Hi friends, welcome back to my Switzerland series! Today I’ll be sharing part one of my favorite day of our trip. Today was the day I was finally going to accomplish my bucket list dream of paragliding for my 30th birthday. Thankfully the weather cooperated because I didn’t have any backup bucket list excursion. When planning our trip I knew I wanted to paraglide in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, so I found this experience through Viator. The listing had a great rating, free cancellation for up to 24 hours ahead of time, and the meeting point was relatively easy for us to get to. We took the train down to Lauterbrunnen from Wengen, a cable car from Laturenbrunnen to Grutschlap, and then a little train over from Grutschlap to Murren (all covered by our passes).
Jon and I got to Murren extra early so we walked around the picturesque town to kill time. I was more nervous about missing a train and being late than I was to paraglide. Jon dropped me off with my guide and then he took the cable cars down to meet at the landing point. I hiked up with my guide to the takeoff spot and he got the paraglider ready, explained the process of how to get in the air, and double checked that we were securely fastened to the harness and paraglider. I definitely felt more excited than nervous as we were standing ready to go.
In order to get airborne, you start jogging down the hill and then the paraglider catches the air. My guide told me to try to run as long as I could and not sit down in the harness until my feet weren’t touching the ground. On the first attempt we started jogging and the paraglider caught air and was pulling us back a little, so we started running harder to keep moving forward. My pilot was taller than me so I was off the ground while he was still running and then the wind shifted so we sort of tripped over each other and fell. I wasn’t spooked by this so he reset everything and we made our second attempt. This time in the beginning the paraglider didn’t fill up all the way with air, so we stopped and reset. Some other guides were up there so they were making sure it was all good during our takeoff, and as they say, third times a charm. We were starting to peacefully glide away from our takeoff spot.
The ride was so peaceful and smooth as we floated atop the Lauterbrunnen Valley. My guide had a GoPro to take all of these pictures and it’s a great souvenir to have for only 40CHF extra. At first I was holding onto the harness very tightly, but after taking pictures with my arms out I relaxed into my harness.
In the air it was so quiet except for the sound of our paraglider cutting through the air. My guide pointed out some of the main waterfalls and landmarks in the valley.
Such a neat perspective and more than I dreamed it would be!
My pilot asked if I wanted to steer or do any tricks, but after a few hiccups with the takeoff, I wasn’t going to take any chances. I wanted to peacefully enjoy every second of the roughly twenty-minute ride.
I could’ve stayed up in the air all day, but I could see Jon below getting bigger and bigger. I was impressed he could see me in the air to capture these pictures. When it was time to land, we gracefully put our feet down and stopped right where we were. I was expecting a crash landing, but it was incredibly smooth. After unclipping my guide airdropped me the pictures and we were on our way. It was such an amazing experience and I’m so happy I was able to do it! I’d also recommend this company to anyone looking to paraglide in Switzerland. The communication beforehand was great, and my guide was prepared and made me feel safe.
I know this kind of excursion isn’t for everyone, but if you’re on the fence, it was such a peaceful, steady, and smooth ride down to the valley. The takeoff spot is also not anywhere close to the edge of the cliff, so it’s not like the action movies where you run, jump, and hope for the best. It’s very safe and the guide has a backup parachute if anything goes wrong. I’d definitely consider more paragliding adventures on our trips. I was on cloud nine after my paragliding experience, but the day was only getting better! Stay tuned for our favorite hike of the trip 🙂
