Intro Paragliding Lesson
Learn to Paraglide in Boulder, Colorado
Come experience the magic of free flight. Our introductory course offers the chance to see what paragliding in Colorado is all about without making a commitment to a full certification course upfront. This is a great opportunity for people who are interested in learning how to paraglide but aren’t exactly sure what they’re getting themselves into (spoiler: a ridiculous amount of fun and a wonderful community of friendly pilots).
Three Flight Intro Course
$800
- Unlimited Lessons for Up to Two Months
- Course Fee Applied to P2 Program Tuition
- Calm & Experienced Instructors
- Paraglider Simulator Training
- Radio Instruction for Training Flights
- Quality Training Equipment Included
Why Start with Three Flights?
It takes more than one training flight to begin to understand what paragliding is all about. It’s common for a student to let out a shout of exhilaration upon landing in our grassy park after their first-ever paragliding flight. When they try to recall the series of events that just took place between launch and landing, they often say that it’s all just a blur. This is understandable. They just flew through the air like a bird, probably for the first time in their life! It’s normal for adrenaline and excitement to make a student’s first paragliding flight one that’s difficult to remember, but impossible to forget. For this reason, we consider the first training flight more of a life experience than a learning experience. For each subsequent flight, a student is able to retain increasingly more situational awareness and be the pilot in command. By the third flight, a student will be less dependent on radio instruction and can make piloting decisions for themselves. This is how to find out if paragliding is right for you.
Unlimited Lessons for Up to Two Months
Students can participate in as many lessons as they need to over a two month period to complete three training flights. This means that there’s no incentive to rush students through the intro course. Our instructors are instead able to accommodate the unique abilities of every student by allowing them to learn at their own pace.
TIME COMMITMENT: Depending on the weather we get, students will likely complete this course after 4-6 lessons. We only require that every student sign up for at least two lessons per week from the time they begin the course. There’s no limit to the number of lessons a student can show up for every week, the more the better.
Credit Towards P2 Certification Course
Intro course students that continue directly into the P2 Certification Course will receive a full credit for their intro course tuition which can be applied towards the P2 Certification Course Tuition. To receive this credit, the student must sign up for the P2 Certification Course within two weeks of completing the intro course. If the student completes their intro course in September or October, the credit can be applied towards the P2 Certification Course starting the following spring.
Training
This course is designed to allow a student to take the first steps in learning to fly a paraglider as if they were signed up for the P2 Pilot Certification course. Students learn the fundamental skills involved in safely launching, flying and landing a paraglider.
This intro course offers the opportunity to fly one of the most inspiring aircraft on the planet. We start the first day with a full introduction to the paraglider, how it works and what it takes to get it flying. We quickly get you geared up and ready to practice some ‘simulated launches’ to get the launching sequence nailed down. As you’re perfecting your launches, you’ll have the opportunity to watch trained pilots come in to land and you’ll learn how to set yourself up for nice soft landings. Once you have a well-developed understanding of the launching and landing process, we’ll let you hang in our paraglider simulator to better understand what it feels like to fly a paraglider. We’ll walk you through the techniques involved in safely flying a paraglider with your feet hanging just a couple feet off the ground. You will come away from the first day’s lesson with a comprehensive understanding of how to launch, land and fly a paraglider at a beginner level.
Day two is treated as a flying day with the goal of getting you one or two flights off of our 300 ft training hill. You will experience the beauty of flight and find out if paragliding is something that you’d like to pursue further. The two training days are meant to be consecutive as the skills learned on day one are essential for a successful second day of flying.
The two-day lesson is considered an intensive course because the student’s learning happens at an accelerated rate. Attempting to fly any aircraft after just one previous lesson should be considered carefully. Every student learns new skills at their own rate and should not feel rushed to move through the paragliding progression at the same rate as any other student. For this reason, we also offer a Three Flight Intro Lesson Package which may allow for a more comfortable progression depending on the student. After years of instruction, we’ve found that the two-day intensive intro course is most appropriate for students that have years of experience in other adventurous activities like whitewater kayaking, rock climbing, skydiving, backcountry skiing, etc. Reason being, these disciplines teach one how to make clear decisions under stress, which is important for remaining safe in any form of aviation including paragliding.
Schedule Lessons
Our training season runs from the start of April until mid October. Lessons take place at our training hill in North Boulder every morning, Monday – Sunday.
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