paraglider flight paraglider Everything You Need to Know Before You Go
paraglider flight paraglider Everything You Need to Know Before You Go
flight trip is as much a philosophy as it is a practice. You don’t just set out to fly with a tent in your pack. You set out to live in the mountains for several days, accepting their rules, their moods, and their silences.
It is a discipline that brings together skills that are often considered separate: steering, terrain reading, meteorology, physical management, and navigation. And unlike a session at a developed site, there is no fuel attendant, no weather forecast posted at the takeoff area, and no car parked at the bottom.
If the idea appeals to you—and it certainly should—here are the 8 pillars of solid preparation to ensure that your first flight is memorable for all the right reasons.
#1 Plan before you go: A flight starts with preparation on the ground
The classic mistake beginner make beginner camping is thinking that improvisation is part of the charm. It is part of it, yes, but it must be based on a solid foundation. In the mountains, when you’re on your own, every unplanned hour can turn into a problem.
Planning a flight The cut four key areas:
| Axis | What to Do |
|---|---|
| 🗺 Plan the route | Identify your takeoff sites,Landing zones, and safe havens along the route. Plan several options for each stage. |
| ✈️ Check the airspace | CTR, restricted areas, protected natural areas—check the FFVL map and NOTAMs before each day of flight. |
| 💧 Locate water sources | Your water supply will determine your route. Identify the springs, lakes, and streams along your route, and make sure you have a way to purify your water. |
| 🔄 Have a Plan B | Emergency exit in case of bad weather, Landing , fallback campsite. The mountains owe you nothing. |
#2 The lightweight kit: When camping, every gram counts
When you go backpacking, the first step is to hike with all your gear on your back. The weight of your pack isn’t just a matter of comfort—it’s a matter of safety. A pilot who’s exhausted from carrying too much weight on the hike will make poorer decisions in the air.
The goal: a complete bag weighing less than 12–15 kg, glider . It’s ambitious, but achievable with the right choices.
🪂 Compactglider —ideally weighing less than 3 kg
gliders (such as the Savage 2 from Supair) are designed to pack down small and withstand the changing conditions of the mountains.
harness & Flyharness with ample Storage space
The Strike 3 is the ultimate versatile harness for bivouacking: 2 kg, 64 L of Storage, a removable internal pocket for your overnight gear, and an aerodynamic fairing.
🛟 rescue parachute
Weighing less than 750 g and with a volume of less than 2 L, the X LITE is the lightest rescue parachute in the lineup. Its patented DYNALINK riser absorbs energy upon deployment. For backcountry camping, it’s the go-to rescue parachute when every gram counts.
⛺ Tente légère ou bivy + sac de couchage adapté
En dessous de 2 000 m en été, un bivy suffit souvent. Au-dessus ou en intersaison, optez pour une tente 3 saisons légère (< 1,2 kg).
📍 Navigation: altimeter, charged phone, paper map
The phone might break down, and the vario might shut off. But the paper map never fails.
🆘 PLB or Spot beacon, first aid kit
The PLB is your ultimate safety net. In areas with no cell service, it’s your only link to emergency responders.
#3 Finding the right campsite: half the next flight
Where you sleep directly affects your flight next day. A bad spot means a restless night, weather that’s impossible to read when you wake up, and a difficult takeoff. A good spot means 8 hours of restful sleep and a calm assessment of the conditions at dawn.
Here are the things to check before setting up your tent:
✓ Look for a slight natural depression or a group of rocks sheltered from the prevailing wind
✓ Unobstructed view of the horizon so you can check the morning weather as soon as you wake up
✓ Near a water source within 500 m, for use in the evening and in the morning
✓ Excluding protected areas, national parks, and nature reserves
✗ Exposed ridges; risk of lightning and strong winds at night
✗ Valleys and valley bottoms, humidity, possible frost, morning fog delaying takeoff
#4 Interpreting Multi-Day Weather Forecasts: Another Way to Read the Sky
On flight , you don't check the weather in the morning while drinking your coffee. You read it constantly—in the sky, in the light, in the wind. And you plan for several days ahead, interpreting the usual indicators differently.
