Paragliding Lions Head – How & When

How should you paraglide from Lions Head and when should you?

Whether you are a beginner paraglider or already built up some good flying hours. Having some insider tips can be helpful for turning from Novice to Pro in no time. This is why we have created a series of blog articles in the hopes that we can educate all of our new and first-time paragliding pilots.

How & When to paraglide from Lions Head

Paragliding Cape Town, Lions Head

Lion’s Head is a mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, between Table Mountain and Signal Hill. Lion’s Head peaks at 669 meters (2,195 ft) above sea level. The peak forms part of a dramatic backdrop to the city of Cape Town and is part of the Table Mountain National Park.

Grading: BASIC + 4 guided flights (Hang-gliders : C) GPS : +- S33º56’18” E18º23’14”
Altitude: Top-site 450m (asl), ceiling at 1200m asl

Description: Home of the Glen Paragliding Club, a consistent and beautiful site to fly, offering a panorama of Camps Bay and the Twelve Apostles. In the afternoon, Lions Head heats up and generates a thermic, upslope breeze. Parking is on the back (Capetown side) of Lions Head, then a stiff hike is required up the gravel road and around to the front side. Because of the spire shape of the peak, the wind diverges around it, causing a strong increase in wind speed at both takeoff sites when it is soarable. The wind is usually crossed from the left (S) at the top site and is very strong and crossed from the right (NW) at the lower site. Don’t pioneer a new launch site somewhere else on the mountain.

Now I will try to explain in what type of weather conditions you can paraglide from Lions Head.

1) The South Easterly wind shadow

The South Easterly wind is a low-level wind with a reverse wind gradient (stronger on the ground and weaker at altitude).

Generally speaking for a Wind Shadow to form you need the following elements :

1) Wind forecast of not stronger than 15 knots
2) Surface temperature of 25C

We get the formation of a Wind Shadow mostly in the warmest parts of our weather season but it is possible in the middle of Winter as well.

The red lines indicate the direction of the airflow of the Southeasterly wind. South Easterly Winds are low-level wind and can be prevented/blocked from flowing over Lions Head by Table Mountain

The yellow area is where the wind shadow generally sets up. Looking out towards the ocean from Lions Head a distinct line can be seen on the ocean with a slight difference in colour indicating the presence of a wind shadow.

The white cloud that starts to form between Devils Peak and Maclears Beacon on the left and Llandudno and Judas Peak on the right now indicates that there is an increase in the strength of the southeasterly wind.

The cold South Easter flowing from False bay starts to condensate as it gets pushed up against the back of Table Mountain. The size of the flyable area in yellow now starts to decrease and whitecaps / white horses can often be seen outside of the yellow area.

First signs to look for :

1) White cloud forming
2)The Wind shadow line decreases in size
3) Whitecaps on the ocean outside of the wind shadow.

The increase of the white cloud indicates that the wind shadow is now almost broken down and it is no longer safe to continue flying.

The decrease in the wind shadow size can be seen in the yellow circle. The distinct wind shadow line is now moving closer to the landing area.

All flying should now be stopped and you should go land at the designated landing areas as soon as possible.

Signs to look for :

1)Increase in clouds coming over Table Mountain and the Apostles
2) Increase of whitecaps on the ocean
3) Size of wind shadow decreasing
4) Wind shadow line coming closer to the landing area

The wind shadow is now completely broken down.

If you find yourself still in the air, then you are lucky!

The safest place for you to land is BACK ON THE MOUNTAIN IN THE YELLOW AREA.

Catch Part 2 of our series here.

Contact Fly Cape Town today

For more information on paragliding or to book your next paragliding session, Please feel free to contact us at Fly Cape Town and we will be glad to help you.

The Fly Cape Town team are a group of highly experienced Tandem Paragliding Flight Instructors who can provide you with the best paragliding Cape Town has to offer. Come and experience the joy of a tandem paragliding flight in the beauty of Cape Town.

To have the experience of a lifetime. You can contact us either by email or contact number