[Rick Masters]

While we marvel at the tens of millions of dollars invested in helicopters used to rescue paragliders following collapses, let us not forget the specialized ladder trucks used to remove paragliders and their helpless falling human cargo from the numerous forests of the world. This blog salutes the men and women of rescue teams who prevent the forest canopy from being littered with paragliders - and the taxpayers whose generous subsidies make paragliding mania possible.

[Rick Masters]

August 8, 2014

A MAN 4WD fire department ladder truck removes a paraglider canopy from a forest canopy in Austria.

[Rick Masters]

July 22, 2015

A 20+ ton boom truck plucks a helpless falling human from a tree.

Video: https://video-lax1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xfa1/v/t43.1792-2/11400918_1679504642277950_1988235760_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjE1MzQsInJsYSI6MTAyNH0%3D&rl=1534&vabr=1023&oh=5ed33656acf23f03c441e96398c9c660&oe=55B24CE0


The operation of big boom trucks, especially on soft soil, places both the rescuer and the helpless falling human at risk, not to mention the truck itself.

[Rick Masters]

August 4, 2015

A fire department crew waits patiently for the utility company to shut off power to a 130 kV power line (and a large portion of a city's electrical service) so they can rescue a dangling paraglidist with their ladder truck. Even when power is cut, a residual charge sometimes remains, making the rescue operation dangerous for the rescuers as well as the rescued.

[Rick Masters]

[Rick Masters]

[Rick Masters]

August 12, 2015

A Czechoslovakian fire department's Mercedes ladder truck rescues a very lucky paragliderist from a 450 kilovolt power line.


The female soaring parachutist was uninjured. However, she was treated for "shock."

[Rick Masters]

September 9, 2015

[Rick Masters]

[Rick Masters]

October 19, 2015