In an effort to advance the interaction between man and bird, and to provide a unique opportunity to interact with birds of prey in their own environment, Scott Mason conceived and developed Parahawking. Parahawking is paragliding with trained birds of prey.

By combining ancient falconry methods with the modern techniques of Paragliding, birds of prey are trained to fly and interact with paragliders and their tandem passengers and to guide them to thermals. Some birds of prey are natural soaring birds that have an amazing ability to conserve energy whilst flying. By using rising currents of warm air, birds of prey are able to gain height and fly long distances without flapping their wings. Paragliders harness their natural ability to conserve energy by following them as they fly. The birds need to be rewarded for their efforts. During the flight the pilot or passenger will place small morsels of meat onto their gloved hand, the birds will come and gently land on the hand to take the food, and then gracefully fly away to find the next thermal – a beautiful symbiotic relationship.

Parahawking has gone from a personal experiment to a global phenomenon with tandem Paragliding becoming an essential part of Parahawking concept. It is a unique opportunity for people with no flying experience to be able to share the sky with birds of prey and interact with them in their own environment. Parahawking is featured in the Nepal Lonely Planet guide book as one of Pokhara’s highlights. Parahawking is available in Pokhara, Nepal
with a project under development in Spain.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Where: Sarankot, Pokhara, Nepal
When: From November through to March
Available to: Anyone
Price: £115 GBP ($182 USD)
Extras: Inflight pictures and movie – 2000 rupees (approx £15, $24 USD)
Accommodation available – Maya Devi Village

Parahawking supports vulture conservation: Scott Mason and team donate 1,000 nrps from every Parahawking Tandem Adventure Flight to Vulture conservation projects in Nepal.

For more information visit Parahawking.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Scott Mason is the pioneer of Parahawking and has dedicated the last decade to promoting this new sport and perfecting its techniques. Scott was born and raised in Essex, England and has been training birds of prey since he was 12. He made the transition from traditional falconry to parahawking in 2001 after he fell in love with Nepal and paragliding whilst taking a year break from running his Graphic design business in London.

Scott has over 10 years of paragliding experience, mainly flying in the Nepal Himalayas. Tandem Parahawking flights have been operational for the last 5 years with now more than 400 tandem flights each year. Currently he is expanding the Parahawking concept to include Spain. As well as parahawking, Scott runs the Himalayan Raptor Rescue project at his home in Nepal where he cares for sick, injured and orphaned birds of prey. He is able to use Parahawking and the publicity it receives to provide support for Vulture conservation projects in Nepal.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources

– Official site: Parahawking.com
– Parahawking on Facebook
– Parahawking on Twitter
– Parahawking on YouTube
– First spotted on Reddit