During one of the weeks when we first got here, I was sitting in a big field at the base of one of the mountains watching Sean play ultimate frisbee. Though it was a beautiful night for frisbee, I was not watching the game but instead was focused on the paragliders floating down from the top of the peak and landing in the very field that was occupied by the ultimate players. When Sean was done with his game I told him, "I don't know what that is called or what exactly those people are doing, but I totally want to do it."
We found out that they were paragliding which is different than parasailing or hanggliding. Paragliding is when you run off of a mountain with your parachute already open and then you can ride the air currents all the way down. Since you have to know what you are doing, most people go paragliding in tandem with one person being the experienced guide. When a deal for paragliding appeared on GrabOne Queenstown, a coupon site, Sean and I bought one to go on our day off together this week.
When we met up with the paragliding company at 3pm on Friday, I was a little nervous, but when the guides said that they had just taken up an 80-year-old woman that morning, I felt slightly better. Our guides were a Mexican who had been doing this for over 14 years and a Romanian who had also been working in the business for awhile. We drove up to the top of Coronet Peak (one of the ski mountains in town) and began to suit up.
While the guides got the parachutes stretched out, Sean and I put on our Top Gun-ish jumpsuits, helmets and gloves. This was all moving a little to fast for me and I was like, shouldn't we be practicing moves or having a little class or something? Nope. "Abe," my guide, told me that once we were all hooked up I should just start running straight down the mountain as fast as I could without stopping, jumping, falling or sitting down or anything foolish like that. Since we were really really high up and the terrain was a little steep, I was skeptical - wearing the jumpsuit hadn't made me feel as hard core as I was hoping.
Abe strapped himself to the back of me and to the chute in back of him and off we went, running down the mountain. In about 4 seconds we were miraculously airborne - a truly crazy feeling - and we re-adjusted in our nylon seat harnesses to enjoy the ride and the view. We moved faster than I thought we would but it was also incredibly calm and peaceful up there. To be fair, looking down was terrifying and I was white-knuckled gripping the sides of the harness, but Abe didn't seem to be worried so I tried not to be either. If a granny can do it, so can I.
In many ways, paragliding was like riding in a hot air balloon except that I felt way more exposed, alone and scared. It was really fun to be flying around like a bird and Abe took many opportunities to take pictures while I was hanging on for dear life. We were only up in the air for about 15 minutes but during that time we skimmed across the tips of trees, I got a chance to 'drive' and we did some crazy spins which made us feel some zero gravity for a second. I wasn't too crazy about the spins - they kind of made me want to throw up, but it definitely got the adrenaline pumping.
Coming in for the landing was a little frightening because we approached the ground so quickly. Abe told me to keep my legs up and then when we hit the ground I was supposed to start running again as fast as I could. Unfortunately, I was nervous and forgot this last bit of information. When I got two feet on the ground, I just stopped because I was so happy to be safe and standing up. Oops! Turns out they like you to keep running so the chute can fall nicely behind you instead of on top or in front of you.
Overall we had a really fun time and even though Sean is a bit scared of heights, he managed to enjoy himself. I wish the time in the air would have lasted longer and I totally want to go again!
Paragliding is the best! I got to go twice while in Argentina and am totally hooked. It's the most tranquil extreme sport in the world. So glad that you got a chance to go!
That looks so cool, Sarah! I'm afraid of heights, so I'm impressed. :)
Paragliding is on my bucket list now!
A "Tranquil Extreme Sport" sounds perfect! That looked AMAZING!!
I always love your adventures!