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Paragliding courses in the Pyrenees

The Pyrenees are a fantastic location for paragliding; with soaring peaks and deep valleys to cruise above, and stable weather conditions guaranteeing a flight virtually every day. Cool mornings and warm afternoons lead to predictable and reliable thermals rising up the mountain sides - a dream for vultures and paragliders alike!

The Barèges valley is unusual in the Pyrenees for its East-West trend, avoiding the afternoon winds that plague the main North-South valleys of the range. For this reason, and also because of the numerous ski access roads to high take-off points, the "Ecole de Parapente de Barèges" (Barèges Paragliding School) is based here and has been running successful courses and introductory jumps since 1988. Stay with us and get your paragliding licence at our recently renovated house in the lively village of Barèges, only 5 minutes from the paragliding school. We will help you arrange your paragliding course and offer the highest quality accommodation in the area - spacious en-suite bedrooms, sauna, equipment room, lounge and patio garden. Great food. B&B, half board or full-board options. Local transport and airport transfers from Pau are also available.

Paragliding is available both in Winter and in Summer - as a one-off taster tandem jump, as a discovery course of 1-5 days, which includes on-ground paragliding training and tandem jumps, or as 5-10 day introductory training courses working towards solo flights with an instructor always in contact. For more advanced pilots, the paragliding perfection courses of 5-10 days work towards complete autonomy and the pilots license. The Bareges paragliding school also provides cross-mountain training for long-distance flights, and overseas schools in Spain (September) and Morocco (October).

Paragliding Prices and Dates

(2006 prices)

Taster tandem jumps (Winter and Summer, year round)

Tandem paragliding jumps are also available from other sites including the Pic d'Ayre, Pic du Midi and Hautacam, as well as Aucun and Couraduque in the Lavedan valley.

Discovery afternoon - ground training then tandem jump (June-Sept)

Gaining your paragliding licence - a series of 5 day training courses - introduction to perfection (June-Sept)

A paragliding licence is obtained in several stages. Your initial licence "brevet initateur" follows two weeks of introductory training to allow solo flights with an instructor supervising by radio. The second stage of training will give you an autonomous pilot's licence "diplome pilote" (three to five weeks additional training depending on the individual). There are furthur courses for competition flying, or instructor training and assessment for the "pilote confirme" licence.

Insurance for paragliding courses can be purchased through the paragliding school and is priced at 24 euros for the course, or 42 euros for the year (this covers flights with the school only; private insurance will be considerably more expensive).

The Barèges paragliding school is located at Tournaboup - around 5 minutes drive from our accommodation in Barèges village. If you are interested in an all-inclusive paragliding holiday, please contact us for a quote.