alpine paragliding

[freeclimb9]

quote:

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Originally posted by sayjay:

I'm definitely going to learn to fly and guess I'll take it one step at a time as to how much of it I end up doing in combination with hiking/climbing.

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Back when I was flying (mostly in 87 and 88), the big gimmick was combining a climb with a flight from the top. It was the new new thing. But it never materialized as the great alpine tool it was purported to be. Conditions rarely are ideal for flight, and it truly sucks to walk off with a kite on your back. It's very easy to convince yourself you can squeak off a flight in less than ideal conditions. A lot of people got seriously hurt on the unforgiving learning curve (including myself). But what was a lot of fun for me was doing multiple flights on a great day on a cruiser hill. Just doing laps. And returning to the launch site by foot requires hiking and maybe easy climbing. It will get you in great shape, if nothing else. But as I wrote earlier, if you fly, you're gonna bounce eventually.

Good luck.

[chris_w]

I know a couple of years ago hang gliding was legal in yosemite off Glacier point. The only rule was that you launch before 8am.

[MtnGoat]

Some interesting "landings" and other fun stuff, on the blooper page. The pic sequence of one guy falling *through* his canopy and plummeting down shrouded in it looks pretty nasty..but only a broken arm!

 

http://www.seattleparagliding.com/BlooperPage.htm