season; the association's cards for this east-facing ridge say the opposite half of the year. Both cards say "All year, although preferably May – September" [1][2] — the south-east season, when the trade wind blows on to this east-facing ridge (see Kijabe and Tala for the two Kenyan seasons). Katelembu is the evening site, Mua the all-day one [1][2]. Radio: "144.600" [2]. An airspace PDF and a webcam are linked from Katelembu's card [1].

The year

Local knowledge

• Fees at Mua — "Per pilot: KSH 200 (M-Pesa to Jennifer)", "Per car: KSH 100 (M-Pesa to Peter)" [2].
• PAK membership for both [1][2] — "PAK3 Level" to fly without supervision. Before the association took the site on, the "Local farmer maintains the launch area for a fee of 500 KSH (as of 2014) and provides car security" [4]; the association's newer site is said to add that PAK members now pay no take-off or landing fee at Katelembu (search summary; that site did not resolve), and Mua's card has the small M-Pesa fees [2].
• Evenings at Katelembu, days at Mua [1][2].
• The webcam before you drive [1].

Access and hazards

PAK membership and the site fees [1][2]. Hazards: none on the pages read; the airspace PDF is the one to open [1].

Schools and rental

None; the association's sites are for licensed pilots [1][2].

Getting there

An hour south of Nairobi on the Mombasa road to Machakos, then the Mua Hills road up the ridge [1] — the last part a judgement.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Machakos County — 54 files with a Machakos subcategory [3]. No ridge or flying files. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Valle de Bravo is a lakeside town at 1,850 m, about 156 km and two hours south-west of Mexico City [8]. It is not the flying site: that is El Peñón del Diablo, a rock outcrop near Temascaltepec 14 km from town in a straight line and 45 minutes by road, with the launch at 2,340 m and the plateau landing at 1,790 m below it [1][2][4]. Pilots come between November and April because the dry-season weather repeats itself day after day; Flumen, the school in town, counts "approximately 300 flyable days" a year, and Cross Country's guide gives the paraglider season as November to February with the hang gliders following in January to March [1][4]. The site hosted the 2009 Paragliding World Championship with 150 pilots from over 40 countries, and it hosts the Monarca Paragliding Open and the El Peñón Classic hang gliding race every year [8].

The day has a shape everyone describes the same way. The house thermal off the rock starts working from about 10:30; a Southwest Airsports write-up gives the thermal window as "about 10:30AM – 4:00PM CST" with climbs "averaging about 500'/min" in cycles of "about 5 minutes", and says a modest pilot can expect 2,000–3,000 ft above launch [3]. Then it is "classic plateau convergence flying and flat land crossings" across the mesa [1]. The route people come for runs from El Peñón to the G-spot, on to Three Kings and the Divisadero turnpoint, across the mesa to the Monarch butterfly reserve near Saucos with Nevado de Toluca on the horizon [1]. Flights of "over 100 km" are the normal ambition in the good months [2]. The day ends with "glorious evening glass-offs" [1] or with a soaring session at La Torre, the small ridge right above town that works on a 12 km/h westerly and lands beside the lake [1][2][4].

What Valle is not is a beginner site. Southwest Airsports puts it in capitals — "NOT a site for beginners!" — and the club rules make the point with a clock, below [3][5].

Conditions

The mechanism is a high plateau under a dry-season sun: the mesa heats, the thermals go off the rock and the ridges, and convergence lines set up over the flatland to the north. Cloudbase is "over 3,500m" between December and March [2]; Flumen gives the ceiling as 4,500 m ASL on the best days over a 1,800 m valley floor and a 2,300 m take-off [4]. Puffy Cloud puts the strongest conditions from February to the start of the rains, and the rains start around May [2][4].

The launch itself faces WSW [3]. It can "blow out once the midday heat overwhelms the valley floor" [1][2]; Southwest Airsports adds that behind the ridges "sink, rotor, and turbulence can be severe", that you should "never get low downwind" of them, and recommends keeping "at least 1,000' above the terrain downwind" [3]. Flumen's monthly picture: October–November humid with a rising base, December–April "almost every day is flyable", May–October afternoon thunderstorms with flying confined to 09:00–14:00 [4]. Daytime temperatures run 20–33 °C year-round with cold winter nights [4]; Wikipedia gives the town's annual mean as 17.5 °C and the rainy season as June to September [8].

The forecast link is Windguru's Peñón spot [7]; Club Peñón's gate is where the day's actual conditions are being discussed.

The year

The months: strip follows this: December to March prime, November and April good, May to October marginal.

Local knowledge

• Turn the way the calendar says. Club rule 2: in the house thermal everyone turns right on even days and left on odd days [5]. Puffy Cloud repeats it because visitors get it wrong [2].
• Do not go into the saddle behind the launch. Cross Country says avoid it; Puffy Cloud puts power lines there [1][2].
• Hidden power lines in many fields on the mesa — pick landing fields from height, not on final [1].
• The house thermal is a crowd. "Crowded air, especially around the house thermals" [2], and gaggles of 30 or more over Christmas [3]. Launch mishaps here are ascribed to "poor kiting skills" — the launch is not hard, but it is watched [3].
• La Torre is small and windy: "good kiting skills are required", and the lakeside landing shrinks to about a third of its size when the lake is full [3][4].
• The Piano is the main plateau landing, at centre-left of the mesa; Flumen calls the big plateau landing "Africa" [3][4]. Ask which is in use.
• Transport is cheap and organised: a shared shuttle is about $5 USD to La Torre and $10 USD to El Peñón, and Flumen's own "Parataxi" runs Valle–El Peñón for $8 USD one way or $13 USD return [4]. A taxi from the church to El Peñón was 350 pesos in 2025 [2].

Access and hazards

The site is run by Club Peñón, and registration is at the gate or online at clubpenon.org [1][2]. The club's three published rules, verbatim in substance [5]:

1. Every pilot must buy an entrance pass and present it at the gate.
2. House thermal: right on even days, left on odd days.
3. From 11:00 to 16:00 between November and May, IPPI 1 and IPPI 2 pilots are not allowed to fly, and IPPI 3 pilots must fly under the supervision of an instructor or guide.

The club shop lists season passes "from $300.00 MXN" and annual passes "from $2,000.00 MXN"; a day rate was not shown on the page read [6]. Flumen says buying the pass is "the first to do upon your arrival" [4]. Southwest Airsports' reading of the level required is "H/P3 or H/P2 with an instructor present" [3] — which is the same rule from the USHPA side.

Hazards on record: launch blowing out at midday [1][2]; the saddle and its lines [1][2]; severe lee-side sink and rotor [3]; power lines in mesa fields [1]; crowded thermals [2][3]. No published incident record for the site could be found, and none is claimed here. Flumen calls Valle "one of the safest places in Mexico" for a visitor while advising against travelling alone at night [4].

Schools and rental

• Flumen Paragliding (paraglidingmexico.com) — the town school, XC courses, the Parataxi to launch [4].
• Cross Country's guide lists Eagle Paragliding, Super Fly and Fly Mexico as operators running trips here [1]; Fly Mexico's hosted trips, under Jeff Hunt, include transport, retrieves, accommodation and instruction in both HG and PG [3].
• Paraglide New England also runs a group trip (search result only; the page was not read and is not cited).

No school page read for this record published a tandem or course price. Rooms run €25–50 a night and street food €2–3 a plate, in Flumen's account [4].

Getting there

Mexico City (MEX) or Toluca (TLC) [1][4]. From Mexico City: Uber to the Observatorio terminal (about $15 USD), then the Zinacantepec/Excelencia bus, hourly from 05:00 to 17:00, about $15 USD or around 290 pesos, two to five hours depending on traffic [2][4]. Driving, Wikipedia gives about two hours for the 156 km [8]. Toluca is the closer airport [1]. From town, the shuttles above; El Peñón is 45–50 minutes [1][2].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Valle de Bravo — 97 files, including hang gliders launching and landing at El Peñón (Temascaltepec) [9].
• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in Mexico — 10 files, including "Parapente Valle de Bravo" [10].

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Roldanillo is a town of about 37,000 at 930 m in the Cauca valley, known, Wikipedia says, "as Colombia's flying capital", with the Paragliding World Cup Superfinal and the FAI World Championships on its record [2][10]. The valley is the reason: it runs 70 km north and 170 km south of the town, is 8 to 40 km wide, "mostly flat and 90% is planted with sugarcane", and is bounded by two parallel ranges — the launches are on the eastern face of the western one [2][4]. Cross Country's guide calls the topography "perfect for flying cats-cradle tasks", and says flights of 100 km "are achievable most days in season, with around 200km the record" [1].

There are three paraglider launches in daily use. Los Tanques is the competition launch: 1,700 m in the paraglidingearth database, "5,400 ft above sea level" and 2,400 ft above the valley in Cloudbase Colombia's, facing NE–E–SE, "big launch site", grass, room for more than ten wings, a toilet, and a steep stair up from the road [3][8]. El Pico is at 1,847 m, faces N through S, and is "the most frequently flown by local pilots", a few kilometres out on the La Tulia road [8]; Cloudbase Colombia gives it 35 minutes from town, "slightly windy, varying" and short of preparation space [3]. Aguapanela (the La Tulia launch) is at 1,858 m, a "big launch site" with "good thermal", 30 minutes from town on a bus that runs every 40 minutes [3][6][8]. There is a separate hang glider take-off 15 minutes from the centre [1].

The town's paragliding economy — a hostel, jeeps that leave the square when full, buses that pick you up from any roadside — is what makes it the right answer for a visiting pilot who wants to fly every day without a car.

Conditions

The tropical humidity is the mechanism: "tropically humid weather often guarantees smooth thermals in a large area", and the moist agricultural climate "reduces the tendency for over development" [1][4]. Thermals are "generally light, apart from a rowdy area over the quarry to the south" [1]; Puffy Cloud gives "+3 to +4 with the occasional +5" [2]. Cloudbase is "typically around 1,800m to 2,300m" [1][2]; the search summary of Cross Country's page claims 3,500–4,000 m and 4–8 m/s in peak season, but that figure was not on the page as read and is unverified here. Conditions get more demanding "during long lasting dry periods" [4].

The clock matters more than the numbers. The thermic breeze reaches launch around 09:00, flying typically starts around 11:00, and "only can take off until 1 pm because then comes the pacific wind" [2]. Cloudbase Colombia's launch windows are 08:00 to midday at Los Tanques, to about 13:00 at Aguapanela, to 14:00 at El Pico [3]; "the Pacific wind starts up in the afternoon nearly daily", and XC pilots who leave early "move to the east side in the afternoon" [4]. That sea breeze is a westerly with "gusts of 25‐30km/h" that penetrates only 2–3 km into the valley [1][2] — which is why the landing field is out in the valley and not in town.

Light meteorological wind from north or south is the forecast to look for [2]; daytime 25–30 °C [2]; the town's mean annual temperature is 24.4 °C, humidity 73%, rainfall 1,015 mm [10].

The year

The strip is prime December to February, good in March and July to November's start, marginal otherwise. It is flyable all year [4]; the strip is about reliability, not possibility.

