Paragliding Jungfrau Gmbh Grindelwald — Attraction in Grindelwald

Honest Review of My Experience with Paragliding Jungfrau

I fully appreciate that Paragliding Jungfrau operates in an environment where weather conditions are unpredictable and beyond the company’s control. However, I believe that clearer communication and a more considered approach would make a significant difference, particularly given that for many visitors, this is a once in a lifetime experience.

This flight was arranged as a surprise 35th birthday gift from my fiancée, part of our 12-night trip across Switzerland. I found out about it four days before the scheduled date and, like most people, immediately looked through Google reviews and photos, all of which looked incredible. I couldn't wait.

Prior to the Flight

Two days before the booking, I began monitoring the weather conditions closely. The Grindelwald Terminal webcam, positioned in a similar area to the landing zone, showed heavy low cloud, while the summit webcam showed clear skies. Concerned that this might impact visibility and the overall flight, I contacted the company to ask whether it would be it be better to move the booking to the following day, when the forecast looked more favourable.

The reply I received was a screenshot of the weather app and a link to the summit webcam. While perhaps intended as reassurance, it did not directly address the question.

On the Day

After meeting the team, we travelled by cable car to the top and walked to the launch area. During the pre-flight briefing, we were informed that due to low cloud, the original landing zone could not be used and that we would instead land higher up the valley. This adjustment significantly reduced the flight distance and limited the overall experience, keeping us close to one side of the valley rather than in the valley descending toward Grindelwald. Some flights did go a little further but maybe this was pilot preference.

The late notice of this change also meant that my fiancée, who had planned to watch the landing, was unable to reach the new location in time. This was particularly disappointing, as she had arranged the flight as a gift and wanted to share in the experience.

Following the Flight

I provided feedback to the company after landing. Over a call the response I received was that it had been a “good flight.” When I asked whether better conditions were expected later in the week or at other locations, I was told that weather was the same everywhere. However, the following day in Mürren, we observed clear skies and full flights taking place.

Final Thoughts

In total, the experience cost 220 CHF for the flight, 36 CHF for the cable car, and 40 CHF for photographs. While the flight was conducted safely and professionally, the experience did not align with my expectations.

I believe that clearer and more timely communication would have made the experience better and helped me prepare for the changes and manage...

I flew with Uli on 27/2/2025. I didn’t make a reservation in advance, instead, I contacted the company only on that day - so it was a last minute plan. Initially, I was told that all the bookings were full. However, after a few minutes, they asked me to wait in front of their office and they would send a pilot to pick me up.

After meeting the pilot (Uli), he asked me to buy the cable car ticket without mentioning which station. I asked him if it was to the last station and he said yes while playing with his phone. I only realised later that I am actually getting off at the second last station - which means I paid extra for nothing.

On the way up in the cable car, he barely chatted with me and was always on his phone, talking with someone else. The first and only question he asked me was ‘Are you from Shanghai?’. I felt discriminated against - I am totally fine with people guessing my nationality, but from my perspective , specifically saying ‘Shanghai’ felt like pure racism.

After arriving the departure point, he rushed me for several times and asked me to move quicker ( I didn’t even have the time to take a quick photo of the view there and mentally prepare myself). Additionally, he hurriedly put the equipment on me which resulted in an uncomfortable flying experience - my jacket was left open because the harness wasn’t wrapped properly over my jacket, so wind kept blowing into jacket and contact my body directly - I am freezing. My testicles were also squeezed after a while (I didn’t move and did all he asked me to do while flying).

Last but not least, he didn’t start any recording/ photo taking until I requested it. The angel of the photo was TERRIBLE and he took only bare minimum amount of footage and photos compared to other people’s experience I saw online.

I understand that I was the last customer of the day, but since you decided to serve me - without paying extra or discount, you should have treated me like any other customer. I am truly disappointed with the experience with Uli, as I learned that he was a experienced pilot with more than 20 years of experience, which extend my dissatisfaction with...

Fun but disappointing. We started lower than they normally start because of cloud cover, which they obviously can't control. They assured us it "was only 100 feet lower than normal," which isn't even close to true. We don't mind that they took off lower for safety reasons, but it seems like they should land lower. Even though they said that we got the "normal ride," our rides only lasted about 10-12 minutes. We watched gliders take off all afternoon from the normal takeoff location and they rode at least twice as long and much higher. We went down the hill and immediately dropped over the trees below while the other fliers were in the air for 10+ minutes before they got even close to the level we took off. Due to the angle of our take off, we were right along the hill while the others were soaring high above the valley floor.

We had fun on our flight but were all really upset and disappointed when we saw the afternoon flights and saw how much of the experience we missed out on but still got to pay the full CHF220 for half the flight. They might claim we had the same as others, but I have the start and end times of ours from photos and videos and I timed the afternoon flights out of curiosity while we were waiting in the mountain cart line.

I don't expect them to control the weather but seems like they should either offer a discount or have an alternative landing spot if you can't take off in the normal spot because you really feel like you get hosed if you're unfortunate enough to see the flight you paid to take.

Update: While I very much appreciate the operator responding to my post, it doesn't address the heart of my feedback. That they need to have a discounted rate or lower landing point if you're only getting half the ride.

My advice: If you can do it with a same-day reservation, go that route so you know what weather you're getting. When I was emailing them online prior to our trip, they were pushing us to a really early in the day reservation. In hindsight, I suspect they do that on purpose so that they have the afternoon open for walkups since the hill isn't nearly as busy in...