Martin Rejmanek is only 17 years old, but he already has a lot of experience in paragliding. We're excited to see how his flying career in and outside the U.S. unfolds.
From his home base in in California, Martin - along with his father Honza, who is also a UP Team Pilot and well known weather expert who writes for Cross Country Magazine - has already sent us many great reports. Like launching from Augille du Midi (3842 m) in France, where the cable car ride alone is thrilling. Or his various XC-adventures in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Now he and his parents have agreed to let us officially welcome him to Team UP. We are very pleased with this development and that the next generation is now on board - flying MAKALU 5. We asked Martin for some background info and this is what he said:
"I have been flying tandem with my dad since I was little. We have gone on many father-son cross-country hike-and-fly adventures all over the world. This is where I found my love for flying, seeing the world from the air and traveling through it in such an amazing way. When I was 12, I started kiting on our local field. This greatly helped build my confidence with the wing and my ground handling skills. Soon I was taking my first little flights on the dunes and soaring along the coast. When I was 16, I had my first thermaling flight. After that, cross-country flying came pretty naturally to me.
My most memorable flights have been centered around mountains. Last summer (June 2025), I took off in the Owens Valley and flew about 60 kilometers north along the High Sierras. With a high cloud base and light winds, I was able to overfly and thermals above Mt. Whitney (the highest peak in the continental United States) at almost 5000m above sea level. Going into the high range was a move I was long hesitant to make, as I knew it would be a long hike out of the High Sierras, but I saw a hang glider pilot in a good thermal above the peak, so I decided to follow; we thermaled together for a bit before continuing our separate directions. I actually ended up connecting with him on Instagram later.
Later in July, my dad and I made it almost all the way around Mt. Blanc, flying solo. I really enjoyed the technical flying in the high Alps around the cliffs and huge glaciers. We were disappointed that we couldn't make it back around to Chamonix, but even so, I had an amazing flight because flying for me is never about needing to get to an endpoint. I just love everything you see along the way, and the amazing people you meet in the flying community. In the future, I hope to further explore the adventure side of paragliding. I want to continue what my dad and I have started: hiking and flying on multi-day adventures across different mountain ranges around the world."
We're already looking forward to all the upcoming "cool adventures in nature forever", as Martin puts it in is profile, and we recommend following @Martini_rej and @upparagliders so you don't miss a thing.