Local knowledge

• The stadium is closed. El Estadio in the centre of town stopped being a landing in January 2021, and even before that it was "thermally very active" and unlandable after 14:00 in the gusty Pacific wind [5]. Land at La Pista on the Roldanillo–Zarzal road: easy, safe in the Pacific wind, windsock, bus stop at the gate, ten minutes to town [5].
• Do not launch early to beat the queue. "Accidents every year from people trying to launch too early" [1].
• Sugar cane lands you dirty — "the lines often have to be cleaned afterwards from the leaves" — and burning cane makes "dangerous turbulence" [1][5]. Cane is not tall grass; avoid landing in it [2].
• Jeeps leave the square around 08:45 when full [1][2]. Named drivers: Alvaro (5–12 pilots, until 13:00), Cristian (5–10), the chiva Sipri (10–16) [6]. The Tulia bus runs 08:00, 08:40, 09:20, 10:00, 10:40, 11:20, 12:00 [6].
• Retrieve is the roadside. De Occidente buses "pick you up anywhere along the road" [6].
• Emergency frequency 145.700 [2].
• North wind? "If wind from north: better start from Pico" — Aguapanela's launch is complicated by it [3].

Access and hazards

There is no club gate. Los Tanques costs "3000 pesos (1,2 EUR / CHF)" at the launch; Pico and Aguapanela are free [3]. Porters at Los Tanques offered to carry gear for 3,000 COP in 2018 [8]. No rating is checked; Cloudbase Colombia's requirement is thermal experience [4], and Puffy Cloud lists the site as suitable from Beginner to Expert with the caveat of the 13:00 cut-off [2].

Airspace: 9,000 ft to the south-east and 10,000 ft to the north, per Cross Country [1]; Cloudbase Colombia refers to "defined airspace regulations requiring pilot awareness" without numbers on the page read [4].

Hazards on record: launch timing accidents [1]; power lines below launch [1]; cane fires [1]; sea-breeze turbulence crossing the hills, and "Pacific wind, tailwind / rotor" at Los Tanques [1][3]; the quarry thermal [1]; the stadium approach [5]. No incident register is published.

One practical note: Cloudbase Colombia's hostel was damaged in an earthquake and its stated aim is to "reopen the hotel in time for the 2026–2027 season" [7]. Check before booking.

Schools and rental

• Cloudbase Colombia — the pilots' hostel, thermal course, daily transport coordination; closed for earthquake repair at the time of reading [1][7].
• Colombia Paragliding and AirNomads Colombia run guided tours here; Pal Takats runs XC courses "45-minute drive away" [1].

No tandem or course price was found on any page read. Beds start at "€15‐30 a night" [1].

Getting there

Fly Bogotá to Pereira or Armenia (60 minutes), then a taxi of about 90 minutes and €40; or Cali airport, 90 minutes by taxi (about 65,000 pesos) or two hours by De Occidente bus at "33k (2025)" [1][2]. Pico and Aguapanela are on the bus; Los Tanques needs a jeep [6].

Pictures

No Wikimedia Commons category for Roldanillo could be confirmed (the two names tried returned nothing), and the Paragliding in Colombia category's visible files are from other sites. Cloudbase Colombia's pages carry launch photographs [3]. Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Iquique is a port city in the Atacama with "almost no rainfall" — 0.8 mm a year — and a mild desert climate cooled by the Humboldt Current [1][6]. Above it, on the edge of the pampa, is Alto Hospicio, a city of its own "10 km away and 600 m above" the lower town [5]. The main launch is on the lip of that ridge, "500m above the city", and, Cross Country says, "easily reached by public transport" [1]. The paraglidingearth database has two entries on the ridge: Alto Hospicio at 542 m, "large enough for at least 10 wings; partly covered by 'carpet', rest is sandy", and a second Iquique–Alto Hospicio entry at 506 m marked closed since 2019 [3]. Zion Paragliding, which runs trips here, gives the address as Circunvalación 3212, Alto Hospicio, 500 m, room for about ten pilots to spread out, dusty, with locals laying tarps for a small fee [2].

The flight is the point. From launch you soar and thermal along the ridge, cross the city, and land on a beach: Playa Brava, "the longest beach, immediately visible from takeoff"; Playa Cavancha, closest to the centre and seasonally restricted; Playa Huayquique on glide for beginner flights; or the sand of Cerro Dragón, the "large dune that lies between the ridge and the city", 220 m high, as a bail-out [1][2]. Cross Country's line — "360 flyable days a year" — is the site's reputation, unmeasured, and repeated by every operator [1].

Second site: Palo Buque, south of the city, a "little dune, almost at the level of the sea" at 217 m in the database, facing S, that "works from approximately 3pm every day" and where pilots "sand kite at the bottom" or "kite up the mountain" [3][4].

Conditions

The mechanism is the daily sea breeze between "the hot, dry, high interior and the cold waters of the upwelling Humboldt Current" [1]. The take-off "faces West towards the ocean with a clean breeze coming from the Pacific throughout the day — although it can be more from the North or South depending on the air flow" [2]. In October "the breeze starts to come in at 10am" [4]; "by 1pm thermals and strong wind build" under a "30C hot sun" [1]; the launch "can be windy at the take-off, especially at mid-day, so make sure you are confident launching in wind or take-off earlier" [2]. Zion starts flying "at around 10am" before the thermals intensify [2]; a US trip report says be at launch "about 9.30am and ready to launch at about 10am", and describes "up to 60-80 pilots in the air" on a morning [4]. The afternoon session is from 16:00 to sunset at Alto Hospicio and from 15:00 at Palo Buque [4].

No wind-speed statistics were found in any page read; the numbers are times, not knots. Windguru's Alto Hospicio spot [8] is the forecast to use. Temperatures: mean daily maxima from 25.4 °C in January to 17.8 °C in July–August, with abundant coastal cloud in winter [5][6].

The year

The strip: October to February prime, March–April and September good, May to August marginal.

Local knowledge

• Tandems have priority on launch — there is a large commercial trade, and Zion says so plainly [2].
• Watch for kite lines on the beaches — kite fliers use them; do not cross their lines on final [2].
• Playa Brava is floodlit at night [2]; land before dark anyway.
• Look before you lay out: "broken glass or dog waste" on the launch [2].
• Jets can close the sky. A military base is near, and "jets occasionally close airspace for a couple of hours in the morning" [2].
• A 4-star single apartment was "close to $100 per day" for one trip; the trip ratio was one instructor to four pilots [4].
• Commercial tandems were sold at CLP 50,000 for a two-hour outing with 20–30 minutes in the air, landing "Cavancha, Huayquique or another, depending on wind conditions" — that listing has since stopped operating, so treat it as a 2020s price point, not a quote [7].

Access and hazards

No club, no fee, no rating check is published. The database lists the second Alto Hospicio entry as closed since 2019 [3] — use the launch the schools use. The hazards on record are the midday wind on launch [2], the military airspace closures [2], kite lines on the beaches [2], and the seasonal restriction on landing at Cavancha [2]. The Cerro Dragón dune is a landing of last resort, not a plan [1][2]. No incident record is published.

Schools and rental

• Zion Paragliding (Costa Rica-based) runs an "Iquique Unlimited Tour" each October and publishes the site guide used here [2].
• Wallowa Paragliding and Atlanta Paragliding (paraglidingtrips.com) have run guided trips [4].
• Local tandem operators sell through tour aggregators; the one price found is above [7].

No local school's own page could be fetched for this record; the tandem trade is large [2][4], but named local schools and their prices are unverified here.

Getting there

Diego Aracena airport (IQQ) is "48 kilometers (30 mi) south of the city" [6]. Launch is about 30 minutes by bus from the city [1][2]; Palo Buque is "via car or taxi" [4].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in Chile — 9 files, including "Paragliding over Iquique" and an aerial from Alto Hospicio [9].

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Governador Valadares is a city of about 257,000 at 170 m on the Rio Doce, 311–324 km from Belo Horizonte [6]. The Pico da Ibituruna stands 1,123 m high across the river from the town, "separated from the urban area by the Doce River" [6]. It is the only take-off, and it is a big one: Cross Country describes "large grassy launch slopes on both sides of the summit ridge and a cobbled road between, leading to two cafés and toilets", with hang glider ramps on both sides [1]. The Paragliding World Cup's own site sheet gives 1,123 m ASL, "approximately 860m above the surrounding landscape", grass, "two large areas: South (S) and North (N)", and a capacity that lets "125 pilots take off" in about 30 minutes [2]. The city calls itself the "World Capital of Free Flight" and has hosted the PWC Superfinal twice and a World Championship [2][6].

The flying is thermal XC over rolling farmland; the PWC sheet gives an average task of 75 km over terrain at 150 to 300 m [2]. The classic is the "100km milk run" south toward Caratinga [1]. Wilder Adventures' flight statistics from the XContest record give the site "159.5 XC days" and "538.7 flights more than 10 km" a year on average, a longest logged flight of 256 km (5 June 2026), and a typical launch time of 12:02–12:33 [4]. The launch is 16.7 km and 30–60 minutes from the town HQ [2] — Cross Country says a club bus goes up from the centre, with private shuttles besides [1].

Conditions

Ibituruna is easy air by design. The PWC sheet: wind "light, generally not exceeding 8 to 12 km/h"; thermals "generally wide and smooth, rarely exceeding 3 to 4 m/s" [2]. Skygods, which runs two-week courses here, says the same — "wind conditions are very light" with "large, smooth thermals that remain active for long periods" [3]. Cross Country's advice is to get to launch about 11:00 and fly from noon to 13:00, because "thermals are light and often in the same place"; base is 1,500 to 2,300 m at 27 °C, and in August–September climbs reach 8 m/s [1]. The search summary of Cross Country's page mentioned "up to 9 m/s" and base "regularly exceeding 3,500 meters"; neither figure was on the page as read and both are unverified.

Two launch faces mean the site takes a north or a south component [2][3]; Skygods lists the aspects as "North & South" and gives its own launch height as 1,120 m over an "860-metre mountain" [3]. The city is hot: annual average 32.6 °C by one measure, 40.7 °C average maximum, 1,350 mm of rain [6]. That rain is the summer, and Olympio Faissol's note is that GV is "a good alternative in the summer (rainy season)" with thunderstorms possible [5] — overdevelopment is the thing to watch [1].

The year

The strip follows the flight record: February to April prime, January, May, June and December good, the rest marginal.

Local knowledge

• The landing has rules. The official field is Via Dapas in town; pilots "must stay less than 300 m above the field and not fly over the town" [1]. Skygods says the main landing is "right in the city center" [3].
• The airport is west-south-west of the city — an airspace conflict to keep clear of [1].
• Steep valleys near the cliff face need care [1].
• Watch the clouds. Overdevelopment is possible; "cloud monitoring essential" [1].
• Bring a VHF radio, a phone with data and a Livetrack24 account — Skygods requires all three of its pilots [3]. A Telegram channel posts daily flight reports for the region [4].
• The launch road is "dirt and cobblestone" in good condition, about 7 miles from downtown, in a trail listing that was only seen in search and is not cited here.

Access and hazards

No club fee, rating check or day pass is described on any page read. Skygods' requirement — "all pilots need to be suitably qualified to fly on their own" with thermalling and XC experience — is a tour operator's condition, not a site rule [3]. Airspace: the airport to the WSW [1]; the 300 m ceiling over the Via Dapas field and the ban on overflying the town [1]. No published incident record was found.

Schools and rental

• Skygods Paragliding (UK) — two weeks for €1,250, private-room supplement €250, airport transfers €250 return, deposit €100 per week; transport to launch and XC retrieves included; window "late January until October", best "mid-February to mid-April" [3].
• Cross Country lists xcbrazil.com and gvfly.com.br as local operators [1]; neither page was read for this record.

No tandem price was found.

