First tandem: Veteran paraglider Rene Schwaller (back) prepares to fly his first tandem client, Glenn Bolton, 20 years ago
Queenstown paragliding pioneer Rene Schwaller celebrates 25 years of winging it this month.
Schwaller, 51, was right there in the early days of paragliding in his native Switzerland, when adventurers started foot-launching parachutes.
A ski instructor, he learnt to fly with skis in late 1986 – “it seemed quite an easy way to learn”, he recalls.
Schwaller was taught by an American who was an adept parachutist.
“I said to him, ‘I’ll teach you how to ski if you teach me how to do what you’re doing’.”
The Swiss adventurer returned to Queenstown with two paragliders – “parachutes, really” – in late 1998 to begin teaching other people to fly.
His first student was local mountaineer, the late Bruce Grant.
Schwaller and Grant flew off every high peak around Queenstown before going further afield.
Schwaller recalls flying off New Zealand’s highest mountain, Mt Cook, one New Year’s Eve after being dropped on the summit by helicopter.
He also began manufacturing parapentes – paragliding wings – under the apt brand name Renegade.
Paragliding took its biggest leap, however, with the invention of the tandem parapente.
Almost overnight, the adventure activity was popularised and anyone – once attached to a pilot – could fly.
In 1991 Schwaller joined the Queenstown Commercial Paragliding collective – now G Force Paragliding – operating from Bob’s Peak.
He estimates he’s flown more than 10,000 passengers: “I’m still loving it,” Schwaller says.
“There’s nothing like hitting a good thermal – it’s a good office, way up in the sky.”
Schwaller’s worst accident occurred during a solo flight in India, where he hit what’s known as a ‘dust devil’ on landing, breaking his pelvis and back.
“I got taught a very good lesson.”
Better technology and techniques have now made paragliding much safer, Schwaller says.
“In the early days, they were really small paragliders and we had to run like buggery to get off the hill – which makes it a lot more dangerous if someone trips.
“These days, if you have a bit of wind, you can just let the glider inflate.
“We also land slower, which makes it safer.”
Schwaller adds that the Civil Aviation Authority has now taken over the regulation of the adventure activity from the NZ Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association.
“Time will tell if more paperwork will make it safer.”
The Swiss adventurer, who first moved to Queenstown 30 years ago, is also a pioneering heliski guide.
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