Florida is not normally associated with a serious paragliding destination, but my experience in 2015 changed all of that. Powered paragliding became an obsession for me early in the year, and
the idea of riding the rising columns of air had always seemed exciting. The only problem was, everyone I talked to about my great plans to soar on the afternoon lift told me I was crazy. Unsatisfied with the lack of answers, I knew it was just going to take some personal exploration.
While paragliding with my instructor, I noticed some birds soaring skyward and motored over to them. Just as I’d hoped, there was tons of lift, and up my wing took me up just like the vultures. My paragliding instructor was literally disappearing below me as I rocketed up with the afternoon thermals. If you are a powered paraglider, don’t miss out on catching some of these great columns of rising air.
As my altitude increased, the temperature decreased. As I climbed past 5,600 feet, it got really cold. Despite my freezing fingers, and chattering teeth, my time was a blast. My highest altitude was around 7300ft. This was a new personal record. As the sun set lower in the sky, I decided it was time to come down. I shut off the motor, took in the view, and smiled as I slowly glided down from above the clouds. This was of course, a time-consuming process, so the best way down is always spirals! The descent was so fast, it even fogged the camera lens!
Aside from stumbling and almost falling after landing, it was a perfect flight.
