Nelson paragliding is owned and operated by Stew Karstens.

Stew established Nelson Paragliding in 1993 and over the years he has taught hundreds of students to fly.

Stew has held National titles and Cross Country records. He was the first paraglider pilot in the country to fly more than 100kms and is a 2x New Zealand paragliding champion.

Stew currently holds the New Zealand Tandem distance record set in Oct 2006.

Nelson Paragliding features innovative instruction from qualified instructors using only the best equipment. All training is individually tailored to the ability of the student, allowing you to learn to fly safely and confidently in a relaxed manner.

You'll progress at your own pace, gaining flying skills with coaching from patient and experienced instructors . From ground training, short solo flights (50m) to a solo flight from the top of Barnicoat, Nelsons main thermal training site.

We teach a wide range of flying skills, including safety training, thermal technique, meteorology, cross-country flying, competition flying, Tandem flights and much more.

We only use modern equipment. All of our high flights are done with full safety gear, back protection, helmet and clear, loud 2 way radio instruction. Our focus is on safety first and a safe pilot is a happy pilot!

We have an extensive range of paragliders and other equipment in stock. If you are a qualified pilot and need to rent a glider we can also be of assistance. If you haven’t flown in Nelson before give us a call for fly site and transport details.