Cloudbase: All you need to know

You’ve dreamed about it, planned for it, tried, failed, tried again – and suddenly today is the day where you finally make it to cloudbase for the first time. Here’s what you need to know. 

1 What is cloudbase?

Cloudbase is where the bottoms of the clouds are. It is the top of the thermal and often the end of lift. Save some exceptions, cloudbase is the highest we can go without an engine. “Cloudbase is most of the time the top of the climb, though sometimes you can climb in the dry air next to it,” explains Kelly Farina, XC guide and author of Mastering Paragliding.

Any cloud has...