Paragliding in Almaty
An hour from a city with direct flights from half of Europe, there is a plateau at 1,750 m that works from April to October.
Almaty is the easiest serious flying in Central Asia to get to. Direct flights from most of Europe, Turkey, the Gulf and China; a paved road almost all the way to the main launch; and the Zailiysky Alatau — the northern wall of the Tien Shan — rising four kilometres straight out of the steppe behind the city.
That convenience has a price, and it is airspace. You are flying beside a major international airport, and the usable corridors here are narrower than anywhere in Kyrgyzstan. We brief the boundaries every morning and we treat them as boundaries.
Two different visitors, two different sites
If you have never flown, a certified pilot flies and you sit in front. If you have your own wing and a rating, what you want from us is a vehicle, a driver who knows which tracks exist, a radio on your frequency and an honest airspace briefing.
The trip nobody else runs
Almaty and Karakol are on opposite ends of the same mountain system, four hours apart by road, in two countries with different weather. Twelve days across both is the one itinerary you cannot buy from a single-country operator, and it is the reason a bad week in one place stops being a ruined holiday. It is on the XC page.
First flight
You have never flown and do not own a wing. A certified pilot flies, you sit in front.
from $170
For pilots
You have a rating, a wing and an instrument. Guided XC, vol-biv, or retrieval bought by the day.
Season
| Month | Expected | Good for | ✈ Expected | ✈ Logged by us |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | Ushkonyr opens. Clean weak thermals, green steppe, cool air. The best month of the year for a first flight and a poor one for distance. | first flights | 4–5 of 7 | not logged yet |
| May | Strengthening and less stable. Good XC days appear; so do the first thunderstorm afternoons. | pilots and first flights | 4–5 of 7 | not logged yet |
| June | Strong, early, and blown out by afternoon more often than not. Launch before 11:00 or do not launch. Assy becomes reachable towards the end of the month. | pilots and first flights | 4–5 of 7 | not logged yet |
| July | Hottest and most violent. Big climbs, big overdevelopment, short usable windows. Almaty city is 35 °C+, so flights leave early and finish before lunch. | pilots and first flights | 3–5 of 7 | not logged yet |
| August | Like July, calming towards the end. Second half of August starts to be good again. | pilots and first flights | 4–5 of 7 | not logged yet |
| September | The month to come. Stable, clear, still warm, apples and melons in the markets, and the European season is over so you are not choosing this instead of the Alps. | pilots and first flights | 5–6 of 7 | not logged yet |
| October | First three weeks. Short midday window, spectacular light on the range, cold at height. Tandem season effectively ends here. | first flights | 3–4 of 7 | not logged yet |
| November – March | No thermal season. Some local pilots fly dynamic and speedfly at the ski areas; we do not sell it. | closed | — | not logged yet |
Answers
- How much does paragliding in Almaty cost?
- Where do you paraglide near Almaty?
- When is the best time to paraglide in Almaty?
- What is the airspace situation for pilots near Almaty?
- Almaty or Kyrgyzstan — where should a visiting pilot go?
- Is paragliding in Almaty safe?
- Does travel insurance cover paragliding in Kazakhstan?
- How does retrieval work near Almaty?
Tell us your dates
Send the dates you are in the country and we will come back with the slots that have the best chance of usable air. A person reads it and answers within one working day.
Or just get the season report
One email at the end of each season with the flyable days we actually logged, and one more if the SIV course opens. Nothing else, ever.