Getting there

GVR airport has "typically a couple of domestic flights each day to Belo Horizonte" [3]; from Belo Horizonte it is 340 km by BR-262 and BR-381, "around 5.5hrs" by car or 6–7 hours by bus [2][3]. Rio is 590 km and São Paulo 920 km by BR-116 [2]. In town, the club bus or a shuttle to launch [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Pico da Ibituruna — 40 files, including the free-flight ramp and pilots preparing to launch [8].

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Torrey Pines Gliderport is a city-owned glider airport on the cliffs of La Jolla, about 11 nautical miles north-west of downtown San Diego [8]. The cliff-side is City of San Diego land, the inland side belongs to the UC Regents [7][8]. It has been a soaring site since 1930 — Charles Lindbergh made the first soaring flight here on 24 February 1930, Woody Brown launched from the cliff tops in 1936, the site was dedicated "to the youth of California" on 1 January 1939, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 12 July 1993 [8]. It is a National Landmark of Soaring, a San Diego City Historical Site (#315) and a Model Aviation Landmark; RC gliders have flown here since the 1950s [7][8].

The launch is at 300 ft / 91 m on the mesa, in the BHGC site list [9]. The flying is pure ridge soaring in the sea breeze along the cliff between Bathtub Rock and Scripps Pier, with tandems, hang gliders, sailplanes and RC models sharing the same air [1]. The gliderport's own figures: "over 300 days per year" of flying, and "less than 1 accident per 10 years or 100,000 flights" [4]. Tandems last "20-25 minutes" [4].

What it is not is a place to turn up and fly on a novice rating. The door is a P3 with 50 hours [1][2], and the check-in is an eight-step process with two waivers and an orientation video [2].

Conditions

The mechanism is the Pacific sea breeze against a west-facing cliff. The gliderport's tandem criteria are "winds around 230-290 degrees and 7-20 mph" for paragliders and 14–20 mph for hang gliders, with "perfect wind direction is at 270 degrees" [3]; the FAQ gives the solo range as "7-15 mph of wind coming from the west" for paragliding, 10–18 for hang gliding, in the sector "240-280 degrees (blowing from on-shore, West to East)" [4].

Reading the day: the office's page on its wind display explains that when the current reading and the reading from 15 minutes earlier agree, "conditions remain fairly steady", and that a sudden temperature drop "usually indicate[s] it is about to get good, as incoming cold fronts from the ocean are usually accompanied by good air", while a rise means "inland desert winds are coming, pushing away the ocean breezes" [3]. That is the Santa Ana, and it is the day off.

By season: "any time between 11 AM to 4 PM has the best winds for flying at Torrey Pines, particularly the Fall and Winter"; in spring and summer it is "typically flyable all day from 9 AM to 7 PM, sometimes even later" [4]. The ceiling is a rule, not a cloud: "No flight shall go above 1500ft from launch altitude" [1].

The year

The strip: March to August prime, the rest good. There is no off-season; "over 300 days" is the office's claim, not a station's [4].

Local knowledge

• Check in first. "All pilots must check in with the front office before setting up in the launch area" [2]. Bring a current USHPA card or a 30-day temporary bought at the shop, your logbook, a whistle and a 2 m radio that can receive 151.505 [1][2].
• One glider in the window at a time, and blow the whistle when you fly through it — the "window" is the sky prioritised for RC soaring [1][7].
• Northbound has right of way; approaching gliders over departing; slower yields to faster; descending yields to climbing [1].
• No beach landings unless the Flight Director approves; the beach is the plan B, and a sled ride is a failure here [1].
• Tandems do not book. "Call us the morning you want to fly to check the wind conditions" — first come, first served [5].
• Hours are 09:00 to sunset [1][5].

Access and hazards

The site rules, from the gliderport [1]:

• Paragliders: USHPA Intermediate (P-3) or equivalent foreign rating, minimum 50 logged hours; hang gliders H-4. Current USHPA membership carried while flying.
• Helmet, whistle, 2 m radio on the pilot emergency frequency, and reserve parachute on every flight; glider pre-flighted and "locked" before launch.
• Launch and land only in the designated areas: nothing north of Bathtub Rock or south of Scripps Pier; the landing area extends no further south than the Lifeguard Access Road.
• No flight above 1,500 ft from launch; 500 ft from buildings; 50 ft from the RC areas, launch zones and spectators.
• No intentional beach landings without the Flight Director's approval.

Fees, from the visiting-pilot page: a $10 day-use fee without membership; $200 annual membership; instructional supervision for P2/H3 pilots at "$250.00 per day"; mini-wing pilots need an M2 [2]. Foreign pilots must show experience equal to a USHPA P3/H4 — the page names "Para Pro 4, 150 flights, and 50 hours" [2]. The check-in: legal waiver, video waiver, an 8-minute orientation video, the site rules, a logbook entry [2].

Hazards on record are the traffic — RC, tandem, sailplane, hang glider — and the cliff edge in a blown-out or a dying wind. The published safety figure is the office's own, "less than 1 accident per 10 years or 100,000 flights" [4]; no independent incident record was found.

Schools and rental

The gliderport is the school. Tandem paragliding is "$200", "$190" cash, "$180 with active duty Military with ID", "no weight limit (depends on the winds)", group discounts from ten [5]. The flight school teaches P1 ("classroom theory, on field ground training and 5-8 flights from the cliffs"), P2 ("160 hour curriculum, which most students complete in 15-20 days", 30–45 flights), a P1+P2 combo with "over $400 of equipment", a P3 course of "about 20 days", and instructor and tandem mentoring [6]. No course prices were on the page read [6]. All tandem pilots are USHPA-certified Tandem Instructors [4].

Getting there

San Diego International (SAN) is the airport; the gliderport is off Torrey Pines Scenic Drive above Black's Beach, beside the UC San Diego campus [8]. Parking and directions were not on any page read for this record; the gliderport's phone is (858) 452-9858 [5].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Torrey Pines Gliderport — 98 files, with a Paragliding at Torrey Pines Gliderport subcategory of 48 files and a hang gliding subcategory of 8 [10].

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Bucaramanga's launch is on the edge of the Ruitoque mesa above the city, a 10 km ridge facing north-west with the town below and in front (search summary). The magazine's figures: launch 1,143 m, landing 911 m in front of launch or a top-landing, and "there is a 1,500m airspace cap" [1]. The daily pattern is the reason the site is famous: morning thermals from about 9–9:30 for an hour or two before the wind strengthens; "the middle of the day is usually too strong to fly"; from about 3 pm afternoon thermals mixed with ridge lift until sunset near 6 [1]. It is "flyable all year" — "they reckon it's flyable 362 days out of 365" [1] — and the Colombia Paragliding World Cup runs here annually (search summary).

What it is not: "it's not a site for flying big XCs as airspace gets in the way" [1]. The APPI site entry carries the warning in capitals: "the flight area is limited: laterally as well as in altitude (max 5500ft/amsl) due to the vicinity of BGA airport!" — "check with local pilots first!!" [2].

Conditions

Consistency. "Everyday is basically the same with the same pattern of thermal activity" (search summary); cloudbase is effectively the 1,500 m cap [1]. Hazards from the magazine: airspace violations, the city's airspace, "turbulent bottom landing with wind shifts", model aircraft, a difficult top-landing in strong wind, and the Chicamocha canyon at midday [1]. No station statistics were found.

The year

Local knowledge

• Two sessions a day, not one. Nine to eleven, then three to six [1].
• Do not climb past 1,500 m. The cap is the airport's [1][2].
• The Nest. Colombia Paragliding's hostel on the launch, where pilots watch the flying from the terrace [1]; Kasa Guane in the city runs a shuttle [1].
• Top-landing is easier than the bottom on most days — the bottom landing is the turbulent one [1].

Access and hazards

No permit beyond the airspace; a visiting pilot flies with the local school's briefing [2]. Hazards as above [1][2].

Schools and rental

Colombia Paragliding, at The Nest [1]. No price was read.

Getting there

Flights from Bogotá or Medellín to Bucaramanga (BGA), about €75 and an hour [1]; the launch is on the mesa above the city, a short drive.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in Colombia — 126 files, with an aerial-photographs subcategory; Sopó and San Gil among the filenames [3]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Point of the Mountain is the ridge where the Salt Lake valley narrows into Utah valley, and its south face is a state park "dedicated to hang gliding and paragliding": Flight Park State Recreation Area, 147 acres at 5,146 ft, opened in 2006, "jointly managed by Utah State Parks and the Utah Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (UHGPGA)", "one of the best training sites for both paragliding and hang gliding" [2]. Wikipedia places it "just north of Lehi"; the North Side, the taller face, is above Draper [2]. The south side is a ~300 ft grass hill at "a natural Venturi point" that gets "reliable valley drain in the mornings with amazingly laminar air pushing out from the lake"; the north side, about 1,000 ft, works in the afternoons on the same system — that description is the search summaries', unverified here beyond the club page.

The club's North Side page gives the figures: "Elev 5100' / 1554m"; flyable wind "N, NW"; for paragliders "Min = 5 mph, Ideal = 12–16 mph, Max = 18 mph, Gust 5 mph", for hang gliders a 25 mph maximum and 10 mph gust [1].

Conditions

Ridge lift and a daily lake-driven cycle: south side mornings, north side afternoons. The club's recommendation is to "only fly the North Side 2 hours before sunset and 3 hours after sunrise", and to "land before official sunset (FAR Part 103)" [1]. Hazards: "strong venturi effect can draw pilots down and into the quarry", turbulence, rotors, wind gradients, blow-back [1]. No station statistics were read.

The year

Local knowledge

• Sign the waiver. "Flying at this site without signing the required waivers puts club access to the Lower LZ in jeopardy" [1].
• Do not cross the ridge south — "at any point"; no landing on the quarry's west edge [1].
• Land on the green grass (paragliders); hang gliders have their own area; Steep Mountain Park, Wheadon Farm Park and South Mountain golf course are the alternates [1].
• The model port is just west of the south-side car park [2] — models and gliders share the hill.

Access and hazards

"USHPA P2 / H2 rating required, unless under direct supervision of a USHPA-certified instructor or observer" [1]; a visiting overseas pilot uses the IPPI equivalence and USHPA's temporary membership (the search summary's reading; the club page states the rating only). Waivers [1]. Hazards as above [1].

Schools and rental

Several schools work the south side — the search results name Two Can Fly and Utah Paragliding; none was read and no price is quoted. The training hill is where the country learns to fly [2].

Getting there

Salt Lake City airport is about 35 minutes north by I-15; the south side is off the Lehi exit, the north side off Draper's. A judgement, not from a page read.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Flight Park State Recreation Area — one file, a NOAA photograph [3]. Thin; the Paragliding in Utah category was not checked.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Santa Barbara's mountains rise straight behind the town, and the Santa Barbara Soaring Association flies them from a string of launches on the front range — Skyport, the Alternator, VOR, EJ Bowl, the Eliminator — down to Parma Park and East Beach [1]. The club owns some of its landing fields outright: its $30 fee "goes towards site preservation, public relations, site procurement, site maintenance, website expenses, La Cumbre weather station expenses, SBSA property taxes on the LZs we own, and local events" [2]. The one landing rule that matters is the beach: "We only have agreement to land at designated East Beach LZ" — an "H4/P4" landing — and landing "at any other beach within Santa Barbara city limits" is prohibited [1].

