Paragliding Transcends Sport: Embracing the Infinite Game and Elemental Art

Posted: June 25, 2025 • By Para Clinics

For many pilots, the journey into paragliding begins with joy, wonder, and freedom. But somewhere along the way—especially for those who start competing or chasing recognition—it can shift. The joy narrows. The mind clings to goals, to progress, to comparisons. I know this path well.

This post is a personal reflection on how I moved from competition and chasing external success, to rediscovering paragliding as an elemental art—a practice of presence, growth, and mastery. I hope it resonates with pilots navigating their own path between performance and purpose.

The Seduction of the Finite Game

Early in my career, I pursued competition with a fierce hunger. Podiums, records, national league wins—it was exciting, validating, and deeply satisfying in a certain way. But over time, I began to feel the edges of that pursuit. Rivalry crept in. Comparison dulled my stoke. I made riskier decisions chasing rank. I lost the very thing that drew me to flying in the first place.

As James Carse explains in Finite and Infinite Games, a finite game is one you play to win. It has boundaries, rules, rankings, and an endpoint. For a while, I was fully absorbed in that game.

But the soul of paragliding lives in the infinite game.

The Crash and the Climb Back

After a long competitive push, losing close friends in paragliding accidents, I reached burnout. I lost my connection to flying. I took a forced break. It wasn’t until I started flying again—alone in the quiet mountains of the Southern Alps in New Zealand—that something shifted. The joy returned, slowly but powerfully.

No one was watching. I wasn’t flying for performance. I was just feeling the air again, like I had at the very beginning. And it felt profound.

I began to realise: the most meaningful and challenging flights I’ve had weren’t the ones I won—they were the ones that changed me.

From Validation to Vocation

This shift wasn’t just emotional. It was philosophical. Books like Carol Dweck’s Mindset, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow, and Carse’s Infinite Games reframed everything for me. I saw that chasing status had turned flying into a performance trap—a source of anxiety, not freedom.

But when I shifted to intrinsic motivation—flying for learning, growth, and presence—I unlocked a deeper, more sustainable path. Paragliding became a practice, like music, martial arts, or meditation. Something I could devote myself to for life.

The Trap of Chasing Glory

In competition, it’s easy to tie your identity to results. But that’s fragile. You become reactive. You compare. You grip. You stop listening to the wing, the air, yourself. Mistakes follow. Your intuition gets buried under pressure.

I’ve seen this firsthand—and I’ve lived it. But I’ve also seen what’s possible when we fly from a place of embodied awareness and flow, not ego.

The Power of the Collective

Some of the most beautiful examples of this mindset come from the Brazilian XC pilots. When they broke the world distance record, it wasn’t one superstar pilot out front—it was a collective achievement, a group working together in harmony,

pushing the edges of what's possible through support, not rivalry.

This is the infinite game in action.

Competition as a Tool, Not a Master

I’m not anti-competition. In fact, when approached with the right mindset, competition can sharpen our skills and pull us into powerful flow states. But it only works if we’re flying with awareness and for ourselves, not for the scoreboard.

One of the best examples is Kriegel Maurer. Yes, he dominates the X-Alps. But ask anyone who’s flown with him—his edge isn’t aggression or ego. It’s presence, discipline, and mastery of the fundamentals. He plays the infinite game beautifully.

Flying with Purpose, Not Proving

After several tragedies in our flying community, I considered stepping away. But in the end, I chose to stay—and to fly with more intention. I committed to modeling skillful, safe, present flying. To talk openly about mindset and flow. To share what I’ve learned through my own wins, losses, and rediscoveries.

It’s why I created Para Clinics. Not just to build safer pilots—but to create a space where flying is seen as a path, not a product.

Paragliding as Elemental Art

Paragliding isn’t just a sport. It’s an elemental art form. Like surfing, climbing, or dancing, it asks us to listen. To move with nature. To accept conditions we can’t control. To flow, adapt, and trust.

It requires humility. It teaches patience. It shows us who we are.

When we treat it like an infinite game, we fly with more joy, more intuition, more longevity. We stop trying to prove something. We start expressing something.

A Challenge for You

So I’ll leave you with this:

👉 What game are you playing?

Are you flying to prove your worth—or to deepen your connection?

Are you chasing numbers—or chasing mastery?

Are you climbing the ladder—or walking a lifelong path?

The shift is subtle, but everything changes when you fly for the right reasons.

We’re not just pilots. We’re artists of air, dancers in sky, surfers of wind. Let’s fly like it.

🪂 If this resonates, check out our upcoming Flow & Awareness Clinics. We go deep into mindset, intuitive flying, and the infinite game of paragliding.