Panorama is magical 

It’s where the winter and the wild meets warmth and welcome. It’s a mountain resort and an alpine village, tucked deep into Canada’s oldest mountains. It’s not just another resort with great skiing and riding. There’s more to the mountains up here and loads of adventurous activities just waiting to be discovered. This is where the best winter memories are made – www.PanoramaResort.com

One of these activities is Paragliding on the ski hill.
Launching, flying and landing on skis in stable winter conditions is fun and gives you a different perspective of the ski hill. The flights are not only long glides into the valley, as soon as February you can get your first one hour flights of the year and as early as March we see pilots do their first XC flights from Panorama to Invermere or Mt. Swansea.

Some facts in short:

  • 2,380m (7,800 feet) Summit height
    • Summit takeoff to landing site gives you
      1110 m or 3650 ft height difference
    • Champagne Express – above Elkhorn Cabin takeoff to landing site gives you 770 m or 2560 ft height difference
  • Paragliding friendly Skiing & Mountain Resort
  • Host of the Panorama Paragliding meet – details at Events page
  • Single day Paraglider ticket for $40.00 (plus tax)
  • *Available only on flyable days available to pilots only who are flying. Please do not abuse this great deal!

Requirements

  • Novice Rating (P2 rating) – with high alpine flying experience
  • HPAC  membership and liability insurance
  • Paragliding only – NO Speedwing or miniwing flying,
  • Access to launch sites only possible with skies or snowboard.
  • All pilots to sign the 2022/2023 waiver
  • Pilots are required to get in touch with Max or Penny Powers  to get the waiver forms for the 2022/2023 season.
    E-mail max@flyingMax.com the following information:
    • HPAC membership number, expiry date and rating
    • State how long you are flying and what your experience is.
    • Wing color, brand and model

Please respect the following:

  • Before heading up the mountain for the day send an email to ski.patrol@panoramaresort.com with your name, cell and HPAC number, type and color of wing.
  • Contact and notify RK Heliski at 250 342-3889 of our activity of the day… they will keep an extra eye out for us.
  • No flying over the bottom high-speed Chair (Mile 1 Quad) area at all (see picture below)
    • No landings at the village.
  • Cross lifts with at least 150 feet – please do not buzz the lifts!
  • Only take off on designated launch sites – see map.
    • No launches after 3:15 pm
    • Keep in mind the skier/borders safety and give them room.
  • Only land on designated landing site
    or on Golf course if it gets to windy.
  • Pilots need to have skis or a snowboard to get a ride with the lift.

Panorama launch sites

We have 3 Launch sites.

  • First choice and most used launch site is on the “Roller Coaster” run – besides the Champagne Express chair lift and about 50 meters above the Elkhorn Cabin or just below the outhouses (2560ft or 770m vertical).  
    This is an easy and shallow launch site and accommodates up to 5 gliders facing NW.
  • Summit “Top of the World” run (1110m vertical)
    Is a narrow and nice gradual getting steeper launch site and ideal if the wind is very light and coming in straight from the northwest.
    This is a narrow launch getting wider and only allows up to 3 wings to be set up. Please make sure to give plenty of room for the skiers coming from the summit.
  • Summit “Roy’s” run (1110m vertical)
    is a steep narrow launch (up to 3 gliders) facing W to SW.
    This can be a tricky launch site due the steep slope to set up your wing.
    Do not set up you wing on top of Roy’s run were people ski down the “easy way road” as this will be conflicting with the ski traffic.

Launching Tip:
The launch at the shallow “Roller Coaster” ski run launch site is what we recommend to fly off most of the time as it is wide open and is more favourable for the local winds.
This launch is shallow and on skis you will not have the same initial power to inflate your glider like by foot and give it more time to accelerate for takeoff. We recommend to ski into the loose lines and hold your front risers above your shoulders to inflate the wing.  The acceleration is also very slow compared by foot launches, so keep your chest forward (after your glider is already well above you)  and give it some time to create the necessary takeoff speed. Do not try to take off by pulling your break lines right away as the canopy will stall with the little speed you have.
The launch areas are only accessible with skis/snowboard and therefore we launch with skis/snowboards.  Respect and watch for skiers/snowboarders before you launch.

*Click here for the Panorama Trail map for more detailed information.

Take off from the regular launch site

Takeoff from “Roy’s” run

Takeoff from “Top of the World” run

Landing

The designated landing field, is the Golf Driving Range and is located about 50m above the triple chair lift
(see the lowest icon on the map below).
If the wind should be coming to strong from the west (you should not be flying anyways) land on the golf course below as the regular landing site will be very turbulent and in rotor.

panoramaSkiLaunchMap

Video to show the takeoff and the landing field from the wing.

Flying Suggestions

Here are a few suggestions which may be of use to those unfamiliar with flying a Paraglider at Panorama. They are based on the experience of Paraglider pilots who have been flying the area. There is no guarantee that you will be safe even if you follow all these guidelines.

Panorama is very protected from south and north winds aloft due the high mountain ridges to the north and south. Stating that, you still need to be aware and well informed of the wind tendency during the day.

Light westerly winds are fine as long they do not overtake the valley winds. The valley wind is from the East and ideal to land at the “Driving Range”.
Once the west winds get to strong, it is not save to land at the “Driving Range” and we advise to land on the golf course.
Be aware that the winds at the bottom of the valley can be significantly stronger than higher up due the ventury effect of the narrow valley.

Continually keep an eye on the aloft wind direction and strength and on the ground, as indicated by the flags, snowflakes, cloud drift, thermal drift, etc. Panorama is known for sudden changes in wind speed and direction.

NOTE:
Please do whatever you can to enhance a positive image of our sport.
We do have a very good relationship with the resort and would like to maintain this for the future.

Happy landings

Max & Penny