Recommendations for Paraglider Training

[Kelvin Pierce]

I would appreciate some feedback about where the best place (US or international) is to learn to fly a paraglider. My goal would be to go to some place where I could learn and earn a P-2 rating within about 10 days to 2 weeks. My initial research seems to point to Point of the Mountain in Utah or possibly California. I also read about a guy Nick Crane who does training in Costa Rica. I would also appreciate recommendations about best time of year for any particular location you may recommend. Thanks much in advance for any feedback you may offer.
Kelvin

[chuckok]

Blue Sky is running two Paragliding Camps this summer July 11-16 and Aug 15-20 outside of Richmond ....

http://www.blueskyhg.com

[Dan T]

Kelvin,

Carlos and I have been to Costa Rick. I don't think Nick Crane teaches there any longer but he does guide P2s and above. I learned at SkyNomad in Bulgaria and was very pleased with the training, the high launch sites and the accommodations and amenities. I liked it enough that I've been there twice. The problem with Bulgaria or most any foreign country is you might not get a rating that will be accepted in the USA. On the other hand I did a lot more flying in much more varied conditions that I would have ever gotten in the USA.

Torrey Pines is famous as is Point of the Mountain. Both have reputations for being rigorous in their qualification standards. Learning a good launch technique will serve you well in our area. Our launches are among the most technical that I've seen anywhere.

I have flown Torrey and have accompanied the locals at one of their inland sites. Steve Kinsley knows a lot about the area.


If you want to know more about Bulgaria drop me a line. My posts about my two trips there are on here somewhere. The most recent one is just over a year old.

Dan T

[mingram]

I had two weeks to burn in December, so I chose Eagle Paragliding in Santa Barbara. I got my P2 easily even though it rained a bunch (december is the rainy season). The training hill there is phenomenal because the wind direction and speed are extremely consistent and the Eagles are great at helping you get 10-15 flights a day. There are two mountain sites close by that seemed to work at least half the time I was there. Rob Sporrer and Kevin McGinley were my instructors and they treated me like family. I followed Kevin to Brazil a few months later and can't wait to go back and do an SIV with them. As instructors they were spot on communicating the timing of control inputs and at helping to calm me down. Nice town, great weather, great people.

Another local, Randy Weber (rlweber), just finished his P2 at Point of the Mountain a month ago. I hope he doesn't mind me posting his experience here. I really like that they teach maneuvers as part of your P2 training. They seem to have more sites and options...

"It feels like a whole new side of reality. I had gotten a used glider and harness and did a great deal of kiting and flying on a SE training hill near my house (44 flights, 25+ hours of kiting) prior to going to train with Superfly at Point of the Mountain. I arrived Saturday at 10 am hoping to get in on the evening session. It was blown out, so I watched the instructor, Chris Grantham, kite a very small glider. In fact it was blown out until Tuesday (snowed on Monday!!!!!). Tuesday was the first good flying day. I also flew on Wednesday. Thursday was blown out, did ground school and took P1 test. Friday was windy but we launched half way up the hill. Point of the Mountain South is 300ft agl.
Saturday we went truck towing. The boat had mechanical problems so we could not do the over the water maneuvers course, However on truck tow, with tows up to 3000 agl, mild collapses and other maneuvers such as big ears and speed bar usage could be practiced. Also managed to blunder into a big mild, but juicy, thermal that carried me to near cloud base (not good technique to white out when your instructor, Chris Santacroce, is watching you closely).
Sunday morning was a mild south day. I was able to worked on skills that I did not practice with towing, such as weight shift only (no hands) turns and rear riser turns. On the last of three flights the thermals began to kick off. I found some buoyant air, 150 ft off the deck, started doing figure eights, climbed back to launch and thought about doing some 360's to climb out. But once again I thought discretion is the better part of valor, and decided to not do any 360's. I did not know about the turbulence I might encounter higher up. As a hangglider pilot I still need to sort out what is safe in a paraglider. In a hangglider I would have been out of there. The day was called after I landed due to the thermal activity. At Pt of the Mt flying happens in the morning and evening, before and after prime thermal time.
I successfully completed the P2 test on Saturday. The instruction was very professional, knowledgeable, thorough and congenial. If you heard them say "seriously" to you over the radio it was code for " you idiot what are you doing" , There was a written check list with skills that need to be accomplished and the instructors took it seriously. Both Chris Grantham and Chris Santacroce were excellent, knowledgeable instructors. As I was getting ready for the landing flare after being near cloud base I was popped by a thermal and rose to approx. 6 feet off the deck. Chris Santacroce radioed for me to flare. I thought I knew better and that I was too high. Needless to say he was right. Immediately after the pop the floor dropped out and my flare was too late. I had to do a lot of running on that landing. A small example of their expertise.
I was able to get my P2 in one week. What I did not like about my experience was the amount of blown out days (who likes days when you can't fly) and the large number of gliders on the ridge on good days. Although the large number of gliders did give good experience with flying in traffic (give me the Massanutten ridge).
I have a friend Justin Stanley who is brand new to flying. They are doing a wonderful job in encouraging him and training him. He will eventually fly with us but needs to make another trip to Superfly.
Superfly was the right choice for me. By the way, I learned much by watching all of you fly, listening to your conversations and your answers to my questions. This knowledge certainly shortened the time I need to attain the skills for a P2."

[pink_albatross]

I heard good things about Eagle Paragliding in Santa Barbara. I myself learned at Torrey Pines and thought conditions and instructions were good, but that was years ago.
I can highly recommend going somewhere where the weather is consistent and the instructions is good.

However, I would not expect to get a P2 within one week as Randy has done. Unless, like Randy, you can do hours upon hours of kiting beforehand and maybe have a small hill to train on.
Two weeks is a more reasonable time frame. A lot of your HG knowledge will transfer - especially weather and aerodynamics related. However, your judgment of flying conditions and skills will have to be newly developed. Different sport.

Anyway I'm excited to hear you and Susan want to learn PG! I think it's a great sport for busy people. If you have long breaks in flying, you don't need to go back to the training hill for a day to get tuned in again. Just take it easy and don't fly in mid day conditions after a long hiatus.

In case you're looking for an exotic avenue to learn PG, maybe you can talk to Jim Rooney? As far as I know he is a USHPA instructor, so he could give you a rating. You could go to New Zealand for a PG course? And of course, like Dan, I loved Bulgaria, but while they can certainly train you (they speak english fluently), you can't earn a USHPA rating there.

-- ellis
p.s. what is this about PG training at Blue Sky? (the page with the details is broken)

[silverwings]

Kelvin,
I did most of my training in NZ near Nelson (a wonderful place) on the South Island, but also one day at Point of the Mtn which is a great hill. In NZ, you commonly will start flying the mountains in a couple of days! With Jim Rooney living in NZ (assuming he keeps his rating capability) that could work out good though he is down near Queenstown usually. Queenstown has some good flying sites. Doing a lot of kiting practice is extremely worthwhile, something I wish I did more of regularily. Also, flying and kiting at Torrey is great fun.

[TwoFly]

I used to instruct PG in Southern California, and was just there getting my H3.
send me note with a # if you'd like some in depth info on instructors and conditions back that way.
mark

[Danny Brotto]

Check Jim Rooney's blog... jimrooney.com. sounds like he injured his knee in a skiing accident (torn ACL.)

It is winter in NZ so maybe by summer he'll be repaired and ready to go.

Get better Jim!

Danny Brotto

[Kelvin Pierce]

Thank you all. I sincerely appreciate all of your feedback and recommendations!
Kelvin