Paragliding Oludeniz

I have been paragliding since 2012, after wishing for many years to get into the sport but simply not being able to afford it or having the time. When I finally started in 2012 with Paragliding Mantra it was definitely a dream come true. Now in July of 2018 I joined TJ and the Paragliding Mantra team to do an SIV course. If you don’t know what this is, I’ll explain below. If you do, feel free to skip that bit.

SIV loosely translates to simulated in-flight incidents training. It means you’re going to be learning what to do when the glider looses it shape, or stops flying unintentionally. Quite an essential part of the sport if you are wanting to get further in it!

I flew in to Bodrum from home in the Middle East and continued by Dolmus, a turkish style shared taxi, to reach Oludeniz about 5 hours later. An impressive thunderstorm was overhead when I arrived, so I hadn’t missed any flying that day!

Next days we took to the Babadag mountain nice and early to try and get the first flight in. Conditions were super for the week but with the occasional half day of waiting around to get a flight in. Tailwind launches from the top of a 2000 m high mountain can be done but are not really recommended especially when training and or not completely familiar with the surroundings.

I got 13 flights in in 5 days, and practiced a whole series of maneouvers starting of with big ears, 360s gradually increasing into spirals, B-line stall, frontal collapse and of course assymmetrical collapses. Followed each time by a landing right at the beach of Oludeniz and perhaps a cold one to relax.

An epic experience that I would definitely recommend. Big thanks to the team of Paragliding Mantra and all the friends that came along and those I met there. Check out my video of this epic paragliding week in Turkey here!!