The launch elevations are not on the club's pages read for this record; the search summaries give Skyport at about 884 m (2,900 ft), "the eastmost launch, very small and can be a tricky glide out", with the Eliminator/Skyport and EJ Bowl launches "used 99% of the time" at six and eight miles up a two-wheel-drive road from Parma — unverified here.

Conditions

A south-facing range over the ocean: sea breeze on the front, thermals behind. The club's numbers are for the training hill, Elings Flight Park: "advised parameters for flight are 0–15mph with a gust factor of 5mph", "suitable for kiting in all directions from 0–18mph" [1]. More Mesa, the coastal bluff, is inside the airport's airspace: a visitor "must contact a Local Site Guide and ask the guide to call the SBA Tower for permission to fly", ATIS on (805) 967-0283 [1]. No station statistics were read; the club runs its own La Cumbre weather station [2].

The year

Local knowledge

• Get the intro. "A site intro from a local guide or instructor" before flying a new site; the training hill is the exception, and it "can only be flown when an instructor is present" [2].
• Carry a 2-metre radio, a helmet and a reserve, on a certified glider [1][2].
• East Beach only on the sand [1].
• The airport owns the bluffs. More Mesa is by permission of the tower [1].
• Contacts: Eagle Paragliding, Rob Sporrer (805) 968-0980; Fly Above All, Chris Grantham (805) 965-3733; hang gliding, Willy Dydo (802) 558-6350 and John Greynald (805) 682-3483 [2].

Access and hazards

Club membership $30 a year via PayPal [2]; USHPA membership and rating requirements are not stated on the pages read and were not established. Hazards: the no-landing zones, the airport, the small launches (search summary).

Schools and rental

Eagle Paragliding and Fly Above All Paragliding [2]. No price was read.

Getting there

Santa Barbara has its own airport (SBA) west of town; Los Angeles is about two hours south. Parma Park is the meeting place; the launches are up a dirt road from there (search summary). A judgement beyond the club's page.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in California — 22 files including "Paragliding in Santa Barbara.jpg", plus a Torrey Pines subcategory [3]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Pedra Bonita is the launch above São Conrado in Rio's Tijuca forest, and it is the most photographed free-flight site in South America: a wooden and metal ramp for hang gliders and a grass slope for paragliders, in the search summaries, with the landing on the sand at São Conrado — "flights end on Pepino Beach, on the sand or on the grass, by the Paragliding club" [2]. "The landing area at São Conrado Beach is open to the public" [1], which is why the beach has spectators. The launch altitude is given as 520 m above sea level in the search summaries; no page read for this record states it, and it is unverified here. The Commons category for the Rio Pedra Bonita — there is a town of the same name in Minas Gerais — holds views from the summit and the trail [3].

Conditions

A sea-facing dome over the beach: slope lift and the sea breeze, and a glide of a few minutes to the sand — "flights can take anywhere from 7 to 20 minutes, depending on the wind condition and the passenger's weight" [2]. No page read gives wind directions or seasonal statistics; the operators advise booking "first days" of a visit "rather than last days due to variable weather" [2]. No station statistics were read.

The year

Local knowledge

• Register at the club on the beach. Visitors register at the free-flight association before going up to the ramp with the team (search summary); the operators meet "in front of the Flight Club in São Conrado" [2].
• ID at the gate. Pilots show official photo ID or passport to access the launch area [1].
• Only ABVL pilots carry passengers. "Only licensed pilots registered with the Brazilian Free Flight Association (ABVL) are allowed to take passengers" [1]; helmets and harnesses mandatory, insurance included in the packages [1][2].
• Tandem from about R$1,000: "Starts From R$ 1049,00", R$999 in high/low season, R$1,149 at Carnival; 120 kg maximum, lowered in light wind [2].

Access and hazards

The park is Tijuca National Park; the association at the beach is the gatekeeper for pilots (search summary — the solo-pilot rules, fees and licence checks were not on any page read, and are not stated). Hazards: none published on the pages read; a cliff launch over forest and a crowded beach are this record's judgement.

Schools and rental

Tandem operators by the dozen; Rio Adventures' prices above [2]; Quero Voar's rules page [1]. No school for solo pilots was read.

Getting there

São Conrado is between Leblon and Barra on the coast road; the ramp is up the Estrada das Canoas in the park, about fifteen minutes by car from the beach. A judgement, not from a page read.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Pedra Bonita (Rio de Janeiro) — 18 files with a Views from Pedra Bonita subcategory of 27 and the trail [3]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Quixadá is "a major paragliding spot in Brazil", famous for "flight distance world record breaks in the last years", and every November "pilots from around the world" come for the conditions [4]. Two launches at 460 m — the competition launch and Pedra dos Ventos, 15 km away — over a 300 m landing [1]; the competition launch is at -5.03634, -39.0078, with an average of "72.5 XC days/year" and "200.5 flights over 10km" logged from it [2]. The town sits among the "Quixadá Monoliths Natural Monument", 16,635 ha of inselbergs [4]; the Pedra da Galinha Choca, the brooding-hen rock, is "5 km from the city center" [5]. A third launch, Juatama, at -5.07777, -39.0412, logs "9.3 XC Days" a year [3].

Conditions

"Strong winds and committing flatland XC early on, winds slackening after 3pm when 100 km is still possible" [1]. "Winds regularly blow at over 50km/h in November and December"; "The strong winds that mark November slacken off in December, and make it safer to launch, but also more difficult to break the 300km barrier" [1]. Cloudbase "3,500m in November" [1]. Routes run "200-300km east-west following roads"; the record target is "500km to the Amazon rainforest" [1]. Launch times from the log: around 11:47 in January, 12:00 in June [2] — the wind decides the hour.

The year

Local knowledge

• Swamps dressed as fields — "swamps disguised as green fields and corn stalks in harvested areas" [1].
• Gusts over 50 km/h on launch [1]; "Paragliding here is not for the fainthearted" [1].
• Retrieves are slow — roads "average 40km/h", terrain "remote, inaccessible" [1].
• Heat — "Extreme heat reaching 40°C" [1]; breakfast at five at the hotel [1].
• "Quixada can in fact be flown independently" — pilots fly XC almost every day without a guide [1].

Access and hazards

No permit rule was on the pages read; Brazilian sites are flown under the CBVL and the local club. Hazards: wind on launch, heat, the landing fields, the retrieves, the remoteness [1].

Schools and rental

No school. "Hotel Pedra dos Ventos (www.pedradosventos.com.br, +55 88 3451 2028), owned by hang glider pilot Antonio Almeida, offering 5am breakfasts and guest monitoring" [1]; the hotel has its own launch [1]. Local guides know the launches and the days (search summary).

Getting there

"160km from Fortaleza international airport; two buses daily" [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Quixadá — 61 files with Monumento Natural Monólitos de Quixadá (38 files); "Monolitos quixada ce.JPG" [6]. No flying files. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Three launches on Rendezvous Mountain, all lift-served [2]: Rendezvous Bowl, 10,300 ft, "South-facing open talus field", P4/H4, "Ideal wind direction 130-200deg. Wind strength: min 0mph/max 15mph"; Rendezvous Summit, 10,450 ft, "West-facing side of Rendezvous Mountain", P4/H4, "Ideal wind direction 260-330deg", and "LZ is not visible"; Gondola, 9,000 ft, "Short walk down the slope from top terminal of Bridger Gondola", P4 and not for hang gliders. Landing at 6,300 ft: "Large, grassy (or snowy) field adjacent to Highway 390/Moose-Wilson Rd" [2]. The magazine's wider valley: Phillips Ridge drive-up, Curtis Canyon for sunset, Snow King for the evening lift, landing elevation 1,890 m [1].

Conditions

"High-altitude, lee-side mountain thermal site"; expect "faster ground speed and turbulence" in the thin dry air; "Mornings often exhibit strong inversions" with calm air in the lee of the Tetons, and the risk later that "clouds build and stronger winds mix down" [2]. "Strong thermals and leeside midday conditions in a high alpine environment", cloudbase 4,000–6,000 m — "Stratospheric cloudbases allow you to cross unbelievably remote terrain" [1]. The named routes: the Tetons Tour north over the Grand Teton, the Pinedale Run over the Gros Ventre, Fantasy Ridge across the Wind Rivers [1].

The year

Local knowledge

• Fly early — tandems meet "at 7:45am, 9am and 10am" [3]; the inversion breaks by midday [2].
• Never land in the national parks — "If you're forced to make an 'emergency' landing in them, pack up quickly and get out fast, as the fines can be heavy" [1].
• Glide ratio 3.2 minimum from the Rendezvous launches, 3.3 from the Gondola [2].
• Summit launch: the landing is out of sight [2].

Access and hazards

"JHMR is a site that requires current USHPA and JHFFC memberships and requires a P4/H4 rating as of June 26th, 2023" [2]. Hazards: the lee, the turbulence, the 15 mph ceiling, the parks [1][2].

Schools and rental

Jackson Hole Paragliding — tandems "$495 / Person", "over 40lbs and under 220lbs", "Flights typically last about 10 minutes", lift access included [3]; guiding and courses [1]. Cowboy Up Hang Gliding for tuition and aerotow [1].

Getting there

Jackson Hole airport; or Salt Lake City, "4½ hours south", with a bus [1]. The tram and Bridger Gondola from Teton Village [2].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Jackson Hole — 98 files with a Teton Village subcategory; Rendezvous Mountain appears in individual files [4]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

San Félix is the tandem hill of Medellín, "about 40 minutes north of the city" [1], a launch at "2,150 meters above sea level" [2] on the pastures above Bello. The pleasant fact for a tandem passenger: "you land exactly where you take off from" [1]. The hike from the Chorro el Hato waterfall — "4.9 km from the trailhead to the paragliding area", "662 m net (880 m climbing, 188 m descent)" — was the walker's way up until "the owner has closed the hike" [3]. The launch is described as large, gently sloping grass (search summary).

Conditions

"The folks at the company mentioned the earlier in the day the better due to wind conditions" [1]. The mechanism: before 10:30 morning air lets you land below; "In the middle of the day when it's sunny, the heat from Medellin's streets and rooftops sends hot air up and makes it impossible to land below", and afternoons carry "high risk of rain and thunderstorms" [3]. "Mornings (8–2 PM) for calm winds. Avoid the rainy season (April–May, October–November)" [2]. "If winds are not calm enough they will make you wait until conditions improve" [1].

The year

Local knowledge

• Book the first slot [1][3].
• Prices: "160.000 COP or $53 for a 20 minute flight" [1]; "130,000 COP (about $46 USD) for a 15 min flight" [3]; "15–30 minutes airborne" [2].
• Transport: the operator "offers to bring your group to and from San Felix for $40 extra", or "Uber and taxi" [1]; the bus from Bello metro with "'Vereda Potrerito' written on the front" for "2,100 COP" [3].
• The hike is closed [3].

Access and hazards

No rule for visiting solo pilots was on the pages read; the site is run by the tandem companies and the Antioquia clubs. Hazards: the midday valley, afternoon storms [3].

Schools and rental

Paragliding Medellin [1]; BlueSky Paragliding, Fly Paragliding, Paragliding Adventure [2] — "all of these different companies will offer a very similar experience" [1]. No solo school was read.

