There are a few different forms of paragliding. The usual paragliding is when you are strapped to a paraglider wing and you take off. Look for thermals to take you higher or glide down a hill.

Paramotoring is the same as normal paragliding but with a large fan strapped to your back. This means that you can travel in any direction you like. A slightly different wing is need for this.

The newest form of paragliding is speed paragliding or speed riding. This is the same as the 'gliding down the hill' part of normal paragliding but with a pair of skis on your feet.

These are the basic different types of Paragliding. People call different versions of these by different names. We could be here for ever naming them all.

Regular paragliding is more graceful and gentle but still with its risks.
This video was filmed by a friend for Solsteerin on New Years Day in the Himalayas. Be warned, this may make you feel depressed when all you did for New Year was wake up in a strange place with urine and last night's dinner on your clothes.

Speed paragliding/speed riding is an highly dangerous sport as most paragliding accidents happen at low altitude. You have to be a extremly experienced paraglider and skier to even think about doing this.

 If these videos have inspired you and you think that this is the extreme sport for you then your next step is to look into taking lessons. Read on for more info.

Paragliders are similar to skydiving parachutes but have a couple of major differences. They don’t need to be as strong as skydiving parachutes as they are not taking sudden shocks as if you were opening them at high velocity and they are general lighter with more cells making up the canopy. This allows you to fly rather than float down as a parachutes does.

As with skydive there are a few options to how you go about trying paragliding. You can have a Tandem flight where you will be strapped to an instructor. Or there is Solo flying which you need to take a course in.
Learning to fly Paragliders can be easy as they are quite simple to launch, turn and land so it only takes around 10 days of training to be qualified to fly and normally you will be flying in your first lesson. It is rare to take all of your training days in one go due to the weather but the training days can be spread over a year.

There are restrictions in this extreme sport as there are in all of them to help make them as safe as possible.
The minimum age is 16 and under 18’s need parental consent but if you want to do a Tandem flight the minimum age is 12. There is only a upper age limit if you want to learn to fly solo which most companies say is 70 and if you are over 55 then your doctor needs to sign a health declaration for you.
The maximum weight for most companies training equipment is 18st (115kg) but there is equipment out there that will take up to 20st (130kg).
There are also restrictions on how high you can fly. The Limit is 18,000 but really, would you want to go higher?! You will need oxygen at 10,000 feet.

Paragliders can also fly far. The world record is over 200 miles and people regularly fly over 100 miles in the UK.

Paragilders last around 4 years of regular use. The canopy can take between 300 to 500 hours of UV exposure before they need to be replaced.
The canopy only takes 5 minutes to set up then you can be off flying but the weather in the UK plays a massive part of where and when you can fly. It is a dangerous sport as are all extreme sports but good equipment and training makes it as safe as possible.

Where to go, cost and equipment

Where

There are many paragliding schools around the UK. Check out the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association at www.bhpa.co.uk 

Cost & Equipment

You will need a bit of cash for this sport.

Lessons   -   Between £550 to £1000 depending on course type.

New beginner Para Wing   -   £1200 and up depending on make.

Harness   -   £360 to £500 depending on make.

Helmet   -   £35 to £110 depending on make.

Reserve Shute   -   Around £350.

Also the weather conditions for flying have to be perfect or it is too dangerous. Because of this you can be restricted as to when and where you can do this.