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The Importance of Weather in Paragliding
When it comes to paragliding, the weather on the day you book is EVERYTHING. The weather may seem safe to the untrained eye, but we’re not just looking for a sunny day to fly; we also consider factors like air pressure, cloud base height, wind speed (a significant aspect of paragliding), wind direction, thermal updrafts, future storms, and potential heavy rain. As a general rule of thumb regarding wind speed: if you can see the trees being thrown around in the town, valley, or garden, it’s likely that by the time we reach the top of the hill at the take-off point, the wind speed will be too strong to launch safely.
Our FAQ's02
Safety First in Tandem Paragliding
The primary concern in tandem paragliding is ensuring the safety of our customers, and weather conditions play a crucial role in deciding whether to fly or reschedule your flight. There are no “general safe flying conditions” in paragliding; each site requires different weather types. If you want to check a forecast to see if we might be flying on a specific day, remember that any wind gusts at or over 16-18 mph at the take-off point can be very dangerous. Keep in mind that if the forecast shows gusts of 15-16 mph in a local town, this can sometimes double by the time we reach our launch site (potentially exceeding 30 mph!). Please don’t be upset if we need to reschedule your flight multiple times due to unsafe weather; we are professional paragliding pilots with thousands of flight hours each. If we say it’s not safe to fly, it’s not safe.
Book an Experience03
Site-Specific Flying Conditions
Many customers ask to fly at specific paragliding sites, such as Malvern. However, we cannot guarantee this because the site we choose to fly on your booked day is completely determined by the weather conditions. For example, Selsley Common near Stroud (a fantastic site) is only safe to fly when the wind direction is between NNW and NW, with wind speeds around 10-14 mph. On thermic days, we can fly with a calm NW wind (<8 mph). In contrast, Malvern is only safe when the wind direction is easterly and no more than 6-8 mph at the bottom of the hill.
Contact UsIf you’re interested in learning more about our flying conditions or options,
please send us a WhatsApp message or chat with us on the hill!
please send us a WhatsApp message or chat with us on the hill!