In this article I will illustrate where a paraglider pilot will find the “house thermals” on Signal Hill when Paragliding Cape Town.
The images below all indicate the thermal paragliding locations in the different wind directions assuming that there is a solid windshadow. If you are not sure when to fly at Signal Hill, please refer back to the first article on Paragliding Signal Hill.
Please note that the thermal paragliding locations will move depending on at which stage the Wind shadow is. ie in the morning, afternoon or just before sunset.
Our first image above displays the thermal paragliding locations when the wind is North West. The thermals will release further away from the mountain the lighter the wind is. The blue circle is where the take off area is located. The strongest thermals are often found to the North western side of the Bench take off area.
The image above displays the thermal paragliding locations when the wind is more Westerly. The best thermals can almost always be found just in front of the house and releasing from the foothills just below the old lookout tower.
The image above shows the thermal location in a Westerly wind direction on the area South of the Bench take-off. The strongest thermal can often be found just North of the Kramat. If you can climb about 100 meters above take-off in this thermal you are almost guaranteed to make a crossing onto the Western side of Lions Head.
Catch Part 3 of our How and When to fly Lions Head