Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended below a fabric wing. Wing shape is maintained by the suspension lines, the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing, and the aerodynamic forces of the air flowing over the outside.
Powered paragliding, also known as paramotoring or PPG, is a form of ultralight aviation where the pilot wears a back-pack motor which provides enough thrust to take off using a paraglider. It can be launched in still air, and on level ground, by the pilot alone—no assistance is required.
The Bernese Oberland, sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions. It constitutes the Alpine region of the canton and the northern side of the Bernese Alps, including many of its highest peaks, among which the Finsteraarhorn, the highest in both range and canton.
Hannes Arch was an Austrian pilot who competed in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship from 2007 to 2016. Arch won the World Championship in the 2008 season.
A glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against its lifting surfaces, and whose free flight does not depend on an engine. Most gliders do not have an engine, although motor-gliders have small engines for extending their flight when necessary by sustaining the altitude with some being powerful enough to take off by self-launch.
Eigerwand is a currently disused underground railway station on the Jungfrau railway, which runs to the Jungfraujoch from Kleine Scheidegg. The station is situated just behind the north wall of the Eiger, and its principal purpose was to allow passengers to observe the view through a series of windows carved into the rock face. Trains to Jungfraujoch used to stop at the station for five minutes.
Ulrich "Ueli" Maurer is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2009 to 2022. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2013 and 2019. Formerly head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports (2009–2015), Maurer has headed the Federal Department of Finance from 2016 to 2022. From 2019 to 2022, he was the longest-serving sitting member of the Federal Council.
Bruce Goldsmith is a British paraglider pilot, paraglider designer, and the 2007 Paragliding World Champion. He won the title at Manilla in Australia, flying an Airwave Magic FR3.
The Red Bull X-Alps is a paragliding race in which athletes must hike or fly 1,200 km across the Alps. It first launched in 2003 and has since taken place every other year. Around 30 athletes take part and must navigate their way via a predetermined set of turn points that vary with each race. Every kilometer must be covered either on foot or by paraglider. Teams consist of one athlete and one official supporter, whose role it is to provide technical advice, mental and nutritional support.
Ueli Gegenschatz was a Swiss BASE jumper, paraglider and skydiver who held several world records.
Speed-flying and speed-riding are advanced disciplines close to paragliding that use a small, high-performance non-rigid wing to quickly descend heights such as mountains. Speed flying and speed riding are very similar sports; speed flying is when the speed wing is foot-launched, while speed riding is a winter sport done on skis.
Walter Balmer was a Swiss international footballer. After his football career he became a high school teacher.
Advance Thun SA is a Swiss aircraft manufacturer based in Thun. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of paragliders, harnesses, paragliding carrying bags and paragliding clothing.
Albert Rösti is a Swiss businessman, lobbyist and politician who has been a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 1 January 2023. He previously presided over the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) from 2016 to 2020 and served as a member of the National Council for the canton of Bern from 2011 until 2022. Rösti resides in Uetendorf near Thun.
UP International GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturer based in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of paragliders in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft. The company started business as a hang glider manufacturer based in the United States.
Gavin Noll McClurg is an American paragliding pilot, adventurer and offshore sailor. As a paraglider, he pioneered a route over the Alaska Range along with Dave Turner, and completed several expeditions over remote areas across North America. As a sailor, he circumnavigated the Earth twice.
The Libero-Tarifverbund is a Swiss tariff network covering the canton of Bern and the southwestern part of the canton of Solothurn. It was established in December 2004 from the merger of the Bäre-Abi and Frosch-Abo tariff networks. The Zig-Zag network merged into Libero in 2014. With the merger of the Tarifverbund Berner Oberland ("BeoAbo"), covering the Bernese Oberland, in December 2019, the network covers the entire canton of Bern.
Werner Salzmann is a tax expert and politician of the Swiss Peoples' Party (SVP). He is a cantonal chief tax chief expert in the Canton of Bern, a former member of the National Council and a current member of the Council of States.
Tom de Dorlodot is a professional adventurer, paraglider pilot and public speaker. Born in Belgium, he is known for his exploratory journeys around the world, flying remote areas by paraglider and paramotor in places such as Pakistan, Madagascar and French Polynesia.
The X-Pyr is an international multi-day "hike-and-fly" paragliding endurance race. The competition route traverses the Pyrenees mountain range from west to east, starting near Hondarribia, Spain, on the Bay of Biscay and finishing near the France-Spain border along the Mediterranean Sea.
