Speed Riding
This picture was taken from: parapente.ffvl.fr
Speed riding is all about skiing and paragliding to exhilarating. Someone described speed riding as ‘falling down a mountain with grace’. Obviously this activity can be dangerous as coming down from a snow-covered mountain at 60mph might be risky. On the other hand, though, the combination of skiing and flying makes it as safe as only possible. Any time you see an obstacle, the only thing you need to do is to yank on a cord and the paragliding canopy above your head.
The sport is very popular in France. François Bon, a paraglider who co-invented the activity in 2003 says that “Speed riding is something that you can learn, slowly. It’s not something you have to throw yourself off the top of a mountain to try out.”
There are about 3,000-4,000 speed riders in the world. It’s got fans in New Zealand. America, Japan. However François Bon insists that the majority of the speed riding fans is in France.
“When we started many skydivers and paragliders wanted to try it,” he says, “but now it’s mostly skiers. They’re not used to flying or using canopies, but that’s no problem because it’s better to be a good skier than a good flier. The rest you can learn.” he said.
A new speed-rider will need a pair of skis, a helmet, goggles, a canopy, especially designed and related to the traditional paragliding rig and, of course, a mountain with plenty of snow.
