the.com/paraglider
a backpack that turns mountains into runways and gravity into a polite suggestion
means a lightweight, foldable fabric wing — flown while seated in a harness — that lets a person launch on foot from a slope and glide unpowered through the air.
from A modern compound: "para-" borrowed from "parachute," itself French for "guard against a fall" (from Italian "parare," to shield, plus French "chute," a fall), wedded to "glider," from Old English "glīdan," to move smoothly. The craft itself emerged in the late 20th century, when adventurers realized a steerable parachute could be coaxed into sustained soaring rather than mere descent — and the word followed close behind.
- folds up
- entire aircraft fits in a hiking backpack
- altitude record
- pilots have soared above 24,000 feet
- no engine
- climbs using rising columns of warm air
- slowest aircraft
- can fly at jogging speed
- distance feat
- flights have crossed over 350 miles unpowered
felix baumgartner — austrian paraglider who jumped from 39km altitude in 2012, breaking sound barrier
everest paragliding — paragliders launching from mount everest's south col at 8,000m since 1990s
cloud base record — paraglider robert harris reached 12,894m altitude in thermal over california in 2012