Paragliding

I am doing this Paragliding training with this company called AndesExtremo in Cochabamba, they are a group of cool young guys who are into these challenge sports them selves, they do both paragliding and climbing.

In the first day we started by doing the tandem flight, I found the moment of takeoff to be the most exciting, after that I realized at what height I was and I was a bit nervous, the landing was a rough one, and I got a bruised knee , nothing serious, as it was already ok the next day. Generally you are at the mercy of the wind when landing, if there is wind you can land quite smoothly, if you doing it against the wind, but if the wind stops or changes direction in the last minute, well you will hit the ground with some speed, and you have to run very fast , or tumble over, which is what happened to me.

In the afternoon we had a theory class, after that I was invited to a climbing training session, which took place in an improvised climbing room they build in their basement. I did not do well, since I have not been to the gym for four month, and am not so fit in my upper body anymore. But some of these guys are very good, and the techniques they use to hop around the walls, are very cool to watch.

The second day we started my practical training, which was inflating the wing on a slight decline, which went well, and I managed to do it the third time. In the afternoon I had another training session, this time on flat ground , but with more wind. I needed more effort to inflate the wing, and I practiced controlling the wing while running, as the winds was changing direction all the time, and I had to respond to that and keep the wing facing the wind while still running. I was doing quite well, and my instructors told me I am ready for the next step.

Tomorrow I will do my first solo flights, which would be from a small hill, and I will be only a seven seconds in the air, after I master this small hill, I will move to the big one, a flight from 600 meters high!