#5 Self-Sufficiency in Water and Food: A Pilot's Fuel
Flying on an empty stomach or while dehydrated is the surest way to have a bad flight. In the mountains, the physical exertion of the ascent, the dry air at high altitudes, and the stress of navigation consume a lot of energy—often without us even realizing it.
Nutrition while camping follows a simple principle: a lightweight pack, high calorie density, and ease of preparation.
💧 At least 2 liters of water per day
Bring a filter (such as a Sawyer or LifeStraw) or water purification tablets so you can fill up at springs. Never rely on a spring without a way to purify the water.
⚡Combine slow- and fast-release energy
Cereal bars, dried fruit, and chocolate for exercise; cheese, cold cuts, and legumes for recovery. Avoid foods that require a lot of water to rehydrate.
☕ Don't drink coffee on an empty stomach before a flight
Caffeine on an empty stomach can cause low blood sugar and speed up dehydration. Eat first, then have coffee—or opt for a hot herbal tea instead.
🍲 Hot dinner if possible
An ultralight stove (like the MSR Pocket Rocket) weighs 70g and makes all the difference. A hot meal improves sleep and muscle recovery. Don’t skip it.
#6 Safety When Traveling Independently: Flying alone in the mountains requires thorough preparation
flight are often undertaken alone or in very small groups, far from infrastructure, in areas where it may take several hours for rescue teams to arrive. This reality should not be a cause for fear, but it must be taken into account from the very beginning of your preparations.
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Give your itinerary to someone on the ground, along with your estimated return time and a plan of action in case you don't check in.
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Bring a PLB or a GPS messenger(Garmin inReach, Spot)—the only way to alert emergency services without a cell phone signal.
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A power bank is a must: Your phone is your map, your weather app, your camera, and your backup phone. Don't let it run out of battery.
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Emergency numbers: 112 (general emergency services), 15 (SAMU), 17 (Gendarmerie). In the French mountains: PGHM (High-Mountain Gendarmerie Unit).
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MasterLanding techniquesLanding a slope, in a forest, or on rough terrain. These skills are learned in flight school, not on the day of the flight.
#7 Leave the mountains untouched: camping is a privilege, not a right
flight opens doors that few people walk through. These wild places—these deserted ridges at dawn, these high-altitude lakes—exist because relatively few people venture there, and because those who do take good care of them.
Every off-road driver has a responsibility to the community that will come after them and to the ecosystems they travel through.
♻️ Leave no trash behind
Take everything you brought with you when you leave, including cereal bar wrappers, tea bags, and empty carbonation capsules.
🔥 No open fires at high altitudes
Gas stoves only, except in areas where open fires are explicitly permitted. The risk of fire and the fragility of high-altitude soil leave no room for error.
👣 Stay on the trails
High-altitude vegetation takes years to regenerate. A single step off the trail, repeated hundreds of times by hundreds of hikers, leaves lasting scars.
📅 Maximum of 2 nights at the same location
To allow the soil, vegetation, and wildlife to regenerate. This is also required by regulations in most French nature parks.
🦅 Respect wildlife
Avoid flying near rock faces during the nesting season (March–July). Birds of prey and jackdaws are particularly sensitive to repeated overflights.
#8 The Backcountry Mindset: Patience, Humility, and Curiosity
flight isn’t a discipline where you impose yourself on the mountains. It’s a practice where you learn to blend in with them. The pilots describe it best are always the ones who talk about the flights theydidn’t take because the conditions weren’t right—and who knew how to wait.
This patience is not passivity. It is a skill in its own right, one that is learned through experience. When camping, a day of hiking and observation is often better than a flight in extreme conditions.
Humility also means accepting that the mountain will give you whatever it chooses to give you. Not necessarily the flight you had planned. Sometimes a better one, often a different one. Always memorable.
Ready for Take-off dawn?
You learn flight gradually. Start with a simple overnight trip at a familiar site that’s easy to get back from. Master interpreting weather conditions, navigating the terrain, andLanding techniquesLanding a variety of conditions. Then venture farther, stay longer, and build your confidence.
At Supair, we design our gear for pilots seek out the mountains where they truly are—not just from the cable car parking lot. Eiko 2, Savage 2, Strike 3: each product is designed for those who hike as much as they fly.
The most beautiful flights aren't necessarily the longest ones. They're the ones that begin at first light, when the mountain is still yours—and yours alone.