Getting there

Forty minutes north of Medellín by car [1]; the bus from Bello [3].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Bello, Antioquia — 72 files of the town, none of San Félix or flying; "Bello panoramica.jpg" [4]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

"Parapente Paraíso is located on the mountain Pionono in Sopó" at approximately 3,000 m [2]. "400-meter drop" over the savanna and an "average altitude of 500 meters above the takeoff point" in flight [1]; you "soar over Bogotá's Savannah, taking in the majestic Andes and glimpses of the Guatavita Lagoon" [3], "the Tominé reservoir" and "the Suesca rocks" [1], "the white village of Guatavita" [2]. The village of Sopó is at nearly 2,600 m (search summary).

Conditions

"East-to-west winds between 15 and 20 km/h" [1] — the trade wind over the savanna, laminar and dependable enough that the operators "fly all year round" [1]. Flights are held when "the wind turns or it starts to rain" [2]. It is cold: the site "is colder than other Colombian paragliding spots" [2].

The year

Local knowledge

• Dress for 3,000 m — cold launches [2].
• Hours: "open Monday through Friday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM and on weekends and holidays from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM" [2].
• Prices: from "130,000 pesos per person" direct [2]; "From $253" [3] to "$229 USD per person" [1] with a Bogotá transfer.
• Weight: "let us know in advance if you weigh is more than 100kg (220 pounds)" [3].

Access and hazards

No rule for visiting solo pilots was on the pages read. Hazards: none named beyond weather and altitude [2].

Schools and rental

Parapente Paraíso on Pionono [2]; Hansa Tours [1] and others sell the flight with a transfer. Flight "40-minute" [1] or "Approximately 20-minute" [3] — the operators disagree; the wind decides.

Getting there

"Approximately 30 to 45-minute drive to Sopó from Bogotá" [1]; "an hour from Bogotá" with hotel pickup [3].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Sopó — 20 files; "Sopó desde arriba.jpg" [4]. No flying files. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Three launches on Mount 7 [2]: the Lower "9k" at "5,120 ft ASL (1,560 m)", "2,525 ft (770 m)" above the landing; the Main "Lookout" at "6,370 ft ASL (1,942 m)", "3,780 ft (1,152 m)" up; and the Upper at "7,577 ft ASL (2,310 m)", a 45-minute hike above the lookout [3]. Landing at the "Golden Riverfront Campground (ex-GEAR): 2,590 ft ASL (790 m)" — Muller Flight Park, 872 McBeath Road [2][3]; Skyview Ranch south of Nicholson is the second [3]. The magazine's numbers: "1,960m" launch, "800m" landing, "4,000m" average cloudbase [1]. The road: "Turn off Highway 95 onto Reflection Lake Rd, then carry on to the gravel of Bowle-Evans Dr"; "Any SUV with some clearance and all-wheel-drive should make the drive without issue" [3].

Conditions

"8-12m/s thermals" in summer, "base is regularly at 4,000m", XC "around 2,500-3,000m above the valley floor" [1]. On thermal days the lift "begin at around 2:00 pm and get strong enough after 3:00 pm", weakening around 6 [2]. The standard route: "the 146km south to Canal Flats", with "many first-timers clock up 60-80km"; the crossing to Lake Louise and Banff "achieved by only four pilots so far" [1]; recent site flights of "162 km, 125 km" [2]. Hazards: "The gust fronts associated with thunderstorms are epic" with "gusts of 70km/h" that "travel far along the valley"; a backcountry landing risks "a two-day walk out" [1]; "Trees at the bottom of the slope which can snag errant pilots in katabatic conditions"; "There is a cliff-band beyond the slope, take care to abort well before it" [3]; "Sinking air near the river" early in the season [2].

The year

Local knowledge

• Sign the rules — "A signed acknowledgement of and agreement with the rules and regulations must be signed"; "all pilots and tandem instructors must have valid HPAC insurance"; waivers at both landing zones [3].
• Pay the flight park — "$50 per season ($10 for a day pass)" [3].
• Storms — the gust fronts [1]; "Strong thermal conditions can be dangerous on windier afternoons" [2].
• Trees — "treeing incidents occur regularly" [2].
• Ask Serge — the record holder Serge Lamarche and www.mt7.ca are the local resources [1].

Access and hazards

HPAC insurance, the signed rules, the landing fees [3]. Hazards: as above — the launch's trees and cliff, the thermals, the storms, the remoteness [1][2][3].

Schools and rental

"No established schools; local tandem operators including Scott Watwood provide briefings" [1]. Beds from "free camping" to "five-star hotels"; the campsite is at the landing [1].

Getting there

"The 260km road trip from Calgary International Airport" via the TransCanada and Highway 95 [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Golden, British Columbia — 38 files including "Mount 7- Golden B.C.jpg" and "ParaglidingGolden.JPG" [4]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Bald Mountain: "9,150 ft (2,789 m)" at the top, "5,750 ft (1,753 m) along the Big Wood River at River Run", "a vertical drop is 3,400 feet (1,036 m) along its northeast face", "fourteen ski lifts" including "an eight-person gondola" [4]. The club's card: summit "9,150'", landing "5,700' (3,400 below)" [2]; the magazine's: launch "2,788m", landing "River Run Plaza at 1,737m" [1]. Seven launches by wind [2]: "Christmas Ridge/DD: 60-200° (ideal: 100 - 130)", "Alabama: 230-310° (ideal: 270°)", "HunRun: 320°", "Warm Springs: 330-60° (ideal 20°)", "Easter Bowl: 110°-160° (ideal 140°)", "Limelight: 350°-20°", "Heaven: 290°". Double D and Dust Devil are the XC launches, "usually in the lee of the predominant wind" [1].

The status as read: "BALDY IS CURRENTLY A CLOSED SITE" — insurance restrictions prevent lift access and landing on resort property, "The primary landing zone is unusable", and the alternatives are the "Bailout LZ" by the hospital, "Hulen Meadows LZ" needing a "6.5:1 glide", and the school and park sports fields [2]. Check the club before travelling.

Conditions

"Between strong and very strong", thermals "reaching 8m/s regularly", cloudbase "Can exceed 5,500m" [1]; "some of the highest cloud bases on the continent" [3]. The diurnal flow is "often dominated by W and S winds drawn from the Snake River desert into low pressure zones over the high peaks" [3]. The classic is "approximately 80km to Stanley"; the ambitious "thermal high, head east with a tailwind, and hop several mountain ranges until you cross the continental divide" into Montana [1]. Smooth air exists too: "long and scenic glides in relatively smooth air" in winter and on summer mornings, and "In the right westerly conditions" Alabama is an evening soaring launch [3].

The year

Local knowledge

• Pack for the backcountry — "oxygen, trackers, survival gear and bear mace"; "Stay up and go far"; "Midday summer landings are risky" [1].
• Wind limits — "Minimum: 0mph, Ideal: 6mph, Maximum:12mph, gust: 18mph" [2].
• Mandatory kit — "Helmets, reserve parachutes and radios, (USHPA frequency 151.925) are mandatory"; "150' (50 meters) minimum clearance" from structures and people [2].
• Winter: no launches after 3:30 pm [2].

Access and hazards

"Current and active USHPA membership and Para 3 (Intermediate) rating" and "Current Sun Valley Paragliding Club Membership" [2]; the site closure [2]. Hazards: the strength, the altitude, the lee launches, the closed landing [1][2].

Schools and rental

Fly Sun Valley runs tandems and the 4×4 shuttles (search summary); the club is Sun Valley Paragliders [2][3].

Getting there

"Fly into Salt Lake City or Boise (3-hour drive). Car rental is essential" [1]; Sun Valley's own airport at Hailey is the short way in — a judgement.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Sun Valley, Idaho — 29 files with a Bald Mountain (Idaho) subcategory of 7; "Bald Mountain as seen from Sun Valley, Idaho.jpg" [5]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

The club's site guide [1]: Upper Launch at "50°21'55.8″N (50.3655) 122°47'12.5″W (-122.7868) Elevation: 1200m ASL"; Lower Launch at "50°21'08.6″N (50.3524) 122°47'56.8″W (-122.7991) Elevation: 750m ASL"; landing zone at "50°20'06.0″N (50.335) 122°48'50.4″W ( -122.814) Elevation: 220m ASL". Both are reached from "McKenzie Basin FSR, located at the end of Pemberton Farm Rd East" — the lower about 6 km up, the upper "roughly 12km via 'extremely rough 4×4 decommissioned logging road'" [1]. The tandem operator flew from "McKenzie Upper Paragliding Launch" with "landing in Pemberton Meadows for an elevation drop of about 3,300 feet" [2]. The upper launch is "a groomed gradual slope with a set up area for 10+ gliders" (search summary).

Conditions

The valley is "a natural thermal corridor that on good summer days allows XC flights of 150–300+ km" (search summary); Jim Orava made the "first incredible X-country flights over 100km in our area, including the first Pemberton to Lilooet flight under a paraglider" [2]. The tandems fly early, "before any Valley Wind comes in" [2]. Hazards [1]: "The Whistler Express (strong wind)" — a localised inflow from the Whistler valley; "Strong or gusty SE winds in the LZ"; and north and east winds "producing leeside conditions".

The year

Local knowledge

• Two memberships — "HPAC & WCSC memberships are REQUIRED by our landowners" [1].
• No commercial flying to the landing — "There is CURRENTLY NO COMMERCIAL access to the designated LZ's" [1]; the tandem operator lists its flights "CLOSED INDEFINITELY" [2].
• 4WD — both launches "require '4WD' vehicles" [1].
• Fly the morning if you want smooth air; the valley wind and the Express come later [1][2].

Access and hazards

"P2 or H3", HPAC and West Coast Soaring Club membership, the landowners' terms [1]. Hazards: the Express, the SE gusts in the landing, the lee, the road [1].

Schools and rental

None commercial at present [1][2]. Cayoosh Expeditions' guiding is by enquiry [2].

Getting there

Highway 99 from Vancouver through Whistler to Pemberton, then Pemberton Farm Road East to the forest service road [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Pemberton, British Columbia — 18 files; "Wild Bill Vista.jpg" [3]. No flying files. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Rampa do Monjolo: "860 meters" altitude, "710 meters" of desnível, "N, NE, E", at -19.631129, -40.968254, "Approximately 20 km from Baixo Guandu" [1]. The take-off is "Boa, em área gramada. Possibilita várias decolagens simultâneas" — good grass, several launches at once — and the landing "Oficial no pé do morro ao lado da estrada, e diversas opções nas rotas de XC" [1]. The state's list calls it the "Hawaíí do Voo Livre" with "860 metros de altitude e 710 de desnível" [4]. Athletes call Baixo Guandu the "Maracanã do voo livre" for "its technical conditions and takeoff structure" [2]. The municipality sits at 77 m where the Guandu meets the Rio Doce, "181 quilômetros a noroeste da capital capixaba", tropical, about 25 °C on average [3].

Conditions

"Não recomendado para iniciantes em horário de pico, pois a atividade térmica é intensa" [1]. Competition tasks average "100 km, passing GPS waypoints in point-to-point competition", crossing "the Pontões Capixabas, rock formations that reach up to 1,260 meters in altitude" [2]. The organisers chose it for "suitable weather, terrain that allows technical and challenging tasks, and an airspace that meets the required standards without affecting commercial aviation" [2]. No cloudbase or wind figure was on the pages read.

The year

Local knowledge

• Not at midday for beginners [1].
• The bar — "O serviço de bar funciona aos domingos e feriados" [4].
• Landing options on the routes — "diversas opções nas rotas de XC" [1].
• The association — AVLBG, the Associação de Voo Livre de Baixo Guandu, runs the site [1].

Access and hazards

Brazilian sites are flown under the CBVL and the local association [1]; no fee was on the pages read. Hazards: the thermals at peak hours [1]; the granite — a judgement.

