Milestone
When I first got my tandem rating last year, I looked forward to the day I could take my parents tandem – last Saturday, that day came.
The weather didn’t look great as we travelled to the Fraser valley; moisture from the previous days was hanging around in the form of low clouds and the forecast didn’t call for much sun either. As rain wasn’t in the forecast, I still remained positive it would be flyable somewhere.
Mt. Woodside was pretty much the only mountain in the valley that had clouds below peak height, whereas Bridal Falls and Elk Mountain seemed out of the question. We managed to snag a ride with one of the pilots and soon we were up at launch.
My dad has always shown a bit of an interest in paragliding, but strapping him into the passenger harness was definitely a bit strange. Sometimes you wait for a day to come for a long time and when it arrives, you’re not sure how to feel. I probably gave him a 15 minute briefing, triple and quadruple checking he was strapped in properly. The second you’re responsible for your own family members, it’s like you feel you need to overcompensate for what you’re about to do.
We had a great launch – as good as it could ever be and as we flew away from the mountain, my dad fiddled with his camera, looking down, almost blissfully unaware of how high we were. Needless to say, he wasn’t scared and felt totally comfortable. We flew straight into the valley as my vario barely made a beep, and when he gave me permission to do a spiral dive, that’s exactly what we did!
Upon getting to launch the second time to take my mom tandem, some tandem pilots were talking about how when they took their moms tandem, things happened, and it didn’t end up being the best of a flight. Naturally, my anxiety level went up a bit, but confidence in what I was doing kept me balanced.
Our launch was good – a bit lacking in form but otherwise fine – and we were soon airborne. I could have scratched a bit looking for lift but it looked like an awful lot of work, so I flew straight again to the landing zone.
One word to sum up the flights: Phew!
After five years of flying, I am happy that this year I took my sister and both my parents tandem – something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Although I don’t think any of them will ever do a solo flight, I’m glad that they got to experience something I tend to talk about a lot.
Knowing what it feels like to run off a mountain with only a paraglider above your head is pretty cool and I’m happy I got to share it with my folks this weekend.
A memorable milestone.
The weather didn’t look great as we travelled to the Fraser valley; moisture from the previous days was hanging around in the form of low clouds and the forecast didn’t call for much sun either. As rain wasn’t in the forecast, I still remained positive it would be flyable somewhere.
Mt. Woodside was pretty much the only mountain in the valley that had clouds below peak height, whereas Bridal Falls and Elk Mountain seemed out of the question. We managed to snag a ride with one of the pilots and soon we were up at launch.
My dad has always shown a bit of an interest in paragliding, but strapping him into the passenger harness was definitely a bit strange. Sometimes you wait for a day to come for a long time and when it arrives, you’re not sure how to feel. I probably gave him a 15 minute briefing, triple and quadruple checking he was strapped in properly. The second you’re responsible for your own family members, it’s like you feel you need to overcompensate for what you’re about to do.
We had a great launch – as good as it could ever be and as we flew away from the mountain, my dad fiddled with his camera, looking down, almost blissfully unaware of how high we were. Needless to say, he wasn’t scared and felt totally comfortable. We flew straight into the valley as my vario barely made a beep, and when he gave me permission to do a spiral dive, that’s exactly what we did!
Upon getting to launch the second time to take my mom tandem, some tandem pilots were talking about how when they took their moms tandem, things happened, and it didn’t end up being the best of a flight. Naturally, my anxiety level went up a bit, but confidence in what I was doing kept me balanced.
Our launch was good – a bit lacking in form but otherwise fine – and we were soon airborne. I could have scratched a bit looking for lift but it looked like an awful lot of work, so I flew straight again to the landing zone.
One word to sum up the flights: Phew!
After five years of flying, I am happy that this year I took my sister and both my parents tandem – something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Although I don’t think any of them will ever do a solo flight, I’m glad that they got to experience something I tend to talk about a lot.
Knowing what it feels like to run off a mountain with only a paraglider above your head is pretty cool and I’m happy I got to share it with my folks this weekend.
A memorable milestone.
posted by Veronica at 10:54 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home