Gin Kiteboarding’s Tim Bollinger

Tim works closely with his father Hans Bollinger to maintain Gin Kiteboarding’s high-quality ram air kites.

When did you start paragliding? 

I started paragliding at the age of three, so you can say paragliding is part of my DNA. When I was a kid, my father built me a modified kite prototype to make me believe I could fly. For about two seconds I thought I was flying, as I ran up and down the small slope in our backyard. Since the prototype glider was too unsafe for me, my dad asked Gin Gliders to build me a smaller and more adapted one. The first time I flew was when I had gone inflating gliders at Chasseral and my dad wasn’t watching. My first long flight was from Chasseral to Nods when I was only seven years old!

When did you begin testing gliders for Gin Gliders?  

Ever since I was a child, I watched my father receive prototypes, tune them, perfect them and test them. I was absolutely fascinated by this whole process. In 2012, after completing a course, I finally became a test pilot for Gin Gliders myself.

How is it to work alongside your father on the ram air kites? Does your experience with gliders help him with the kites?

Since kites originally come from the paragliding world, the construction is very similar. So I would say that we are both able to learn from each other’s experiences, and the outcome is always valuable.

Can you tell us what makes the Chasseral your favorite playground and what do you do there that makes it special for you?

When proximity flying, the Chasseral is an excellent mountain to fly over, since you can keep your height while flying very close to the ground. I have always loved flying close to the ground, and the Chasseral particularly allows for this kind of flight on the north and south sides. It also allows me to practice all the sports I enjoy the most, such as paragliding, kiting, speed flying and biking.