Schools and rental

None read; the site is a competition and XC hill. Tour operators route through it — "Third stop offering flat land and XC opportunities deeper into the Brazilian interior" (search summary of a tour page).

Getting there

Vitória, then 181 km by road up the Rio Doce [3]; the ramp is 20 km from town [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Baixo Guandu — 3 files, seven subcategories; the flag and the locator map [5]. No flying files. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Two launches on Bureau of Land Management land at "42.231063, -123.003853" [3]. Top launch, "3780 ft. (1162 m.)", with "two gravel launches, one facing west and the other north" [1][2], "a permanent concrete restroom, wind sock, and sweeping views of much of the Applegate Valley" [3]. Mid launch, "2750 ft. (838 m.)" [1], "two launch slopes: one facing south-west and the other north-west" — the south-west grassy for glass-offs, the north-west "laying out on the gravel road surface and performing a flat slope launch" [2]. Landing zones [1]: Hunter, "1650 ft. (503 m.)", glide "4.0" from both launches; LongSword Vineyard, "1460 ft. (445 m.)", "6.0 from top launch"; Phil's Farm, "1450′ (442 m.)"; Wells Land, "1470 ft. (450m)". "2WD accessible via paved and dirt roads" [1]; the mid launch off Bishop Creek Road, the upper off Woodrat Mountain Road via Sterling Creek Road [3].

Conditions

Wind: top north "330 to 050 degrees. 0-15 mph for paragliders 0-20 mph for hangs. Ideal wind speed is 7 mph for paragldiers and 10 mph for hangs"; top west "230 to 320 degrees"; mid "210 degrees to 330 degrees" [1]. Summer brings "consistent high-pressure conditions" with inversions at 1,250 m and 1,850 m; the best days are "the day or two after the passage of a cold front" in "West, north-west, or north winds" [2]. Hazards: "Strong valley winds, turbulent inversions, convergence over launch & LZ"; Hunter LZ in mid-afternoon "can become extraordinarily turbulent"; "The peak of Woodrat Mountain blocks southerly winds from directly hitting launch and may conceal evidence of rotor" [1]; "Don't fly in strong south or east winds because of large-scale rotor"; the "convergence zone of colliding Applegate and Rogue Valley winds"; Class E airspace 8 km east, so stay "under 6,000ft (1,850m)" [2].

The year

Local knowledge

• Membership and waiver — "Current RVHPA and USHPA memberships required to land at Hunter and LongSword Landing zones" [1]; "arrange day passes at Ruch Country Store" [2].
• Instruction only with a local — "All instruction (solo or T-1/T-2/T-3) at Woodrat is conducted only with a local sponsorship, sign off, and an RVHPA membership" [1].
• Land early or late — the mid-afternoon LZ [1].
• The Crash Pad — "pilot friendly and a bit of a local institution" [2].
• Dogs leashed, no shooting — the BLM's rules for the lot [3].

Access and hazards

RVHPA and USHPA membership, the waiver, the ratings [1]. Hazards: as above [1][2].

Schools and rental

Local instructors under RVHPA sponsorship [1]; no price was on the pages read.

Getting there

"Fly to Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport via United or Delta, then rent a car"; "18km from Interstate 5" [2]; eight miles south of Jacksonville on Highway 238 (search summary).

Pictures

• No Commons category for Woodrat or the Applegate valley could be found. Wikimedia Commons, Jackson County, Oregon — 2 files and 12 subcategories [4]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

"Take off altitude of 1,350 feet" and a "30 acre landing field" [3]; "Launch Vertical: 1070′" [1]; "414 m" on the card [2]. Three launches [1]: "North" facing "335" to "355"; "Northwest" facing "305" to "325"; a "West" slot launch facing "260" to "280". The main launch "is 'wide and grassy with enough level set-up room for twenty hang gliders or several dozen paragliders'" [2]. The site is private: "Before flying you must check in at the landing field, behind the white house on the right at the end of the access road, where you sign a waiver and pay for a day pass" [2]; "You must be a current USHPA member in order to fly at Ellenville Flight Park" [3].

Conditions

Flyable "260-350" degrees at "0-15 mph" [1]; "12–35 km/h" and "Works on W · NW" on the card [2]. Ridge, thermal and wave lift (search summary); "climbs of 10 m/s have been recorded in front of launch on days that were mild after leaving the valley" [2]. The warnings: "Ellenville is capable of producing extreme turbulence"; "The trees SUCK" for the wind gradient; venturi over the ridge top and at the Route 52 gap [1]; "dust devils that lift no visible dust have been recorded here, particularly in still air late in the morning"; "Conditions can turn rough, sometimes with no warning at all"; in summer "avoid launching or landing mid-afternoon, when the cycles can come through like freight trains" [2]. Over the back, "The Ranch is a skydiving drop zone" [1].

The year

Local knowledge

• Kite only at the ends — "PG should confine LZ kiting activities to the designated zones at the extreme ends of the LZ", hang gliders and paragliders land on separate halves [1].
• Check in and pay at the white house [2]; the annual fee goes to the landowner [1].
• Airspace — "live airspace map on board showing class D and skydiving dropzones is strongly advised" for XC [1].
• Observers for lower ratings [1].

Access and hazards

USHPA membership, the waiver and day pass, the ratings [1][2][3]. Hazards: turbulence, the trees, the venturis, the drop zone, the dust devils [1][2].

Schools and rental

Mountain Wings and the flight park's certified instructors (search summary) [3]; the Southern New York club runs the fly-ins (search summary). No price was on the pages read.

Getting there

"About 75 miles north of New York City" on Route 52 above Ellenville (search summary of the park's page).

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Ellenville, New York — 128 files including Sam's Point and the ridge; "Aerial view of Ellenville & Napanoch, NY 01 (9614107946).jpg" [4]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Escalares: "560M", "Facing West to the ocean" [2]; "good takeoff altitude of 630 meters" with a "tidy grass area for preparation and takeoff" on flat ground that needs the wing kept inflated on the run [1]; "ca. 600 Höhenmeter" [4]. Three landings: "Dominicalito Beach (closest), a soccer field, and Dominical Beach (north)" [2]; "You can land all along Dominicalito and Dominical beach" but "mind the tide, especially at Dominicalito space is very limited during high tide" [1]. "Dominical is a beautiful launch site located above Dominicalito and Dominical beaches", and "Flying to the town and landing at Taquila Flats restaurant for a cold drink has become a routine" [3].

Conditions

"A nice wind of around 15-25km/h from the sea", gustier "when the wind was blowing with a southeast angle"; "A good time to take off is around noon" [1]; the site "switches on at about 10.30-11 most mornings" [2]. The flying is "vorwiegend thermisch" — mostly thermic — "mit traumhaften Ausblicken" [4], and ridge lift up the forested slopes (search summary). Hazards: low cloudbase to the south; "venturi effect" at "a gap in the ridge here" at the north end [1][2]; jungle between launch and coast with "very limited landing options" [1] — "Gleitflug bis zum Strand gut kalkulieren, da unterwegs kaum Notlandemöglichkeiten vorhanden sind" [4]; south of the cell tower is "committing as there are little to no beach landings" [2]; the football field "can be a tight space" and often has "no wind" [2].

The year

Local knowledge

• Tandems first — "Tandems have priority for taking off and when in the air" [2].
• The fee — "5000 Colones per day for each pilot" [2]; "takeoff fee was 5.000 Colón (~8€)" and "You need to sign a waiver before takeoff" [1].
• The tide [1][2].
• The taxi — "approximately 15,000-18,000 Colón (~30€)" to launch [1]; a 4×4 helps — "Geländewagen empfehlenswert" [4].
• "Paragliding Domi Gang" organises shared rides [1].

Access and hazards

The fee and waiver [1][2]. Hazards: the tide, the jungle glide, the venturi, the south [1][2][4].

Schools and rental

"Zion Paragliding and Tandem Paraglide Costa Rica provide transport and tandem flights" [1]; Paraglide Costa Rica, "+506 8345-5135" [3].

Getting there

Dominical is on the Costanera Sur, four hours from San José or an hour from the Quepos airstrip — a judgement; the launch road climbs from Escalares behind the town [2].

Pictures

• The Dominical category on Commons holds one file. Wikimedia Commons, Puntarenas Province — 156 files including "Dominical, Costa Rica.jpg" [5]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Babadağ is a 1,969 m limestone mountain south of Fethiye, with a prominence of 1,763 m and a summit "less than 5 km" from the sea — Wikipedia gives that proximity as the reason it is "particularly suitable for paragliding" [2]. Below it is Ölüdeniz, 14 km south of Fethiye: a pebble beach with a Blue Flag, a lagoon that is a national nature reserve where construction is prohibited, and a village of 6,132 people at the 2022 count [1]. The Wikipedia article on the village says it is famous for paragliding "due to its views, stable weather conditions, and Mount Babadağ's exceptional height", and that flying out over water makes it suitable for safety training and acrobatics [1].

What that means in practice is a launch nearly two kilometres above the landing, a cable car to get there, and a descent that starts over cedar forest and ends over turquoise water on a beach in front of the bars. It is the biggest tandem operation in Turkey by any account read for this record, and the busiest launch a visiting solo pilot is likely to share: paragliding-turkey.com warns that "on busy days it literally rains 'nylon' on the landing pads" and that the peak-hour traffic can stress an occasional pilot [3]. It is also, for the same reasons, the standard SIV venue — morning and evening are the calm-air slots the SIV schools use [3].

The day it gives depends on when you launch. Early is a long, smooth sled ride with the sea breeze filling in; from midday in summer the thermals work and the top launch becomes a proper mountain site; the evening is the tandem rush and the restitution glide. All of that is regulated, and the regulation is the thing to read before you book.

Conditions

The launches, as catalogued by paragliding-turkey.com [3]:

The Fethiye slot-service system, which is run for the site by Kapadokya University, refers to the same mountain as four zones at 1,200 m, 1,700 m, 1,800 m and 1,900 m, each with a red or green flag for the day and a published operating window — 07:09 to 19:35 on the day the page was read — and defines the flight area as a 4.5 NM radius around 36°32′00″N 029°10′50″E [4]. The tandem companies quote the top launch as 1,960 m [5] or "approximately 1,969 meters" [11]; the difference is where you stand on the summit.

Landing is on the beach, at two marked areas: the main one at 36°32′43″N 29°07′24″E and a southern one at 36°31′53″N 29°07′37″E [3]. That is the record's lat/lon.

The mechanism is a coastal mountain in a Mediterranean summer: the sea breeze sets up on the south-west faces, the summit thermals from midday, and the air over the water is smooth — paragliding-turkey.com gives "best thermal activity: midday/afternoon in summer" and morning and evening as the calm slots [3]. The climate is Mediterranean, "warm all year round", with summer temperatures that "often surpass 35 °C" and a mean annual temperature of about 25 °C [1].

The nearest station whose statistics could be read is Windfinder's Fethiye, from observations between July 2013 and August 2026: annual average 3 knots, dominant direction WSW, average gusts 8 knots, daytime air 23 °C, night 18 °C [6]. Those are harbour numbers from a sheltered town and say nothing useful about the mountain; the site's own weather, flag status and windows are on the slot-service page [4]. No station on Babadağ itself publishes statistics that could be read for this record.

Flying over water here comes with kit rules: "automatic life jacket and cutter knife required", rentable by the day on site [3].

