I flew paragliders for a couple of years, so I'm starting this mini-series in order to point out some of the dangers you will face if you ever try it yourself.
this particular video will teach you to never ever fuck about during take off, no matter how experienced you might be. do not let go of controls if you're less than 100-200m high or if there's a chance of turbulence - if anything goes wrong, you won't have the time or the height to pull out safely or deploy the reserve chute.
same goes for landing these things. ain't worth it.
at least this poor bastard died laughing...

http://www.videosift.com/video/Cautionary-tales-of-paragliding-part-II
http://www.videosift.com/video/Cautionary-tales-of-paragliding-part-III
http://www.videosift.com/video/Cautionary-tales-of-paragliding-part-IV