Dasklip works from about ten in the morning

A free-flight club above Porterville in the Western Cape. Paragliders and hang gliders off four passes between the Berg River and the Cederberg, September to the end of April.

Join the club

A club, not a school

We have been flying off the pass above Porterville since 1989. About two hundred people hold a season card, and the club is really the thirty-odd who do the work: mowing the top landing, replacing the windsocks, keeping the gate key at the farm, sitting on the radio when the weather turns. We are not a commercial operation and we do not sell tandem flights. If you have never flown, we will point you at an instructor and then keep an eye on you for two seasons. If you already hold a licence, sign the site register at the gate and go.

The Dasklip Open, the last weekend of February

One meet a year, run by the club for whoever pitches up. Three task days if the weather gives us three, two if it does not, and a braai at the bottom landing on the Sunday either way. Entry is R450 and includes the retrieve bakkie. Last February we had 74 pilots on the hill, the longest task was 63 km down the Olifants valley to Citrusdal, and eleven of the entries were flying their first competition. That last number is the one we care about.

A morning cycle at Dasklip, filmed from the top

Nine minutes with no commentary, from the first launch at about ten to the sea breeze arriving. Swap in your own footage from the editor.

The club as it stands

Taken from the annual general meeting in March 2026, and correct until somebody lets a card lapse.

214 members

Paid up for the current season: 168 paraglider pilots, 31 hang glider pilots and 15 non-flying family members who take turns on the retrieve rota.

Four launch sites

Dasklip Pass above Porterville, Versfeld Pass at Piketberg, Bothmaskloof at Riebeek-Kasteel and Middelberg Pass out of Citrusdal. One card covers all four.

Eight months open

1 September to 30 April. The pass shuts for winter because the top road washes out and the bottom field goes under wheat until the harvest.

Instruction on site

Two SAHPA-rated instructors and four safety officers on the club roll. Student and tandem flying happens under one of them or it does not happen.

The committee you will actually meet

Marina de VilliersChair and instructor

Flying Dasklip since 1994 and rating students since 2006. Runs the Thursday theory evening at the clubhouse and signs off every student solo off the pass.

Zanele MahlanguSafety officer

Keeps the site register, the incident book and the reserve repack list. If your reserve is more than six months out of date, she finds you before you launch.

Hennie LoubserSites and landowners

Farms below the pass and holds every one of our landing agreements. Knows which paddock is under wheat and which gate is locked, week by week.

Ayesha KaderMeet director and hang gliding rep

Sets the tasks for the Open, drives the retrieve bakkie when nobody else will, and is the only person on the committee flying a rigid wing.

A season card is R980 and it covers all four passes.

Join for the season

Asked at the last AGM

I did my first thirty flights here with someone on the radio the whole time. Nobody once made me feel like I was in the way.

Refilwe Sithole · Member since 2023

The site register sounds like admin until the evening you are late off the hill and somebody comes looking. It has found people twice since I joined.

Gideon Marais · Hang glider pilot, Malmesbury

We drive up from Somerset West most Saturdays in season. Two hours each way and still worth it, because nowhere else in the Cape works this reliably.

Annelie du Toit · Member since 2016

Who keeps the season open

Morewag Boerdery, the bottom landing
Bergrivier Munisipaliteit, the site permit
SAHPA, ratings and third-party cover
Cederberg Wingspan, reserve repacks
Porterville Toerisme, the road board
ER24 Piketberg, the emergency number

Ask the club

Clubhouse: 14 Voortrekker Street, Porterville 6810 022 931 2740 · vlieg@dasklipfreeflight.co.za Season 1 September to 30 April Committee meets the first Tuesday of the month, 18h30