The year

The months: strip follows those three accounts, none of which is a measured record of flyable days. No source read for this record publishes a count of flying days or flights per year; one guide says only that "thousands of first-time flyers" take off from Babadağ each year [10].

Local knowledge

• Register before you arrive. Solo pilots register with the slot system at shmfethiye.kapadokya.edu.tr, upload an IPPI card of at least level 4, wait to be manually checked and activated, and then register each individual flight with a time and a launch before buying a cable-car ticket; the QR code from that registration is what gets you on the cable car [3][4]. paragliding-turkey.com's advice is to do the registration "1–2 days before arrival" [3].
• Close your flight when you land. If you do not, the rescue protocol starts [3].
• The evening is theirs, not yours. The tandem trade lands on the beach in volume in the late afternoon and evening, and the landing "rains nylon" [3]. Fly the morning or the early afternoon and you will have the air to yourself.
• Beach landing means a water-safety kit. Life jacket and hook knife, both required, both rentable [3].
• Which launch: 1,719 m is the SW–W launch and the one the sea breeze serves best; the 1,939 m top has a wider arc including the northerlies; 856 m is the low SW–W option for a marginal day [3]. Takeoff 4 at 1,784 m is a hike-and-fly N–NE launch [3].
• Ölüdeniz also has an autumn air-sports festival; nothing about it could be verified from a fetched page for this record and it is not described here.

Access and hazards

The site is run under the Fethiye Babadağ Flight Regulation, published as a PDF by the Fethiye Slot Service Center at Kapadokya University, which also runs the registration system; the regulation distinguishes amateur and commercial pilots, publishes daily red/green flags per launch zone and the day's operating window, and defines the flight area as a 4.5 NM circle centred on 36°32′00″N 029°10′50″E [4]. The PDF itself was not read for this record, so the fine detail of fees and insurance requirements is unverified here; what is verified is the IPPI 4 minimum and the mandatory per-flight registration [3][4].

Tandem pilots are described by the operators as THK-certified (Turkish Aeronautical Association) with a T2 licence [5]. Commercial flying by foreign pilots is a separate matter and is not covered by the visitor registration.

Hazards on record: heavy tandem traffic at launch and landing in peak hours [3]; the water landing, which is why the life jacket and knife are mandatory [3]; and summer heat over 35 °C [1]. One guide describes tandem flying here as having "an excellent safety record" [10] and another says operators "have a strong safety record when booked through licensed operators" [11]; neither publishes an incident count, and no official incident record was found for this record.

The lagoon is a nature reserve [1]; the landing is on the beach, not in it.

Schools and rental

The tandem operators are numerous; the two whose pages were read for this record:

• Dragon Paragliding — tandem ₺8,000 with the cable-car ticket (₺890) and transfers to the cable-car station included; "20–30 minutes" in the air; launch quoted at 1,960 m; pilots "T2 Licensed"; passengers from age 5–6, weight limits "around 90–100 kg for women and 110–120 kg for men"; shuttle buses replace the cable car when it is not running [5]. https://dragonparagliding.com/en/
• paragliding-turkey.com — a site guide and tour operator rather than a Fethiye school; quotes tandems "from US$185 including photo/video documentation", cable car and transfers separate [3]. https://paragliding-turkey.com/en/fethiye-oelydeniz-babadag-paragliding/

Two blogs give price ranges that disagree with each other: €100–140 for a 1,700 m tandem and €130–170 from 1,960 m, with €30–50 for media and €150–200 for dawn or sunset flights (2026) [10]; and US$80–110 standard, $120–150 with video, $130–160 acrobatic (2026) [11]. All prices are as read on 25 September 2026. No school teaching ab-initio courses at Ölüdeniz was found on a page read for this record; the SIV schools operate from the calm-air slots [3].

Getting there

Dalaman Airport, 5,577,142 passengers in 2025, serves Ölüdeniz, Fethiye, Hisarönü and Ovacık [8]; Wikipedia gives no distance, and the drive time was not verified for this record. Ölüdeniz is 14 km south of Fethiye [1]. The tandem operators run transfers from the resort to the cable-car station [5]; solo pilots reach the launches by the cable car, by 4×4 track, or on foot [3]. The cable-car's own site was reachable but carried only placeholder data at the time of reading and is not cited.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in Ölüdeniz — 31 files, including flights over the lagoon and launches on Babadağ [9]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.
• Wikimedia Commons, Babadağ (mountain in Turkey) — 21 files, listed as a subcategory of Paragliding in Turkey [12]. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paragliding_in_Turkey

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Sarangkot is the ridge on the north-west side of Phewa Lake, 11.3 km and about half an hour by road from Pokhara's lakeside [4], and its south face is the launch: "Sarangkot (1,500m) is the most accessible launch in Pokhara", with "three clearly defined landing zones along the lakeside road" at 800 m [1]. It is, by any count of tandems in the air on an autumn morning, one of the busiest sites in Asia, and Nepal's tourism board now calls it "one of the top paragliding destinations in the world" [4]. Behind the ridge are the foothills that make the cross-country: the Korchon circuit — "once you've done it clockwise, try anticlockwise!" — and the Sirkot-to-Besisahar line, "hopping from one ridge to the next … before ending in the shadow of Manaslu" [1].

Conditions

Cloudbase 2,500 m to 5,500 m [1]. The air changes with the season: "September to December is easy and suitable for all levels of pilot (2–3m/s). From January to May it picks up and the spring mountain thermals (Feb–April) are … strong" [1]. Airspace is the constraint at the bottom of the hill: "the no-fly zones are to the south and south east of Sarangkot" because of the airport, and "crossing the lake is also not allowed, as it's on the flight path" [1].

No station near the launch publishes statistics that could be read for this record — Windfinder has no Pokhara statistics page — so the month strip is built from the flying season the sources give [1][3], not from a measurement.

The year

Local knowledge

• The permit comes before the flight. "No solo flying is allowed without your license, as CAAN mandates proof for permits" [3]. A foreign solo pilot "requires a letter of recommendation from NAA", the Nepal Airsports Association, and "should be provided with complete information about local weather and landing areas"; solo flights "must be taken from specified areas"; "tandem and solo flights must not be operated from the same area"; and "foreign pilots are forbidden to engage in any paragliding competitions" — all from the reporting of the 2019 ruling that lifted a nationwide solo ban imposed after two fatalities [2]. A fee of US$50 plus VAT for fifteen days and US$90 for thirty appeared in search summaries and is unverified here.
• The lake is not a landing. It is the airport's flight path [1].
• Take a tandem first if you have never flown here. The tandems fly from Sarangkot and Toripani [2]; the landing zones are strung along the lakeside road [1].
• Nepal grows its own tandem pilots slowly: at least eighteen months of solo courses, then a T1 course, then two years of flying before the T2 exam [3] — which is why the operators' pilots are better than the price suggests.

Access and hazards

Regulator: the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, which banned solo flying on 5 March 2019 and lifted the ban on 24 March 2019 with the conditions above [2]. A foreign pilot needs "a valid pilot license" and "an APPI Solo Pilot rating or similar" [3], the NAA letter [2], and insurance — the school lists medical, rescue and liability cover as required for the permit, in the search summary; on its own page the licence requirement is what is stated [3]. Commercial tandems need "a CAAN-approved Tandem T2 license, recognized by Nepal's government" [3].

Hazards on record: the airport's no-fly zones south and south-east of the ridge and the lake crossing [1]; strong spring thermals for the inexperienced [1]; the 2019 solo fatalities that produced the permit regime [2].

Schools and rental

Flying Wonders Paragliding School runs solo courses through to tandem qualification and answers foreign-pilot questions in its FAQ [3]; its tandem price is not on that page. Dozens of tandem operators fly from Sarangkot; none of their prices were read for this record.

Getting there

"Kathmandu is Nepal's only international airport … Pokhara is a stunning 25-minute flight from Kathmandu, otherwise it's 5–7 hours by bus or taxi" [1]. Lakeside to the Sarangkot launch is 11.3 km, thirty minutes by road [4].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in Nepal — 24 files, with a Paragliding in Pokhara subcategory of 32 [5]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Bir is the village and Billing is the launch: "the paragliding launch site is in the meadow at Billing (14 km north of Bir), at an elevation of 2400 meters", and "the landing site and most tourist accommodations are in the village of Chowgan (also spelled Chaugan), on the southern edge of Bir" [1]. It hosted the Paragliding World Cup in 2015 — the Commons category holds a photograph of the rescue helicopter deployed at it [4] — and it is India's cross-country site the way Porterville is South Africa's.

The local guide's description of the launch is the one to read before booking: "2400M ASL (~1000M AGL), with almost nil wind" — "practice launching in nil wind before you get here" — and a landing that is "a big enough ground with gently sloping down terrain" but "requires a perfect approach" [2].

Conditions

Two seasons with different air. Autumn: "conditions are gentle and relatively safe. This is the season for easy out and return 100KM flights"; "cloudbase on front ridge is about 3000M ASL" [2]. Spring: "high altitude flying and sometime 10+M/s thermals. Cloudbase is 3000M – 4500M on front ridge", and "spring is for pilots with at least 100 hours of flying and SIV under their belt" [2]. Wikipedia's shorter account gives the season as "September and October, with some flying in November" [1]; the tandem operators fly "from 16 September – 15 July" with the monsoon closed and name October–December and February–April as the months for longer flights [3].

No station with published statistics could be found for Bir or Billing; the month strip is built from those three accounts.

The year

Local knowledge

• Launch in nil wind or do not launch. The meadow rarely gives you a breeze to reverse into [2].
• The approach is the exam. The landing ground is big and slopes gently, but it wants a perfect approach [2].
• Buy the briefing. Paraguide's XC guiding, thermalling and XC courses come with a site briefing, a daily weather briefing and a post-flight debrief, at INR 20,000 per day per person (about €220/US$240), two participants at most [2]. Its own warning is that "paragliding incidents are rising" and unfamiliar terrain wants guidance [2].
• The vehicle to launch is 18 km uphill [3]; tandem operators include it, and the road is how a solo pilot gets back up.

Access and hazards

Himachal Pradesh regulates the site. What the search summaries say — every pilot licensed and registered with Himachal Tourism, a medical every six months, an approved glider, daily flight limits — could not be confirmed against the state tourism page, which refused the fetcher on a certificate error, and is unverified here; what can be shown is an operator carrying a Himachal Tourism registration number on its page, "DMA/PO-kgr-37/2026-995" [3]. A visiting solo pilot should assume registration is required and ask the local guide [2].

Hazards on record: the nil-wind launch [2]; the landing approach [2]; spring thermals of 10 m/s and more [2]; the 2015 World Cup rescue [4]; rising incidents [2].

Schools and rental

Paraguide (Bir) — guiding and courses for visiting solo pilots, INR 20,000 per day [2]. Travel Bir Billing — tandems, ₹3,000 for a 15–20 minute flight (₹500 off with a code), transport from Bir to Billing included, licensed pilots, a reserve on every glider, open 16 September to 15 July [3]. No solo-course price was found.

