"Danger for me, it's having a Boring life
This is Danger. It's bad, it's certainly Unhealthy
I think that's the True Meaning of Danger.
What I do overall, it's not dangerous
I'm doing stuff that I Love
I call it Living my Dream." 

— Alain Robert
The Real World Spider-man

Our Philosophy on Safety

“Is it better to live a long and miserable life doing what you don’t enjoy, so you can continue doing what you don’t enjoy? How would you really enjoy spending your Life?“ - Alan Watts

What would you do today if you discovered you only had three months left to live? Would your old body still be able to fulfill your dreams? What will it take for you to truly pursue those dreams while the door is still open? We all know that death is inevitable, but it's crucial to live life to the fullest while we still can. Courage and living vibrantly go hand in hand, while living in fear requires no effort at all. There is no certainty in life, except our death. When we realize that your life is precious, we will not waste time or money on superficial things, and we begin to live our life deeply with wonder and gratitude. In Zen, we say, “Die before you die so you can live.”

So, while you are still alive, is paragliding something you really want to do? Each person has their special talent that makes their heart fill up with joy. We, professional birds in Switzerland earn very little money, we gain little social status from it, licensing takes similarly as long as becoming a commercial jet airline pilot, and must survive much more dangerous flying experiences than commercial airline pilots. Paraglider pilots need to be tremendous lucky and must learn quickly in order to acquire high level safety skills to fly in the unpredictable mountain air of the terrifyingly beautiful Swiss Alps!

A typical childbirth is very dangerous, (1/500 lethality), 5 times as dangerous as base jumping (1/2500 lethality). Probably the most dangerous thing you are doing is sitting in a car. Sitting in a car for 947km (588miles) is equivalent to the risk of one skydiving jump. Most likely, paragliding risks are about the same, safer than childbirth or sitting in a car on your daily commutes. Here is an interesting article about the risks: https://chessintheair.com/the-risk-of-dying-doing-what-we-love/

When choosing a professional paragliding pilot, it's best to select one with acrobatic experience. These pilots are better equipped to handle extreme situations that might cause more conservative pilots to freeze or overreact. Weather forecasts in the Alps are unfortunately unreliable, and local winds in the high mountains are unpredictable, with factors like sharp terrain, humidity, and temperature changing wind direction and speed.

Many especially conservative pilots tend to over-trust the weather forecast and copy what the other pilots are doing to feel secure. As professional pilots, it is essential to focus independently on reading the sky, the birds, the trees, the terrain honing our intuition of the invisible air. Flying requires maximum awareness, curiosity, and sensitivity. Paragliding in the Alps aligns with an open meditative mindset, rather than the sensory suppression and a single focus needed to finish a marathon.

It is crucial for pilots to learn the skills necessary to fly safely even in very turbulent conditions in the Alps. Mountain weather can change suddenly, and forecasts models are remarkably inaccurate. Pilots who continue to advance their skills for the love of flight are quite rare, because flying close to the limit and facing difficult situations can be traumatic. Not every pilot has the appetite for progression to higher levels of awareness as acro pilots and test pilots are. Flying is lifelong challenging endeavor. Even for the seasoned pilots with decades of experience, the immense power of nature is awe inspiring and every flights offers a unique opportunity to learn and grow.

Very few pilots become acro pilots, those who have the courage to move forward in spite of fear, become intimately familiar with dangers and trained to withstand G-forces exceeding those experienced during a space launch. These few pilots understand that strength and skill come from exposure to incremental manageable risks. Avoiding risks can hinder growth and adaptability. Therefore, acrobatic pilots flying with passengers can maintain a greater margin of safety.

Tandem pilots also rely on passengers for safety. Factors like physical fitness, mental alertness, balance, and agility play a crucial role in reducing risks. A fearful, unfit, or unfocused passenger can increase the chances of injury. It's essential to follow the pilot's instructions and pay attention during take-off and landing. If you believe paragliding is dangerous, it's best not to participate. Your fear can multiply the risks for both you and the pilot. Only if you're willing to accept full responsibility for all the risks and still wish to experience the adventure of flying should you proceed.

Lack of gratitude, lack of compassion, and loneliness are greater predictors of early death than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. In my view, the greatest danger in life is not living your dreams! There are two types of people in the world. Those who know that every moment life is at risk, therefore risk to do something to be true to oneself. And those others who try to ignore that death can strike any moment, so do nothing..

“For those guys who are happy about just gliding and basically do those things they consider safe activities, they are probably in way bigger danger than the guys who are pushing like hell. Because those who are pushing hard, they progressed to a higher level and they have a higher routine. Even though they are flying more and they might risk more, but they are much more in training, so they can avoid those dangerous situations, or they know what to do when they get into one.”

- Pal Takats, World Champion, both Cross country and Acrobatic paraglider pilot