Paragliding in Pakistan

Paragliding ( מצנחי רחיפה ) is a debonair young sport in Pakistan. Very few people are familiar with this sport. With numerous mountain ranges in different areas especially northern areas, Pakistan is a heaven for the Paragliders who are always in search of new and challenging places to show their skills and talents. Pakistan association of free flying (PAFF) is contributing its part in promoting this adventurous and competitive sport. PAFF is a non profit, voluntary organization which aims to promote Hang gliding, Paragliding and Parasailing. It runs coaching courses for pilots, ensures training standards and safety concerns. At the same time, some local registered clubs are also playing their role to promote this sport. Two Pakistani Paragliders named Sajjad Shah and Jabbar Bhatti did paragliding in 1986 and 1987 respectively. It is a new sport in Pakistan and laws are still to be defined to deal with different aspects of this sport. There are different paragliding spots in Pakistan. Tourists love to fly over Hunza valley, Skardu town, Hushe valley, Spantik and Nagar valley. There are different flying sites in Pakistan for Paragliding which include two sites in Baltistan namely Shigar and Chunda, Base camp of Nanga Parbat with name of site as fairy meadows, Booni( Uttul), Birmoghlasht (Summer Palace) in Chitral, Eagle's nest in Hunza, Mung and Kohala in Khanpur, Express way site in Murree etc. I would love to hear more about paragliding in Pakistan and training institutes. If you want to share some information, you are welcome.

I have found some remarkable videos about paragliding in Pakistan. Just see how ideal place Pakistan is to do paragliding!



Another Fabulous video:



Tandem Take-off from Lohar Gali, Muzzafarabad, Pakistan:



Paragliding from Biafo Glacier:

Paragliding in South Korea

South Korea is a country which is peninsular off the east coast of Asia's continent. It divides the Chinese Yellow Sea and Sea of Japan. Some 75% area of the South Korea is covered with mountains. The average height of mountains is around 3300 feet (1100 m) which is not huge but ideal for slope soaring. The fantastic scenery and the soaring conditions make different parts of South Korea a perfect location to paraglide ( מצנחי רחיפה ). The area around the capital city, Seoul, is a good option for the visitors to stay and enjoy. The winters in South Korea are cold and the climate in the northern region is Alpine as its latitude is similar to Europe and presence of mountains on such a huge area lift the average altitude. Annual rainfall in South Korea is 1300 mm approx. or 5 inches. Most of these rainfalls are during 90 days and 30 of those days are during the months of Late July and August which is rainy monsoon season. So if you decide to paraglide in this season, it would be quite hard to keep your canopy of Parglider dry. South Korea is a place which is experiencing a remarkable growth in paragliding sport. It is really fun to paraglide in this hilly and frosty area. The first paragliding festival here took place back in 1993. In this festival, the pilots wore the fancy dresses and along with the colorful Paragliders, the sky was presenting a very fabulous picture. Now days, there are some 10000 pilots who go for paragliding in South Korea and they are from different paragliding schools and clubs of South Korea. There are many paragliding pilots who earn a name for themselves from this region. One of them is Gin Seok. He is head of the famous manufacturer Gin Paragliders. Gin has made some remarkable inputs into the paragliding game in South Korea over time. He was the man who along with others first organized the First Asian Paragliding Championship. Gin Boomerang Paragliders also placed well in many of the competitions around the globe.

I have found the video that best describes the South Korea's scenery and hilly areas, climate and slope soaring frosty region.

Safety Concerns during Paragliding

Paragliding is an extreme sport and it is really fun to have feeling of joy while flying through the sky. It is a very recreational and adventurous sport and enjoyed by millions around the world. At the same time, Paragliding ( מצנחי רחיפה ) is a high risk sport and injuries can happen at any time while taking flight. Injuries are mainly to the lower limb like twisted ankles suffered while take-off or landing. More than 90% of these injuries happen to beginners during their first 10-15 flights, the majority of these injuries being to the lower leg. Careful Paragliders always look for the safety measures, analyze the conditions and adopt proper paragliding techniques to ensure their safety. The safety much depend on the skills and sense of the pilot, his technique, equipment used, ability to analyze conditions and planning according to that. The good pilot would not paraglide at sites that offer an unreasonable challenge to his or her flying skills. The safe pilot will only fly on days in which the weather is conducive to safe flight. Turbulence in all its forms is very dangerous for a flying Paraglider wing. Paragliders are the slowest of the gliders and combination of good training, techniques, judgment, planning and good equipment
offers to pilot high levels of safety.

I have found this video good in this regard and want to share it with you

Some Training is required to do Paragliding safely

Paragliding is an excellent adventurous flying sports and experiencing it is a feeling of life time. An individual sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by its suspension lines and the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing. Thousand of tourists around the world visit many recreational resorts around the globe to experience joy of paragliding. To enjoy this sports to its full, you need to have some expertise and prior training keeping in view your safety too. I am a huge fan of paragliding and these days, i am seeking for some paragliding ( מצנחי רחיפה ) training school to join it. While searching through web, i have come across Manilla Paragliding flying school located in Australia. It is located at one of the worlds best and safest flying sites - Mt Borah, which got the privilege of hosting 2007 Paragliding World Championships. It offers 9 day Live-In license courses and, tandem instructional flights. It offers autumn and spring courses with very reasonable and affordable prices. I am seriously thinking to join this school to make my dreams come true.

I have found this video interesting and want to share with you. This would give you some idea that how fascinating the paragliding flight could be.