Winch wakeboarding? Sorry, you're having fun. Stop it!

[BoristheBiter]

How do you get up to 200k's?

Get the fireman to cut the suspension lines.

[blairnz]

He does. Whakatane area.

Cool. How is Whatakane for kite boarding? What do you ride with?

He is. Might change it back yet.

Both are interesting choices.

[CookMySock]

Paragliding is towed by a boat yeah?

No, thats parasailing = sitting in an armchair being dragged around a lake. Boring!

How do you get up to 200k's?

You roll the wing onto its' side, accelerate, and then point the bitch at the ground and be afraid. Very afraid. Cue steep spiral dive and 6G,

Or is it, the person swinging in a spiral is traveling at an equivalent of 200k ground speed in a circle?

There is nothing "equivalent" about it. 200 clicks and 6Gs. Thats it. Fuck this up and bounce 50 meters into the air on touchdown.

Or is paragliding the one where you jump off a hill?

There is no "jumping" per se. Youtube search "paragliding launches" and you will see the launch is stride off down the slope, and not a "jump". Any jump, and cue very rapid collapse/stall/spin/die.

As an aside, how has the move from enticing kids with icecreams, to arborist gone?

Gotta pay the bills and feed the thrills. Two different things.

Cool. How is Whatakane for kite boarding? What do you ride with? Both are interesting choices.

Sup! Learner to experienced Kite boarding here is good in the ohiwa harbour in any NW conditions, and ok along the beach in WNW to ENE. Travel to Rotorua for S conditions. Yeah KS is an ideal accompaniment to PG. Both will kick your arse really hard if you are not fully awake, which of course is the whole point. If you like cornering a bike really harrrrd, you will love paragliders.

I don't say who I go Paragliding with, because morons scrape this information off public forums and misuse it to make our life difficult. If punters are genuinely interested, send me a PM and I'll organise an intro.

[schrodingers cat]

There is a bloke with an irrigation storage pond beside SH1 south of Ashburton who has installed a winch and jumps etc for wakeboarding/water skiing/whatever

Good effort I say

[blairnz]

I don't say who I go Paragliding with, because morons scrape this information off public forums and misuse it to make our life difficult. If punters are genuinely interested, send me a PM and I'll organise an intro.

Paragliding looks awesome. I can't believe I've never considered it. I had a quick look online and saw there are a few schools here in Auckland. Do you have a PG2 certificate? I can imagine I could kill myself with this sport, but I can add that to the kitesurfing, free climbing, and motorcycling list of things my mother may disapprove of.

[Drew]

Do you have a PG2 certificate?

He failed the tree climbing section of the practical test.

[CookMySock]

Paragliding looks awesome. I can't believe I've never considered it. I had a quick look online and saw there are a few schools here in Auckland. Do you have a PG2 certificate? I can imagine I could kill myself with this sport, but I can add that to the kitesurfing, free climbing, and motorcycling list of things my mother may disapprove of.

The main thing about it is how many different avenues there are to explore - each of them could take ten years to learn well. It's also cheap - ride at the beach = free, whole day on the winch = $20. Currently I'm starting on acro and then cross country. Yes, I'm PG2, working on my advanced, and then my assistant instructors rating. And yes, its not called "adventure sport" for no reason. About as risky as riding a big road bike fast on the track, or being a dick on the road - mostly you will be fine, but fuckups are not very forgiving.

Take some advice and ask for a trial day before you choose a school - they are completely different in character and in purpose.

Also realise that this can take up to a year to get your ticket, and many of the lessons you will learn are nothing to do with paragliding.

[blairnz]

The main thing about it is how many different avenues there are to explore - each of them could take ten years to learn well. It's also cheap - ride at the beach = free, whole day on the winch = $20. Currently I'm starting on acro and then cross country. Yes, I'm PG2, working on my advanced, and then my assistant instructors rating. And yes, its not called "adventure sport" for no reason. About as risky as riding a big road bike fast on the track, or being a dick on the road - mostly you will be fine, but fuckups are not very forgiving.

Take some advice and ask for a trial day before you choose a school - they are completely different in character and in purpose.

Also realise that this can take up to a year to get your ticket, and many of the lessons you will learn are nothing to do with paragliding.

Thanks for the info and advice. I'll look to do my PG1 in October once I'm back from my sea kayaking/kite surfing holiday in Turkey and travelling around Europe. I'll ask for trial days at the various schools around. I'm surprised by the sheer amount of schools around Auckland.