Paragliding in Innsbruck

Certain regions of the world are known for being into extreme sports. Innsbruck, Austria is no exception. Nearby is one of the highest bungee jumps in the world. The Alps provide extreme skiing and snowboarding for winter sports enthusiasts. And it is one of the top spots for paragliding.

I’m still a little squeamish with heights, despite crazy stunts like the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, bungee jumping in Cairns and riding in an open door helicopter in Hawaii. I was talked into going paragliding after watching videos that my hostelmates took when they did it the day before.

I told Jamie, who works at Doug’s Mountain Getaway, that I was interested, he immediately called Mountain Fly and arranged a pickup of 4 pm the next day. It gave me most of the day to work up the courage to go through with it.

Raimund, a 20 year paragliding veteran, picked me up at the hostel and we took the lift to the top of the mountain. I was strapped into what looked like a mix between a chair and a backpack. There were lots of other paragliders gathered at the top so I watched them all go down first. I brought my own GoPro, which he clipped onto my wrist for safekeeping.

He told me to start running down the hill and suddenly we were floating. I wasn’t really scared of the heights because nothing looked real. The tiny houses looked like pieces from a model train set. I asked if anyone ever gets to the top of the hill and decides not to do it. Raimund said no, although a girl did stop breathing in the air once. Good to know.

If You Go

Mountain Fly operates paragliding in both summer and winter, but check their website above for specific times. You can bring your own camera if it is relatively small and has a strap. Alternatively, they can take footage on their helmet mounted GoPro cameras. It costs 95 euro and takes around 30 minutes.