Flying Like a Bird!

Flying Like a Bird

For those of you who understand how the Law of Attraction works, this will come as no surprise!

A couple of days ago, we were staying in Revelstoke, B.C., in between pet sitting gigs, and we decided to spend a day at the Revelstoke Mountain Resort.

We purchased day tickets which allowed us multiple trips on the two gondolas, which take the riders about two thirds of the way to the top of Mount Mackenzie. The chairlifts to the summit were not operating at this time of year, but I said to Mark that it would be wonderful to have been able to go up as high as we could.

While up there, we noticed a couple of people tandem-paragliding down the mountainside – and it was awesome to watch.

I remember thinking how it must be wonderful to be a bird and just launch yourself off the mountain and float on the currents of the wind. Little did I know that we would be experiencing that very sensation, the next day!

After enjoying three hours of fun up there, including a couple of hikes and a picnic, we descended the gondolas and were making our way to the parking lot.

On the way, we noticed a booth where a couple of guys were advertizing the paragliding flights. We got speaking with them when, Brad (a very funny Australian chap) told us that he was about to take a couple of people for the last flight of the day, and we would be welcome to tag along, for free, so that we could see the launches, and get to see the uppermost part of the mountain, not far from the summit.

The Summit of Mount Mackenzie

So, we jumped back on the gondolas, and joined the party in the van that was going to transport us to the top of the mountain, traveling along a dirt road where there were sometimes sheer drops to one side. Very exciting!

We watched as they instructed their clients on the procedure for the launch, arranged the sails, and kept an eye upon the wind sock for the best condition for the take-off. The flyers were told that, upon a given cue, they would be required to run down a steep field until the wind carried them up into the air. That sounded rather daunting, but when we saw that they only took a few steps before they were airborne, we began to formulate the idea that this is something we would love to do, ourselves.

Returning to the base, we booked a flight for the next day. The banter between Brad (the Australian guy), and his colleague, Mukunda (Mac) (a New Zealander) was hilarious.

When we tried to pay in advance, Brad said that we didn’t have to bother about that until after the flight. Mark asked what would happen if we croaked while flying down – to which Brad, without any hesitation, answered, ‘Then it would be free!’ We all laughed heartily at that!

We were advised to wear layers, some light gloves, and a tuque as the temperature can be quite low when flying at this time of year, at that altitude. (We were going to be launching from about 7300 ft.)

Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep that night, as our excitement took over!

We actually checked out of our hotel 3 hours before we were due to fly, and so used some of the wait time to explore another mountain.

Arriving at the allotted time, we followed the same routine and boarded the van to the top. We met another young man, Zack, who had just joined the group and was the driver of the van that day. He was kind enough to take videos of both of us at the moment of our individual launches (see video clips later on).

Zach - our driver

You can only imagine the excitement we felt building within as they opened the sail and laid it out on the ground in preparation. Brad was Mark’s pilot, and Mac was going to be mine, and they helped us get ready by securing us into a harness, fastening it to their own harness, and to the sail.

Once we were ready, we all looked at the wind sock waiting for the cue to get going.

Finally, the word was given, and we took a few running steps…and that was it – we were in the air!

Mark taking off....

Alan taking off...

Mac used his skills to find a thermal current which gave us a bit of a lift, thus prolonging my flight in what turned out to be an extra 10-15 minutes.

As soon as I was in the air, I was searching for Mark so that we could wave to each other, and finally located him far below us. From my vantage point, it looked like he was touching the tops of the trees but, in fact, he was far above them!

Once we were in the air, the experience was truly exhilarating! The freedom of just relying upon the wind currents was awesome. Mac and Brad used their skills to give us both a memorable experience, and the views were absolutely stunning, with no visual obstacles getting in the way.

View of the Columbia River

The Columbia River - flowing southwards towards its destination - the Pacific Ocean (in Oregan, U.S.A.)

Amazing uninterrupted view of the mountainside

The town of Revelstoke in the background

Runway of the Municipal Airport

Mac explained to me that, although we were just hovering in one place at times, we were actually traveling at about 35-40 k.p.h. I figured that the speed we were traveling due to gravity, was equal to the speed of the wind, and so we were not moving forward nor backward to any degree.

Both Mark and I have skydived, and have parasailed (off the coast of the Florida Keys), and Mark has actually done a solo parachute jump, before he met me. However, we both agreed that the experience of paragliding was much more fun and enjoyable – probably because it lasted longer, and because of the scenery that surrounded us here, in the Selkirk Range of the Columbia Mountains.

The following pictures/videos don’t really do it justice, but will give you some idea of what we were enjoying.