Falken Air now offers Ballooning

Great news for visitors to Zell am See Kaprun and the whole Pinzgau region: the tandem paragliding company Falken Air has now started offering ballooning as well. Josef Nindl, the owner of Hotel Falkenstein in Kaprun, has expanded his skillset to be a Pilot In Command (PIC) of hot air balloons as well and his company Falken Air is now offering breathtaking balloon rides as well.

Next to tandem paragliding there is one more way to move very silently through the skies without any hull or window shielding you from the surroundings: ballooning. Apart from this great similarity there are major differences from paragliding as well. With ballooning you …

• share the right with family and friends or other passengers
• you lift up from the valley in stead of the mountain
• you feel no wind since you are moving with the wind
• there is no upper limit to the wind speeds you can travel with
• you try to avoid thermals (by going early in the day or late)
• you can go up or down any time as needed or desired
• you land safely in a valley anywhere the wind took you
• you can use your telephone for photo and video as much as you like
• you will 100% not get sick (at high altitude extra oxygen is provided)

In contrast with paragliding:

• we take of from the top of a mountain by running
• you feel a constant 35 kmh wind around you
• look for thermals and use them to go higher
• without thermals we cannot go up, just glide down
• we can spotland exactly where we want
• we can do acrobatic tricks (like a rollercoaster ride)
• a small minority of people will feel a little seasick

As the owner of VIP-paragliding.com I can confirm that there truly is a very special charm to hot air ballooning. I did it twice. Once many years ago in The Netherlands and more recently in the Alps starting from Filzmoos. Let me share the video below:

It is in partnership with the biggest and most experienced hot air ballooning company in the Alps that Falken Air now offers and executes unforgettable balloon rides starting from the Pinzgau area both in summer as in winter. Prices are marked here.

There is one way in which paragliding and ballooning come together: professional paraglides can do a spectacular summersault take-off from a hot air balloon as you see in the video below.

Josef Nindl, who is an excellent and passionate paraglider as well, has done such stunts in the past but as your Pilot In Command he will definitely stay on board and let you experience the ride of your life in a hot air balloon.