Getting there

Bir is "approximately 50 km (31 mi) south-east of Dharamshala at a distance of two to three hours by road"; the nearest airport is Kangra at 67 km, Chandigarh at 152 km, Delhi at 520 km; the nearest broad-gauge railhead is Pathankot, about 112 km [1]. Billing is 14 km above Bir by road [1], 18 km in the operator's reckoning [3].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in India — 32 files with a Paragliding in Himachal Pradesh subcategory; includes the 2015 World Cup rescue-helicopter photograph at Bir [4]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Kaş is a harbour town on the Lycian coast with a hill behind it, and the hill is the site. The launch is "Mount Assas at 650 Meters", twenty minutes by minibus from the town office, and the flight ends "at Kaş Harbour by a smooth landing" [1]; the other operator's version is the same, "at a height of 650m on the skirts of Mt. Asas", down to "the landing spot in the Kas harbor" [2]. Across the water is Kastellorizo, the Greek island of Meis, in the view from launch — a detail every page mentions and none this record read gives a number for.

It is a tandem town. "In the high season in Kas there's an average of 5–6 flights per day" for one operator [2]; the flight is "15 – 30 minutes" [1], "usually lasts 20–30 minutes" [2], at £171.67 on the page read [2]. That is what the published record is about. For a visiting solo pilot the site is the same launch and the same harbour; the rules of the launch — who controls the top, whether a site fee exists — were not found on any page read, and the operators are the people to ask.

Conditions

South-facing at 650 m over the sea [1][2]. The claims that summers give "consistent flying conditions between May and October" and "thermals reaching up to 4000 meters ASL" appeared in search summaries of pages not read in full and are unverified here. What is measured: Windfinder's Kaş station, 2013–2026, reads an annual average of 4 knots from the WSW with gusts of 10 knots, daytime 22 °C and night 12 °C, and publishes no monthly table [3] — a harbour reading, not the hilltop's.

The year

Local knowledge

• The office is the launch's front door. Both operators meet at their town office and drive up; the launch is 20 minutes away [1][2].
• Weight and age: under 100 kg for the tandem harness, children over 30 kg welcome [2].
• Ölüdeniz is along the coast for the days you want the 1,900 m mountain; this record's rank-1 entry is for that.

Access and hazards

No permit, licence or site-fee rule for a solo pilot was found on the pages read. Turkish paragliding sits under the Turkish Aeronautical Association's licensing for commercial tandems; nothing on that was read for this record and it is not claimed. Hazards: none published on the pages read. The harbour landing is a working waterfront.

Schools and rental

Flying Mammut / Fly Lycia Paragliding — tandems, "Certified Tandem Pilot, Professional Team", from the town office by minibus [1]. Kaş Tours — tandems at £171.67, 20–30 minutes airborne, 1–2 hours door to door [2]. No solo school or rental found.

Getting there

Kaş is on the D400 coast road; Dalaman and Antalya are the airports, roughly two and a half to three hours either way — a judgement, not a figure from a page read. The operators pick up at their offices in town [1][2].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Kaş (town) — 76 files: the harbour, views of the town, Antiphellos [4]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

The Bukit peninsula is the limestone block at the south end of Bali, and its south coast is a wall of cliff facing the Indian Ocean. Timbis, above Pandawa Beach at Kutuh, is where the island's paragliding has been since the school that bears the name started in 1995 [1]. The school's own description of the ground is the site guide: "a total of 12 kilometres of soarable ridge ranging from 100 to 1,000 feet above sea level", flown on "the southerly trade winds", "every middle of March through November" [1]. The claims that the ridge runs west toward Uluwatu and east toward the Nusa Dua hotels, that flights cover ten kilometres of coast, and that the working wind is 20–28 km/h straight from the south, came from search summaries of pages not read in full and are unverified here.

This is the thinnest record in the atlas so far — three sources, one of them the school — and it says so. It is on the list because the terrain and the wind make it the clearest parakite candidate on the continent, and because it is the place a visiting pilot on Bali will be pointed at.

Conditions

A trade-wind cliff. The school's season statement is the mechanism: the southerly trades arrive in mid-March and hold to November [1]. Nothing measured could be read — Windfinder has no statistics page for Uluwatu or Nusa Dua that loaded — so the month strip follows the school's calendar and the dry season, and no more.

The year

Local knowledge

• Buy the membership. "Visiting Pilots Membership" is Rp500,000 for 90 days [1]; what it covers beyond access — insurance, registration — is not on the page.
• Two tandem sites. Pandawa Beach at Rp1,000,000 for an hour, Candidasa at Rp2,700,000 [1].
• Courses run from two days to a week: introductory (2 days), trainee pilot (4 days), novice pilot (6–7 days) [1]; no certification body is named on the page.
• The pilot decides who flies and when, in every operator's page — the cliff is soarable or it is not.

Access and hazards

Indonesian licensing for a visiting solo pilot was not established from any page read; the school's membership is the visible mechanism [1]. Hazards: none published on the pages read; a cliff launch over rock and a beach with tourists on it are the obvious ones, and are this record's judgement, not a source's.

Schools and rental

Timbis Paragliding Bali — since 1995; tandems, courses and the visiting-pilot membership [1].

Getting there

Kutuh is on the Bukit, roughly 30–40 minutes south of Ngurah Rai airport by road — a judgement, not a figure from a page read. Pandawa Beach has a road down the cliff and parking; the launch is on the clifftop above it [1].

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Pandawa Beach — 37 files of the beach, the cliffs and the carved statues; no paragliding images [2].
• Wikimedia Commons, Paragliding in Indonesia — 12 files, none of them Bali [3].

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Pamukkale is the white travertine hillside in south-west Turkey with the Roman city of Hierapolis on top of it, and the paragliding here exists to fly over it. The launch is "Dynamite Hill at around 300 meters above the famous white travertine terraces" [1] — "flights typically launch from 600–700 meters (2,000 feet) above sea level" in the other operator's figures [2] — and the flight is "15–25 minutes depending on weather" [1], "between 15 and 30 minutes" [2]. Twenty minutes from the hotels to the launch by minibus, an hour from Denizli's Çardak airport (search summary).

It is on this list for what it is: the most-flown tandem site in inland Turkey and a place a visiting pilot will be offered a flight. What the record cannot say is how a licensed pilot flies it solo. Neither operator page mentions solo flying, site fees, a club or the Turkish Aeronautical Association's terms, and no page found does; a solo pilot asks the operators on the hill.

Conditions

Nothing measured is published. The operators' choices are the only signal: "every day" from "09:00 – 18:00" [1]; "morning flights (around 08:00 – 10:00)" and afternoon options, with April to October "the most consistent weather and clearest skies" [2]. A 300 m hill over a warm plain will be thermic by midday in summer; that is a judgement.

The year

Local knowledge

• Prices vary by seller: €100 adult and €20 child at one operator [1]; "from €48" to "€320+" for VIP packages at the other [2]. The flight is the same hill.
• Weight and age: 45–110 kg and nine years up at one [1]; 20–110 kg and children from six at the other [2]. Not pregnant [1].
• Pilots are "THK certified" — the Turkish Aeronautical Association — in one operator's claim [2]; the other says "licensed" and "certified" without naming the body [1].
• Hotel pickup is in the price [1][2].

Access and hazards

No solo-pilot terms found; no hazards published on the pages read. Hierapolis is an archaeological site and the terraces are protected; the landing is on the plain (neither operator names it).

Schools and rental

Paragliding Alanya's Pamukkale operation [1]; Pamukkale Wonders Tours [2]. No school for solo pilots found.

Getting there

Denizli Çardak airport, about an hour; the launch is twenty minutes from the Pamukkale hotels by the operators' minibus (search summary). Both figures are from search summaries, not pages read.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Pamukkale — 448 files, eight subcategories, the terraces from every angle; no paragliding subcategory [3]. Freely licensed; check each file's licence before reuse.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Kamshet is a small town on the old Mumbai–Pune highway with hills either side of it, and for thirty years it has been where India learns to fly. Two launches take turns with the season. Tower Hill, "857m takeoff / 617m landing", faces east and works "November to February": "east wind builds during the morning and drops towards dusk" [1]; the school gives "take-off altitude: 857 metres MSL", "landing altitude: 240 metres below take-off", "from October to February", with two faces "depending on wind conditions" [2]. Shelar, "720m takeoff / 640m landing", faces west and works "January to May", "March to May for optimal conditions", when the later season "offers more thermic flying" [1]. Pawna lake is the third site the schools use [3].

Conditions

Cloudbase "1,800m with 3,000m base possible" [1]. The winter routine: "pilots typically fly Tower Hill at 10am, then top landing easily to wait out the stronger winds of midday" [1]; in the hot season "mornings are too strong" and "restitution kicks in most days" [1]. The hazards are specific: the sites are "below the Mumbai to Pune flightpath and planes pass at 1,800m"; Tower Hill's west face has rotor "in a southwest wind" and "tends to get turbulent in a south-west wind" [1][2]; Shelar's take-off has "venturi to the left", "a classic trap for unsuspecting pilots" [1]; beyond Tower Hill's landing are "the highway and high-tension cables" [2]. No station statistics were read.

The year

Local knowledge

• Tower Hill at ten, top-land and wait. [1]
• The venturi on Shelar's left [1].
• Planes at 1,800 m — the ceiling is the flightpath [1].
• Mumbai is two to three hours; the guesthouses arrange airport pick-ups, and Kamshet has a railway station [1].

Access and hazards

No permit; the schools run the hills. The ladder is APPI's: after P1 a student is "certified to fly under supervision at beginner-friendly sites", and P2 gives "independent flying privileges" [3]; what a visiting foreign licence holder needs beyond that was not stated on any page read. Hazards as above [1][2].

Schools and rental

Nirvana Adventures (Fly Nirvana) — Tower Hill's school, courses from a 2-day intro to APPI 1–3, thermalling and XC clinics, ISO-certified, no prices on the page [2]. Paragliding Mantra — APPI-certified P1–P4 and SIV/XC, season October to May, tandems of 15–30 minutes; no prices [3]. Tandem prices from about ₹2,500–3,000 appear in search results and were not read.

Getting there

Fly to Mumbai, then two to three hours by road; or the train to Kamshet station [1]. Pune is closer.

Pictures

• Wikimedia Commons, Kamshet — five files of the town and its scenery; nothing of the flying [4]. Thin.

Nothing has been copied into the repository for this spot.

The spot

Solang is the ski and adventure valley 14 km above Manali, and its paragliding is a trade: "Paragliding Short Fly – Solang Valley" at ₹1,300, "High Fly with Ropeway – Solang Valley" at ₹3,500, "High Fly in Dobhi (Kullu)" at ₹2,500, a flight "by Indian Para Association" at ₹3,000 [1]. The guide's tiers: Solang short flights of 5–10 minutes at ₹1,500–2,500, Dobhi long flights of 15–25 minutes at ₹3,000–4,500, and "high altitude/adventure flights" of 20–30 minutes at ₹4,500–6,000 [2]. Dobhi is about 20 km from Manali; Fatru and the Bijli Mahadev side are the lesser-known launches [2]. The Commons category is full of paragliders over the valley [3].

The launch altitude — about 8,000 ft, with Gulaba at 22 km as a second site — is in the search summaries and on no page read; unverified here. No page read describes how a licensed visitor flies solo.

Conditions

Two seasons around the monsoon: "March to June" and "September to early December"; "avoid monsoon (July–August)"; late December to February "limited flights due to snow" [2]. The operator's page says only that timing "depends on weather and flying conditions" [1]. No wind data is published.

The year

Local knowledge

• Two to three hours all in — "registration, preparation, waiting time and flight" [1].
• Fly certified. The guide's advice is "certified pilots" registered under Himachal Tourism [2]; ask for the registration.
• Dobhi for the long flight, Solang for the view and the ropeway [1][2].
• Age and weight limits apply and change; "confirm the current requirements" [1].