Considering Paragliding Schools – How to Make the Right Choice

The dream of flying in the sky just like a bird is as old as human kind. You can make your dream come true with paragliding. This sport is considered to be risky, but the reality is that the safety of practitioners is quite high, especially compared to other adventure disciplines. Of course, you cannot paraglide unless you have undergone extensive training. There are numerous paragliding schools that you can select from. It is only natural for you to look for courses in your local area, but there are a number of other essential factors that you have to consider carefully as well.

The first thing to decide on is the type of paragliding that you want to practice. There are different types that you can choose from depending on your preferences. Hang gliding is the main discipline that you cap get trained for. The hang gliding machine has a light aluminium frame and a sail made from a high-tech fabric. The pilot is suspended from the glider with a safe harness. You can launch from a flat ground or an aircraft, but most commonly you will start off from a hill facing the wind. You have to use the air currents to stay airborne. You pilot the glider by moving your body. You can learn how to do this in no more than ten days.

The paragliding is equally rewarding. The glider is made from one canopy. The entire mechanism represents the one of a parachute. The gliding principle is the same. However, given that the paraglider is lighter and more portable, it is easier to fly. You can readily start training for this discipline in any of the paragliding schools. Once you master the necessary skills, you can switch to hang gliding.

Powered hang gliding is also an option. As its name suggests, the flying requires the use of a motorized hang glider. It should be noted that this discipline is not easier. You need to learn how to hang glide first in order to extend your skills to do powered hang gliding. You can also sign up for a course that teaches you how to fly with a paramotor. This machine combines all the characteristics of a paraglider, but it is motor powered. This makes the launching and piloting easier. In turn, the courses are not that demanding, but not necessarily shorter.

Parascending is also a discipline taught in paragliding schools. You fly a canopy that works much like a parachute. Once you are towed into the air your objective is to glide back to land. Parascending is a lot of fun as well as challenging. You can receive full training in almost any of the paragliding schools in the course of a couple of weekends.

You can select any or a number of disciplines to get training for. An important factor that will determine your choice is the cost of equipment. Usually, the training courses for the different disciplines do not vary widely, so you have to calculate the expenses for a machine, clothing and safety gear. Parascending is the cheapest option of all. Paragliding and hang gliding equipment costs pretty much the same. Powered hang gliding is not significantly more expensive. You will need to make the largest investment in paramotoring.

Many people are not sure whether paragliding is for them or which type of discipline they should choose. If you have not made up your mind, you can readily opt for the so called short sample or test courses. These are readily available in almost all paragliding schools. You will learn the basics in just a day or two and this will give you an opportunity to make up your mind.

You should choose to get training in a school that is registered with the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. You are highly recommended to start your search from the official website of the association just to be on the safe side. The training centers should present all necessary certifications upon request. Generally, you should make an inquiry about all the things you need to know before signing up for a course. The paragliding schools should be able to inform you on the cost of the course, its duration and on any age or health requirements. You should not hesitate to ask about trainer experience and teaching methods as well.

Paragliding Schools

For those eager people who want to start paragliding right away, hold your horses! In this case, hold your wings! To be able to start flying, learning should be first done! So what else is there to do but enroll in a paragliding school! There are a lot of paragliding schools in the world today and finding the best one takes a lot of time. The hearsay that we get from other people is not enough to give the best information about a specific paragliding school.

The Guidelines

Here are some guidelines to think about when choosing the right paragliding school for you.

About the Instructors

Guideline #1: The most important persons in any paragliding school are the instructors or teachers. First and foremost, they should be licensed. They should be completely equipped with the important knowledge, skills and experience to qualify. Another thing is that they should be confident and patient when handling their students. Also, these instructors should be highly experienced in their profession to be able to provide their students with the best teaching. Always keep in mind that the quality of instruction you receive should be the most important criteria when choosing a school.

School History and Record

Guideline #2: It is also important to choose a school that has a good track record and history. They should also prioritize the need of their students and provide them the best education and training they have to offer.

Be Trained by the Best

Guideline #3: In order to get the best training and learning, it is best to be able to try other places. It is important in a training school to give their students exposure to different environments. In this case, because this is paragliding, altitudes and hills are included. These paragliding schools should be able to provide their students a holistic training and prepare them for any situation and environment. It’s a good idea to travel to get with a school that has a good reputation instead of choosing a local school with not much of a track record.

Different Brands of Equipment

Guideline #4: A frequently asked question among paragliding school seekers is that if the school offers other brands of wing. Some schools advertise too many brands but in the end, once you have enrolled, they keep on telling you to buy this particular brand. Before buying any certain brand of equipment, students should research further about their brand and of course, should fit their preferences. Certain schools keep on pushing about a certain brand maybe because they get a higher percentage of the sales. When we all look at it, it all comes down to money.

