No matter what the reason:
- a wish to experience something different,
- eternal human desire to fly free like an eagle,
- or you are passionate mountaineer who would crown a strenuous ascent with a simple, effortless glide to the valley;
- or you are considering trying paragliding but are not convinced, whether it is the right thing for you;
we will be happy to assist you and make your wish come true.
What will your impressions be, we can not say - the nature of your wish and your personality are the factors which will determine your experience. But one thing we do know – no matter what you feel, you will not forget it soon. Depending on your wishes, we will take off in a tandem paraglider from a maintained or a non-maintained high mountain takeoff.
When a tandem paraglider flight is possible?
We perform tandem paraglider filghts all days in the week, all year round. The only limitation are weather conditions – our concern number one is security of our passengers and our pilots, so we do not fly if the weather conditions are not suitable for flying. If you are interested in a tandem flight with paraglider, we would advice you to contact us a few days before your scheduled day. That way it is much more probable, that your flight will be on the exact day that you would like it to be.
Who may fly in a tandem paraglider?
Almost any person with normal health conditions may take a tandem paraglider flight. This goes for children only few years old as well as for active senior individuals with a healthy dose of curiosity and wish for adventure. No previous experience or special fitness or physical predispositions are necessary for tandem paraglider flight. All you need is a wish and determination to do it, everything else is provided for and explained to you by your pilot before the take off.
The choice of the equipment (size of the glider, size of the harness/ seat) depends upon the size and weight of the passenger. Therefore we kindly ask you, to inform us if you are especially petit (children and individuals that weigh less than 50 kg) or especially strong (individuals that weigh more than 110 kg). We would also ask of you to inform us about any significant health issue, so that we may arrange the flight accordingly or think about another solution.
Group flights
If you are a group of people or just a couple and would like to be in the air together, please let us know when making a reservation, so that we try to arrange the schedule accordingly. Group flights or flight that is given as a present via our voucher, may add lots of extra fun to celebration of a birthday, other anniversaries, or to other gatherings of colleagues and friends.
Take off locations
We perform tandem flights from maintained takeoffs and from non-maintained takeoffs located on or close to high mountain peaks. Even though the flying itself might appear to be similar the experiences are quite different. Maintained takeoffs are accessed by vehicle and by a short walk, takeoffs in high mountains are remote and require an ascent that may take from one to few hours. Taking off from high mountains is more demanding, due to the configuration of the terrain of takeoff itself, as well as due to faster changing and more selective weather conditions that still enable safe flying. That is why we recommend you first make a flight from a maintained takeoff, during which you and your pilot go together through the take off and in flight procedures and get to know each other, before venturing to some of the takeoffs in high mountains.
Among maintained takeoffs we fly mostly from those,
- that are located close to Ljubljana and Kranj (Krvavec, Ambrož pod Krvavcem, Gozd nad Golnikom),
- around the Lake of Bohinj (Vogel, Vogar, Studor),
- in the Soča valley (Mangrt, Planja nad Bovcem, Kuk nad Kobaridom, Kobariški Stol, Kobala nad Tolminom) and
- in the Valley of Vipava (Lijak ob Novi Gorici in kovk nad Ajdovščino).
Flights from other takeoffs are possible as well but need to be arranged beforehand.
Among non-maintained takeoffs in high mountains we fly mostly from
- Karavanken mountains (Kriška gora, Stol, Košuta ridge, Storžič) and
- from Julian Alps between Pokljuka and Triglav (Debela Peč, Viševnik, Tosc).
Depending on your wishes and mountaineering abilities, we may choose some other high mountain destination as well. As already mentioned, flights from non-maintained takeoffs in high mountains are preceded by ascent, difficulty of which depends upon the chosen route and momentary conditions in the mountains and therefore may require suitably experienced and equipped mountaineer.
Equipment
All the necessary equipment including the helmet is provided to you by your pilot. You have to take care of suitable clothing and footwear. Temperatures in the air might be significantly lover than on the ground, so it is important to have some warm clothing (wind jacket; sweater; during spring, late autumn and winter gloves and thin cap).
Your pilot will tell you on the takeoff what of the mentioned you will need to take with you in the air.
Footwear should be stable and protect your ankles – hiking shoes are good choice, sneakers are less suitable. Sunglasses and camera might be handy – please do not forget to equip them with a line, so that they may be connected to you or to your harness.
Duration of the flight
Duration of the flight depends upon takeoff location and weather conditions. The flights are longer if the conditions are thermal, if soaring winds are present or in the case of bigger height differences between the takeoff and landing and there is a possibility that you will go for a short cross country flight. In absence of thermals and soaring winds the flights are shorter but in general much smoother. Duration of average flight may be anywhere between fifteen and forty five minutes.
Safety
Safety of tandem paragliding flight is predominantly influenced by weather conditions, level of skill and experience of the pilot and quality of the flying equipment. When flying a tandem paraglider in appropriate conditions, with trained pilot and with technically flawless equipment the risk involved is no higher than the risk when participating in other aerial activities.
At 4Dsports the safety is written with big letters. Our pilots log more than 300 flights annually, roughly one fifth of them being from non-maintained high mountain take-offs, during all four seasons of the year. All our pilots are licensed by Civil Aviation Directorate of Ministry of Traffic of Republic Slovenia.
They fly modern paragliders and are together with passenger in flight equipped with complete protective equipment. If the weather is not suitable for flying or fast changing conditions prevail, or if the flying conditions are in any other way doubtful, we remain on the ground and reschedule the flights for the next appropriate term. Everything mentioned above enables us to keep the safety standards at the highest possible level.
Reservation
The easiest way to make a reservation is to call us at +386 41 754 370 or to send us a message via contact form. In the case of reservation by e-mail we will contact you back, to confirm your reservation and arrange the necessary details. Even though it occurs rarely, the date and hour of your flight may be changed until you receive our final confirmation.
We kindly ask you to be on meeting point at arranged time – your possible delay may cause delays or even cancellations of your or other flights. If you are, due to changing weather, not convinced whether your flight will take place, please check with us
- between 8:00 and 8:30 for morning flights and
- between 12:00 and 12:30 for afternoon flights.