Paragliding
From the Dream of Flight to Tahtalı Mountain
The dream of flying has inspired people for centuries, but modern paragliding began to take shape in Europe during the late 1970s. Early pioneers discovered that specially designed parachutes could be launched by running from mountain slopes, creating a new and remarkably simple form of foot-launched free flight.
Over the following decades, developments in aerodynamics, wing design, lightweight materials, harnesses and safety equipment transformed these early experiments into modern paragliding.
Pilots were no longer limited to simply descending from a mountain. By using rising air currents and thermals, paragliders became capable of gaining altitude, remaining airborne for extended periods and travelling significant distances across the landscape.
This evolution established paragliding as an internationally practiced form of free flight and eventually opened the way for another important development: *tandem paragliding*.
What Is Tandem Paragliding?
Tandem paragliding is a form of paragliding in which two people fly together under one specially designed tandem paraglider: a qualified tandem pilot and a passenger.
Unlike solo paragliding, the passenger does not need previous paragliding experience or pilot training. The tandem pilot controls the paraglider throughout the take-off, flight and landing, while the passenger follows the pilot’s instructions and experiences the flight.
Pilot and passenger are connected to the tandem wing through individual harnesses and a dedicated tandem system. Before take-off, the pilot checks the equipment, evaluates the conditions and gives the passenger a briefing about the take-off procedure, flight and landing.
When conditions are suitable, pilot and passenger normally begin the flight by taking several coordinated steps or running together from the mountain slope. As the wing generates lift, they leave the ground and the tandem flight begins.
This development made the experience of paragliding accessible to people who had never previously flown a paraglider.
From Solo Free Flight to a Shared Experience
The development of tandem equipment changed the way people could experience paragliding.
What had originally been an activity primarily accessible to trained solo pilots could now be experienced together with a professional tandem pilot.
Modern tandem paragliding brings together many elements developed throughout the history of the sport: aerodynamics, meteorology, pilot training, specialised tandem wings, harness systems, protective equipment and carefully selected take-off and landing areas.
Geography also plays an important role.
Mountains with substantial altitude differences, suitable meteorological conditions and accessible take-off areas have developed into distinctive paragliding destinations around the world.
And this is where the story connects naturally with the Mediterranean coast of Türkiye.
Paragliding Meets the Mediterranean
Türkiye’s mountainous geography and extensive coastline provide a remarkable natural environment for paragliding.
Along the Mediterranean coast, the Taurus and Beydağları mountain ranges rise dramatically close to the sea. This creates an unusual landscape where high mountains, forests and the Mediterranean coastline can all become part of a single flight experience.
One of the most distinctive locations in this geography is “Tahtalı Mountain”, located in the Kemer region of Antalya.
Rising to 2,365 metres above sea level*, Tahtalı Mountain – historically associated with Mount Olympos – offers an exceptional combination of a high-altitude mountain take-off and Mediterranean coastal scenery.
The summit is accessible by the “Olympos Cable Car”, which connects the lower part of the mountain with the 2,365-metre summit.
For tandem paragliding, this creates an unusual journey: travelling from near the Mediterranean coastline to the summit of a mountain and then returning toward the coast through the air.
Tahtalı Mountain and Escape Adventures
For *Escape Adventures*, the evolution of paragliding and the geography of Tahtalı Mountain come together in one experience.
Escape Adventures operates professional tandem paragliding flights from the 2,365-metre summit of Tahtalı Mountain in Kemer, Antalya.
The experience begins in the Kemer and Tekirova region and continues with the journey toward Tahtalı Mountain. Guests reach the summit via the Olympos Cable Car before preparing for their tandem flight with a professional licensed pilot.
At the summit, the pilot evaluates the flight conditions, prepares the tandem equipment and explains the take-off procedure to the passenger.
When conditions are suitable, pilot and passenger take off together from Tahtalı Mountain and begin their flight toward the Mediterranean.
During the flight, the landscape opens from the mountains and forests of Beydağları Coastal National Park toward the Mediterranean coastline.
Depending on visibility, weather and the flight route, passengers may see Tekirova, Phaselis, Çıralı, the surrounding Mediterranean bays and the Three Islands before continuing toward the landing area near Tekirova Beach.
From the First Paragliders to Tahtalı Today
Paragliding has evolved enormously since the pioneering mountain flights of the late 1970s.
Wing technology has advanced. Equipment has developed. Pilot training has become increasingly structured. Tandem paragliding has allowed people without previous flight experience to discover free flight together with professional pilots.
Yet one fundamental idea has remained unchanged throughout this evolution:
*taking off from a mountain and experiencing the world from the air.*
At Escape Adventures, that idea continues from one of the Mediterranean’s remarkable mountain landscapes – *Tahtalı Mountain at 2,365 metres above sea level*.
From the early development of solo paragliding to modern tandem flight, and from the summit of Tahtalı Mountain toward the Mediterranean coast, the same human fascination with flight continues.