Paragliding/Memories in Switzerland 

What time of the year was this?

@@Catpanl september

Amazing place. Very affordable campsite down there too.

@@MarkHuneycutt And the restaurant there (called Weidstübli) is excellent and _less_ expensive than average. Locals go to eat there when they feel too lazy to cook at home.

go to the mountains! They're the best

that mad me laugh, Arkansas is awesome, I fly there the most I bet & I am like shit all over the place, see ya in da Alps 1 day! god willing. my bucket list has to be Iceland Volcanic, water falls but not cheap & I am so poor I can't evenly attention..............

Mountains rule Bill, just beware the rotor and you'll be just fine!

Thank you

likewise!

Nobody said we were smart. That sounds like fun!

@@MarkHuneycutt 😂

Paramotors are illegal in Switzerland (thankfully 🙂). This is Lauterbrunnen, near Interlaken.

@@JanPBtest noooo! Illegal in Switzerland? Damn. I’ll learn paragliding then. Must fly there!!

@@ooglek For mountain flying paragliders are really the only way to go as you need a small light package to take it up the launch, not to mention the thermalling, XC flying, and handling turbulence. Paramotors in general are weird, they can't really go far, people just tend to buzz around back and forth in them because of the weight and fuel limits. Perhaps in the future when small, long lasting, and powerful _quiet_ engines are developed, they'll make more sense in places like this. This is also the reason why hang gliders are much less popular in the Alps despite their superior flying characteristics: one can't just hike up a mountain carrying one, even on a cable tram. So get thee your lessons, you won't regret it! This is what happened to me, I went on a tandem in Interlaken in 2011 and got hooked. At the risk of making this post too long, here is an example how well things are set up there: one of the launches is accessible by a mountain train (the Schynige Platte train). That train has a separate compartment reserved for paraglider pilots! So when it's crowded, you have a place to sit! That compartment is cleverly marked by a plain sign that just says "Reserviert" and it looks just official and scary enough that "normal" tourists avoid it 🙂And then the launch is a minute or so _past_ the station called Breitlauenen. But it's all uphill (a cog wheel train), so if you got off there, you'd have to walk up. Sooo, you tell the conductor that you are a pilot and the train will stop just for you to let you out a nice level walk from the launch (while the passengers are looking out wondering why we stopped). That's not all! If you cannot fly for some reason, let's say a storm is approaching, you can ride that train back down for free! Isn't that cool? It happened to me once. BTW, here is what this spot looks like, the view is magnificent as normal: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LMpBGSAJ-Ko.html

@@JanPBtest Holy crap! That IS AMazing!!! Yah, I think I need to live somewhere where paragliding is a first order citizen. Sounds VERY much like that is the situation in Switzerland. In the US, while we have lots of mountains, generally on the east coast it is a lot of flat land. There are some paragliders who find some success out here, but their launches are pretty low and if you don't catch any thermals, you land 10-15 minutes after launch and either give up or hike back up and try again. Taking a train sounds WAY better! The site definitely looks amazing. Thanks for the long reply, I really appreciate it! This is going in my bucket list. Cheers!

@@ooglek One nice thing in Europe is that there are no stupid airspace ownership laws there so you can fly over congested areas. When you fly to Interlaken, you fly over the city and land in the park in the city center with hotels, churches, Patek Philippe shops and, last but not least, a Hooters. The flag on top of the cupola of Victoria Jungfrau Hotel (five-star) serves as a nice windsock. I'm sure it was not designed for this in 1864, haha. Another landing field doubles sometimes as... a target practice place (a Swiss thing). The bus stop there is called Schiessstand Lehn. One major thing to be aware when flying there is valley winds. They can get quite strong. Not turbulent but strong enough to turn your "perfectly" set up landing approach into an embarrassing (or dangerous) landing _way short._ The lower you get, the stronger the wind gets. It blows up the valleys (opposite river flows). So until you get the hang of it, it's best to be very conservative and not fly downwind the landing field, just zigzag back and forth to go down. The second Swiss rule is that if you see a grassy field whose part is cut, land in the _cut_ grass. That's because grass is actually a crop and you don't want to damage it lest the owner chase you (freshly from target practice).

yo

It depends on the Country and the people you go fly with. In S. Korea it is not a problem and same thing happened on our 1 trip to Switzerland!

I think it wise to get an IPPI card, just in case. It's internationally recognized.

Theoretically you need IPPI Level 4 card (available from USHPA with a P3 + TUR rating for a small fee). In real life nobody ever asked me anything. The USHPA third-party-damage insurance is considered good enough, I think, despite euro being a bit higher than USD. Other than that just be nice and put the 2 CHF coin in that pipe-shaped box when launching from Amisbühl 🙂

Lauterbrunnen, read the Wikipedia article about it.

You can’t fly combustion driven paramotors there, you can fly electric.

I think paramotors are illegal in Switzerland.

"That's OK, it's not because of anything serious." -Monty Python

random base jumper just handing us gear didn't have a reserve or helmet for us.. when in Switzerland and offered gear for free 🫣...