Why Tandem paragliding in winter?

It is not widely known that paragliding in wintertime is possible in the Alps and in Austria. Our answer to this question is a loud “Yes of course!”. Especially tandem paragliding—where our experienced pilots take you under their wings—is great in the wintertime. Why? Let’s list all the advantages of tandem paragliding in winter and why it’s so much fun:
Why is winter paragliding so much fun?
- The view over the snowy landscape is awesome!
- Flying over slopes where people ski is fun and they can film you
- The atmosphere is very calm so the flight is also very calm
- Because of the high mountains, basic winter flights are > 15 minutes
- With stronger wind, we can make longer flights even in winter
- Action maneuvers—if desired—are possible in winter too
- You can simply wear your full skiing gear or rent it
- Start and landing on ski’s is possible but shoes are OK too
- Your friends can follow the flight on ski’s or snowboard
- The thermals return already at the end of February
Solo paragliders are mostly interested to make only very long flights of say an hour and longer. This is mostly not possible in deep wintertime. You will see solo pilots come to the mountain however when the wind is stronger, to soar along the ridge or when at the end of February the solar driven thermals return. And beginning solo pilots also like to fly in December and January simply because the air is very calm then and flights are not risky even for an inexperienced pilot.

Winter paragliding is calm and extra safe
The tandem passenger enjoys the same benefits. It’s extra calm and extra safe (it’s also very safe in summer but in winter it’s super duper safe. Skiers really like starting and landing on skis. A magic feeling. And also very smooth and safe. But it’s also relaxing to switch to winter hiking boots, snow boots, ski boots or snowboard boots and start like that. And many times young people come to us in winter and start on sneakers!
So it’s an amazingly fun thing to do in the wintertime in the Alps and also in all 4 locations that VIP paragliding offers. In Salzburg, at Gaisberg we do not start on skis. There is no ski area there. Car, tax,i or bus brings us to the top. In the other 3 areas, Zell Am See Kaprun, Königsleiten, and Weissensee, starts on ski’s and on boots are possible. For skiers, it’s a great tip to choose doing a tandem flight when it’s warmer in the afternoon in February and March and the snow gets slushy. Those are also the moments at which the thermals return, and they can be strong already! So quite often we already rise hundreds of meters above the peaks that early in the year.

Let’s talk about the price of tandem paragliding in winter. In principle, it’s the same as in summer. Only in December and January, we offer a somewhat cheaper tandem flight book because flights can be as short as 10 minutes sometimes. As soon as the thermals are back and we offer flights of the same length as in summer, then we use the same prices in winter as in summer. In Austria, our prices of 188 euros including photo and video for a 20-minute flight and 248 euros for a 40-minute flight are fully regular, and with us, you get a bunch of extra service. For 30 euros more, you can book an Insta360 camera recording plus professional editing.
So: I hope to fly with you in winter!