One of the first things people ask is “is paragliding scary?”. The general public has a level of curiosity about human flight or extreme sports. If you’re considering going for your first flight, you’ll probably want to know what kind of feelings and emotions you may experience when your feet leave the ground.
Most people find that paragliding is not scary. Even though it does involve flying at heights, it’s very smooth and controlled. A properly conducted paragliding flight doesn’t involve sudden movements, falling or g-forces. Many people comment on how relaxing, peaceful and enjoyable they find their paragliding experience to be.
If it’s your first time paragliding or you’re still very new, you’ll be tandem paragliding. This applies to the many who try paragliding while on holiday at a scenic coastal or mountain holiday destination.
When tandem paragliding, you get to experience what paragliding feels like without being in full control and being relied upon to launch, glide and land. The passenger and instructor are close together in a tandem harness. The instructor will provide a briefing before the flight so the passenger will know the entire launch, glide and landing process.
Most importantly the passenger won’t be in control and won’t have to make any decisions. They’re there to enjoy the flight! The pilot will advise on when to run in the launch, when to shift body weight when gliding and when to raise their legs when landing.
Those who wish to learn how to paraglide for themselves will undergo extensive practical and theory training before flying solo. This training is about more than flight, it also involves learning about weather conditions which affect paragliding such as wind and rain. In many countries, it’s also a requirement to carry licenses and be a member of regional associations and/or local clubs to launch from popular launch sites.
This training licence/membership requirements are a good thing, it means that pilots don’t find paragliding scary when they’re allowed to fly solo. They’re confident and carry the knowledge and experience to paraglide confidently in a number of various conditions.
One reason paragliding is often perceived to be scary is that it’s compared with other forms of flight, as well as extreme sports. These include skydiving, bungee jumping and wingsuit flying. There are a few differences between paragliding and the three of these extreme activities:
- Skydiving, bungee jumping and wingsuit flying all involve periods of fast freefalling. Paragliding does not. Paragliding involves gradual rises and falls in elevation.
- Skydiving and bungee jumping are very fast. The experience is over in a few minutes. After getting over the initial shock, the even is almost over. Paragliding on the other hand lasts longer, with most solo flights lasting at least 15 minutes, some for longer. This provides passengers with more time feeling relaxed and enjoying the experience.
- Paragliding passengers are in a less vulnerable position. Bungee jumping has participants falling upside down, by themself. Skydiving has people falling forward out of a plane at significant heights. Tandem paragliding sees participants remaining in an upright position for the whole flight, while strapped to their instructor.
The only comparable activity paragliding may be scarier than is parasailing, however most would say that paragliding is vastly different to parasailing, with paragliding offering far more opportunity for enjoyment and satisfaction.
One point that proves that paragliding isn’t scary is that most tandem instructors are happy to take children as young as five tandem paragliding! In comparison, most tandem skydiving instructors won’t take anyone under the age of eighteen.
Only those with an extreme fear of heights could find paragliding scary. The average person has a certain degree of height fears, but paragliding works in a different way and surprisingly doesn’t trigger these emotions in most people. This may be because the pilot and passenger start from the ground and gradually work their way up, instead of starting high and having to jump off a cliff or out of a plane. In paragliding, you gradually adjust to the height instead of having it forced upon you!
One tip for enjoying paragliding and feeling safe is not to panic when you take off. Avoid sudden, jerky movements. Keep calm, plan your movements and when flying tandem, listen to your instructor and you’ll be fine.
