Skydive age and weight limits in Interlaken

The operator sets these out in two separate blocks of the $526 Airplane Skydiving over the Swiss Alps listing, and the two blocks do not say exactly the same thing. Rather than tidy that up, here is each of them as published.

Good to know. Maximum weight 105 kg (231 lbs). Minimum weight 40 kg (88 lbs). Minimum height 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in). Minimum age 12. Participants 12 to 15 years old must be accompanied by a parent. Participants 16 to 17 years old must have written parental consent prior to the activity. The block then states that “these requirements are strict” and that the dropzone manager is the one who checks them — which in practice means the check happens at Reichenbach, 30 minutes out of town, not at the point where you pay.

Not suitable for. Children under 12 years. People under 4 ft 6 in (140 cm). People under 88 lbs (40 kg). People over 220 lbs (100 kg).

Where the two differ. The age minimum matches: 12 in both. The weight minimum matches: 40 kg (88 lbs). The maximum weight does not — the first block prints 105 kg (231 lbs), the second prints over 220 lbs (100 kg). The height limit is the same metric figure worded two ways: 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) in one block, under 4 ft 6 in (140 cm) in the other. We are not going to pick a winner between those maximums or average them, because neither is our number to adjust. If you are anywhere near either figure, open the booking page for your own date and read what it says there, and ask the operator through the booking if it still reads two ways.

Why a tandem jump has a stated range at all is worth a sentence, because it is an equipment fact rather than a judgement about anybody. You are attached to the tandem master and to one certified harness and canopy, and that set of equipment is approved for a specified range of use. The published minimum and maximum describe the equipment, and the listing’s own line — “these requirements are strict” — is the operator telling you in advance that the dropzone manager will check rather than wave it through.

The under-18 rules are the other half people miss. Twelve is the minimum age, and between 12 and 15 a parent has to be there with you. At 16 and 17 a parent does not have to come, but written parental consent has to exist before the activity — before, not produced at the counter. If the jump is a birthday present for somebody in that band, the consent is the part to organise first.

Everything else about the day is published plainly and does not vary. The appointment is 3.5 hours. One instructor is assigned to one client. The fare covers the skydive, the safety briefing, all skydiving equipment and the tandem master. The aircraft is an airplane, exit is at 4,000 metres, the freefall is 45 seconds at 200 km/h (120 mph) and the canopy ride is 5 to 7 minutes. What to bring is short as well: weather-appropriate clothing and closed-toe shoes.

And if one of the requirements does rule the jump out, this is not the end of the trip. Nine tandem paragliding flights are sold around Interlaken and the valleys near it, each with a pilot, equipment and its own requirements published on its own booking page. They carry 4,329 reviews between them.

1. The maximum weight, on your own date. This is the one figure the $526 listing prints two ways — 105 kg (231 lbs) in Good to know, over 220 lbs (100 kg) in Not suitable for. Open the booking page, read both blocks, and if you are close to either number ask the operator through the booking rather than assuming the friendlier one applies.

2. The age paperwork, if anyone is under 18. The minimum age is 12. Between 12 and 15 a parent must accompany the participant. At 16 and 17 written parental consent has to be in place prior to the activity. Sort that out at the booking stage, not at Reichenbach.

3. Who the booking is for. A tandem jump is one instructor per client, so each person jumping needs their own place. Groups regularly book one slot and arrive as three people expecting to sort it out at the airfield, which does not work at a location 30 minutes outside town.

4. What the fare does and does not cover. Four inclusions are named: the skydive, the safety briefing, the skydiving equipment and the tandem master. Photos and video are not among them — handcam footage is filmed from the instructor’s wrist and paid for separately on site. What to bring is weather-appropriate clothing and closed-toe shoes.

5. Who is coming with you. The transfer from the Outdoor Höheweg Shop to Reichenbach carries the people jumping. Anyone coming along to watch arranges their own way to the airfield, and 30 minutes of road is not something to discover on the morning.

Those five cover essentially every message operators get after a booking, and all of them are settled on the page where you pay rather than at the dropzone.

Start with the $526 skydive and the operator’s own requirements. It is the one airplane jump sold at Interlaken, 4.9 across 586 reviews, and the fare carries the briefing, the equipment and a tandem master assigned to you alone. If the requirements fit, nothing else on this site delivers 45 seconds of freefall from 4,000 metres.

If they do not, book the $222 Tandem Paragliding Flight with Pilot. It is the strongest record on this site — 2,580 reviews at 4.9 — and the fare includes a qualified pilot, hiking boots, equipment and transport. A 90 minute appointment above Interlaken, with its own requirements published on its own booking page.

Or the $234 Tandem Paragliding Flight, rated 5.0 across 655 reviews. The listing names an air-conditioned bus transfer, an experienced pilot, a safety briefing, mountain shoes and the flight equipment, and describes gliding 800 metres above the Jungfrau region for 10 to 20 minutes.

Or the $209 flight from Mürren over the Lauterbrunnen cliffs and waterfalls. Rated 5.0 across 367 reviews, up to twenty minutes in the air, with a licensed tandem pilot, helmet, insurance and boots or a jacket when needed.

Further out, the same kind of flight is sold at $198 in Chamonix facing Mont Blanc, at $371 in Zermatt with the Matterhorn in view, and at $272 above Lake Lucerne. Every one of them publishes its own conditions on its own booking page, and every one of them carries free cancellation.

1. Taking a number from a forum. Requirements belong to the operator running your jump, and they are published on that jump’s booking page. A figure quoted for a different country, a different operator or a different year is not information.
2. Reading only one of the two blocks. Good to know gives a maximum of 105 kg (231 lbs); Not suitable for gives over 220 lbs (100 kg). Read both, and treat the gap between them as a question for the operator rather than as room to negotiate.
3. Turning up at 16 without the written consent. The listing asks for written parental consent prior to the activity for 16 and 17 year olds, and a parent present for 12 to 15 year olds. Neither is something the desk can create for you.
4. Booking one slot for two people. One instructor per client means one place per person jumping. This is the single most common booking error on tandem activities.
5. Assuming a paragliding flight has the same conditions. It does not. Each of the nine flights we list publishes its own requirements on its own booking page, and the fares run from $198 to $420.
6. Leaving the question to the morning. The day starts in town at a set time and the airfield is half an hour away. Anything unresolved at check-in is unresolved inside a moving schedule.