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Published: November 3rd 2008
So there's a ton of places I've been to and things I've done between now and my Paris blog, but I couldn't hold off on sharing what is by far the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. HANG GLIDING. Yes, that's right folks. Today, I ran off a cliff and went flying through the air, hovering the Swiss Alps over the town of Interlaken in Switzerland.
I woke up this morning and booked a tandem hang glide with a 1:30pm pick-up at my hostel. I was trying to delay my adventure until tomorrow to build up my courage for at least another 24-hours, but the reception lady encouraged me to do it today since it was a nice clear day, and the weather may not be so nice tomorrow. Considering her advice and that tomorrow would be my only other day in town, I went ahead with the booking. I spent the morning doing much needed laundry, trying to keep my mind off what I was about to do.
1:30pm rolled around and a van pulled up as I was greeted by Bernie and his wife Minda. At first I thought it was just my ride, but I soon
picked up that Bernie himself was my tandem professional. Up and around the mountain we went. The higher we got in elevation, the more nervous I started to become. But the butterflies in my stomach were overpowered by the
magnificent sight out the window of the snow-capped mountains, the glistening sparkle of lake down below, with the a billowing white layer of fog in between like I was in a fairy tale. The van finally stopped at the top as I anxiously observed Bernie & Minda unload the hang gliding equipment. Off Mindy went back in the van to meet us at the bottom of the mountain. I bit my lip as I watched the van disappear down the hill with the thought in my mind that I too would soon be down at the bottom of the mountain, but via a
different mode of transportation.
By foot, Bernie and I trekked up the mountain a little more until we got to the take off point. At first, the steepness didn't look too bad, but as we walked further forward the mountains slopes down dramatically and the last point you see before the mountain side drops out of sight
Bernie
Its his 3rd day on the job...is a small old wood shack to the left and tall trees to the right with less than 15 feet of clearance in between the two. Not an issue if Bernie is the professional hang glider he says he is, but just the sight of such was a bit scary to say the least. I pulled my focus away from my apprehension and looked up in front of me. It was like I was staring at the worlds largest post card. Again, the snow-capped mountains, the lake below, but now at the bottom I could see Interlaken. The houses and building so tiny, with the crystal blue water streams in between, and patchy rays of light reflecting off the massive mountains hovering the city and people below. I was a small person in a big world.
Bernie got moving quickly in assembling the hang glide and asked me to assist.
"Are you sure about that?", I asked in all seriousness. He said it was easy and he walked me through it.
Great, I could just picture it now....us up in the air and all of sudden we malfunction by some fault of my own. But it was actually easy,
and he did double checked my work. (Thank God). We got geared up and did a quick training. All I had to remember was to hold firmly to him on both sides and on his count, step one, step two, run, run, run, and keep running even when our feet leave the ground. Okay, simple in practice, now I was ready to go. He strapped himself in, then me. Mind you that the only thing holding me between life and death was a hook on my harness fastened to a nylon strap attached to the hang glide. The thoughts in my head were ridiculous. I was ready to get it over with.
Step one, step two, run, run, run I kept repeating in my head. There was no going back now. We were ready to go. Bernie carefully placed us in position. He looked left, right, behind, and again, left, right, and behind. We were in position like a swimmer on a platform ready to dive in. Just when I thought he would start the count...NOTHING. There was wind coming from behind us that Bernie was waiting to die down as it was too dangerous to take off in
Dear God, make me a bird...
so I can fly far, far far away... such conditions. We waited 5 minutes, then another 5, then another 5. But the winds didn't stop. It got to the point where we had to move away from the take off point to set the hang glide down as it was too heavy for Bernie to hold while waiting. Bernie unstrapped himself, walked up hill, studying the movement of the tree leaves, carefully assessing the strength of the wind. We waited another 10 minutes and the winds finally slowed down so we got ready again, strapped in all, ready for take off, but within seconds, the wind picked up again. This time we both became unharnessed from the hang glide and sat on the hill just waiting. I had lost all nervousness at this point crossing my fingers that I'd still have a chance to get off the mountain. I myself became attuned to the wind, observing the trees leaves and blades of grass eager for the swaying to cease.
While we waited I couldn't complain about the amazing view in front of us, plus it gave us a chance to become acquainted. Bernie is originally from Australia, married to Minda - originally from Maine, and has been
hang gliding for 10 years. I assumed he'd lost track of all the gliding he's done, but amazingly he's kept count with 600 already under his belt this year alone. That boosted my confidence in his experience. We killed time practicing the take off a few more times and then got the blood circulating taking a stroll up the mountain as I watched Bernie assessing the wind again. As we turned around back towards the hang glide, the hiss of the wind silenced and the tree leaves were now still. We hurried before the winds picked up again, strapped in tight, in position, and just as we practiced step one, step two, run, run, run....we were off.
I was like a bird floating in the sky in awe of the gorgeous landscape below, in front, and around me swaying to the left, and right, and in circles seeing the trees, mountains, lakes, etc. from a vantage point that I never dreamed I would experience. The flight was graceful, though Bernie pulled a few nose diving tricks to get my heart racing. After about 15 minutes in the air, we landed back on the ground safely and in one piece. An amazing, breathtaking, thrilling, and memorable experience. By far the best thing I've done in my life that I would recommend to anyone. Bernie was great though we waited almost an hour for the winds to die down, the wait was well worth it and I would do it all over again.
To see actual hang gliding video footage, click here:----> Hang Gliding Video To see the pictures, click here: ----> Hang Gliding Pictures
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megan
non-member comment
wow
lynn you are truly amazing!!! I love you for doing this. It looks like an awesome experience! I would love to do that.. except I think I am wayy too much of a chicken. At least I got to watch the video of you doing it lol. Love ya!