Gaisberg Mountain and Watching the Paragliders Launch

Every weekend in Salzburg we see the most colourful display of paragliders off in the distance and it is a very popular adventure sport over here, in fact the mountain that they launch off is Gaisberg Mountain and we can see this mountain now directly from our balcony.

Ben suggested on Sunday to catch the bus up there and have a look which is what we did.

The 151 bus was only a 30 minute ride up to the top and half way up a dozen or so animated and clearly excited paragliders with their packs all jumped on the bus.

Once at the top there were so many directions you could go but we decided to follow the majority of the people with the packs to a launch site.

It was a very social experience and they all seemed to know each other and help each other lay out their equipment and untangle the ropes and clip onto their packs. I was excited for them while they were analysing the wind direction and assessing the conditions.

The launch site was a large grassy area with a stunning view and a good clearing in between the trees. Once they are ready to go they run as fast as they can towards the ledge and the wind catches in the paraglider wing and lifts them up into the air and gliding out over the valley below.

We watched several gliders take off and one fail and then re launch and decided we definitely want to give this a go.

There was a restaurant and cafe at the top and some colourful deck chairs for patrons to sit in and look at the view. The menu looked fantastic with lots of cakes and drinks and sweets but it was absolutely booked out and we decided not to wait but instead went and sat and relaxed by the view.

We decided to walk a section down the mountain to one of the main bus stops and it was an easy 40 minute walk. The terrain was all loose rock so I may be purchasing some good hiking boots before the next walk.