Pablo´s Acrobatic Advice
Pablo López - Aventurarse Expert

Paragliding is a young sport. It's limits and possibilities are rediscovered every day. One of the newest trends, the one that provides the most aesthetic enjoyment, is acrobatics. Acrobatics is usually seen as paragliding's most extreme variation. If paragliding is an extreme sport, the acrobatic maneuvers it contains would mean a risk on top of another, and therefore only for people of certain characteristics.

Why perform acrobatics?

Sometimes, the term acrobatics, in paragliding, is seen as the end of the road. Big mistake. Learning the acrobatic maneuvers is not "craziness". It can be learnt in a methodic way. The only thing completely necessary is to know how to fly. The next step is to take it seriously and not try to skip stages. Besides, it is not necessary to dedicate your life to this activity in order to learn.

It is a sensation that captivates me, and keeps on captivating me every day. For anyone who flies it can mean an important plus, in order to have a couple of tricks up your sleeve for flying in general.

Here is some advice to understand this more completely. I hope it will be useful for pilots and flying lovers in general.

1. In the beginning, acrobatics can mean an extra risk, but once you gain experience, it does not; its exactly the opposite. With enough knowledge, you can count on more options when found in a turbulent situation. It can be learnt in a gradual way, and therefore limit this risk. Why? Because the greatest danger is the unknown. I must admit that I took more risks than necessary.

2. Introduction to this activity must be made through courses with professionals. It is the only way to learn what to do in the adequate place and time. Aside from being safer, it is also faster. Frequently, people who know how to fly want to learn the maneuvers by themselves. Disappointingly, it is far from being recommendable. It is necessary for someone to orient you on what to do, when and how to do it.

3. Respect the surroundings and height. Height gives you the chance to open your reserve parachute. It needs time to open and time means height. Below 60 meters there is a real risk of it not opening. Above 1000 meters you know everything is under control. Acrobatics make you loose height rapidly, so after every maneuver you must open your eyes and control your environment.

4. It is convenient to try acrobatics above water and with the aid of a rescue boat, aside from, of course, keeping to a considerable height. The experienced acrobat will usually perform on top of mountains and relatively near the ground. Whoever sees this might think, "Is this the way to try that out?" Big mistake. An acrobat with years of experience performs at about 200 meters from the ground. But whoever is watching doesn't know that for years he practiced above 1000 meters and descended gradually. As fascinating as it can be, no one should strive at imitation, but should instead aim at methodic learning.

5. An audience can be a problem. Anyone who performs acrobatics wants to show them off. This is understandable because it combines voltage with aesthetics, but one should not get carried away by a crowd; this could lead to rash decisions.

6. You must have a method and ask yourself what maneuver you want to perform before you go ahead with it. The routine must be laid out in your mind before starting. The next step is to gain height, locate yourself and concentrate. Then you can go ahead with the plan. As there is a great amount of possible maneuvers, when lacking a method, ideas can mix. No! Danger! This is one of the most frequent errors.

7. If a maneuver doesn't work, respect your limits. You shouldn't think, "I'll try until it works!" "It worked, I'll try something harder now," is another mistake. This can be hard because you might feel you're being limited. But as you succeed at a routine, one maneuver will lead to another, because most movements are combinations of other movements.

Summing up

The subject of acrobatics is very wide, it contains things we haven't even learnt yet. But this does not imply a limitation. If you fly, but have not learn acrobatics, you probably have less security resources than someone who has.

A curious detail

If I mention a Safety Course, people come confident and reassured, if I instead call it an Acrobatics Course, people are visibly scared. They are exactly the same thing.