The moment your feet leave the mountain, the noise stops. No engine, no rush — just you, your pilot, and a few hundred metres of Caucasus air opening up beneath your boots.

Gudauri is where Georgia goes vertical. At 2,200 metres, the ridges fall away into deep green valleys in summer and turn to a sea of white peaks in winter, and from a paraglider you see all of it the way the eagles do — the Georgian Military Road threading through the gorges, the Aragvi valley far below, the snow line glowing on the horizon.

You don't need to know a thing about flying. Your pilot has done this thousands of times and clips you into a comfortable harness, talks you through a few easy steps, and then it's a handful of running paces before the ground simply lets go. Within seconds the nerves turn into the biggest grin of your trip.

Want it gentle? Your pilot will catch a smooth thermal and let you drift, taking in the silence and the view. Want your stomach in your throat? Say the word and you'll carve tight spirals over the ridge. Either way it's your flight, flown your way.

And because nobody believes you until they see it, the whole thing is filmed in HD and handed to you afterwards — proof for the people back home that you actually jumped off a mountain in the Caucasus and loved it.