Offered Services

Guideline #5: Considered as one of the most important aspects that paragliding schools should have is the services that they have to offer. Teaching the students only the best should be their number one priority. Continuous learning is needed and the students should be given what they paid for. Not only is education given here, but there is also friendship and bonding that is established in the paragliding school.

Are There Discounts?

Guideline #6: For some paragliding schools, they lure their soon-to-be-students with special discounted equipment packages. Some also tend to look for a school in regards to their distance from their residence, not even minding the specifics of a school. Even with the offered special packages, one must take a closer look at the package itself and compare it with other schools. Before one is cheated, always be one step ahead of the schools. Indulge yourself in some research about the packages they have to offer, what is included and excluded. They find themselves at the end of their training having paid the same price for their equipment they would have some place else which offers high quality instruction without the gimmicks. Most importantly, compute the cost of the package and compare it with the price if it is not presented in a package.

These guidelines are just some of the things that one ought to take note of when looking for the right paragliding school. There are other factors, but to some, these are the most important ones. Look for a school that offers you the best services, great prices and packages, instructors that are trustworthy and most importantly, one that puts your mind at ease. With this in mind, happy paragliding school hunting!

Paragliding Events

Paragliding as a Sport

Paragliding is a growing aerial sport enjoyed by many people around the world. Right now there are a lot of aerial sports afforded to premiere enthusiasts and even beginners who have no prior experience. Other sports that are similar to paragliding or are variants of it include but are not limited to hang gliding, sail gliding, para-hawking, and motorized paragliding.

The unique aspect of paragliding = one that makes it unique among other aerial sports, is the great range of mobility and ease of comfort it provides. Variants like hang gliding provide the pilot with adrenaline rush brought about by the speed of the sport. Paragliding, on the other hand, provides a much slower speed but is easier to learn, beginner-friendly and appreciation of the calm and beautiful surrounding scenery is afforded.

Paragliding over the last couple of years has grown so much interest. The sport is becoming so widely-known that organizations and associations in different countries all over the world organize paragliding events to spread their influence and to gather enthusiasts who have developed a passion towards the sport.

Paragliding Pilots

The rapidly growing number of active pilots frequently engaged in the sport can only be made through rough approximation but it is estimated that France has the highest number of participants of enthusiast with approximately 25,000 pilots as of the year 2004. The paragliding training school in France, Esprit Parapente, is recently organizing two paragliding events for the fall season of 2010.

Taking the Tour Paraglider Style

The paragliding tour called the Queyras Tour will take participants to the breath-taking and phenomenal alpine regions located somewhere in Briancon near the Italian border. The tour will utilize the mountainous region that sustains comfortable and relaxing evenings after several days of exploring the area through hiking and paragliding. The tour will kick off from 16th to 19th of September, 2010.

The tour will again have another paragliding event on a weekend, during 9 to 10 of October 2010. Esprit Parapente will offer a weekend for paragliding enthusiasts packed with hiking and paragliding activities in Pelvoux region in Massif de Ecrins, an area with faults and mountain ranges. The event will, however, require expert hiking and paragliding skills due to the difficulties of the slopes of the terrain afforded to the occasional visitor.

There are pilots who want to not just participate in recreational activities afforded to them in paragliding but to test their skills against others. As a growing response to the needs that some pilots have, there are different events around the world that organize different competitions with application of different disciplines.

In cross-country leagues, pilots move across the open country instead of proceeding through specific tracks or areas. Associations also organize accuracy sports whereby pilots have to land on a specific spot with diameters usually around 10 meters and a smaller spot of 3 cm. There are also aero-acrobatic events with pilots doing stunt flying and showing off their tricks.

There are also the occasional national and international records that stretch the capabilities of pilots. Recently, it is becoming harder to achieve records specifically in attaining the longest distance or the highest height attained.

On November 14, 2007, a straight and long distance of 461.6 km was achieved by pilots Frank Brown, Rafael Monteiro Saladini and Marcelo Prieto that launched from Quixada and ended their flight in Duque, Brazil. More recently, a world flight distance record of over 500 km was achieved by Nevil Hulett who took off in great weather and flying conditions in South Africa.

Those are just some of the events that have been organized during the recent years but for the newbie who doesn’t have any experience with flying, there is the option of engaging the sport in resorts that offer training sessions and also doing tandem flights. There are also paragliding training schools accredited by nationally and internationally recognized paragliding associations that offer basic courses and advanced courses for people who wish to learn more about it.

Global Paragliding Events

More paragliding events are being held all over the world. These events are basically designed for paragliding enthusiasts to congregate, share their experiences and expert skills, teach more skills to their fellow paragliders, and doing it just for the fun of it. For the beginning paragliding enthusiast, you can learn more about the sport by looking for more information in the internet and looking for an event near your place.