High wind launches are a necessity for paragliding. If the window of launch wind speeds you are comfortable with is narrow, then the number of days you can safely launch will be few. And, that’s no fun! I am certainly no expert in high-wind paraglider launches, so I tried to learn as much as I could in the 2017 flying season, including adding the Cobra Launch to my repertoire. This video includes 3 launches. The first was about 15 mph, the 2nd and 3rd were about 18 mph. That last 3 mph makes a big difference! No matter the wind speed, the pilot absolutely has to keep the wing under control at all times. Be prepared to put the wing back on the ground at any moment if it starts to get away from you. It’s bad enough to get pulled back on a plateau launch, which could break a few bones. But, on a knife-edge ridge, that kind of nonsense will likely get you killed if you’re lifted off the ground and blown to the lee side rotor. This is more of a hey-look-what-I-did rather than an instructional video on paragliding high-wind launches are done. Launching in Idaho has the added difficulty of lots of weeds and volcanic rock to tangle and cut your lines which more developed (manicured) launches don’t have. It isn’t always possible to step to one side or the other to get into the wind, so you’ll see that sometimes you have to carefully fly the wing into position. Filmed with GoPro HERO Session Helmet mount Paraglider Wing: Tripleseven Rook 2 Five Armies by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/…) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-… Artist: http://incompetech.com/